Many Evocations Lion Cake

Even though I recently (like four weeks ago) declared that I was not ready to return to cake making after Fielding’s birth (this after making a cake with my foot on the bouncy chair the whole time, which was tricky business indeed), I inexplicably volunteered to do a birthday cake for my friend’s son. I guess it’s kind of like heroin. Well maybe not that bad. It’s like nitrous. I think I’m done for awhile, and then I want just a little more. And each time I do a cake I feel like I’ve been kicked in the face by the learning curve, especially when I forget something that I learned before and make the same mistake again…like I did this time with letting my fondant get too dry. But hopefully, little by little, my cakes are getting better. I’m really toying with the idea of moving to commercial fondant, because the marshmallow stuff I make is simple and tasty, but kind of unpredictable, and very difficult, ie: too soft, to decorate with beyond covering the tiers. Anyway, this is the lion cake. I call it many evocations lion cake because when I look at the trees I think of Vietnam and Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings (not exactly a cheery remembrance for a one year-old birthday party), and when I look at the lion I think of Sid Vicious, or Robert Smith. The little paw prints around the first tier are the part I’m most proud of…I think those will be repeated on future animal cakes. The cake, btw, was dark chocolate with chocolate butter cream, by request of the birthday boy’s family, and it turned out to be genuinely LUSCIOUS.