Sorry about the poor picture quality - long story about problems with our main computer and blahbiddy blah blah blah. Who cares.
Anyway - this cake - disguised as a huge everything bagal - is kind of part 2 of the previous year's cake theme, which was the giant coffee mug. As I'd mentioned in the coffee mug post, after Natalie was born in the summer of '95, I used to drive down early on the weekends and pick up coffee and bagels and bring them to Mere, who, especially that first summer, was very sleep deprived and in desperate need of caffeine on an hourly basis.
She, Meredith, also was fond of everything bagels, so I'd get a few of them and whatever other bagels appealed to me that morning.
Natalie, who, by this time ('97) was quite talkative, used to call the seeds and things on the bagels "beads." Hee hee hee. Little kids are fabulous.
Anyway, so that was how I came up with the idea for this cake. I'd already done coffee, so now it was time for the bagel.
I am pretty sure, since it was for my sister, that the cake was chocolate. With chocolate or raspberry frosting/filling inside. The outside of the bagel is fondant, and I've found that if you brush fondant with a damp brush, it will remain shiny, which was perfect for the shiny crust. And those little bits and pieces - the "beads" on top - more fondant, in a few different colors, to represent the various seeds (poppy, sesame and caraway) and the bits of onion and garlic, and the salt.
In the picture you can see that Natalie is reaching for one of the "beads." Calvin, who is almost five here, is just waiting for the cake to be cut so he can have some.
Beads. Hee hee hee.
