A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to make this Nursing School Graduation Cake for Emily, who was graduating from nursing school (obviously)! She originally wanted an LSU cake because she's a die-hard fan, but then decided to get cake that reflected her soon-to-be career!
I'm not sure where she found the original picture she sent me, but I found several versions on Cake Central and Pinterest, so I used all of those for my inspiration!
I made the nurses cap (forgive me if that's not the proper terminology) from gum paste and let it dry a few days so it would stand strong.
I also made the pill bottle with gum paste by wrapping it around my 9" Wilton fondant rolling pin and letting it dry for a couple of days.
Most of the "pills" were made from fondant (by my awesome husband!!)... a few of the larger white ones were actually candy eyeballs turned upside down (eek!).
The letters were my favorite Funky Alphabet Tappit cutters. You can see lots of my other favorite tools here!
For the stethoscope, I made it from gum paste and black fondant. Then I piped on the heartbeat with royal icing (made with Americolor Meringue Powder).
The bandaids and syringe were made with fondant (also by my sweet husband!). Oh.. and I used this method to make the ribbon border around the bottom!
Other than the red fondant and gum paste this entire cake was done with homemade marshmallow fondant. On the inside, the cake was vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream!
Congratulations Emily!!
Did I miss any details? Do you have any questions about this cake? Please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer and help out!
Elizabeth
What an awesome cake for a nurse graduation. How many layers of cake is the top and bottom tiers? What size pans did you use? This cake is just beautiful. Have you ever thought of entering your cakes in magazines, shows or contests. If not, you should.
Rose
Thank you Elizabeth! I used 2 layers of cake for each tier and for this cake, I used 6" and 10" pans. I haven't ever been to a cake show or contest but that would be fun! I think living in rural Mississippi limits my options though 🙁
Megan
So cute! Love the design, and the bold colors!
Megan
A couple questions...
1) how did you make the pill bottle top so perfectly rounded and 3D?
2) for the stethoscope, did you use an extruder or just roll that out by hand? It's impressively the same thickness!
Rose
Hi Megan!! 🙂
1) For the pill bottle, I rolled out a thin piece of gum paste then wrapped it around my 9" Wilton Fondant rolling pin and let it dry over night. I let it overlap a little on the bottom so I could easily glue the seams but you can't see that because its on the bottom and covered with pills. OH, and I had the rolling pin lightly dusted with corn starch so it would slide off easily. Then I cut a circle to fit the bottom/end and "glued" it on with Tylose glue.
2) I rolled it out "by hand" but I laid out the black rope of fondant on a mat and actually used my fondant smoother (paddle thingy?) to roll it so it was more uniform than just using my hand! O hope that helps Megan... and thanks for always being a faithful reader! <3 Rose
Megan
Thank you for the info! I was curious about the bottle top though....you had already (thank you!) put good info in your post on how you did the bottle part, but the extra info you gave is greatly appreciated as well! You're always so sweet to help teach.
Rose
OH, the bottle top (duh!) - I'm a little ditsy sometimes...hehe!! I just used a cookie cutter and cut out a super thick piece of fondant slightly larger than the bottle and smoothed the edges/corners with my fingers. Then I actually washed a real medicine bottle top and rolled it around the edges of the fondant one to get the same ridges... then I just let it dry!
Megan
No, you're not ditsy! Anyone who can do all these cakes, and homeschool that many children, is NOT ditsy! 🙂
Ahhh, so brilliant. I love it, I always have these "duh" moments when you teach your cake "tricks". I was thinking the bottle top was hollow in the middle, but that makes sense, and is a great idea, to just keep it as a solid piece since you can't see the inside anyway! Great, thank you!
Megan
P.S. I have a blog, too, if you would like an invite. It's private. Mostly about my son, my family, daily life, but also about the cakes I do (which is NOT very often)...if you'd be interested in knowing who this internet stranger is 🙂
Rose
absolutely! My email address is rosebakes@live.com
Emily
So cute! I would have you make this for me because I am graduating from Nursing school on Thursday, but I live in Ohio 🙁 It's my name and everything!
Rose
Awww... congratulations!!! I wish I could do it for you too =)
Ruth Johnson
Thank you for sharing this fun cake, Rose. My daughter has just passed the first year of her nursing degree at UEA (Norwich, UK) and we are copying your ideas for her 21st birthday cake next week.
I am not sure how gum paste translates into UK English but reckon it is sugar paste with gum tragacanth. I shall use Smarties and other small sweets for the pills to save time........
Best wishes,
Ruth
Rose
Awesome & congratulations!! While my hubby made most of the pills for me from fondant, for some of the white pills, I used candy eyeballs turned backwards 😉
kathy watson
Hi Rose,
I am a retired preschool with special needs teacher that has always enjoyed baking, making candy, starting out when my oldest (now 33) was a toddler taking teats to school for every possible occasion ).. have started a little business making and was asked to make a stethoscope to top the jumbo size cupcake that will sit on top of the stand of regular size cupcakes for the young lady's bday/graduation party... the "Emily" cake design is FANTASTIC... thanks for sharing, and providing directions for making the stethoscope... (the oldest child took my baking & truly took it to the next level doing all the wonderful things I see you are doing).. so since she is in her 4th year of medical school, interviewing for residency, I try not to ask for help even though when she sees me trying out things she then jumps in...
I still try to do 🙂 when I see spot for website, lets me recognize I will need to "up" my game plan:) thanks again... also took a couple of scrolls up & down the page before I saw POST COMMENT 🙂
Ginger Devlin
Hi I am trying to make this cake for my daughter...did you make two frostings? Do you have a step by step I can follow?
Thank you!
Ginger
Rose Atwater
I really don't understand your question about 2 frostings. And no, I don't have any other details than what you see in this post.
ruthann divers
Do you have a video on how to make a stethoscope.
Rose
I don't, sorry! But I basically just rolled out ropes of fondant in different colors then used round cookie cutters for the end and layered different colors.