Monkey Baby Shower Cake

Baby Shower cake for Little Vincent.

Larissa helped me make the monkeys.

Sesame Street Elmo Cake

Two tiers of cake with a rice cereal Elmo. Elmo is covered with buttercream (took 2 1/2 jars of food dye to get him red!!!!).  Customer Nicolette was kind enough to send me a picture on her table with the cute background. Thank you!

Blue and Turquoise Daisy Wedding Cake

I am really proud of this cake. It was very time consuming and required me to do alot of things I had never done before. You can't really see the light green detailed dot work I did around the flowers, but in real life it gave it the extra touch that just made it perfect. I didn't get any feedback from the family, so I am going to take no complaints as they liked it. Unless they hated it and are just too nice to tell me. When people get married I am well aware there are other things on their mind than tracking down the cake lady to give a review. I attended the reception and it was just awesome to hear people talking about how good it tasted-- especially since they didn't know I made it--- which made all the compliments honest and real.

CARS Cake with Race Track for the Birthday Boy

Most of this cake is buttercream frosting. The track and finish line are fondant. The crowd is made of sprinkles. And the cars are all real toys I cleaned and stuck on. I love the crazy fan at the top.

50th Anniversary Cake

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with this cake. I used pale yellow fondant and then purchased gold glitter to paint over the yellow, but when I painted it on, it just looked yellow. I made rolled roses, which was fun. And the chocolate cake inside turned out really well.

Chocolate Cupcake Roses

It just worked out that Eliza has 4 events with various sides of the family in which to celebrate her birthday. So instead of spending 4-10 hours on each one, I went with smaller, simpler desserts. These are dairy free chocolate cupcakes. Chocolate fudge frosting and gumpaste leaves. I was lazy and didn't even dye them green. I left them white and them used green sprinkles.

Zebra Present Cake - Surprise Baby Shower Cake -- Boy or Girl???

It was an honor to be asked to make this very special cake. It was for a 30th birthday party, but more importantly, to find out the sex of the couple's baby. They had their ultrasound technician place the picture of the baby's sex in a sealed envelope. Then that envelope was brought directly to me. I got to find out the sex before the parents!! When I made the cake, I colored the frosting either pink or blue to reveal the surprise.

I think it was very special for them to do that in front of their friends and family. I have to admit, it's cooler than finding out on a medical bed with your shirt pulled up to your arm pits and goo on your belly in the middle of a stale cold exam room. Not that it's bad-- I did it twice-- I'm just saying-- this is a cool.

I've been dying to try a zebra pattern and the couple gave me free reins to design as I pleased. I went with a gender neutral color to not give anything away.

IT"S A BOY!

Sand Castle Beach Cake Hawaii Summer

I let my kids decorate the cake for my middle child's birthday. She is having a beach Hawaiian themed party. I used vanilla sandwich cookies and cocoa puffs for the sand. The variation in color makes it look more real. I used fondant mixed with a little gum tex for the decorations and I let the kids go to town like it was playdoh. They had so much fun. I tried to make the top tier look like I used a plastic cup to make the top, since you see that so often on the beach.

Turquoise and Yellow Swirly Wedding Cake

I am moving up the world folks! My first 4 tiered cake! I made this for the wedding of Carrie and Zach. They had the most charming outdoor wedding reception with paper lanterns hanging from the rafters and mason jar center pieces filled with calla lilies. This cute cake fit right in with the joyful atmosphere.

It took 10 hours to create this, which is a big improvement for me. 4 tiers and 10 hours, compared to my last wedding which took me 14 hours and was only 3 tiers. I am getting more efficient, more confident, and more knowledgeable. Cutting out 4 hours is ALOT.

My favorite part of the cake was the tiny dots I used as accents. I punched each one of these out by hand and used a paint brush to "glue" them in place. It was work, but so worth it.

Yes Padawan Learner, You are learning the ways of the Force.... I mean Baker.

Cake Pop Attempt #2 --- as you can see --- SUCH an improvement. They actually look like mini cupcakes and the more you stare at them the more you want to ravenously start mauling them one by one. I count that as a success.

