# Help with a birthday cake for a Marine...



## pbeck (Sep 3, 2010)

Hi everyone! I am new here and am hoping that you guys can help me out. My husbands birthday is Tuesday, all of his family has decided to come to our house over the weekend for a party/bbq. I really want to make him a great cake...the problem is a have the cake decorating skills of an monkey. Well to be honest, a monkey maybe slightly better than me./img/vbsmilies/smilies/blushing.gif



My husband is a former Marine (disabled) who loves anything that can be done outside...hunting (bow or rifle), fishing, camping....and of course *anything* that has to do with the Marine Corps. I was hoping to somehow make a cake that involves hunting or the Marines. Maybe camo? I did a lot of Google searching, but so far I am at a loss of how to accomplish the icing part of a cake like this. I need it to be simple (don't think I want to try something like fondant) but look good. 



To make it more difficult, his favorite cake is chocolate on chocolate...and I don't think you can change the color of chocolate like you can other frostings. 

How can I accomplish a camo type design without an airbrush or fondant? Would it be possible to use white chocolate and food coloring? Or maybe different types of chocolate (milk, dark, etc) and just ice each section of the cake in a different color? 



I really don't have a lot of cake decorating supplies, but I know where the craft store is, and can get anything I need within reason. Are there any special tips, bags...or whatever I should pick up? 



Sorry for all the questions...this just kind of important since this is first birthday since we have been married. I want to make it really special. I am open to any suggestions you may have for ideas of cakes or anything else. 



Thanks so much!


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

get a package of little green Marine men, frost the cake white, use blue sugar for the water, green sugar for grass and either cocoa or reg. brown sugar for dirt. was he 0311 or did he do something more specific that you could add for detail? like airwing or amphibious assault? toys are always good to use as i've found kids of all ages play with them and their food afterwards. i'm sure he'll appreciate anything you make. and check out www.grunt.com for more birthday ideas.

kathee


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## pbeck (Sep 3, 2010)

I am unsure of the code used, but he was an Anti-Terroist Specialist in Fast Company. Not sure if that will help any as far as addition details go.

Thanks for the idea!


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

0311 is infantry. i would just put a lot of guns and Marine men, a couple of tanks, planes and ships will round it all out.


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## kayla323 (Sep 3, 2010)

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Its pretty much another forum with tons of great recipes! you can never have too many I don't thnk! hope this helps!


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## sgtgoodie (Aug 8, 2010)

katbalou said:


> 0311 is infantry. i would just put a lot of guns and Marine men, a couple of tanks, planes and ships will round it all out.


Interrestingly enough, 0311 is infantry but 3311 is baking specialist. Which would come in handy about now. I have made many Marine Corps birthday cakes. One of the things I purchased later in my USMC service as a baker was a plastic "eagle, globe and anchor" mould. We generally colored sugar and pressed emblems with them but they work great with chocolate which is what I used for the 1st Marine Division cake (86'-88') you can get by with the basic tips (shell, leaf and rose petal). If you live near a MC base you should be able to find the mould.


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## jessiquina (Nov 4, 2005)

i like this idea! it would be easy and cute!



katbalou said:


> get a package of little green Marine men, frost the cake white, use blue sugar for the water, green sugar for grass and either cocoa or reg. brown sugar for dirt. was he 0311 or did he do something more specific that you could add for detail? like airwing or amphibious assault? toys are always good to use as i've found kids of all ages play with them and their food afterwards. i'm sure he'll appreciate anything you make. and check out www.grunt.com for more birthday ideas.
> 
> kathee


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

Sgt. Goodie - my son is in the 1st MAR DIV  HQ BN, Camp Pendleton right now. is that where you were?


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

Write *"OORAH!" * across the cake in big bold letters. He'll get it. And he'll love it if he's a died in the wool leatherneck.


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## sgtgoodie (Aug 8, 2010)

katbalou said:


> Sgt. Goodie - my son is in the 1st MAR DIV HQ BN, Camp Pendleton right now. is that where you were?


I spent 5 years in a rotating grunt batallion in 1st Mar Div up at San Mateo which is a smaller camp in the northern part of Camp Pendleton before being transfered to Service Co HQBN 1st Mar Div working at the 16 area dining facility which was built in the 40's and has been torn down since the 90's. So i guess "yes" would have been the short answer. Below is a picture of my watch outside the 16 area dining facility.


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

i guess most of the cooking positions have been phased out, it's all done by civilian contractors now. the kid is in sec. 33. my husband spent some time in the airwing there in the early 80's.


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## sgtgoodie (Aug 8, 2010)

I visited my old dining facility in 1990 just prior to being deployed to Desert Storm and they had already replaced the messmen that the grunt units supplied to work in the serving lines and various cleaning positions by civilians and there was rumors that the Marine cooks would be replaced as well due to the invention of the tray packs for feeding in the field. The school for 3311's had already been stopped and all Marine food services were 3381's (the cooks up to that point had been 3371's to the bakers 3311). Having civilians in the garrison dining facilities and supply issuing "tray-packs and MRE's) in the field makes sense though.


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

i guess there are some openings for basic cooks - can't get many civilians to fill those jobs in deployment stations. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I have no doubt that a lot of it has to do with trade unions and congress.

As far back as the 1960s, for instance, any Navel domestic construction work had to be bidded out to civilian companies. Seems that having Sea Bees do the work was unfair competition, according to the unions (which, only coincidenally, contribute vast sums to congressional election campaigns). So the unions complained to congress, and congress passed its laws.

For off-shore work, the Sea Bees were just fine. Apparently, the economies of our allies didn't concern congress.

At any rate, with the big push towards privatization, I'm sure many other job categories have met a similar fate.


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

So,  pbeck,  did you make a cake?  Do you have photos to share?


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## sgtgoodie (Aug 8, 2010)

The other branches of the service still have their food services operations in place. I don't know what the MC does when they go aboard ship for amphibious deployment if the cooking MOS has been phased out or severely limited. I can tell you that the field food service provided by marine cooks and bakers required a great deal of logistical planning and execution. We were told in basic school that in time of war the bakers would be taken from their units to man field bread baking plants. The bread plant itself was pretty impressive. The whole plant could be set up in a short time and could easily produce fresh bread close enough to the troops to supplement the "C" rations and elevate morale. At the food services school at Camp Lejeune there is one such bread plant that was set up and produced bread when the bakery students were learning field baking. Most of the field baking however was just learning to apply garrison baking to field production equipment. Both field units were set up in the schools field kitchen known as "The Rose Garden".


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## pbeck (Sep 3, 2010)

You guys gave me some really great ideas. Thank you SO much! 



I went to the store in search of the little green army men but never found any. What I did end up finding was this cool looking marine (off brand GI Joe) who came with a parachute, barricades, and a couple other little odds and ends. Anyway, I made a devil's food cake, and used chocolate frosting. I used plain white icing and mixed in different colors of food coloring and was going to just make a few camo spots or something to look like grass around him. Threw on him and some of the details, then I found another GI Joe guy at home that my son had never taken out of the box so he was opened and used as the "bad guy". When all was said and done we ended up with a cake that had our Marine on one side of barricade, spots of green and tan around for grass and sand, a small stream going across and on the other side an enemy solider who tried to cross the barricade. 



I stuck the "enemy" in the cake on his back, added some red food coloring and red tinted icing to make it look like he had been shot a few times, and his gun on the ground beside him. Sounds rather strange I guess, but it looked so great and he really loved it. I have pictures but am currently at work and cant post them here. I will try to posted them tonight when I get home. 



Thanks again everyone. You guys are great!


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

nice. i bet your Marine appreciated it.


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