So how do you incorporate 40 years of adventure, into one single cake? I know,... at first I was stumped too. Luckily, the birthday boy's wife trusted me enough to give me complete creative liberty,... while I sat in the corner and prayed. : ) After countless sketches, and lots of worrying, I was able to create a cake that told a story, by just looking at it. But don't just look at the front,.... you have to walk all the way around it.
The story starts at the bottom tier on the front, and then goes to the bottom tier on the back. To keep a masculine look, I went with black silhouette figures. I hand cut each one out of fondant, with a little Exacto knife, being sure to get every detail. When the birthday boy was younger, he loved swimming and skateboarding. I sculpted fondant goggles and a skateboard ramp to help represent this time of his life. Don't you love how it looks like he just flew off the ramp? The middle tier was his teenage years, with his VW Bug and wrestling. The top tier represents two things he loves to do now, mountain biking and wakeboarding. One of my favorite details is the icing waves, with the white crested water. On top, stands a fondant "40", painted with edible silver.
Happy 40th Birthday, Denny! Heaven help me when he turns 50! : ) We'll just have to add a few more tiers.
