The Cake Lady: Flip Flops

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Flip Flops

I've spent the last week working on this particular project. It was a lot of fun but you can only imagine my relief that it is done :) It is fun making all of the little parts, but such a sense of accomplishment when you can finally put all of the pieces together and have it all turn out just how you wanted.

This set of cupcakes/cake was for a wedding reception. It was an outdoor reception in the middle of July in Central CA! Crazy!!! But it was what it was! At least the Bride & Groom went easy on the guests and said it's casual, "Shorts & Flip Flops required"! What a life saver! That was also my cue for the theme of the cake/cupcakes.

I had never actually made flip flops before but I wanted to learn! So I researched the internet extensively and found a few sites that were quite explanatory on how they had achieved their adorable flip flops. I had several mess-ups which my son gladly helped me dispose of, and then finally I got the technique down. I was able to master the technique because I had to make 200 pairs (that's 400 individual) flip flops for the cupcakes, plus a few extras for spares. It would certainly be a lot easier if I could find a cutter in that exact shape, but for now I am content with my technique and thought they turned out quite well. I also made 2 pairs of large flip flops for the cake which sat on top of the cupcake boxes. One for groom and one for the bride!

Some flip flops :)

More flip flops!

And yet more flip flops!

After I got all of the soles cut out I had to put on the straps. I used fondant icing to do the stripes and attached a little fondant dot as an embellishment. I tried to do enough colors and alternate them so there were not too many duplicates. I was quite pleased with my 2 days work involved :)

Lots of flip flops :)

By that point it was time to make the cake and cupcakes. We did chocolate, vanilla, and marble cupcakes all with buttercream frosting. I piped the frosting on to look like green grass and then put the flip flops on with a little royal icing flower. Overall, I was extremely pleased with the end result. Rarely do I get the opportunity to attend the event I am baking for, but I was invited to this reception so I was able to see all of the reactions. It was very fun to hear how much everyone liked the cupcakes. It was even better to see them bite into the cupcake and realize that it tasted good too! That is a hard combination to come by!!!