Competition Work Log: Buttercream Only

Competition Work Log: Buttercream Only

Gah, no wonder no one enters this category!  This is HARD!  Today is my 3rd attempt at this entry.  The first idea I had seemed really cool and unique.  I started trying out some sort of sculpted, pleated fabric look using a combination of freezing piped fondant and pouring "steamed" fondant over it.  Dismal failure.  It just looked like ugly zig-zag piping.  2nd attempt was to do some stenciling.  Yet another dismal failure.  The stencil kept sticking to the base buttercream.  My 3rd attempt is in the works ... it's a pretty extensive frozen buttercream transfer.  I have no idea how it looks at the moment (since it's upside-down).  I'm scared to continue ... what if I do all the other work for the cake, but then the transfer stinks???

What kinda stinks is that all I have to do is enter and I'll probably place!  Last year there were only 2 cakes in the Adult Intermediate division for buttercream-only.  All I have to do is something and I can't seem to get anything going for me!

02/16/11: Completely dismissed 2 attempts after utter failure. ~5 hours.

02/17/11: Completed most of the frozen buttercream transfer.  Hope it's ok! ~4 hours.
02/17/11 (update): Done!  The frozen buttercream transfer looked great!  The only problem was either the parchment paper underneath either got most or the buttercream contracted it ... because it wrinkled in one spot.  I tried to build up more icing on top once I saw that, but it's not perfect.  Next time I'll invest in some food-grade acetate to pipe on to. ~2 hours.