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.

Christmas Cake with Horses

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!

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!

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.

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.