Melinda Makes Cake: Girl

Showing posts with label Girl. Show all posts

Friday, April 25, 2014

One Direction Birthday Cake

She's IN the band!! Ha ha. Loved making this One Direction Cake for my girl.

This is what happens when you don't make a denser cake and then load three laters of fondant on top of it.
Woops. Luckily, it was for my sister and she didn't mind so much. We wrote the name of the birthday girl on the top in Disney font.

Black Cat Birthday Cake

I made this for a little girl I just absolutely love. She said it was "even better" than the picture she sent me. That's pretty much the best compliment ever.

Minions: Cake and Cupcakes

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Pirate Mermaid Party - Treasure Chest Cake

I made this cake for my niece's 1st birthday party. It was a Pirate Mermaid theme. I stacked 4 cakes to make the chest. And stacked 2 cakes and carved them to make the rounded lid. The lid is sitting on a cake board and is propped up by wooden dowels and the treasure. Not very stable actually--- but I really wasn't sure how to do it, so I winged it.
I used an edible aerosol gold for all the gold accessories, purchased on Amazon. I also used metallic airbrush paint to make some of the jewels. I just dabbed it on with a paint brush and they came out really nice. The sand is crushed graham crackers. The rocks are chocolate rocks. The rest of the booty is premade candies. I liked putting the cake on a cutting board. I thought the wood added a nice element.

Speaking of wood: the create the paneling, I rolled and cut white fondant. I put the pieces on the cake. After they were in place, I etched the details into the fondant. Finally I took some brown food coloring, watered it down, and brushed it on, allowing the water to fill in the details, making them stand out. Next time I will try to figure out how to make it look darker, but for now, I am really happy with the results.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Dinosaur Volcano Cake

This was a super fun cake to make! It is nice to make a theme cake that has no right or wrong to it. It doesn't have to be precise like a wedding cake and have a pattern that has to line up just right. It's total free expression. This was for a Girl's 18th Birthday Party. (I know right? She's so cool) I had her come over with a friend to help decorate. And I also enlisted my family to help. Many hands make light work.

My husband dyed the green mount and brown volcano while I was dirty icing. That saved me about an hour's time right there. The birthday girl, Larissa, made the Pteradactyl, nest, waterfall, and Brachiosaurus tail. Her friend, Sam, made the pink Stegasuarus, the triceratops, and the palm tree.

I made the volcano, Brachiosaurus head, eggs, and grass.

My 3 year old and 9 year old placed all the chocolate rocks around the water. My 7 year old helped knead the fondant and the palm tree.

A real group effort!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

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!

Monday, June 20, 2011

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.

Monday, June 13, 2011

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?

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

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.

Monday, June 6, 2011

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.

Melinda Makes Cake