Noddy's "Welcome" Cake (March 2001)

This is a cake I made for Noddy's housewarming party. It's a yellow cake covered with buttercream icing. This cake is important for 2 reasons. One, it's the first time I've done lettering, and you can see that except for the oversized "O" in "WELCOME", it turned out quite well. I actually started lettering from the center and then moved outward to make sure I'd have enough room. Two, although I've done basketweaving before, I've never done it with a number 5 decorating tip. (Debbie had suggested it in class, so I gave it a try, and wow does it look good!) It took about an hour and a half to get that part done, and we were actually a few minutes late getting to the party because i was still finishing it up.

Despite the problem with the basketweave (see problems below), I think the cake was beautiful in its simplicity, and I got several compliments at the party! Dan and I didn't stay at the party long enough to get to dessert, but the next day, Jeanne stopped by my office and said that everyone had been very impressed with the cake, which made me feel good.

Problems: I had very few problems with this cake. Basically, I just should have started a little sooner, but I had no idea the basketweaving would take so long. Also, the "O" in "WELCOME" was a little big, but not so big that it was a big deal. Oh! An interesting thing happened as i finished the basketweaving. As I approached the end, I noticed that the icing wasn't the same shade of white I'd started with. It had also gotten considerably softer. (You can see what I mean in the 5th photo) I'm guessing this has to do with the warmth from my hands melting the icing, but I'll have to ask Debbie to be sure. It's kind of annoying because it's quite noticeable, but overall I was happy with the way it turned out.