Roulette!

Let me preface by saying I learned a valuable lesson using this blogger editor. Write your posts in something other than the online editor. Sooner or later you're going to hit a sequence of keys and your post that was 80% complete will be gone. Grrr.

My Uncle's 40th birthday was coming up and my Aunt wanted to have a surprise birthday part for him. She gave me a call and asked if I could whip something up for the party which would be casino themed. Sure - in fact I thought this would be a breeze... I went with a roulette table for its 'simplicity'. No fancy designs, no accessories (except chips) and there's bound to be a scaled down version of the wheel available. I'm no sugar craftsman *yet* so I cheated here.

First up I worked out the dimensions and made a table top for the cake. Nothing fancy just 1/2" MDF, some espresso brown paint and a LOT of lacquer.

believe it or not it looked worse when I got it...

I know it look dirty. Another hobby at the time was fixing up a foreclosure whilst living in it. I recommend against it, especially if you're married and want to continue to be so. I was single at the time and the mess and expense even got to me... but that's another story - a hilarious, sad sad creepy story. *cough* So, anyway, I made sure the table was clean, and washed it so no one had the taste of sawdust and fondant.

Got the table made and then worked out my numbering scheme. I found a set of oval clay cutters (TIP: clay tools can be cheaper than 'fondant tools' and sometimes better) and cut out my ovals. Next I experimented with numbering them. My lettering still isn't great (to this day) and I wanted numbers to match. Snagged an alphanumeric cutter kit and made it work. First I tried just making impressions in the ovals and painting in with icing. Looked like crap not to mention taking forever. See below:

This just isn't worth it...ZZZZzzzz... I'm lookin @ YOU James!

I replaced the fouled ovals and re-stamped them thusly:

Next, I rolled out some white and stamped out a complete set of numbers and glued them with a little water. Maybe next time I'll punch out the numbers and fill it with royal icing to have a level oval.

I either forgot or lost the pics in the next segments so dust off your imagination... while the ovals were drying; I mixed up some casino green. This was the most tedious part, if the color's not right I'm not happy.   

*Just ask my mom about my Superman costume when I was 6... Actually don't. It leads to other embarrassing stories I'd rather be forgotten.

           

Jeez. A.D.D. much? Ok, so it took a while to get a suitable green. Lots of green and some random amount of yellow to Kelly it up. Remember, it dries a little darker just like wall paint so go a slight shade lighter if color is critical or you're an anal nut job like me.

For the border I used chocolate fondant. For you Tootsie Roll fans, all you need is a tub of this 'cause it's the same thing. Yeah, I ate a lot in the name of Quality Control. It's chef’s privilege!

I rolled it out about 1/4" thick and used the ol' pizza cutter and an aluminum yardstick. Choco Fondant doesn't smooth and hide seams as easily as the regular stuff, so keep that in mind when you intent to use it.

I put the cake on he board and got it iced to take fondant. Another tip is to go to Harbor Freight and get a few sets of plastic spreaders (Like for Bondo). Doing this with an icing spatula was a pain.

Fast forward, past wrapping the chocolate wood trim and laying the green on the cake. I PROMISE I'll be better at taking photos someday. I needed to lay out the grid for the numbers. A little math and some trial and error (my math sucks) and I came out with this grid template. You'll also see that I found my toy roulette wheel which was just right. I'm pretty sure it was from a local, short-lived game store in the mall. Honestly, I can't remember.

No, the Elmer’s and tacky glue were not used in the assembly.

I poked holes in the corners to have a guide when laying down the icing lines and placed the numbered ovals in the grid.

#10: elusive, invisible... DELICIOUS

Here's where it becomes obvious I need an assistant with penmanship. I cut out a black & red rectangle for the sideline and added the barely legible odds and such to the outside. I really need to figure out how to not have to write things on cakes. Also not the troubling seams on the wood trim.

*shakes fist at chocolate fondant* Shakes fist at self for sloppy writing.

Finished shot. All in all I know that the next one will be better, having ideas on how to not have to write things with my hands. I also think I'll be attempting to countersink ovals and numbers, etc for a less ‘stacky’ look. Not bad for #2 though. It tasted good and, if I recall, the liquor cabinet suffered heavy casualties so I'd call it a successful party.

Wonder what's next...