Tayo and the Traffic Lights

I had the pleasure of making yet another Tayo cake but this one had a very special request. The little boy who is celebrating his 5th birthday has a thing for traffic lights. I totally get that because my two rascals are equally enthusiastic about traffic lights. My younger one may have just turned 2 but he is able to say "Red means STOP! Green means GO Mama Go Go GO!" So when Mummy L requested for traffic lights including the overhead kind, I totally understand :)

Mummy L was also very proactive in working on the design with me. She wanted a zebra crossing as well. I didn't know before but in the Tayo cartoon, little chicks would cross the road so she requested for those to be part of the cake. Just to be clear, she even helped me to envision the design with a powerpoint draft!

Mummy L's draft

The main challenge for me was the overhead traffic light. Gum paste may do the trick but the weight would make it unstable since the structure would be cantilevered... where is the Hubby when you need him. Then I looked around my supplies and came across simple black straws - Eureka! The straw could be bent and that was where I added on the traffic light detail with art paper.  The other two traffic lights were made out of gum paste and supported by lollipop sticks.

The birthday boy was very observant, he told his mummy that I got the overhead traffic light sequence wrong! It should be green on the inside then amber and red. Good spot Isaac! You really know your lights ; )

A scene from Tayo the Little Bus

I had the most fun making that zebra crossing. There is something about black fondant, I really love working with it. Any details that is set upon the black pops out and the contrast looks fantastic. When I positioned those 3 little chicks on the zebra crossing, I was so pleased with how it all turned out.

Pedestrian chicks

 Happy Birthday Isaac!

Tayo and Friends

The Korean wave is not confined to pop bands and soap opera, we've now got children's programmes and toys from Korea that's as big a hit as Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Train... well almost. You know the Korean characters are catching up when you start getting cake request for it.

A mummy who came across my cake at her son's preschool looked me up for a Tayo the Little Bus cake. I'm familiar with Tayo because my two sons are fans as well. Tayo is a Korean animation series about a little blue bus and his friends, which include other modes of transport like taxis, police cars, fire engine, trains and construction equipment. It's somewhat educational as the adventures of the little city bus impart lessons like how to cross the road safely and speeding is dangerous, etc.

Mummy S was quite resourceful in scouring online stores for the Tayo toy characters, which means I was spared having to fondant a bus or fire engine. She found a nice deal on G-market for the toys. It was tempting to put a few of the characters on the cake but I suggested to go with just one to make it stand out. The birthday boy finally decided on Frank the Fire Engine.

I made a rainbow cake - buttermilk cake recipe with cream cheese filling - covered in white fondant. Then I decorated the sides with rainbow garage doors like in the series. With the remaining coloured fondant, I cut out many stars and dotted it all around the cake. Check it out...

Frank the Fire Engine takes top spot

Happy Birthday Joshua

I was just thinking of how to cover the cake board. Looking at the many artisan bakers I admire, they  usually have their cake boards decorated. I read somewhere that it's unprofessional to leave it bare. I hardly ever cover my cake boards, I find it a total waste of fondant! It's bound for the bin once the cake is served :( Instead of covering the entire board, I decided to be a bit creative and rolled out ropes of fondant to encircle the cake, then added stars with the No.3 to the corners (Joshua is 3!)

Tell me what you think - do cake boards need to be covered? I'd love to hear from anyone ; )