The main change we made was putting the “banner” at the top of the cake. We wanted it to have the same graphics as all the other text instead of me hand writing it. Looking back, I think I would have just printed it on edible images and put it on the cake.Other than that, I was super happy with how it turned out! It blended beautifully with Kim’s table design. Check out some of these pics of the table and other decor she created/designed. 
She made these using lanterns and covered them in paper – genius!!!!!
Here’s some close ups of the cake…
You can find the template below for the stripes! 
All the decorations were made with modeling chocolate. I’m a HUGE fan of it! 
Here’s the template I created. I designed this using my Autocad. I measured out the circumference and height of the cake, then made everything to scale so I could cut the pieces out and use them as templates. Planning has EVERYTHING to do with success. This way I was able to figure out how big/wide the stripes needed to be in order to go all the way around the cake…and look like they all blend. It worked beautifully!!!
If you want to know how to use the wax paper transfer technique it’s all in my Craftsy Class!! I show three different ways to use the technique. You can read about the class HERE or jump over to Craftsy and take it HERE!! :)I took these pics at home before Kim picked up the cake. Shows the whole cake just like the template. 
Here’s what’s inside: The bottom 6″x6″ cake was 6 layers of chocolate cake with vanilla SMBC. I stacked/filled three layers of cake, then added some bubble straws and a board, then kept stacking the other three layers of cake to make a nice and sturdy cake. The top tier was a 4″x4″ rice crispy cake with chocolate ganache filling. I figured that’d be fun for those gluten-free friends! The crumb coat was dark chocolate ganache on both tiers. The fondant was marshmallow fondant mixed with a little modeling chocolate to give it some stability and add some yummy flavor. I actually wrapped the fondant on the bottom tier instead of laying it over the top (traditionally). I did this because it was over 7″ tall and I was afraid I’d have issues with ripples at the bottom! – although, I realized later my stripes would have covered that! Oh well, it worked beautifully. The little seam was pretty much hidden by the tallest point on the stripes and one of the big balloons. You could hardly see it unless you really looked for it. I love having the modeling chocolate in the fondant when I wrap cakes because you can heat the seams with your fingers and almost melt that seam together so it virtually disappears!!!
Now, a little “lesson learned” on this one! It’s amazing that I still have yet to make a cake without issues!!!!!!!! Just shows you cake is never perfect!! The ganache separated on me…it completely broke and I could NOT get it back together!! That had never happened before, but I know why it happened!! Silly me!!! After I melted the chocolate just a bit, and heated my cream and poured the cream over the chocolate, I tried stirring/mixing it with my spatula!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!!!!! – well, that’s it…I wasn’t! I totally didn’t even think anything would happen and that’s what I had in my hand at the time…I’m SO lazy!! Anyhoo…it came together pretty good, then all of a sudden, it got really wet! – and started getting all weird looking. It wouldn’t stick to the spatula, the cake, anything…it was WEIRD! I struggled with it for 2 hours before just slapping it on the cake the best I could and getting it in the fridge. I then had to spend another hour scraping the chocolate down to get it smooth. When I used a warm spatula on the chilled ganache it started separating again…but when I scraped it with a cold bench scraper, it worked great! So, lesson learned…use a wisk to incorporate your ganache EVERY time, and if it does seize, scrape the ganache to smooth it…don’t use heat.
Now, I tried looking all over for a few ways to save the ganache, and tried a few techniques, but nothing really worked. It would come back together, but as it cooled, it’d start breaking again!! It was SO weird!! Here are a few links I tried…I was probably doing something wrong, but you could try these links if your ganache breaks!!!
ehow (I didn’t try this, but this makes the most sense if you have a temp gauge)
cutoutandkeep (I tried this and it didn’t work after it started cooling)
I’m just thankful I was able to finish the cake! God is good and always helps me through it, even at the last hour!!! Thank you Ashley for having a baby girl!! Thank you Kim for your amazing design and all the work you did on this shower!! Thank you Jamie for hosting at your log house and for the memorable pics!! You girls are amazing and I am so thankful to be apart of your lives…forever! – because we’re family!!! I’m SO thankful for marrying into the Harris clan…God is SO good and has blessed me far beyond what I could have imagined with all of you!! Praise you Jesus for all my blessings!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!! I LOVE THAT CAKE!
