Flight suit, with a twist

This belly cake might be the oddest one I will ever make.  I thought my ringmaster was the furthest away I would get from the dressy belly I first made, but this one is quite specific.

See, fella's friends all met through the air cadets.  They are all pilots; some professionally, some privately, and some still through the military.  Lindsey, up until the giant belly, was in charge of a centre where new cadets would come out and learn to fly a glider. 

As soon as I found out that we were having a shower while the bun was still in the oven, I volunteered to make the cake.  I told fella about my idea, and his eyes lit up.  That normally only happens when 'I'm making a cake' is followed by 'for you'.  I immediately sent off an email to the host, who replied "Um, that would be AMAZING!!!!!!!!"

Done.

This one required quite a bit of researching.  In a room full of pilots, I had to get this one right.  Thankfully, fella had this lying around...

Yep.  A belly dressed up in that.  Then took an old cake and drew the plan.

Not too shabby!

Finally, I remembered to take pictures along the way, so here's a little tutorial!

After my favourite cake recipe is mixed and baked we have the makings of a cake.
 

I'm not giving away all my trade secrets, so you'll have to guess how to get these shapes.

A little bit of cutting, and molding, and here were have boobs, and a nice tall belly:

After a thin crumb coat and a chill, a thicker, final coat of icing, then into the fridge to firm up before starting with the fondanting!


Now it's just a matter of decorating.

This is how my kitchen looked... I love having a life size model to work from.  It makes this step so much easier.

Fondant on the cake, now just needs to be trimmed to shape.  On normal belly cakes, I don't let the fondant go all the way to the board under the belly - I want it to sit outwards and be ruffly like a dress would hang.

I couldn't make all the patches standard issue looking being so small, so I had to improvise.  This name patch should have first and last name, as well as the type of plane the person flies.  I had a hard enough time getting just the last name on here!

As soon as fella knew that I was making the cake, he said I had to make this old patch.  I don't know what the difference between this and the new one, but everyone seemed happy to see it on the cake, so I guess there's more to it than I know.

As soon as I finish a cake, I take as many pictures of every angle of the cake in case I every need to make it again.  So here is my final photo shoot with the cake. 

 

At ease, baby!