It that time of the year when we start celebrating First Communions. I have a cake for you that helped my client celebrate such a memorable occasion.

I don’t often get to work on square cakes. Round cakes are simply more popular than square cakes so this was a good opportunity to work on a different shape.

This First Communion cake features a chalice, a cross with piped detail, a rosary and a monogram for the celebrated boy.

This chalice is entirely made out of chocolate and it sits on top of the cake. I used a chocolate mold to create this piece. We also featured a marbled fondant cross in ivory and white colors. I piped on the edges and added a sparkle in the center.

One of my favorite pieces is the edible rosary made out of fondant. I have to admit, I didn’t make this. My mom makes them by hand all the time. There are gum paste molds out there that can help you make this type of confection. I have tried them before, but I use them for other type of decorations. When it comes to the rosaries, I prefer the way my mom makes them which is one little bead at a time.

The bottom tier of the cake features a quilt pattern. Quilting a cake is a beautiful way to finish a cake. There is a sparkling gem on each intersection of the design. I went with a non-edible gem for extra shine.  A name plaque was also added to the center of the cake.

The rosary is never attached to the finished cake until it is ready to be presented at a table. I like to place them as part of the topper, but it can certainly be place anywhere on the cake.

The cake is covered in a home made fondant. Cake flavors included a very moist red velvet cake and cream cheese buttercream frosting and white cake with dulce de leche buttercream filling.

Many blessing Nicholas.

This very special cake was for Madox and Gavin Doehrmann as they celebrated their 1st Communion.

I have to admit that it presented quite a challenge for me. I wanted to make the perfect tiered cake without making it look like a wedding cake. The my other struggling factor was designing an appropriate communion cake for the boys.  Flowers can easily be incorporated into the cake… for girls. So simple and elegant were the focus words.

The chalice is a very important element in First Communion cakes as it represents the very first time the body and blood of Christ is accepted for the first time.

This sugar chalice is made out of fondant. An earlier post shows this same chalice, but made out of chocolate. It wasn’t easy, but I used the same chocolate mold to create this piece. Even though it took me a very long time to achieve the end result, I loved it.

This closeup also shows the cascading ivory/gold and white leaves around the cake.  Random leaves decorate each tier in random areas. One thing you may not be able to see very well is the pattern on the stripes around each of the tiers. It’s a woodgrain design that coordinates perfectly with the tree trunk cake stand (Faux Bois cake stand from William Sonoma).

You can see here another sugar rosary made my mom. Using regular fondant with a little bit of a hardening ingredient, she rolls each little bead by hand. She tints the fondant in different colors to make the end of each decade. The cross attached to the rosary is chocolate. Once it’s all finished, I add glitter and sparkle all over.

Along with the rosary, we featured a cross as part of the topper. My SIL mentioned that we could use a deep red as an accent color so we added the “D” and piped the edges of the cross in that particular color. I love how the color is used without being overpowering.

This table was set up with the boy’s Baptism pictures taken seven years ago. Time really goes fast.

In addition to the main cake we decided to make some Cake Truffles for people to enjoy at the gathering. We prepared chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and white caramel cake with caramel buttercream truffles covered in dark and white chocolate.

It really made my day when I heard a little girl say to her mom, “mom these are the best things ever!”.

My SIL is amazing at making things and places look absolutely pretty, this was no exception. The boys’ baptism candles. A simple, but gorgeous bouquet of flowers. A distinctive cross.   A very pretty and well presented Communion celebration table.

Congratulation Gavin and Madox on such a special day in your spiritual life. Many blessing to both of you.