Into the Woods!

What could possibly be cuter for a baby shower theme than  woodland critters?! This cake was so much fun to do, and really shows how much my fondant work has improved! 

The cake itself was a lemon cake with a homemade blueberry compote and Swiss meringue buttercream filling. I used applesauce instead of buttermilk and it turned out beautifully moist. 

I used a silicon textured mat to create the bark look around the outside, and various size round cake pans to score the top of the "stump" before tracing them with brown gel food color to make the rings. I used textured stamps to cut out the leaves and flowers, but the fox I sculpted freehand. It took me a few times to get her just right! The mushrooms are plain meringues, and for the red caps I dipped them in red colored white chocolate and cut out fondant circles for the spots. Meringue mushrooms are actually quite easy to make, but don't forget to make extra in case you break a few!

It was so exciting to see this cake come together, and really gratifying to see that all of the practice is paying off! 

Recipe Link: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-blueberry-layer-cake/ - I substituted applesauce for buttermilk, and used