Paul's 32nd Birthday Cake

My husband's birthday was today, and birthdays=cake! But he isn't really a cake guy. And I love making cakes! Cakes=love! What kind of cake do you make for someone who doesn't really like cake? A brownie, of course! I baked brownie batter in 2 6-inch cake pans and then stacked them with an extra cake layer in the middle (more on that later), covered them in ganache, and shaped the ganache into a barrel. 

Then I covered a wooden board with fondant in a wood-grain pattern. 

Next up, fondant on the barrel, but it needs something more...

That's better! I finally got to use my airbrush on a cake, and I loved it! 

Then it was time for detail work. 

This project wasn't without struggles... I tried a lot of new techniques, like gelatin decorations. Gelatin is a tricky medium, but it's really cool. I had no idea it could dry completely hard. I used it to make Elsa's cape on Ellie's cake, and I figured it would be good for a wine bottle. I was wrong. 

As it dried, the gelatin warped, and the result was not very pretty. 

Another not-so-pretty part of cake making is color mixing. It can be quite messy and difficult to mix up the colors to that just-right shade. 

But in the end, despite the setbacks, all the effort and time that goes into each detail is worthwhile. 

I borrowed some leaves from our grapevine to make the leaves as realistic as possible. 

I like this angle, wine pouring in. 

The label was easy: just food marker on a fondant rectangle. 

Jacobs Estate Winery: Birthday Blend! I ended up pouring colored chocolate in a wine bottle mold since the gelatin bottle failed, and even that didn't work out perfectly, but it turned out good enough for a midnight finish. 

The wine glass was a gelatin success, with minimal warping. Gelatin decorations are technically edible, but plain gelatin, no sugar, and a hard plastic texture do not make for good eating. At least it looks cool!

Here it is, the whole cake. 

We had some fun at cake cutting time. 

Not nearly as yummy as the real deal!

About that middle layer... Remember that gender reveal cake? I made a pink and blue layer to avoid a time crunch, so I had an extra pink layer that I didn't want to go to waste... Paul only ate the brownie part, but the kids were so excited to eat fondant, brownie, cake, ganache... Everything!

They ran around like sugar high maniacs after presents, but even so, I think Paul enjoyed his birthday! Happy Birthday to my love!