Here are the adventures of one viral cake design, the Mexican wedding cake from the cover of my book, Cake Decorating with Modeling Chocolate. Over the past few years, quite a number of talented cake decorators have spun off in different directions with the design. The ripple effect has been astounding and fun to witness. This article celebrates the work of 50 other bakers from the world over who’ve joined the inspiration train! 

The Story Behind This Cake

This Mexican fiesta cake was originally created for the wedding of Valerie and Ron Rivera in May of 2010. Their colorful reception took place at the Casa Guadalajara in Old Town, San Diego.

It was Valerie’s idea to have a cake with an abstract interpretation of Mexican papel picado (paper banners). She wanted only the idea of the banners to come through in the design, not a literal interpretation of the banners themselves so I created a variation on this buttercream dot cascade pattern. Here are some of my earlier versions dating back to 2006:

Valerie also asked for edible los claveles (carnations) on her cake so I made them out of modeling chocolate. This was the result of her vision: a three-tiered wedding cake with a buttercream frosting dot cascade design and modeling chocolate carnations.

After I posted photos online, a lot of brides got a hold of it, which meant that bakers from all over the world have been tasked with the job of re-creating the design.

Eventually, I created tutorials on how to pipe the dots and form the flowers in the book, Cake Decorating with Modeling Chocolate then published a video tutorial on how to pipe the design in the Smooth Buttercream Cake Frosting. Since then, even more decorators have had the opportunity to learn how to execute this design, resulting in some amazing work. Bravo! Everyone’s version is a little different, and that’s what makes this inspiration train so fun.

50 More Versions of the Mexican Fiesta Cake

made by creative bakers from all over the world
>> Click here to view them all in closeup <<

Highlights

Mexican Fiesta Shower Cake
made by Myrna’s Yummy Cakes

Cinco de Mayo Cake
made by Alena’s Sweets

Fiesta Engagement Party Cake
made by Delicious Bakery
Photo Found at: Catch My Party

Mexican Fiesta Wedding Cake
made by Ruthie Bonney-Aranda
This version uses edible pearls instead of piped pearls.

“Color Luminescence Cake”
made by Cakes by Cassandra
This artist won a ribbon in the Austin Cake Show and landed the cover of American Cake Decorating Magazine.

Fiesta Cake
made by Custom Cake Designs by Shannon

Thanks those of you who emailed me photos of your work. Congratulations to everyone who white-knuckled it through all the tedious piping. You’re champs!

Note to the cake artists here: If I mistakenly mis-credited any of the cakes here or on the Pinterest board, please let me know so I can fix the error. Email me at [email protected].

JOIN THE INSPIRATION TRAIN!

Have you tried this cake design too? If so, share a photo of your version in the comment section below. If you can find a shortcut, let us know!  If you run a cake business, be sure to link back to your website or facebook page. May the inspiration train keep on chugging.

Learn How to Make this Design

Option #1
Photo instructions on how to pipe the buttercream dot cascade pattern plus how to form the modeling chocolate carnations are in the following book

Cake Decorating with Modeling Chocolate

Option #2
Video instructions on how to pipe the buttercream dot cascade design are in the following web book

Smooth Buttercream Cake Frosting