Moms Two Cents

Okay, here it is… you requested that I explain how and what supplies were used to make my youngest son’s “Music” themed graduation cake so here it is! Cameron’s high school graduation cookout required a special cake for his special occasion. His love for music as well as his musical talent helped him procure several music scholarships and I wanted to touch on this “musical theme” while making his graduation cake! I describe below how I constructed his cake and what supplies I used.

For the bottom cake tier I baked 2 – 14” round (3” deep) layers of butter flavored cake. I then split each layer into 2 layers for a total of 4 layers for the bottom tier.

The middle and top layers were 2 – 10”round (3” deep) layers of butter flavored cake. I also split each layer into 2 layers for a total of 4 layers.

After leveling and splitting each layer, I placed a plastic tier support between the bottom and middle tiers for added support. I then used white buttercream frosting to fill between all layers and dirty ice the cake. I layered each tier in this order…

• Bottom tier: 4 layers (2 regular layers) of 14” round cake
• Middle tier: 2 layers (1 regular layer) of 10” round cake
• Top tier: 2 layers (1 regular layer) of 10” round cake – Cut in half and discard one half (or dirty ice it for a “sneak taste test”

A lot of you wanted to know why I didn’t use fondant to get that very popular “smooth” finish. I did a taste testing weeks beforehand with my family and they were not fond of the fondant! (No pun intended) ha! We prefer the rich creamy texture of traditional buttercream frosting. You could use fondant if you prefer.

After smooth frosting the whole cake with buttercream frosting, I used an icing comb to add the textured lines to the bottom tier as well as the “front” side of the top layer half to give it a musical line type finish.

I ordered chocolate molds online and made the musical notes, treble clefs, bass clefs, sharps and flats a day ahead. I used black melting chocolate to fill and make each candy mold. You can buy colored melting chocolate disks at almost every craft store, local Walmart,  or Target. After pouring the melted chocolate in the molds I placed broken in half toothpick pieces into each mold, (careful not to push all the way through) and then I placed plastic wrap over each mold to hold the toothpicks in place until the mold hardened. These “picks” on the back side of each chocolate piece was used to hold the candy in place on the cake.

Thanks to the internet I was able to find the musical staff with notes sugar transfer sheets as well as the plastic “celebrate” easel for the top of the cake and the plastic “graduate” cap.

NOTE: Do not place the sugar transfer sheets on the cake until the day of the event! If left on the cake too long, they draw moisture and begin to “bleed” onto the cake.

My daughter made a copy of her high school diploma using a fine elegant paper, rolled it up and tied it with a bow for extra decoration!

I finished up the cake with colored chocolate candy balls that I found online in his future college colors also.

OH HAPPY DAY!!!