The Doctor Cake

This past summer I was asked by my husband, N's, boss if I might be interested in making a nice cake for a farewell party they were having for one of his co-workers. This co-worker had been accepted into Med School and was leaving the organization to pursue this new career. So, N and I took a look online to see what some possibilities could be. We saw this design and thought it was really fun, but I can remember distinctly saying "No, I don't think I could do that...it's too hard!" However, I thought about it that night and after deconstructing the cake into steps, it seemed like it could be do-able. I did, however, have a back-up plan. I figured if the cake was awful, I would whip up some cupcakes and make little fondant bandages for toppers. I don't think I could have done this cake without that back-up plan!

So I forged ahead. I covered the cake with fondant twice. Yes, twice. The first time I had rolled the fondant way too thin and hadn't made the piece big enough to cover the cake properly. So I chucked it and tried again. Success! That was half the battle to me.

I spent the rest of that evening getting the tie and shirt just right. The shirt collar was also a hurdle. After several attempts, I can remember telling myself..."do it one more time and call it good"...and it was perfect! I couldn't believe my luck! I propped up the collar with some plastic wrap and went to bed. The next day I put the lapels, the stethoscope on. It was looking so good! I could hardly believe it! I gave it a few extra details and stopped working, stood back, and was truly proud of what I had accomplished.

In light of those huge and impressive cakes that you see on T.V. it was nothing, but in terms of my creative journey, this was a massive step!