Cowboy Jon Cake

by Erin
(Jacksonville, FL )

Cowboy Cake

This cowboy cake was created using an 8 inch 2-layer bottom tier, a six inch 2-layer middle tier, and a carved boot top tier (the boot was carved from a pound cake loaf). I began by baking an almond wedding cake recipe and filling the pans. This recipe uses sour cream as part of the batter, it helps make a firmer cake. After cakes were baked and rested for a day I began decorating.

I stacked and dirty iced the round tiers to help keep the crumbs to a minimum. Then I drafted a pattern for the boot from my sons actual boots. When carving the pound cake, I began by cutting the loaf in half. I inverted one half on end to create the ankle of the boot.

I carved the top of the second half in two ways. One section was carved flat for the ankle to rest on, the other section I left rounded to give the boot more dimension. I reattached the ankle section using a buttercream icing. After carving small rounded sections at a time from various ankles I achieved a boot-like cake. I then dirty iced the boot and set it aside.

To finish the cake, I covered the 8 inch tier with white buttercream, and the 6 inch with royal blue buttercream. After finish icing, I stacked the cakes. On the bottom tier I created horseshoes by using grey buttercream, and the basket weave tip (flat side). I also used Black to add "holes" to the horse shoes.

On the middle tier I used tip 3 and white buttercream to randomly place curved tear-drop (paisley) shapes, and diamond shapes all over the tier (this was to represent a bandana layer).

Then I took tip 2 and the black icing and I lined the inside of each white shape. I also added accent dots to the curved sections of the paisleys.

To finish the boot, I covered it in Red buttercream, then I used the basket weave tip flat side to add chocolate buttercream to the toe and heal sections, smoothing with a damp spatula to hide lines). I used the black icing to add accent "stitch" lines.

After all the tiers were completed I used chocolate buttercream and star tip 21 to create a rope border.