The Black Crowes Cake

This year is the year of forty. I will be turning the big 4-0 later this year and since January, I have watched my friends descend into the forties...one by one, toppling over like a row of aging dominoes. 

One of those recently taking the tumble into their forties is my oldest and dearest friend in the world, Missy. She and I became friends at the age of 12 and bonded quickly over a mutual love of Duran Duran! Twenty-eight years later our musical tastes may have changed, but the friendship certainly hasn't.

She lives about 4 hours away so we don't get together often, but I knew I had to arrange a visit for her big birthday. I made the arrangements with her boyfriend and surprised her at her doorstop. It was awesome!

Of course I knew I had to make her special cake! I didn't want it to be a generic "Happy 40th Birthday" cake. I wanted it to be specifically about HER. 

One of her favorite things in the world is the band The Black Crowes. She loves to travel around the state attending their concerts and even met her boyfriend at a show. I checked a few album covers for inspiration and came across the one pictured above. I loved that it was black & white and had such clean, but dramatic look to it. 

So I went to work...

I knew I would use the album cover itself as the cake topper, making the logo out of fondant.

I was a little stumped as to what to do with the rest of the cake, but then got the idea of using feathers. Black Crowes, they're birds, birds have feathers, right? I thought it would look cool. I later found out that they actually have a song called "Feathers" so how perfect was that?

She loved the cake and I love the fact that I finally got to make a cake for my best friend in the whole wide world.

Happy Birthday Missy! You rock!!