Shaking in my Boots

I had a cake assignment last week for a friend's birthday party. I actually volunteered myself to make the cake. I'm not quite to the point where people are hunting me down and asking me to make them a cake. I'm still at the point where I hear that there is a celebration and I volunteer my own labor in order to get some much-needed practice.

When trying to think of a creative idea for the cake, I set some criteria for myself:
-must be a challenging project
-must represent the individual
-must not require fondant (I have yet to learn the art of fondant)

Lindsay is a southern...belle? Okay, wait, no. She is a cowboy-boot-wearing, often loud, always crazy girl with a thick southern accent. I know she has spent many weekend nights at the Longbranch and the City Limits Saloon. The only ideas that came to my mind for Lindsay's cake incorporated her country roots. I came up with the cowboy boot idea fairly quickly.

It was challenging because I had never carved a cake, I knew that the reddish-brown color I wanted for the boot would be hard to achieve, and I figured the edges of the boot's heel would be hard for me to smooth.

I was so nervous that I was shaking in my boots the entire time I baked and decorated this cake! The cake, of course, is fragile and I knew at any moment I could ruin it.

Luckily, everything turned out fine and I was pleased with the results!