I was really excited to make this cake. The bride asked me to make a bass guitar cake to replicate the bass guitar her groom owned. I wanted to make this cake more challenging by having the cake actually stand up. I did a lot of research on the internal structure of this cake to ensure that it would stand. I went to my local music store to trace around an actual bass guitar and pick up some guitar strings and guitar stand. I decided to make a 3/4 model of the real guitar so that it was a more manageable size and so that I could transport it in my car.
I began the construction of the cake by cutting out the guitar shape on 1/2" plywood. I cut the neck and body separately so the neck would be slightly elevated from the bottom of the cake, like in a regular guitar. I cut a shelf to place in the middle of the board for extra support. I also cut a piece of foam to place on the bottom of the board to support the cake when it stood up.
I began the construction of the cake by cutting out the guitar shape on 1/2" plywood. I cut the neck and body separately so the neck would be slightly elevated from the bottom of the cake, like in a regular guitar. I cut a shelf to place in the middle of the board for extra support. I also cut a piece of foam to place on the bottom of the board to support the cake when it stood up.
To make the cake food safe, I covered the board in aluminum foil.
Next I filled the board with the cake (lemon mmmm). I carved the cake to fit into the board. Before I filled the cake, I placed a layer of frosting on top of the foil to help the cake stick to the board.
I then covered the cake with chocolate ganache. This was to create a hard shell around the cake so that it would not go anywhere and to have a smooth surface for the fondant to stick to.
Next I placed modeling chocolate on the back of the neck to mimic the roundness of a real guitar neck. I then placed fondant on the back of the neck and body.
I finished adding fondant to the front of the guitar body and top of the neck. I then placed the cake on the guitar stand. This part was a little tricky and caused some of the fondant to bunch around the supports of the guitar stand. I was able to re-work the fondant around the stand so the edge of the guitar was smooth. It definitely was handy to have a second set of hands to get the cake on the stand.
The bass I was replicating had a center portion that was a natural wood finish, so I taped off a center strip before I airbrushed the cake. I also painted solid black lines before I airbrushed the cake to give the finished look a quilted/tiger stripe look.
Next I airbrushed the cake. This step didn't come easily because my airbrush decided to stop working on me. I had to run to the craft store as soon as they opened in the morning and purchase a new airbrush. I lucked out and had a %50 off coupon, so I saved some money there. I airbrushed the cake with a solid black paint to replicate the groom's bass.
Next I painted a wood grain look onto the center portion of the bass. I achieved this by first painting light brown lines onto the white fondant, and then airbrushing over the lines.
Next I added a fret board and painted it to look like a dark stained wood.
I finished off the cake with marzipan turning screws, knobs, real guitar strings, frets, sound boards and other finishing details.
Well that is how I made my standing bass guitar cake. I hope you enjoyed looking at my progress photos as much as I had fun making this challenging cake. I can't wait until my next engineering cake challenge!