Sunday Funday: Baking With The Beatles!

I am not sure when it first started but I have been baking with the Beatles for years.  I spend a lot of time in my kitchen and nothing pleases me more than baking along to my favorite Beatles songs.  

Sometimes I put my Beatles playlist on shuffle and go from "Yellow Submarine" to "A Day in The Life", other times I listen in chronological order from "Please Please Me" to "Let it Be" and then there are the times when I stick with my favorite "The White Album", disks one and two.

My parents grew up listening to the Beatles and introduced them to me on their record player. 

It wasn't until I was older and that record player no longer worked that I really started to enjoy them.  While out with friends one night we stumbled upon a bar that had a band called "American English" playing and I was immediately hooked again and we started going to a "Beatles Brunch" in the city where a band called "The Cavern Beat" played.  There is something so neat about sipping mimosas along the river while "Here Comes The Sun" flows freely in the background.

Several years back while in Vegas we saw "Love" and it was a truly magnificent show, I think that we spent more on show tickets then we did on the hotel but it was totally worth it.  More recently I went to see "Rain" in Chicago and was equally impressed.

Although nothing could compare to the crazed Beatles fans of the 60's I consider myself a fan and recently decided that it was time to combine my love of baking with the Beatles.  It didn't take long to figure out the theme or the occasion since my dad's birthday was right around the corner and set out to design and construct a Beatles themed birthday cake.

I started with a basic white cake, layered it with butter cream and strawberries and frosted it with a base coat.

 

Next went a smooth layer of blue fondant.  I like to make my own and really like this recipe, it tastes better than the store bought kind.

Next came some stripes around the sides.  My original thought was that it would represent the British flag but it could also be Cubs colors, whichever suits your fancy :)

To decorate the bottom of the plate I surrounded the cake with tiny balls of fondant.

Next comes a white top to neaten things up and provide a canvas for the decorations on top.

Finally it was time to "Beatlize" it.  I started by making "The Beatles" out of black fondant.

Inspired by Abbey Road I made silhouettes of George, Ringo, Paul and John and placed them on "the road".

And then onto the cake!

Now that is the true epitome of Baking WITH the Beatles!