It's the day after, but I'm still inspired by the pretty-and-sweet of Mother's Day.
Plus, this quote from humorist/writer Sam Levenson just cracks me up:" Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children".
How true.
And so today's post will still be about moms - three things that wouldn't have been the same without them:
1) The real reason sweaters exist
"Sweater, n: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly" - Ambrose Bierce, writer/jounalist. Don't think I need to say more, the love is evident.
2) Mastering omni-presence
Moms have eyes front, back, side, underside, overside. Scary, but true. And that is how we have in turn acquired chameleon-vision. There's no other explanation for being able to pound away at the computer, and spot a tiny child-hand swiping cupcakes cooling on the kitchen table behind us. All in one fell swoop. It's just not natural.
3) High heels
Instruments of torture and of exquisite beauty; most women have a love-hate relationship with these towering shoes. I may not have inherited all of my mother's grace on heels, but I did manage to make one for a cake recently.
How to Cook That has a fabulous video detailing all the painstaking steps of creating a fondant high heel. She's done a marvelous job with a frilly Jimmy Choo, and I've adapted parts of it for a simpler girly sandal that the birthday girl wanted.
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| Jumping the gun a little with this picture, but it shows the process of making the shoe. Start with the heel, let it dry for a day or two. Add some sugar paste modelling gum to strengthen when molding, we need the heel to be quite sturdy, bearing the weight of the entire shoe. |
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| Follow the steps in the video tutorial for the (pink) shoe sole. Here's the inside liner of the sole I've done, indented with stitch marks running round, made with a toothpick or a wheel tool much like what seamstresses use. |
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| Instead of the strappy front in the video, I made this sweet peep-toe with a template of the same shape, and embossed it with a swirly texture mat. Fix to pink sole with a little water, prop up with tissues to let it dry in a curved shoe shape. |
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| Make your ribbon for the front of shoe. Check out this fab video by Amanda Oakleaf showing the steps. Start with a rectangular piece of fondant, trim the centers slightly, glue the two open ends to the center to form the bows. Wrap middle of ribbon with a small strip of fondant, prop the two bows up with rolled up tissue or rolled cardboard pieces (like I've done in my picture below). |
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| Let ribbon dry, and attach to front of shoe with royal icing or melted chocolate. Paint on any labels or numbers you might want with edible black paint and the tinniest paint brush you can find. I love using a lipstick brush. It's so small, it gives you the perfect sharp point you need for lettering. |
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| Let the shoe dry completely for another day or two if you can. It's a pretty fragile topper, so the more time it has to dry, the stronger it'll be. My shoe is propped up on styrofoam here because I've added a support skewer into the heel (when I first made it a couple of steps back), to anchor the shoe when I add it onto the cake, and not risk it tipping over. |
Let every day be Mother's Day, tell them and show them that they matter to you :)
Some bakes mom would love:
