Bright and Fun Boy Cake

This is a 10" three level chocolate cake filled with chocolate buttercream. that I made for my mom to take to work. It was based out of a design in "The Whimsical Bakehouse" which is a fun book on decorating. Its not heavy on the recipes, but it goes over some fun techniques that look a little bit intimidating, but are easy to pull off.

My favorite part was the ruffle on the bottom. Bows are a bear though. For whatever reason, I have the hardest time making bows, and these in particular wanted to leave the top of the cake in favor of the bottom of the cake. I had to replace two of them. Next time I'll set them half on the top, instead of the top of the side.

I think this is my best attempt at a masculine cake. While not strictly masculine it is a bit gender neutral and definitely not feminine.

Kiana's Ladybug and Kai Lan Cakes

I like crafty things. I like playing with color, and composing things. The thing that is special about cakes for me is that it is something I can do for other people. And unlike knitting, you don't have to worry about size or style when you give it away. I wanted to learn how to decorate cakes because I can give it to people I love.
We have been waiting for Kiana for so long, I was truly excited to make her cake. I love her.


The largest ladybug was made out of half the wilton ball pan. I then covered it with the startip, using the same method I learned during the VW bug class at creative cakes.


I made two cakes the large ladybug cake is a 16 x 16 sheet cake. The other cake is a 4" round. It took about 18 cups of batter for everything.

The ladybug theme was given to me by Kiana's mom. She told me that in China ladybugs are a symbol of adoption.


The cake was done mostly in buttercream, but Kai Lan and the ladybugs on the sides were done out of piped chocolate. The ladybugs with heart antenna (the larger one in the picture above) was based on the party decorations.



The dump cake was covered completely with the grass tip. I tied the two cakes together by color and continuing the ladybugs on the dump cake. Originally the party was going to be a Kai Lan theme, but partyware for that theme doesn't come out until possibly next year.



Happy Birthday Kiana!

My First Fondant Covered Cake

This was a really simple cake. Nancy let me use her silicone leaf press, and oohhh, I know what I want for Christmas! I could cover a whole cake with that fun!
It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

This was a Chocolate cake with fudge filling.

Strawberry Basket Cake

This cake was a basket weave cake around the sides with fresh strawberries on the top. I made this a 8" white chocolate cake with a strawberry and vanilla custard filling.

This came out as a pretty cake, that decorated up pretty fast. I hulled the strawberries before putting them on the cake, and I wish I hadn't. They started to drip later on that day. Oh well, just an excuse to eat it quickly!

Fish Cakes

This was my fifth cake from the classes at Creative Cakes. We worked with piping gel and rice paper to make a cake from my drawings. The other version of this class is a floral scene, and it looks pretty, but I had fun with the fish. I had a blast making this cake, it was a lot of fun seeing my drawings become cake decorations.


Not to sound vain, but I don't think the pictures do justice to this cake, it is a very vibrantly decorated coffee pecan cake. I think I want to try this with my daughter. it would be fun to put some of her pictures on a cake.

Clara's Cupcake Cake

A friend was having a small tea party for her daughter, so I made this "cake" out of frosted cupcakes. It made it real easy to make and serve up, and I think it looked good.

Book Cake

Okay, I probably shouldn't be posting this, but instead eat this Gingerbread cake quickly and pretend it never happened. So many regrets! I was just off when I frosted this cake. I'd like to blame the frosting, it was too soft or something, but it was me.

Besides the knarly frosting job, I should also apologize for the sappy quote. What do you put on a cake that has no event? I kept thinking about Romeo and Juliet on the balcony scene "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" and while that seemed heavy handed, it led me to think of another line, which I did use. It seemed appropriate for where me and Jon are, but don't tell him, he thinks it is pretty random and he doesn't read this blog.

MY Cake

So the kids got the first two cakes, that makes this one mine! (Sorry Jon, you have to wait another class)

I wish I could take better pictures (maybe that is the class I should sign up for next). The colors were pretty, but you have to take my word on it. I used Maroon and for the green I combined "leaf green" and "forest green". Oh, and did I mention this was a yummy White Chocolate cake with Ollaliberry filling?

Ignore the bottom where I smashed it. This cake looked great, if I do say so myself. I learned how to do mums, swags, and rosettes, and worked on cornelli lace, and some border options.

George Gets Another Cake

I told Gloria that the butterfly cake was "her" cake. So it follows that this would be Georges's cake. George was IN LOVE when I brought home this Spicy Chocolate cake shaped like a VW. It was a total blast to make, so I was pretty thrilled also.

It is made from a round cake cut in half placed with cut sides down. The tires are Oreo type cookies, and the hood is carved.


The back had a split window, a special request from Jon!

Butterfly Cake

The last weeks of summer are here and I decided to try to cram in a cake decorating course from a local cake decorating supply store
This is the first cake we made. This is the first time I have worked with piping gel and it was pretty easy. If you look real close you can see some pink edible glitter!


The cake was a Carmel Chocolatechip cake cut in half and turned cut sides out. Piping gel was used to make stripes and then a toothpick was drawn through the lines to make the design.

