A Real Tinkerbell Birthday Cake

A school friend of mine, asked me to make a “Real Tinkerbell”’ cake for her daughter’s 3rd Birthday!

REAL, meaning the girl did not want any fake fairies or dolls (who are not Tinkerbell) on her cake, she wanted a fairy that looked exactly like the Real Tinkerbell! I tried finding a plastic figurine, but this being South Africa, we have limited access to such resources! My best bet would have been to order one on Ebay, but that would have taken AGES to be delivered from the US, and the birthday was just a week away!

So, last resort, was to try and make a Real Tinkerbell out of sugar paste!

I am NOT a girly girl – and making a dainty little figure was SO difficult for me, haha! I would roll out, shape, get frustrated and start all over again. Over and over it went! :)

Ah… and the wings! I tried shaping them out of thinly rolled sugar paste, but every time the wings dried, it cracked! In the end I cut the wings out of transparent plastic and decorated it with edible gel and glitter – I wish I did that from the very beginning :) LOL. When the gel icing was dry, I folded the wings and used a small piece of florist wire to push it into the sugar paste fairy’s back. Voila!

The cake is chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream inside, and white chocolate ganache over (under the green sugar paste layer)

I bought myself a flower- and leaf cutter and made all the sugar paste flowers and leaves myself! The large white petals were simply cut out with a pizza-cutter and I let them lay over some straws, to create the curled and waved effects when they dried.

I also used the leaf cutter to shape Tinkerbells hair and the skirt of her dress.

I painted the letters with black edible gel colouring. Geez, and you need a steady hand!

Lia was super-excited to see her cake! She said it was exactly as she dreamed :) Aaaaw! My heart melted :)

This is only the 3rd cake I have ever made – but all the hard work is SO worth it, just to see the wonderful delight on a child’s face!

I guess that is what cake decoration is all about! Delighting your loved ones.

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