Wrapped In Chocolate

I knew I wanted the cake to be special, since this was the first birthday cake I would make for my mom since I've been decorating cakes. But I really had no idea where to start. When I am in this dilemma, I usually begin by looking at all the favorite cake pictures I have saved. A short time ago, I had seen an amazing cake on Cake Central (suprising, right?) made by member misterc for Cake Central Magazine, of which, I currently don't subscribe (insert sad face here). But lucky for me, he had posted it on cakecentral.com for my viewing pleasure! When I saw this cake, I just thought it'd be perfect, with my own twist, of course!

I started out making a devil's food cake with a chocolate mousse filling, icing it with a sage buttercream (mom's fave color is green), then wrapping that in chocolate, topped off with a chocolate "S" (for Shirley)and a rose (for her middle name, Rose).

What do you think? I really liked how it came out, minus a few broken pieces. I was pretty happy with my rose too, which was the first one I've made since taking Nic Lodge's class earlier this year (yes, I am a slacker)!

I had made chocolate tiles/shards before, but never a chocolate wrap, especially one like this. But I had fun making it and it looked okay, even with some missing/cracked pieces. Plus it still tastes delicious! If you want to try your own chocolate wrap, here's some instructions! You're welcome. Now, for this kind of wrap, you don't have to spread the chocolate, just drizzle it over the paper. Very simple techniques, but people will be impressed!

Glad we could make it down, Mom. Hope you had a great birthday!