1980's Cake

For my 1980's cake I had a few ideas of what type of cake I was going to make. My original idea was to create one tier of a wedding cake. I though this would be really fun since the style of piping/decorating used on wedding cakes in the 80's is very similar to the popular retro style that's trending right now. However, I decided not to do this since I would like to use this style for my 2020 cake, and I didn't want to have two cakes that looked the same. Then I was approached by someone to make a cake with the University of Michigan logo. This was perfect because it allowed me to explore the beginning of theme cakes, as well as trying some new types of decorating.

The inspiration for this cake came from themed cakes in the late 1980's. These cakes were themed after popular cartoon characters, movies, celebrities, and occasions such as graduations. This was the first decade in which cakes for birthdays would feature a Disney Princess or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. This trend continued to rise in the 90's and is still extremely popular today. The colours also well represented the 80's; bright colours and bold designs were all the rage!

For this cake I went with a classic chocolate cake (recipe linked here: https://addapinch.com/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/), with a nutella filling, and my favourite swiss meringue buttercream (linked here: https://natashaskitchen.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/). For the piping around the edges I piped some simple shells. The M was a bit more difficult to design, as it required an outline to be made an then filled in. In future if I were to design a logo on a cake I would use fondant, as it would create a much smoother and cleaner look. Overall though, this was a really fun cake to make and it gave me some experience with new techniques.