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beautiful design!
Can I ask…why wouldn’t a spatula work for ganache, I’ve never heard that before?
This is amazing! Not surprising though because all of your cakes are gorgeous! They look flawless to me, every one. How blessed to be part of such a talented family! Everything about the shower was beautiful and the pictures are amazing!
I am also curious why a spatula doesn’t work on ganache. Can you tell me what program you used to draw the third picture? Is it Audocad as well? I’m interested in using it to design instead of drawing on paper. This cake is fabulous. I’m going to try and use candy clay more often. Thanks for sharing your work with us!!
Can I just say I adore your blog!!! I followed the tutorial to make the fashionista cake last weekend for my mom, and while it wasn’t nearly as flawless as yours she absolutely adored it! Your cakes make me so happy hehehe.
Hensen08 and Cat: I’m no ganache expert by any means! I just know that the chocolate and cream have to emulsify together properly and the only thing I didn’t do was wisk it this time. Even Michelle Cake Designs in her ganache video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFtm8q4m4Bk&feature=relmfu) uses a spatula to bring it together, but wisks it at the end to fully incorporate the chocolate and cream. I’m thinking that step might be more important that I thought. Who knows! I just might have had a subtle temp difference that made all the difference in the world too. It’s a mystery. I just know that next time, I’m using a wisk because I’ve never had problems with a wisk!
Oh.so.very beautiful! All I can say is you are all blessed to have eachother! And God is GOOD! What a gift!
Cat: I forgot to mention that I did use Autocad to draw the entire template up, but then imported it into my photoshop to color it and add the text. I created a pdf from autocad and imported that pdf into photoshop then saved it as a jpeg! How’s that for confusing…but it works great for me and is nice and clean!
Gorgeous cake! You did an awesome job.
Thank YOU!! You blessed us all!! We didn’t want to cut it it was so beautiful but then once we all tasted it we were really happy we cut it It was the BEST cake I’ve ever eaten and the most beautiful cake to boot!! You Harris girls… CRAZY amazing!! Love you!!
Beautiful cake – but what else is new? Everything you touch turns into gold!
As for the ganache – I always stir with a wooden spoon (that I use ONLY for sweet things) – and never had a problem. Recently I started using the TJ chocolate you recommended – for that I need to use the whisk in the end so that it comes out smooth. Can’t imagine why a spatula would make a difference. Even if it had some fat residue on it, it shouldn’t make a difference because some add butter to ganache. I do know, that once I pre-melted the chocolate and that ruined the ganache – so maybe you melted it a little bit too much?
What a stunning cake! I can’t imagine how thrilled your cousin was to walk in and see this cake – what a gift.
As for the ganache, I’m thinking there was some moisture on the spatula that caused it to seize. I’ve never had a problem like that with ganache except when water was involved. (Although I did have mine get funky this weekend when the temp difference between the ganache I was whipping for frosting and the beaters was too great. Oops.)
If you have time, would you explain how you mix the modeling chocolate with the MMF? I’ve never heard of this before and would love to try it. Thank you so, so much for all of your wonderful ideas and information!
Elizabeth: Thanks for your sweet words! I’m thinking you might be right about the moisture issue and the ganche. It would explain a lot!!
I knead the modeling chocolate until soft, then knead it right into the fondant until it’s fully mixed in. It makes the fondant a bit stiffer…so, if you’re laying it over your cake like the traditional method of applying fondant, then don’t add too much modeling chocolate…if any. If you’re wrapping your cake or using it for decorations, you can go up to 40% modeling chocolate to fondant. I love the combo in the right situation!!
Blessings!
I am an australian cake decorator and we use ganache all the time I use a offset spatula to mix mine never a whisk as it adds to much air if your ganache splits its because you have over heated it (some people put it in the microwave to melt the chocolate) have your chocolate at room temp in small chopped pieces bring your cream to the boil then just pour over the chocolate let it sit for about 60 seconds then just stir until combined and smooth.
