The cap itself was made up of 2 cakes - top was from half of the Wilton sports pan and the bottom was a 6 inch round. They fit perfectly on top of each other and the only carving I needed to do was at the back to make it look like the 'material' was folded in. I covered the whole thing in navy blue fondant and used my PME quilting tool to make the stitches, mimicking the real stitches on the actual cap.
The brim of the cap was made a few days in advance with fondant mixed with a bit of gum tex so it would dry hard. I made a template using the real cap and copied that onto the fondant. (Do make sure to check that the part of the template where the brim meets the cap body fits snugly around your 6 inch cake pan, you may have to adjust it a little.)
To give the brim a curved look I rested the fondant template onto a kitchen towel roll insert. You can use anything you have to make it curve. I also added a small piece of cardboard underneath the fondant to give it some support whilst it was drying. Alternatively, you can leave the brim flat. Again I made stitches following the real cap using the quilting tool. It really is a handy tool to have in your cake decorating kit! The eyelets were made using a Wilton tip 12 to get the outer ring and the back of a paintbrush for the hole.
Assembling the cake was very straightforward. I used large straws inserted into the bottom cake under the cap to hold it up. I also used a straw under the brim as it was not completely dry and needed a bit of support. For the star border I used a Wilton tip 21 as the sheet cake was fairly large - 12 inches! For the writing, I used a Wilton tip 3.
The 'V' initial was drawn free-hand onto cardboard then traced onto fondant and cut out.
His mum was really pleased with the cake and so was the birthday boy. Always a good thing! :)
