This cake was from last week and was a triple-layer lemon cake. Having made some lemon curd before hand, I mixed it with the buttercream, along with some lemon zest and juice to boost the flavour, as well as spreading a thin layer of the curd between the layers of sponge.Contrasting to the usual method of levelling each layer of the cake for a flat top, this time I worked with the rounded top to the cake, shaving it back slightly. The purpose of this was to utilise the curve to help emphasise the the green in the centre of the cake. With the cake covered in dark green fondant, I cut a rounded piece of lighter green fondant as the golf green, to be placed on top.
This cake gave me the opportunity to test out pastillage for the first time. It's initial texture is similar to that of fondant, but dries quickly and rock hard. The flag, flag pole and golf club were made using the pastillage. The main reason though for using pastillage was to make a backdrop plaque to resemble the front of a pub in Cork; the Bishopstown Bar. First, I coloured the pastillage using powder dusts, which are better as they help maintain its original consistency. Using a photo as a template, I cut out the necessary layers of the plaque. Once dried hard, assembly and decoration was next. I used royal icing for the detail on the plaque.
