Wine and Cheese Cake

We made this cake for the owner's of a vineyard - it is a crate of wine, with a platter of fruit and cheese.

The cake itself is the crate - the slats of the crate were made from brown fondant, rolled with dark brown swirls to resemble woodgrain. It was rolled out, cut to fit the crate, and allowed to dry. At the same time, we rolled out a white fondant tag for the side of the crate, and dark brown joints for the corners. After the slats dry, apply them to the sides of the dirty-iced cake. It may be helpful to stick it in the fridge for a bit to help it set up.

We toasted coconut flakes and topped the cake with it to resemble packing material - we also stuck some on the sides so it looked like it was coming through the slats.

The wine bottle, grapes, corkscrew, cutting board, cheese, crackers, and olives were all hand-sculpted from fondant (we make our own fondant out of marshmallows, and color it with food gel coloring). For the two-colored objects (the cheese wheels and apples), we shaped the inside color, then wrapped a second color around the first.

This cake was relatively simple - it just takes time to sculpt all of the elements until you're happy with them. All of the lettering was hand done, and the recipients loved it!