Purse Cake

I made my first sculpted cake this week - a clutch purse cake. I am really pleased with how it turned out! The sculpting was both harder and easier than I expected. I had a hard time getting the sides even with each other, so if you look closely, you can see that. I learned a lot about how to sculpt, plan it out, etc! It was a lot of fun and I know I'll be trying more sculpted cakes in the future!

I also really love the flower on this cake. I've seen (and made) folded fabric flowers and wanted to replicate it on a cake. So, I tried it and it worked! I was so excited to see the finished flower and how it came together!

For those of you interested in the process, I cut a long rectangular strip of rolled out gumpaste. I then folded it in half lengthwise, wetting one of the long sides with some vodka so the sides would stick together. I was careful to only press the edges together so that I would get a puffier, more fabric-like look. I then took the pressed-together long edge and began folding just at that edge accordian-style until it formed a circle. In effect, I was "gathering" that edge together and letting the outer edge circle around. I then used vodka to attach the two shorter ends together to complete the circle. I did that whole process a second time with a slightly smaller piece of gumpaste to make the smaller circle in the flower. A little ball pressed down made the center and hid the gathered edge. I put those three pieces together and let it dry overnight in a round-bottomed dish that I have. (I actually used a Tupperware lemon-keeper and it was the perfect size and shape for my flower! Tupperware does it again! I love Tupperware!) I used the handle end of a small paintbrush to lift portions of the center of the flower to give it some more shape and texture and to ensure that it didn't settle flat against the outer circle. I stuck tiny pieces of tissue underneath so it would dry with the shape I gave it. Worked like a charm! Finally, after attaching the flower to the cake, I made three tiny fondant balls and attached them to the center of the flower. I then painted them with silver luster dust to make them silver.

Sorry for that long explanation! It is harder to explain these things without pictures than I thought! Next time, I will try to take progress pics of the flower so you can see it.

Here are a couple of pics of the cake in progress.

This is the cake after stacking, filling, and initial carving into the purse shape.

I wasn't quite happy with the shape after I crumb-coated it with ganache, so I sliced a little bit more off of the ends. I then ganached those edges, smoothed it, and covered it in fondant.

Here is the fondant-covered purse sans decorations.


I hope you enjoyed my purse cake! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!