I made a few major adjustments from my last failure in the kitchen. First I only used half the can of frosting instead of the whole thing. The texture is firmer and much better for the stick, but also much more palatable. Much more like a brownie than a gooey mess of dough. I formed the cupcake shape, put in the stick, and then put them in the freezer. Very important step. Once frozen, I dipped in chocolate, dipped in white chocolate, and added sprinkles and an M&M on top.

How much would you pay for these if it was your kid's birthday party?

I am thinking $1.50 a piece or $12 for a dozen, what do you think?

Update on the Cake Pops

So the party--- little did I know---- was OUTSIDE. I really didn't think any thing of this until the candy melts started melting! They were blobs falling off sticks by the time it came to serve them. What a disaster. And I am not being overly dramatic. When you try to serve something with sprinkles to a kid and they look at you and go, "No thanks." you know it's bad!

So from now on, if anyone ever asks for cake pops or cake balls I will tell them these are only for indoor temperature controlled environments.

Roll with the punches baby. Just roll.

Cupcake Cake Pops

I was asked to bring in a treat for my daughter's last day of school party. This was just the excuse I was looking for so I could try cake pops. They are essentially cake balls, but slightly smaller and....you got it....on a stick.

Thank goodness this first attempt is for 8 year olds, because I wouldn't be happy giving these to anyone who paid for them. There are some people who just naturally gets things right the first time, but I am not one of those people. It might have helped had I actually found a recipe or watched some youtube videos, but you know me, just in and then test the temperature of the water.

So I rolled the balls and started to dip. Bad idea. Next time roll your balls and FREEZE them before attempting to dip. They were so soft that trying to keep my cupcake shape was an absolute joke. And then little bits of cake got into my dip and that made me very unhappy.

I also used just the right amount of dip. Next time I will add a little extra so I have a deeper amount to roll in. Sometimes you have to have excess. You just do.

Also-- I dipped the white first and then tried to put the sticks in. Duh. The chocolate melted dip hardens and then guess what... you can't put the sticks in! So I had to make my cupcakes UPSIDE DOWN! Lesson learned again. They still look cute, but now when people eat them, the ugly side will be up. Unhappy again.

The good thing is, I have an audience who be will happy just because I added sprinkles.

Mother's Day Calla Lily Cake

I have yet to receive an order that required me to make sugar flowers-- but I assume it's only a matter of time. So for Mother's Day at my sister in law's, I made a chocolate./chocolate cake with calla lilies. They were really fun to make. It gives me a greater respect for those who make edible flowers, as it really is an art. I look forward to delving into this area more.

My first official Audition! Hopefully not my last!

I had a cake testing for 2 mother of the bride's. The day was a complete disaster. I can't even begin to tell you how many things went wrong, but the highlights were 1- when my mixer stopped working half way through making the chocolate ganache, losing an hour's time and ruining the texture and stiffness of the filling 2- realizing I didn't have the address to the appointment as I was going out the door- only to realize my phone didn't have any reception. I just started driving and then pulled over and called again. I was 15 minutes late to the appointment. and best of all #3 driving and watching cake #2-- not pictured-- slide in half, dividing at the filling in the middle and most of the filling ending up on the floor of my van.

When I arrived- late- I had this Daisy cake-- made in record time- and not to the best of my ability and what I might call the Wrecktastic Strawberry Cake.

Then when I cut in the chocolate cake my heart sank because I could see it didn't settle correctly. And when I cut the strawberry mess, most of the filling was gone, so the proportions were completely off.

I was so completely embarrassed, I just wanted to hang up my apron and go home and cry.

I am a bit of a go- getter. I like to be great. I don't like to fail. This was a very hard day for me.

Both potential clients were more than gracious. So kind. So forgiving.

I will be making a wedding cake for one in less than 2 weeks. The colors of the fondant cake were test colors. The yellow will be darker and more golden. The turquoise will be deeper and richer. And it will not be daisies. I am really excited about this cake. And I am going to give it 200% and make it the best cake I have ever done. No pressure right?

