Her son just graduated from Radford University, and she was having a party down in Radford for him. So she asked what could we make that would be fun and different. We had her look at a few different graduation cakes for inspiration, and she decided that the Radford University mascot was in order. She asked us to put the Highlander on top. I hadn't seen him before, so she emailed a picture over. Well, he looks like a rugged mountain man with a Scottish twist! So we got to work.
We decided to use vanilla cake to sculpt the Highlander's face. After some time, the face started to take shape and we covered it in fondant. While the fondant was still soft, we added in the facial features and the high cheekbones. The facial hair had us all. On that Friday morning, the bakery was full of female decorators who have no facial hair. One of our decorators started a 5:00 shadow look, so I had to explain that this was a mountain man, one who had not shaved for a few weeks, so make his beard a little fuller and his hair a little higher! She then added his braid on the side. We finished him off with a plaid headband and he looked fabulous!
We then started on the cake underneath. Jennifer has a soft spot for our red velvet cake and chocolate devil's food, but her son leans towards the chocolate. So we made the bottom cake devil's food with chocolate buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream icing, which would travel well for the 4-5 hour drive down to Radford. We finished off the design with some RU logos on the side and some plaid stripes. We placed the Highlander on top and added some graduation hat sprinkles along with the plaque to say Congratulations Travis. I must say, we had a really great time with this cake.
Come out and brave the forecasted rainy week. When you mention our blog through Friday, May 20, which happens to be my 11th wedding anniversary, join me for a complimentary cupcake! Until next Tuesday, you can always visit us on Facebook or at http://www.cakesbyhappyeatery.com/.
