The Techniques of a Caker - Novelty Figurine

Last weekend we celebrated the 80th birthday of a very special lady, Mary, ‘The Boy’s' beautiful Nan and I was asked to make the cake for the celebration. 

I knew I wanted to make a figurine for the top of the cake and after learning how to make a novelty figure with Blissfully Sweet earlier this year, I thought I would brush up on my skills and create a topper of Mary. Over the years I have been privy to some absolute pearler stories about Mary and thought I would include some of the best as features on the topper - rollers in her hair as we witness everyday, a lemon jumper that she used to proudly wear (not realising lemon was a slang term for lesbian people at the time) and a scooter. Never shying away from a challenge, Mary followed ‘The Boy' down a hill on the scooter and ended up with a broken collarbone, hence the shocked face. 

As Nan had to make the long journey from Newcastle to Orange, I wanted her to be as light as possible, so I covered a foam ball and egg with fondant and moulded her arms and legs with gum paste. I covered her head with lots and lots of little rollers made of fondant and hand painted on the lemon and facial features. We all made the journey home without any damage. 

The cake was a white chocolate mud cake filled with buttercream, raspberry jam and coated in coconut. 

It wouldn’t be a Delaney party without a good dress-up so we all dressed up as our favourite 70s characters.