Golden graduation!!

So, last week I made a gold graduation cap for a young lady named Kathryn.  Her lovely Mum Arieta contacted me regarding this special cake that she wanted to surprise her daughter with a few weeks back.  I was excited to make this cake because the last graduation cap I made was over a year ago, and that one was not covered in fondant like this one.  And this cap was ALL GOLD!!  So I had fun painting and creating a beautiful vintage look to it to give it some character {to represent the hard work and time Kathryn invested in her studies in order to make it to the end!}.

Now, this cake was a huge challenge for me.  It's been extremely hot lately, and while I'm not complaining about the beautiful weather we've been getting, it just makes cake decorating that much more challenging.  For the first time I had something horrible happen to my cake.  It was pretty devastating actually...and I remember crying so much last week when it happened.  Crying more because I felt helpless because it was beyond my control...and I felt bad for Arieta who drove a very long way to collect the cake.  Oh, and plus the fact that it took sooo looong to put together :-(  To cut a long story short, the chocolate ganache melted underneath the fondant and caused it to shift.  Gravity then took over and the fondant cracked in two places then drooped down.  It was pretty ugly.  Thankfully Arieta was very understanding and allowed me to work on it that night {second sleepless night in a row}.  My family and I dropped the cake off the following morning, after I stripped everything off and started over, adding necessary reinforcements to ensure it didn't happen again.

This experience was a blessing in disguise.  It taught me a few things about myself, cakes, and people, and most importantly reminded me to lean on the Lord's strength instead of my own.  Sometimes we just have to go through unpleasant circumstances in order to come out on top.

Congratulations on your accomplishment Kathryn!!  And all the best for your future!!

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!!  Come back tomorrow for a fun kids cake that I made on the weekend {making it my third sleepless night in a row - yikes!!}  Can't wait to share it with you!!

Have a blessed day!!

xo,
Jackie