Growing up there were several kids in our church all about the same age, and we had all our birthday parties together. One of the mothers made character cakes for all parties (just like that Donald Duck Pic). I can remember R2D2 and Animal from the Muppets. She did a really great job and the cakes always looked perfect. I don't know what she did with all those pans though because she also had a really small kitchen.
Relaly nice to get cool cakes. I wonder if it was just natural talent or if she took one of the courses. I have watched some videos of people using the skills they learned and I am still a bit confused how they do it, but I have never been good at that sort of fine work.
As a recently retired illustrator/graphic designer, I had a three year stint with a baking products and supplies company doing product development and promotion. Let me tell you, what an interesting and cut-throat business that industry is! The fight for retail shelf space is real, and Wilton was always the 800 lb. gorilla in the room! You’d never know from those vintage promo catalogs how ultra-serious and competitive that business was, and still is!
My mom and grandmother took one of those courses, and did a little business on the side. My gram made wedding cakes (I remember boxes of icing roses! and the elaborate latticework!) and my mom made "character" and birthday cakes. I remember she used a Raggedy Ann cake to make soccer players and "birthday boy/girl" cakes that looked like the kids. She also had the skirt cake with the doll on a spike and I was the recipient of many a princess cake.
The bachelor party cake is so "of its time" - one of my mom's most popular cakes was her "dirty old man" cake - an outline of a woman in a bikini holding a martini glass. She would send us to the corner store to buy a few gumdrops for her boobs, and the bachelor got to eat them. We thought it was hilarious at the time.
Okay, I remember these. I've now lived in Australia for several years and I have a good supplement for this story
The Australian Women's Weekly Childrens birthday cakes :
https://www.womensweeklyfood.com.au/baking/australian-womens-weekly-childrens-birthday-cakes-29679/
This includes the famous ' Duck' cake that has been referenced in the "Bluey" TV show.
Many of these look more than a little challenging, then again - I'm a great meal cook and a terrible baker.
The first thing I was going to stay I love the Duck Cake with the potato chip bill. I am always amazed at anyone who pulls these off.
Growing up there were several kids in our church all about the same age, and we had all our birthday parties together. One of the mothers made character cakes for all parties (just like that Donald Duck Pic). I can remember R2D2 and Animal from the Muppets. She did a really great job and the cakes always looked perfect. I don't know what she did with all those pans though because she also had a really small kitchen.
Relaly nice to get cool cakes. I wonder if it was just natural talent or if she took one of the courses. I have watched some videos of people using the skills they learned and I am still a bit confused how they do it, but I have never been good at that sort of fine work.
As a recently retired illustrator/graphic designer, I had a three year stint with a baking products and supplies company doing product development and promotion. Let me tell you, what an interesting and cut-throat business that industry is! The fight for retail shelf space is real, and Wilton was always the 800 lb. gorilla in the room! You’d never know from those vintage promo catalogs how ultra-serious and competitive that business was, and still is!
My mom and grandmother took one of those courses, and did a little business on the side. My gram made wedding cakes (I remember boxes of icing roses! and the elaborate latticework!) and my mom made "character" and birthday cakes. I remember she used a Raggedy Ann cake to make soccer players and "birthday boy/girl" cakes that looked like the kids. She also had the skirt cake with the doll on a spike and I was the recipient of many a princess cake.
The bachelor party cake is so "of its time" - one of my mom's most popular cakes was her "dirty old man" cake - an outline of a woman in a bikini holding a martini glass. She would send us to the corner store to buy a few gumdrops for her boobs, and the bachelor got to eat them. We thought it was hilarious at the time.
This was such a fun read, thank you!
That lion cake is fantastic!
The color and artistic choices made while reusing the same pans always impresses me.
It really is an art form.