Kellie: I think you’re right. I’ve been doing some research and I’m thinking it must have had something to do with the temp of my chocolate. I know it wasn’t burned, that’s why I got confused, but I do think now it was too hot. So, thank you for confirming that it’s not the spatula/wisk! – but more the temp of the chocolate!! I was so side tracked with the kiddos while making it, I don’t think I kept an eye on it as I should have!!
Be blessed!
I absolutely love this cake!
I’ve seen your blog before but keep coming back to this cake. I just love it!
AMAZING and WONDERFUL!!!!
Jessica,
I love your cake its amazing. I am doing a crafting project with hot air balloons and I was wondering if I could use your hot air balloon template in my crafting project. If you could please get back to me via email. apples20043@yahoo.com I would really be grateful.
So beautiful! I would love to share on my blog, Sheekshindigs@blogspot.com
Sheek Shindigs: Go ahead! Just put a link back to this post so people can find more info if they’d like! Thanks!!!
JUST A WORD ABOUT YOUR BLOG: WOOOOWWWWWW!!!!
I just found you and I’m already head over heels in love with you!! Thank you for sharing!
Sarah: You are SO sweet! Hugs! I hope you find something here to help you in your cake decorating journey! Blessings!
Beautiful work!! Stunning, simply stunning! Question – Does your sister-in-law also have a blog? Thanks!
Amy: No, she doesn’t have a blog. She’s got an etsy page though.
http://www.etsy.com/people/kimberlyjoharris
She’s working on several more projects she’ll be putting on etsy soon!
Jessica,
This cake is just perfect and beautiful by all means, nice job
I’m trying to make this for my friend son 1th birthday and i have a question regarding the way you wrap the fondant around your tall cake. Would you please tell me how should i do it? i normally use wilton fondant and do it traditionally and some times i have problem with having it nice and smooth around the cake, but never heard of warping it. also how do you mix fondant with modeling chocolate?
Paris: Thank you!
I rolled the fondant and cut it into a circle and covered the top of the cake first. Trim it right to the edge. Then, I rolled more fondant and cut it into a rectangle that would go all the way around your cake (measure the circumference). Then, I made sure the cake was crumb coated and WELL chilled and very firm, then laid the cake on it’s side along one edge of that rectangle and quickly rolled it up. I immediately placed the cake upright and began working the seam together…or cutting the seam nice and straight then removing the excess fondant. I then trimmed the top of the cake. Another idea is instead of putting the cake on it’s side (I do that with littler cakes), is to pick up the fondant and wrap it around the cake like a blanket…then, cut your seam straight and remove excess fondant where it overlaps. I make sure my hands have just a touch of crisco on them then work that seam until it almost disappears.
I use a 60/30 ratio of fondant to modeling chocolate. So, 60% fondant and 30% mod. choco. Work the chocolate until it’s pliable, then work it into the fondant. Easy!
Good luck!
Okay so your cakes are beautiful! We have 4 children and I always makes them a cake for their birthday. For having no experience, I have felt that they have always been lovely. I do ask the Lord to help me and bless my child on their special day and give all the credit to Him. I found fondant a few years back when I was making a teacup cake for one of our girls. However, while it was very cute, no one likes the fondant. I don’t just want to look at a pretty cake, I want it to leave a delightful taste. Do you have suggestions for using fondant so that it actually tastes as yummy as frosting? I have only used boxed already prepared fondant. You have a gift for mixing colors and a final product – lovely!
Jennifer: May the Lord richly bless your hands as you bless and pray for your children! That is so sweet!!
I would make your own marshmallow fondant. Up at the top of my blog is a link called “Most commonly asked questions”. In that link is a recipe for yummy fondant. It’s still super sweet because it’s a sugar dough, but MUCH MUCH MUCH better than store bought!
May the Lord bless you!
Amazing Design! As I am totally surprised to see this Hot air baloon Cake. It’s authentically looking one of precious featured source to see this incredible designed cake. It’s really looking one of idealize source. Thanks for sharing.
