Sugar Hearts Birthday Cake

This is my first Pinterest cake!  What I mean is that I saw a cake like this on Pinterest and was waiting anxiously to make it.  Then I was asked to make a 21st birthday cake and the only requirement was that it should be purple.  The rest of the design was up to me.

The hearts are basically just colored sugar cubes, they were really easy to make.  I used this tutorial to make the ombre sugar hearts.  Now usually I make a million decorations when preparing for a project.  For some reason, this time I didn’t.  I don’t even know why; the sugar hearts are so easy to make!  I set up the cake and then started to lay out my design.  I realized that I needed to make some white sugar hearts to make the pattern work.  I got so nervous because I only had a few hours before the cake needed to be completed and was worried that the white ones wouldn’t be dry enough, but baking the sugar for 5 minutes in the oven really hardens them!  I was saved, phew.

For the top of the cake I made a key out of fondant.  Then I painted it with antique gold luster dust.  There is a tradition around the world to present a child the key to the home on their 21st birthday.  It’s a symbol of the child entering into adulthood and therefore I was asked to incorporate a key.  I love how it turned out, it’s so elegant and girly.  Happy 21st birthday!