Navy Retirement Cake

I know...It has been way too long since I made and interesting cake...but frankly, I cannot bring myself to make a large, elaborate, expensive, detailed cake just to take a fork to it...or let Andrew just gobble it up as if it took no time at all to make...No, I just do not have the heart (or money) to do it...So, I put an ad on Craigslist ( I know I know) and eventually an order was received!

A very nice woman wanted a cake for her husbands retirement from the Navy...she was throwing him a surprise party and wanted something with her husband saluting a ship. Well, I needed to make it more detailed than that of course! I made sure to get a picture of her handsome husband, a description of his uniform and the name of the ship on which he was stationed...Let's just say the ship was no row boat and it was a pretty HUGE aircraft carrier. So that meant I needed so fighter jets!

I made some white modeling chocolate and sculpted these fighter jets...which was very fun!

After the models firmed up...I covered them in homemade gray Marshmallow fondant and painted the details with food coloring and a tiny brush and some serious patience.

I also took some time to make the Navy retiree out of some modeling chocolate and sugar paste...he came out pretty good but not as buff as his picture..the hardest part was making his eye glasses...not so fun!

The ship was GIGANTIC, the pictures do not do it justice (as if I will ever learn..i used my cell phone camera..I know I need to take the picture taking more seriously).

I had to make A LOT of cake and didn't have big enough pans so I used cookie sheets (apparently you CAN bake a cake on a cookie sheet (and also in a pot...see the Chicken Nugget Wedding Cake). I used tons of chocolate frosting and stacked and stacked and carved and covered in fondant, then airbrushed, then hand painted ...you get the idea! I also made ocean out of poured sugar and waves and well..It was a LOT of work!

I really wish I had better pictures!

I am waiting for pictures of the cake at the party..as soon as I receive them, I will post them!

I also do not have a picture of the COMPLETE cake...since this cake had to be delivered across town I did not want to put the sculpture of her husband on the cake until it arrived...so..these are not complete either .. bummer!