I loved this cake and so used it as inspiration for one I made for my friends baby shower this weekend. I linked to your cake on Pinterest. Blog post here:
http://nexttonicx.tumblr.com/post/19133354185/today-i-held-a-baby-shower-for-a-lovely-friend
I truly admire your work. It’s gorgeous!
next to nicx: Nice job…very sweet party! I love your little heart sprinkle on the quilting lines of the hot air balloons!! Very sweet effect!!!
You are so inspiring. Your work is mesmerizing to see and read. This cake is my favourite all time cake and believe me I have seen millions. Your taste is Devine and your blog is inspirational. Thankyou for taking time out of your life to teach and entertain us!!!
sugarcraft cakes: WOW! Thank you for your sweet sweet words! May the Lord richly bless you for taking a few minutes to bless me!
Jessica, Your work is simply divine. I saw and fell in love with this cake a few months back and just this weekend I had a request from a client (I’m a cake decorator) to replicate this master piece. With your permission, I would love the opportunity and would also be sure to link the original design concepts back to your site. You can email me if you like letthem_eatcupcakes (at) hotmail.com.
Keep up your amazing work. Nic.
BELLO, BELLO!!!! Love your designs Jessica. God has blessed you =;)
W.O.W!!!! absolutely beautiful, awesome, amazing and perfectly perfect!! plus, it totally fits my taste. The cake is the best part but the table…the colors…the setting…the decorations, wow…who said there is no perfection in life, huh?
Jessica rocks!
Amazing! Can you tell me how many slices can I get for this cake? and how much was it? thank you so much. Incredible work!!!
Gorgeous work! I’ve been a fan of yours for quite a while! I was wondering if the decorations you say are made of modeling chocolate are just modeling chocolate alone or mixed in with some fondant? The few times I’ve worked with modeling chocolate alone, it’s captured the texture of my fingerprints where I touched it. Do you avoid that by rolling out the chocolate and cutting it like gumpaste? Thanks in advance!
You are SO talented! Your work and talent is such an inspiration! Thank you for sharing your cherishable information!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=280873662002816&set=a.114860928604091.24559.114703245286526&type=1&theater
Just thought you should know your work is being replicated in a way, but you didn’t get credit. LOVE your work!!
Anonymous: Thank you for letting me know! If you can post a comment with a link back to this site, that would be much appreciated! I hope this person had seen the cake but just didn’t know where it was from!?
Hi Jessica, my customer just sent me a photo of your hot air balloon and asked that I use it as inspiration for her baby shower cake. I have since been reading all your posts and think you are so talented. I hope I do your cake justice and thanks for being so inspiring!
Maria: How fun! I’d love to see how yours turns out! Many blessings!
Hi Jessica, I finally delivered my hot air balloon cake to my client yesterday. She had sent me your photo to draw inspiration from. I am pleased with how it turned out, and I am pretty sure the client was happy too. This was my largest cake to date and I was up all night finishing it. I had lots of trouble with my marshmallow fondant – I make it the same way every time and sometimes its perfect and other times its not. Thank goodness for the little clouds :-). Well, thank you for the inspiration and here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=400176630018524&set=a.187180061318183.34202.183774941658695&type=1&theater
This made me all sorts of giddy, so much so that I featured your delightful cake on my Wednesday’s Whimsy post today! You have amazing talent…cheers!
Miss Charlotte
http://jessicakesblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/hot-air-balloon-cake-up-up-and-away.html
Your cake was absolutely beautiful! We used your inspiration in a hot air balloon party {found your cake while searching hot air balloon cakes on pinterest} that I highlighted on my show, as well as showcased in my upcoming book. Thank you! You’re so talented! I’ve been meaning to tell you!
Hi! I need to make a cake 7″ tall also, and I am a novice, what do I put the cake on to make it stable? Dowels?? Help! Please email beyondbasicbargains@gmail.com. i need to make this cake by June 30th. Thanks!!
Your work is beautiful but its a little over the top to thank God for everything. Do you have an identity outside of your religion?
