Jess Atkins of Rosy Cakes and the Phone-doodle Cake

I'm handing over the reigns today to my friend and amazing fellow caker Jess Atkins of Rosy Cakes in New Zealand. During a recent share session on my Facebook page her cake turned up as a favorite among the viewers, and it stopped me in my tracks. I was thrilled to feature it as one of the faves of the day.

I've asked Jess to take over for a day and share with us how she made this fabulous cake and she generously accepted without hesitation. Enough from me... Enjoy!

 Jess Atkins, Rosy Cakes: Phone-doodle Cake

My lovely friend Kara asked me if I would give a bit of insight into the process I used when I created my "Phone-doodle" cake...

Firstly, a bit of background around the cake: my whole life  I have drawn elaborate, nonsensical and messy doodles, mostly when I'm talking on the phone, usually on random bits of paper, bills, envelopes, receipts etc... I wanted to make a cake inspired by these drawings and paint them all over the cake. Then I named it the "Phone-doodle" cake.

I didn't take any pictures while I was making this cake and so I have used a fondant plaque to recreate what I did.

When painting I use a combination of Wilton and Americolor gel colours; I also use a wee bit of alcohol too. It's important to let your fondant surface dry. Of course, you can paint while its soft but its going to be a lot easier and more successful if you have a hard surface that is nice and dry. I made this fondant plaque by adding some Tylose powder and letting it dry over night.

My first step was to choose some pretty pastel colours. I painted the areas where my flowers would be. I just roughly painted the floral designs, not really worrying about whether they were accurate; they are all fantasy flowers (my way of saying they don't have to look like actual flowers).

To give the flowers a more natural look I painted over the lighter colours with darker shades. When painting I always layer my colours from lighter to darker.

The next step is the black outline. Using black gel I created an outline around all the flowers and leaves...

During the next part I finally entered that state of mind Csíkszentmihályi calls 'flow'.

Time sped up and I found I was able to create without thinking..it's hard to explain exactly how I do the doodles and everyone will have their own unique style.

  You will see I used lots of spots and dots, lines and a few hearts too....

  There may even be a not so hidden initial "K" in there...

It takes a while, so if you are trying this, make sure you have plenty of time, and just relax... go wild! The fun part is standing back and seeing what you have created.

~ Jess

Thank you so much for sharing this cake and your creative process with us. Your artistry is breathtaking, dear friend!