Tractor Cake

Okay, it is more of a riding lawn mower cake than a tractor cake, but add a row bar and who would know? I had some fun with gum paste on this one. Working with gum paste is like working with modeling clay. It is a little tough at first, but it warms up and gets easier to use. The stick, chair, steering wheel, and of course the driver were done out of gum paste.


The body was made out of a small and regular size loaf pan. the wheels are two sizes of donuts, and then filled with white frosting for the rims. It was all pretty easy to put together, but the cake isn't large enough to feed a whole party, so we also used a bundt cake.

Beehive Cake

I made this cake last year for George's birthday. I used gum paste for the black opening and bee bodies, and then used almond slivers for the wings. The rest is piped frosting. The yellow part was a bit of a pain because by the end my wrist was killing me, and it started to sag in a few places. The cake was three layers high and I used cardboard and dowels inside the cake for support, it was heavy. I was pretty happy with it. This is my first time trying to make a non-traditionally shaped cake.

A Simple Kids Cake

I made this cake last summer for my friends son.


I was really happy with it, even though it was less involved than others I have made, it came out with less flaws. I only wish I could have got the wording centered better. I was really happy with the color and the texture that came from the coconut.

Marshmallow Fondant Taste Update

   I have rolled it out in order to cover some cupcakes (any excuse). It was very pliable and easy to work with, but it did crack which may mean either I need to knead it more, or it is too dry.
   The taste is awesome. It took a few tries to come to this verdict, but I have almost eaten a fourth of it just from snacking on it.
DH says it tastes like.........marshmallow!

Sam's Cake

When I was little, no matter how hard I tried, whenever I drew a boy, it looked feminine. Now this is my attempt at a masculine cake, but while pretty, masculine it is not.



I guess if you are trying to do a masculine cake stay away from roses and cornelli lace!

Piped Chocolate Cupcakes

Last September I made these cupcakes for my daughters class. I got the idea from the book The Whimsical Bakehouse. This was my first time piping melting chocolate.


It was funny, none of the kids tried the chocolate topping, and even the teachers seemed wary. I had alot of fun making them and loved how they looked. I wasn't satisfied with the buttercream recipe I tried from the book though. I'll have to try this again.

A Quick Cake

I was going over to a friends house tonight, and decided to bring a cake. (Any excuse!)
I only had a few minutes to decorate, and this is what I came up with.


If you look, I haven't quite got the handle of leaves. The cake was my favorite chocolate sour cream cake, and I am happy that you can't tell that a layer of the cake fell apart when I was getting it out of the pan. I wish I had paid more attention to that line down the center top. It was not noticeable in person, but in these pictures it looks like a huge fissure in the middle of my cake.

My First Marshmallow Fondant

In my Wilton class, the instructor raved about Marshmallow Fondant, and after researching it, I figured I should try it. I have used ready made fondant before, and while I loved the look, the taste was bleh, and mm fondant is suppose to taste better.

I used the basic recipe from bunnywoman. Thank you bunnywoman!
I made a few adjustments in the process.


Ingredients:

1 bag 16 oz mini marshmallows
2 tbsp water (I used about 1 tbspn more because mine was too dry)
2 lbs powdered sugar

1. I melted the marshmallows and water on the top of my double boiler. (it was overflowing at first, but melted down.)

2. I put the melted marshmallow/water in my Kitchen Aid and added about 3/4 of the sugar. I used the dough hook to knead this. It saved me a ton of work.

3. I added the rest of the sugar, but watch your mixer! I had to pull it when my bowl started to warp. The fondant was looking beautiful at this point.

4. Had husband knead the dough a little more to mix in that additional water.

5. Slathered fondant in vegetable shortening, wrap in plastic wrap, and put in zip bag.

6. Patted myself on the back for saving myself some work, and hope I don't regret it later!

If any one tries this with the mixer who has done it all by hand, I'd like to hear your comments!

The Candied Voilets Taste Good!

So I decided to try to make candied pansies again. The first time I made this was years ago. I candied scented geraniums, roses, pansies, and violets. I used watered down egg whites and superfine sugar. It worked out beautifully, and the cake was fabulous, but I never tried it again, because I was uneasy about the kiddos eating them.


I was inspired to try again because I have meringue Powder from the Wilton class. I followed the same steps as before. So I went out ans picked some pretty violets from our front yard. (We never used chemicals on the landscape.)



Then I mixed a watered down version of the instructions for replacing egg whites. About 1 tsp meringue powder to 2 tbsp water. I brushed it on with a paintbrush, then sprinkled the superfine sugar on top. (I tried dipping it in the sugar, but it coated too thickly) I was glad I put them to dry on parchment paper, because they wanted to stick.


In the end, I was only happy with one or two of the blossoms. The Meringue powder does not work as well as egg white. It coated too thickly, and the flowers never properly hardened. I will probably try again. They did taste yummy, so it wasn't a total wash!

Graduating Wilton Course 1

I took Wilton Course one with my mom, and here is my "final":

Now, there was too much space between the roses, so I just filled it in with leaves. I like better, and will do it again this way. This picture is also closest to the true colors.