Vietnamese Áo Dài Cake
January 22, 2017
Finally, the first Vietnamese Áo Dài Cake comes to live! This cake is made for my mother's 62nd birthday, in inspiration of my heritage background with the combination of the Vietnamese traditional dress called "Áo Dài" and the Vietnamese New Year called "Tết." I love how this cake turns out and am extremely excited to be sharing this tutorial with you today.
Why a dress cake? You ask. Honestly, I make this cake because as far as I know, no one has done it! I have seen a number of cakes modeling Chinese and Japanese dresses, but I have yet to see a Vietnamese dress cake. And that's when I decided Áo Dài is my next cake "challenge." Maybe I am biased (of course!), but to me this beautiful, elegant dress brings out the best appearance in a Vietnamese woman. It seems like no matter how chunky or skinny one is, Áo Dài turns every single woman in to a true goddess. At least, it made me feel that way the last time I worn it on my wedding date.
Why a dress cake? You ask. Honestly, I make this cake because as far as I know, no one has done it! I have seen a number of cakes modeling Chinese and Japanese dresses, but I have yet to see a Vietnamese dress cake. And that's when I decided Áo Dài is my next cake "challenge." Maybe I am biased (of course!), but to me this beautiful, elegant dress brings out the best appearance in a Vietnamese woman. It seems like no matter how chunky or skinny one is, Áo Dài turns every single woman in to a true goddess. At least, it made me feel that way the last time I worn it on my wedding date.
Not only this cake signifies my national costume, it also embeds many characteristics of an upcoming important festival, Tết. I pick both red and yellow as these colors are the central of the Vietnamese New Year. The rich vibrant red color indicates good fortune and wealth, and the bright yellow ochna integerrima flowers also symbolize prosperity and passionate love among people. Tết is a time when my family gets together and wishes every one happiness. The holiday happens to land on a Saturday this year, January 29, which will allow us to take the kids to the temple to see the firecrackers, to watch the lion dances, and to bring a few "spring buds" home for good luck.
DECORATIONS PREPARATION
This cake look may look complex, but it is a lot simpler to make as the only three decorations you will need are the dress collar, ochna integerrima flowers and their buds. I prepare the dress collar a few days before assembling the cake to allow enough drying time. First, I cut out a long 10-inch strip and wrap it around the glass so the collar can hold its shape. I trim the two ends slightly and fuse them together using water (Photo 1). To make sure the collar does not stick to the glass, . As soon as I am happy with the way the collar looks, I leave it to air dry for 2 days. To line the yellow strip around the collar, I use a thin yellow fondant and run it around the top of the collar (Photo 2-3). Again, I cut the two ends and glue them together using water (Photo 4).
Second, I make the ochna integerrima flowers and buds. Using the flower cutters, I punch three different sizes of flowers. With the “modeling stick” tool, I make indents on each flower petals to give them that wavy look. For the medium and small size flowers, I use orange food color to make dots in the middle or paint them completely orange (Photo 5 and 6). For the largest size flowers, I give them the extra details of the real flowers (Photo 7). I roll tiny "pin-like" yellow fondant strips and glue them in the middle of the flowers and paint the ends orange. I also make the yellow buds by folding a flower petal from the largest flower in half. I twist them in various shapes and glue them nearby the branches (Photo 8).
Ochna integerrima trees are one of the main decorations for Tết in Southern Vietnam. These yellow flowers are very popular and a "must-have" in every household during the Vietnamese New Year.
ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
For this cake, I use my mom's favorite vanilla chiffon cake, pairing with vanilla mousse filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. I make a two-tier stacked cake, using a 4-inch three-layer cake on the top (Photo 9) and 6-inch three-layer cake on the bottom (Photo 15). After both tiers have been frosted, I cover around the cakes with red strawberry-flavored fondant (Photo 10). I trim the edges at the bottom carefully (Photo 11), and then add the collar on top (Photo 12). Then, I use another thin yellow fondant and line the left side of the cake to resemble the actual dress. As the majority of Vietnamese Áo Dài have hidden buttons on the inside, so I get to skip making fondant buttons for this cake.
Finally, I draw some branches using brown food coloring (Photo 13) and add the yellow flowers and buds on the cake (Photo 14). I mirror the flowers arrangement of the cake to a dress design that I found online, but you can really decorate them in any way you want.
And then I repeat the all of the above steps for the bottom tier: cover the cake with red fondant, sketch the brown branches, and add yellow flowers to the cake.
And that's exactly how this beautiful, red Vietnamese Áo Dài cake is made.
My mom loves the cake, including the cake flavor and the decorations, as soon as she sees it. The kids also enjoy eating some yellow flowers and the cake itself. I have to say the favorite thing about the cake is its vanilla mousse filling. The kids sure love it.
That is all there is to this cake. I hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoy making this cake and re-creating these instructional steps with pictures for you.
Now may the New Year bring you and your family lots of happiness, good health and prosperity. Happy Vietnamese New Year—the year of the Rooster!
xoxo,
Tristina
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