Anonymous: Truly I thank you for your comment! I’m glad you see me thanking God for everything because everything is from Him and my life exists because of His grace. No, I don’t have an identity outside my relationship with Christ…to separate my religion from my identity is to not believe that I am a child of God. Just as a princess’s identity is based on who her father is, so is mine based on my Heavenly Father. I would never want to separate Him from anything I do because I desire to please Him and my life to glorify Him and reflect His love because of what He has done for me.
That being said, I am still wonderfully and uniquely made and the talents and interests I have were specially given to me to bless others with, to encourage and build up people and to share about Christ’s love for this world and what He did for you! I haven’t lost my identity…I’ve found it! Yes…this concept seems so crazy and weird compared to the world, but I am His sheep, He is my Shepherd and I will follow Him anywhere because of His great love for me!
I just decided I like you 10x more!
I’m going to be *trying* to do a hot air balloon cake similar to this one for my graduation this May. Theme: The Sky Is The Limit, Up Up and Away! Hopefully it goes well.
This cake is amazing. The concept is really unique because this is not the usual cake designs that I saw during birthdays. You looks like a beautiful person inside because you are very thankful for all the blessings and that is the attitude.
Hi Jessica,
Fist of all congratulations for your work. It’s amazing and flawless. I hope someday I’ll get there
I made my first cake 3 months ago for my oldest son to celebrate his 2nd anniversary, and I just can’t stop!!! I love this cake world and I thank God for people like you! Thank you for sharing and teaching
I’ve never worked with modeling chocolate… and I was wondering, how do you color the modeling chocolate?
Congratulations again
Margarida: Thank you! I’m so glad you’re finding helpful info on the blog!
I buy the wilton candy melts and use those so I rarely have to color them. I’ll mix a little colored fondant with it to help change the color, or you buy candy colors to color the chocolate. They’re designed for chocolate. Wilton (Michaels’) has them as does Global Sugar Art.
Best wishes!
Continuar escribiendo
Ahh, candy melts!!
I’m from Portugal and here Wilton Candy Melts are expensive. That’s the bad news! Oh well… it doesen’t mater. I’ll use modeling chocolate on my 12 years together with my husband cake:)
Thank you so much for your help and quick response
I just made a very sad attempt at this cake for my daughter. *sigh* at least it will taste fine. And weird, I had trouble with my ganache too! It’s 7 hours later, and it’s still liquid. I must have mixed up my dark chocolate with my stash of melts? Oh well. I’ve been drooling over your cake for weeks! Beautifully done, and I think I’ll just stick to ooh-ing and ahh-ing over your creations, and keep my mixer in the pantry!
Hi Jessica, by any chance does your sister in law have a business where I could purchase that beautiful invitation she designed?? Thanks Sarah.
YES! In fact, she’s sold several variations of that!! Her name is Kim Harris and you can find her info on Etsy.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/kimberlyjoharris
Blessings!
Just found your blog & then saw this cake being used on Kara’s party ideas new book cover! All of a sudden you’re everywhere! Just love this cake! You are ridiculously talented!
Hi im fell in love with all your work but this cakes look reaaly perfect,i have some client want to do one like your,can you help me and tell me about what pan size did you used on the bottom,and how cover the cake with fondant?because is very tall,thank for your talent and for share your cute idea
Thank you!
The bottom tier is a double height 6″ round. I stack about 3″ of cake, put a board and some bubble straws and added three more inches of cake. Then crumb coated the whole thing and covered in fondant. It ended up close to 7″ in height.
You can cover that the traditional way, or you can wrap it. I wrapped this one because it was so tall and scary! So, I cut out a circle of fondant for the top, laid it on there and trimmed it, then cut out a giant rectangle the height x circumference of my cake and wrapped it around and smoothed the seam in the back. I covered the seam with the decorations.
I hope that helps!
