edible pop

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SIMPLE TOOLS I have around the kitchen inspire many of the designs I create. Instead of going out and buying new gadgets, look around and try making a pattern or design from things you have at hand. For example, after stacking tiered cakes, I end up with a slew of dowel rod scraps I never know what to do with. When I wanted to achieve a stamped circle pattern, voilà! The end of a scrap dowel, used like a stamp, was the answer. Never feel like you have to own all the fancy tools to create something beautiful.

The design on this cake is drawn from styles used in the pop art movement of the 1960s, which featured flat, layered imagery and simple color schemes. I pasted bright fondant blossom and leaf cutouts on top of the stamped dots to add dimension but still keep the effect of a flat canvas. The graphic black stripes on the bottom tier, which balance the busyness of the top two tiers, are cut from thinly rolled pieces of fondant and then carefully applied with a mixture of equal parts water and corn syrup.