There are some things I strive to make a tradition. Chore charts, for instance. I’ve tried ’em. I can get them to work for a season, and then they’re done. No tradition. Just a short-lived attempt at something.
Then, there are other things that happen one time and like it or not, they’re tradition.
Last year, Chinese New Year’s Eve was spent creating a dragon cake masterpiece. Our Chinese school loved it. Way loved it and, started talking about snake cakes shortly thereafter. I made a cake once and somehow it became tradition–and one that stressed me out, mind you, since I am not a baker. In fact, I don’t even eat cake. But, I’m now the CNY cake maker at least in our little ‘hood.
When I should have been sleeping, I was laying in bed pondering how to make this bad boy. I could have used the same body formation that I used for the dragon to make a slithering snake. But, I was worried it would look too been-there-done-that two years in a row. So, I went for the coiled look.
After spending entirely too much time in the grocery store staring at the candy and icing and all that good stuff hoping some creative muse would come to me, I ended up with two marble cake mixes, two canisters of icing, two $.99 chocolate Valentine hearts, a box of fruit by the foot, a package of disposable 8″ cake round pans, and a gigantic bag of M&Ms. I bought double what I thought I’d need…well, because I assumed I’d have some problems and might need a do-over. Turns out the first run worked–I really only needed one box cake mix and one canister of icing. Maybe I’ll just have to make this again with what I have still in my pantry.
I followed the directions on the cake mix box (I know, I’m such a faker) and filled one 8″ round more than the other (buttering and flouring those pans like nobody’s business), thinking the bigger round would look good as the bottom coil. Once they were baked, I let them cool a good while in the pans and then took them out to cool without flipping them upside down.
The edges didn’t look rounded enough for me. So, I used my bread knife and shaved just a little bit around the top to round it a bit. I saved the pieces I cut off because I ended up using those little cake scraps for the tail.
I cut a round circle out of cardboard that was slightly larger than the cake pan I used and wrapped it with foil. I put the bigger finished cake down on that foil-wrapped circle to start decorating. Before I covered the whole thing with icing, I mushed those extra little pieces of cake together and put a little bit of icing in with it to mold it a bit. I stuck that onto the side of the cake to be the tail and then covered it all with chocolate almond flavored icing. I don’t even know if anyone really noticed that tail, but I thought it added a bit to the look. I started adding stripes of M&Ms in a red and orange pattern, only doing the sides and a little bit onto the top since I knew the other round cake was going to be on top anyway.
Before I put the other round cake on top, I put some icing on the bottom of it around the edges since I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get underneath it very well to spread the icing without messing up my bottom cake I had already decorated. Then, I carefully put it on top and covered it with icing and the M&M pattern just like I did the bottom, deliberately not having the stripes line up with the bottom layer.
Once I did that, I took one of my $.99 chocolate Valentine hearts, put icing all over the flat back side and stuck in that icing a 8″ or 9″ piece of fruit by the foot which I had cut in half width wise with kitchen shears. I then matched up the other heart so that the “tongue” was sandwiched between them. I put a glob of icing on the center of the top of the cake and put that heart head on top of that, finishing it off with 2 yellow M&Ms for eyes stuck on with another dab of icing.
Then, I stood back and admired him…and called my parents and made them take a look at him…and texted my husband who was away for a YL conference and made him look at him…and posted a picture on FB so that I could have some other people affirm me before taking him to the gala today to keep up tradition.
They liked it. Really liked it. They even told me that the NBC news crew got it on camera as they got coverage of the gala today. As with last year, they waited until the end to cut it. The head was the first to sell when they did finally cut it. My two boys who I proceeded to purchase pieces of my snake cake for seemed to like it along with a bunch of other kids.
And, yes, though I vowed on FB at midnight last night that I would not be attempting to make a horse cake next year, maybe I did google it for a few minutes tonight, alright? But, I’m not committing to anything, okay? I think a dragon cake and snake cake fully extended my cake creativity…at least for now.