My mum and I are violinists and I wanted to make a special cake for her though mum said she didn’t want a cake or any big party but I told her she had no choice when she has 7 kids plus partners and 14 grandchildren.
After a couple of weeks, mum saw a post of a violin cake and decided she would put me to the challenge of making one. So for a week I plotted and worked on how I could achieve the challenge of making a violin cake.
So it began, I traced an outline of my violin onto paper and then measured a against a pan big enough to suit. I then worked out choice of flavor and icings. I used a sponge recipe and chocolate fondant with an undercoat of choc ganache.
First I started with the scroll and neck of the violin. I got enough fondant to match the length of a full size violin scroll and neck and rolled it like a long sausage and then I sat for 3 hours and carved it to shape. The scroll was a mega task but I just kept shaping and cutting til it looked right. I then used an old real fingerboard real pegs and placed them into position. I achieved this I then moved on to making the tail piece and chin rest, these were the two easiest pieces to make and then came the bridge, OMG it was tricky, it took me another 3 hours just to shape and carve it to look realistic.
Once all the pieces were made I baked the cake for the body. After letting the cake cool, I placed my outline underneath and cut the cake to shape, this was easy but then came time to cover in fondant and it was hard as sponge cake was so tender and soft I had to make sure I did not break the cake on the fine corners. I took my time with it and it took me about 40 minutes to get the fondant over and shaped.
Once all this was done I placed it on a board and put all the pieces in place and then mixed food color with spirits to get a good texture and then I hand painted the lot. The finishing touch was the strings, I wanted a realistic look so I carefully broke for horse hairs off my bow and cleaned them with alcohol and then I place them into position.
It had to be great as it was for the most amazing lady in my life, my mum. Once I finished the cake I looked at it for a while and could not believe I actually achieved this. Dinner celebration time: the cake came out and my mum was lost for words. Everyone was like “wow”, “OMG it looks so real” and then we cut the work of art and the results were amazing, everyone said the cake was so moist and beautiful.
Mum was amazed at the result and was talking about it for days and I also shared my photo on Facebook and the comments felt so rewarding, it was my proudest cake making moment ever. I never thought I could do such a cake but when you put your mind to a challenge it turns out you can do anything you set your mind to.
To make this cake, you need to put a lot of love and time into it.
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