Little Gentleman's Themed Birthday Cake - Happy 1st Birthday to the Perfect Gentleman

Gentleman themed ombre smash cake!

I had the pleasure of working on a 'gentleman themed cake' for the perfect little gentleman. I thought that the theme embraced everything about the little guy. When his mom contacted me about making this cake, I was beyond excited. I had the joy of making his baby shower cake, his dedication cake and now his first birthday cake. Now that I am writing this, I'm realizing that I am about a year into cake decorating. You see, I started cake decorating not long before our little guy was born. In a previous post, I mentioned that that particular baby shower cake allowed me the opportunity to make the first of many; '... my first tiered cake, my first pillow cake, my first gum paste shoes...'. This birthday cake was no different; this was my first three tiered cake, first fondant bunting, first number topper, first fondant puppy and my first ever smash cake. Now you must surely understand why I just love making cakes for this little guy. Also, it was the first time that I saw one of my cakes so beautifully displayed. This brings me to the beautiful decor.

Favors done by our gentleman's mom!

Our little gentleman's mom did such an amazing job with the decor. I was so elated to see the cake table.  The tablecloth, the flowers etc made the table look so beautiful. The other tables and park space were also beautifully decorated. The colors and all the favors were alluring. Everything matched the theme including the 'bow tie shaped pasta' and the napkins 'tied to the cutlery in the shape of a bow'. The park where the birthday party was held was transformed to 'a gentleman's dreamland' finished with a beautiful photo booth. What a creative mom who has so much love for her son! I am so happy to have been part of our little gentleman's first birthday!

Cake Sketch made before working on the cake

This is the sketch I came up with using the Cake Sketcher web app. The design was based on the pic that I was sent and information garnered from discussions with our birthday boy's mom. The final cake doesn't match the sketch perfectly. I actually use the sketch as a guide but I'm sure that I will get better with time. I do wish that I had remembered to add a small piece of fondant to the top of the hat as illustrated in the picture. Every detail matters in cake decorating; that is what I think anyway.
Hopefully there will be a next time and note to self, 'refer to the sketch while decorating'.

First Birthday Gentleman themed cake

There were some great tutorials that helped me with this project!
Puppy

I thought that it would be nice to bring the family dog along bearing gifts!

Cake (fondant) Bunting
Template for the Number Topper 
Name Template (I messed up the name plate that I had made so I didn't use it but check out the link)
Fondant Roses

*Cake Recipes
Bottom Tier and Smash cake - Elissa Strauss' Vanilla Cake
Two top tiers - Paul Bradford's Chocolate Cake
Home Made Marsh mellow Fondant 
I used about 2/3 and 1/2 respectively, of the required sugar for the cakes.

Lessons Learned: 
I made a rose bud to use as a boutonniere. I inserted the bud with the wire into a flower spike and then inserted it into the cake. I thought that that was a good idea until I noticed that the tip of the spike remained in view and that the flower wouldn't stay in a position to cover up the spike. I should have tried this at home before getting to the location; that way I would have had a chance to fix it but I didn't. Oh well I definitely learned my lesson. Next time I will simply use royal icing or candy melts to attach the flower to the cake.

Improvements made:
In recent posts, one of my lessons learned was that I needed to work on my time. I think that I achieved this with this cake. I made the roses, puppies and other cake ornaments in advance. Also, I got the cake baked, decorated and ready hours ahead of the delivery time. I still have to work on my timing but I am happy to report that I am well on my way!

Side Note: 
I was up decorating this cake when the recent earthquake hit the Bay Area. At that moment, the first thing I tried to protect was the almost finished cake. Oh man, the things you'd do for your 'baby' aka cake!!

Thanks for visiting today! Don't forget to share pics of your edible 'kreations'. Till next time, "Happy Baking!" 

I look forward to reading your comments!