Anniversary Cake

Today I delivered a fiftieth anniversary cake. I got to try a new technique with this cake. The client did not want white icing or flowers for decoration. So the hazelnut cake got a mocha icing and chocolate ganache embellishments. I always find it really challenging to make a cake pretty without using flowers. Piping decorations is very old school and we've gotten away from elaborate icing decorations like royal icing swags and piped roses. Most people now prefer a more simple and spare style.

I had decided for this golden anniversary cake to try some gold dust on chocolate. I was struggling with making a cake that was sufficiently decorated but didn't look too gilded or old fashioned either.  I first piped some motifs onto parchment paper and chilled them to make them firm.

Then I dusted them with edible gold luster powder. It worked great and looked very golden.

I then carefully applied the elements to the frosted cake. I had to work quickly because the chocolate would get soft with my handling.

I think the cake would have looked much better with some fresh burgundy colored rose in a few key places. What do you think?