Everything on the cake, including the masks and feathers are edible.
I also entered a second cake based on the beautiful gondolas in Venice.
The bottle of "Prosecco" is actually molded chocolate that I airbrushed and decorated.
Susan Fox from Midway Country Corner and Lori Rees from Layer by Layer also placed with beautiful cakes which I encourage you to check out!
I had a lot of people ask me about the feathers on my cake. Here is a short tutorial on how to make the feathers: You'll need edible wafer paper (sometimes referred to as "rice paper"), white 28 gauge wire, pearl dust, and clear piping gel. You can get wafer paper online or at cake supply stores. It also comes in a few different colors.
First, make yourself a template shaped like a feather. Then, use the template as a guide to cut the feather out of the wafer paper.
Next, using small, sharp scissors, make diagonal cuts along both sides of the feather (the closer and smaller you can make the cuts, the more realistic it looks).
Coat the white wire with clear piping gel, using your fingers to remove the excess, and place the wire on the feather. Put the feather on a flat surface until the gel is dry (approximately 1 hour).
Gently dust the feather with pearl dust. Next, hold the feather over a steaming teapot (not too close!) to give the feather movement and shine. At this point, be very careful with your feather as it is very fragile. Here is a close-up of the feathers.
As you can see, the feathers are fairly easy to make and they are stunning on a cake when you don't wish to use real feathers. Enjoy!
