Americana Beauty

I want to share a cake I made in an Americana theme, just in time for the 4th of July!

"Americana"refers to cultural artifacts, cooking, art, architecture, and history that distinctly reflect the US culture.  What could be more American than stars and stripes and red, white and blue?

The inspiration for this cake came right before Memorial Day Weekend - I was strolling through The Christmas Tree Shop and right in the front of the store was tons of Americana themed decorations - red, white and blue but faded, giving it a nostalgic feel. I don't know why I felt so drawn to it - it made me think of summer block parties I went to as a kid. Memories of mini American flags, sparklers, the excitement of riding my Dukes of Hazzard big wheels on the blocked off streets with all the neighborhood kids as it got dark out, chasing fireflies...ohhh childhood, how I miss you! :)

I've wanted to try to paint vertical lines on a cake forever and this cake finally gave me the chance to try that! It's not perfection like some amazing cake artists whose work I admire, but since it was just for fun, I was happy with it! I used some edible pearl glaze and white luster dust mixed with clear vanilla extract to paint on the silvery hue to give the blue fondant and flowers a faded, vintage look and then patted it with a paper towel to give it some texture.

I thought about doing bunting around the sides of the cake, but made this little blue swag (another decorating thing I've always wanted to try) and I liked how it looked against the stripes! :)

In this pic below, one of my sons had snuck into the kitchen while I was doing my little photo shoot. My poor kids rarely get the chance to be near one of my cakes since I'm so afraid they'll grab a piece out of it, so I was happy to let him pretend to take a bite out of this one, since it was for us! :)

Thanks so much for checking out my Americana themed cake! Are you having a 4th of July party next week? If so, and you'd like some fun ideas or inspiration for your party, check out my Americana Beauty board on Pinterest! I'm having way too much fun adding stuff on there!

xo,

Tara