Thank you so much ,how mamy people feeding with that cake ,my client want to feed 45 guest ,im was thinking make heigth 9″ and the same hight that your but maybe is too much because i will make heigth 6″ on the top too,thanks again
Thank you very much ,can you tell me how many people can feed the bottom of your cake,I’m love it you have a big talents
Hi i was asked you in september 1 about this cake and im bring a picture of my im try to do very well but have a lot trouble to keep straigth the cake ,anyways the customes was happy so me too,thanks for your help
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/534334_4464724857968_823463718_n.jpg
Hi Jessica! I’m a new fan. I love your work and this hot air balloon cake is absolutely gorgeous! I’ve been learning a lot of techniques from you. The wax paper transfer technique is genius! I’m just a newbie at cake decorating and I totally appreciate your generous heart in sharing how you do your cakes. Thank you so much Jessica!
Hi Jessica – read your comment above about your identity in Christ and it is absolutely beautiful! I’m so encouraged to see you so clear in your relationship with Him, I only wish I could be more like that! Praise God and thank you for making my night! =)
Oh! And amaaaaaazing cakes too!! ;D
Hi Jessica, I love love love your cake design style. Just gorgeous. I wanted to share a similar cake I did with your design. http://sweetthings-toronto.blogspot.ca/2012/11/hot-air-balloon-cake.html I linked over to your blog post to give you credit for the design. All the best, Juanita
Hi Jessica,
I fell in love with this beautiful cake long time ago but never had the opportunity to make it. Now i do as my little daughter Kristianne will be turning 2 next week. Can i have your permission to do this design, although it will probably be only one tier since the party is a small one, only15-20 pax. May i know what sizes were the tiers? were they 6′ (top) and 9″ (bottom) rounds?
Absolutely! That’s what all my tips and tricks and templates are for!
The bottom cake was a 6″ round, 6″ tall and the top cake was a little 4″ round, 4″ tall cake.
Blessings to you and your daughter!
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
I thank God for blessing us with a talented person as you to create beautiful and amazing cakes to inspire us. i praise Him too for your generous spirit to share with us your tricks of trade with all the tutorials.
I fell in love with this beautiful cake a long time ago but never had the opportunity to make it. Now i do as my little daughter Kristianne is turning 2 next week.
i would like your permission to do this design although it will probably be only one tier since the party is for a small group of 15-20 pax.
May i know the sizes of your cakes, i.e., were they 6″ (top) & 9″ (bottom) rounds?
God bless you for taking a few moments out of your day to bless me with your kind words! Thank you for your encouragement! To Him be the glory forever!!
In Him,
Jessica
My apologies Jessica for a double entry of comments/queries here as i thought my first one didn’t go through…lol! Anyway, thanks for the prompt reply, YAY!!! I’ll probably do a 5-6″ height 8″ round cake with all these designs incorporated although 2 tiers would be totally awesome….Hahaha..I hopento be able to share with you my creation once it’s done. Thanks again and God bless!
No worries at all! Would love to see it!
Blessings for a fabulous New Year!
You had mentioned about a video explaining how to fondant striping. Is that video linked somewhere or could you email me some suggestions? Thank You very much. I am attempting to make this for a baby shower on Saturday. krystalhanegan@gmail.com
Sorry but it won’t be out until mid/end of February! I wish you tons of success though! If you lay out your stripes on a greased sheet of wax paper (I use crisco), then you can pick it up and attach it to your cake and peel off the wax paper. It holds everything nice and neatly until it’s on the cake!
Blessings!
I was so hoping this cake would be in your class! So question…any tips for how you did the strips? I can’t think of an easy/quick way to make them angled the way that you did and not an equal width from top to bottom if that makes sense.
I’m sorry it’s not…but the technique for the stripes is in there! I tape the template to my work surface, lay the wax paper on top, grease it up, then start laying my fondant stripes one by one. I make sure they are as wide as the thickest part of the stripe. Then, I trim each one down at an angle using the template under the stripe to guide me. You can actually extend those stripes above and below the template with a pen so you can see the line to cut the angle on the stripes.
I hope that helps!
I do not get to see the images
Oh my! Not sure what’s going on! Thanks for letting me know…I’ll see what’s up and get it fixed! Sorry about that!