All Saints' Day

Last year, I was asked to make a cake for an All Saints's day party we attended. Because we like doing uber Catholic things from time to time. As if we needed another excuse to dress up our kids the day after Halloween. ;-) In truth, these parties are really awesome, well-thought out events, and it was a joy to make the cake, a simple cake that got rave reviews. 

So I got to make the cake for this year's party too. I kept it similar to last year's but different enough to stay interesting. After all, there are only so many ways to make a saint cake. 

Front

Back (before I placed the dove). 

I tried a few new things: first, I made the "fancy" doctored-up version of boxed cake (use butter instead of oil & double it, add an extra egg, and use milk instead of water). It was yummy, but I honestly didn't know that it was that different from just following the recipe regularly. I'd have to test them side-by-side to be sure. 

Another new thing was the square middle tier. I had never covered a square in fondant. It was not as hard as I thought it'd be, and it was nice to pipe the saints onto a flat surface. 

I was unsure that leaving the piped-on figures uncolored would make it look incomplete, but Paul convinced me it would look too "busy" if I filled them in with color, so I kept them simple. And I'm all about color, so leaving them this way was not easy!

My hand was cramped from squeezing the piping bag after all was said and done! 

I also made Katie's and Anthony's costumes for the party. Quick, poorly sewed/glued outfits from leftover fabric to make them into Sts. Kateri and Anthony. I made a strip of fur to make Anthony a tonsure, but he refused to wear it. Oh well! Ellie wanted to be a princess saint, so Elizabeth of Hungary was her costume again. Easy when you have plenty of dress-up dresses to choose from. I used the same tiara/veil she wore two years ago, and ta-da! 

Amazing what a difference a year makes. 

Happy Feast of All Saints!