Easter Cake: Purple Butterfly w/ Marshmallow Fondant

If I am going to be honest, I would have to say this was the first cake I was embarrassed to deliver. I tried homemade marshmallow fondant for the 4th and final time. ok- I might try it again if a client specifically asks for it and they understand it's imperfections, but I am going back to Wilton. Secondly, I tried my new silicone pearl mold. That was AWESOME. The only problem is you have to make sure there are no creases in the gum paste as they do not come out in the mold, so next time I will be able to do much better. The mold saves SO much time. It was really exciting. I also had my first success with the Cricut Cake Machine. The butterflies are from the Cricut. I had a terrible time with my previous attempts, but I found a dude on youtube that sugggested chilling the sheet for 30 minutes before running it through. 30 wasn't enough for me, but 40 worked great. 45 was too much. This was also my first time working with gum paste. I didn't realize how quickly it set. I had all my pieces on a sheet of wax paper and when I went back to finish the edges and tweak them to perfection they were already hard and set in place! After a moment of pure horror, I realized there was nothing I could do. If I tried to fix them they would break. This was also my first time to make gum paste flowers, although I made the easiest flower possible, so I don't give myself too much credit there.

So I tried many new techniques and mediums and learned so much. Unfortunately this cake definitely looked like an experiment. But it means I am a better decorator and my future cakes will benefit from this adventure.

Garbage Truck Cake Road Cars etc.

Experimented again with homemade marshmallow fondant. It wasn't as terrible as last time, but it was still terrible. It simply doesn't have the smooth perfect finish as the store bought. I also experimented with the chocolate cake recipe and ganache filling. I am very close to have the recipe I will be proud of.

I wish the marshmallow fondant was easier to work with, as it tastes A LOT better. I am going to try it 2 more times this upcoming week and then I will make a final decision on whether I can use it or not.

The garbage can was my favorite part of this cake and the birthday boy at the whole thing! Ha ha. In retrospect, I should have made some little bits of trash so when he took off the lid he got a surprise. The green space in front ended up being perfect for 12 candles.

I have a little bit of free time on my hands.....

So I caught pneumonia and have spent A LOT of time sitting on the couch. I've really enjoyed browsing this website: www.globalsugarart.com

They have great prices! I am going to have to place an order!

http://www.globalsugarart.com/

St. Patrick's Day Fondant Cake Green Leprechaun Hat

I made this cake for my family and our good friends for dessert for tonight. Since the pressure was off, I thought it would be a good opportunity to make my own marshmallow fondant for the first time. It was ALOT of work. It required alot of kneading and pulling and smooshing. I was exhausted by the time it was ready. At this point I am going to assume I did something wrong in my preparation of the fondant, because it was terrible to work with. It was so hard to roll out because it was so elastic. Then once I had it on the cake it kept shrinking back from the edge like a rubber band. I would get a fold out and then turn the cake and when I came back around, the fold had sprung back into place. I wanted to throw it all away and start over.

This was also my first attempt at cake carving. I sculpted 3 layers to be the shape of the hat. This also took alot more time than I expected. No wonder sculpted cakes are so much more money. They take so much more time.

It also created alot of cake bits left over. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, so I mixed them with the left over buttercream and stuck the mixture in the freezer. I'll have some ready made dough for the next time I need some cake ball or cake pops.

I also experimented with the recipe. Instead of water, I used sour cream to make a firmer cake that will hold up to the weight of the fondant. We'll taste it tonight. Cross your fingers.

Where to find cupcake push pop holders

I get quite a few emails asking where I got the disposable plastic holders for the cupcake push pops. They were ordered through bakedeco.com with a whole sale license.

Occasionally amazon.com will carry them but the are currently out of stock.

Happy hunting!

Wolverine Fondant Cake

"No man. Freddy Krueger have 4 blades! That's only 3. That's Wolverine! Right? That's Wolverine!!!"

9 in round chocolate fudge with chocolate buttercream filling. The front sports the X Men logo and the top is the mask of Wolverine with 3 slash marks and blades.

I made the blades out of metallic poster board and used double stick tape to make them double sided.

I've got a few dents in the fondant where the 2 year old decided "to help" but other than that I am SO happy with how it turned out. I have to admit it hurt my feels when I first made the cut into Wolverine's face, but I am very pleased with how the effect turned out.