Last month, my friend called me about her cousin who had an emergency... a cake emergency! Ada needed a cake for her client, and time was fast approaching. Ada works for fashion icon Burberry, and this could not be less than that. Her client was celebrating her birthday, and they wanted to surprise her with a delicious purse cake. Ada sent me a couple pictures of purses, and we weighed out our options to figure which one had a better shape and size for the cake. After a few messages, we were able to narrow it down to her client's fave purse, the Prorsum Knight!
The cake begun as a 1/4 sheet vanilla cake that was cut into 4ths, and stacked between layers of vanilla buttercream. Using a template that I created on the computer, I marked the areas that I would carve with toothpicks, tracing the outside edge of my paper template. I slowly carved away thin sections for a smooth tapered shape. I've learned that the trick to carving a cake is a good serrated knife, and a chilled cake. This prevents the cake from just falling apart, and I'm not left with a pile of crumbs. The entire cake was then crumb coated with buttercream for a smoother finish.
The next two steps were a bit tricky, and took some patience. I had to recreate the pleating in the leather to resemble the real purse. I rolled out the black fondant and cut out a piece slightly larger than the front and back of the purse. I draped the fondant down the side, and created a pleated fold with my fingers just before adhering it to cake. Then the hardest part was to create the zipper and the zipper opening. I was lucky to find a zipper mold, but that didn't solve the problem I faced about incorporating it to the top of the purse cake. I didn't want to just plop it on top... I wanted a nice clean finished look as if it was stitched under the leather. I realized that I would have to work fast in order to get my plan to work. I formed two fondant zippers with help of the silicone mold, and brushed on silver luster dust for a metallic sheen. I then quickly rolled out a strip of black fondant and slit in two openings the size of the zippers. I positioned the strip over the top of the zipper and adhered it with a touch of gum glue. This gave the appearance that the zippers were set into the purse and behind the leather. The result was perfect! I then carefully drapped this over the top of the purse cake and smoothed it down to follow the curvy top. Using an exacto knife, I carefully trimmed off the excess. A rope of black fondant finished off the seams, and a quilting wheel helped to add the details of the stitching.
Next up was the handles, and I didn't want handles that just laid on top. I wanted to add some structure so I opted for 30 gauge wrapped floral wire that I shaped according to my template. I rolled out a skinny strip of black fondant and folded it over the wire and attached it with some gum glue. Then I traced along the edges with the quilting wheel for a stitching affect. The ends were then inserted into the cake and trimmed with a triangular piece with more stitching. The Prorsum Knight could not be complete without the studs that ran along the bottom. I created the studs from small balls of grey fondant, flattening the sides with a knife, and covered them with more silver luster dust. Positioning them on the cake took a bit of planning and a ruler. It would be awful to have studs that were crooked. Each one was attached with a dot of piping gel. For final details, I added the distinct key lock, and a silver Burberry tag. A contrasting blue gift tag personalized the purse cake. A cake this fabulous needed a matching base, so I covered a half inch foil drum with black fondant and imprinted a weaving pattern. I then painted on a their signature black on black plaid pattern with clear piping gel. And voila! No girl should ever live without a Burberry....cake!
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