Coolest Wine Barrel Cake

My client said she was having a surprise 50th birthday party for her husband at a winery and wanted a cake to go with that theme. I searched wine barrel cake ideas online and found a few that I liked, especially one by The Cake Zone.

I created the cake in 3 sections supported with dowels and separated by cardboard circles to help with the weight and stability. The cake is vanilla and chocolate with peanut butter frosting and Reese’s cups mixed into the filling, then covered in chocolate ganache and then fondant. I scored the fondant with a veining tool and painted it using brown gel color and lemon extract. I rolled balls of fondant for the grapes and used a cutter for the leaves. I also fashioned the spiggot by hand out of fondant and used imperial gold dust to give it a patina. I dusted the grapes with luster dust to give them shimmer.

For the banner, I used the Wilton alphabet stamps that I’ve had for 20 years and painted them a little with brown to highlight the letters better. My dad makes cake stands and made this grapevine one which matches perfectly! It took an hour to drive this cake to a remote vineyard in Concord, Virginia. The owners of the winery raved about it and said they want to order three of them for their family reunion. The winery has been in their family for generations so it is personal to them. The guests said they were blown away by the look and the delicious taste. I am very proud of this cake! It took over 8 hours to decorate by the way. Thanks for looking!

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