This week, I made a cake for a family friend who was graduating from high school. The graduation happens to coincide with her own birthday as well as the birthdays of 4 other family members. Rather than combine the birthdays and graduation into one giant cake, I made two cakes to sit side-by-side. Besides, Jordyn deserved the spotlight for graduating from high school so she shouldn’t have to share her cake, right?!
Here is a close-up of Jordyn’s graduation cap cake, which is very similar to the cake I made for Jiejin when she got her Ph.D. last March. I was pretty much given free reign regarding how to decorate these cakes. I really liked how Jiejin’s graduation cap came out so I decided to do it again! Jordyn graduated from Chamberlain High School, whose mascot is the Chiefs, so I made a pennant to represent her love of sports and school activities (she was the Senior Class Vice President and President of the Latin Club).
And here is the birthday cake! I wanted this cake to look like a very simple, classic birthday cake. The cake is covered in buttercream icing and decorated with a shell border. Fondant circle cut-outs were used to make the geometric design on the side of the cake. To give the cake a little umph, I piped each person’s name on a gum paste pennant, and stuck them in the cake. I wasn’t at the party this weekend, but apparently they all took their little pennants home. I’m glad they all liked the cake! Congratulations, Jordyn, and Happy Birthday, everyone!
Your mortar board cakes are always so realistic. The birthday cake is simple but has an understated elegance.