JR turns Thirty!

As I mentioned on this post, two Friday's ago was my big bro's thirtieth birthday (it was also the first day of the RWC).  We celebrated this special day on Sunday over lunch at Daikoku Japanese restaurant in Takapuna, followed with more celebrations at his place afterwards.  It was a great day!  Delicious food + family = HAPPY TIMES!  And of course, there was cake!  Or shall I say CAKES!

For a few weeks before my brother's birthday, I had his cake in the back of my mind.  I have pages of doodles sketches, and everyday I managed to come up with a new plan.  Talk about confusing!!  By the time I had to make the cake, I managed to narrow my design ideas down to three...then as I was making it, it changed yet again.  Talk about indecisive, huh?  No, I really just had trouble with my original idea and it didn't quite work out with the cake I had in mind.  Sooo, I had to start over, as in from the baking!  I was actually in tears on Saturday because I hadn't slept yet, and my plans weren't working as well as I hoped.  Maybe it was the sleep deprivation that was finally affecting the outcome of my work?  Anyway, I didn't give up (as defeated as I felt that day).  I actually had to repeat my fave verse to get me back up again, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  I knew there was another design my brain was yet to unveil...and sure enough, there was.  Thank you Lord!!  I went from rock bottom to the top of Mount Everest!

The first cake I worked on was the shoe - the most challenging in terms of design.  But I was grateful I only had to make one, as opposed to two like these MJ tip-toe shoes I made last month.  I wanted to recreate these basketball shoes my brother loves.  They are the Concept 1 APL (Athletic Propulsion Labs) shoes.

Click to read more and to see the cake after the break...



This particular shoe come in a range of colours.  As much as I wanted to make the neon green version, I decided to go with my sister-in-law Kat's suggestion of doing the red one (also because my brother is a Heat's fan, so had to incorporate the colour red in there somewhere).  I had to use my friend Google in order to create this.  I searched for different angles, as challenging as it is turning 2D into 3D, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Now,  if I had more time I would have spent it on the details, such as the texture of the shoes, the height, the finish, etc etc.  But time was very limited, and sleep was none, so I had to just do what I could as best I could.  And although it didn't turn out EXACTLY as the pic, I'm still very pleased with the outcome.
Note: The next series of shots were taken at the restaurant as I didn't have enough time to take them at home.

Now, for the rest of the cake, I decided to do a basketball hoop with a faux basketball on top.  I originally wanted to carve out a ball from cake, but time didn't quite allow for that to happen.  But, what I ended up with was still pretty awesome.  Sure the basketball could have been better executed, but I didn't have enough time.

Gosh, that always seems to be the case when it comes to these more complex cakes I tackle.  I do try to manage my time the best I can, but sometimes it doesn't go according to plan.  The main thing is not to feel defeated, but to simply go with it and do the best you can with what ya got and the time you have in your hands.

Now, this single (and biggish) cupcake (which is actually a cake carved to resemble a cupcake) is very special.  It is for my brother ONLY - not for sharing.  It is also a specialty flavour, banoffee, which he loves.

And for the finale!

And here's another shot taken at my brother's house (with better natural light), after our lunch at the resto (with already one of the yellow confetti balls missing on the cupcake)...just ignore my cousin Pat in the background :-)

And another one, from a different angle (just 'cause I can) :-)

So, there you have it!  My brother's thirtieth birthday cake!  Or cakes!  I hope you enjoyed this post as much as my family enjoyed eating the cakes.  Have a wonderful day!  Come back tomorrow for more sweetness!