First an acknowledgement: The majority of the work including anything artistic was done by my friend, Robin for her son Levi's 14th birthday last April. I supplied the original idea, most of the supplies, and lots of support as well as a few flowers and the path. The cake recipe is here: http://zoebakes.com/?p=165 We used ganache--chocolate chips and whipping cream for the underlaying frosting and lingonberry jam between each layer. The fondant is made mainly from marshmallows and powdered sugar. The pictures are more or less in reverse order. First you see multiple pictures of the cake, next a picture of the all important job of chocolate licker--notice that the parrot doesn't get any, then you get a few pictures of how we created the path--I don't think they are good enough to remind me how we did it if we ever do it again, and finally Robin's (and her children's) sculptures before they went on the cake. The green bird is meant to represent Rufus the parrot. We started before 6 AM putting this together, and I think we finished somewhere around lunchtime, maybe later.
We served kulebiaca--Russian filled breads for Stephen's graduation party last May. My friend Robin helped with the breads and did much of the cake and the peacock. Kristen and I first learned about the breads at Stolle Cafe in St. Petersburg. When we got home, we tried to copy them, eventually learning that their official name is kulebiaca.
