I love to try out new (to me) cakes. I had to borrow the half ball pan from a cake friend of mine. It's a good thing that she's so generous with her equipment or I might have had to try and carve the round myself and that may have been a bit messy.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Dragonfly 1st Birthday
I was excited to make this cake. I wanted practice and more ideas for a girly first birthday cake. Although I do admit that I am getting way ahead of myself. My own daughter's birthday is not until June!!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Barbie - Pretty in Peach
What's the saying? Practice makes perfect? I may not be perfect but I do believe that my Barbie cake has gotten better. I liked my first attempt, but I definitely think this one turned out nicer. I'm hoping that soon I will get to try one out with fondant. There are so many possibilities for the dress, and I have found many pictures to prove it. Here's an example that I love made by Pixiedust.
Snowflake cupcake
I made a pan of snowflakes with some leftover royal icing I had, in the spirit of the weather outside lately. Originally a cake design had caught my eye, but when no one in particular wants a snowflake cake, I can always practice on cupcakes. This one my kids got to share as an after dinner treat. A little shake up from the usual healthy snack to make them happy (and maybe a little hyper) for the rest of the night.
Falcon 3
So as the name implies, I have now made this cake for the third time. I think that the next time I get a request for it, I need to step it up a notch and see if I can improve the design somehow, just to be different. More realistic detail perhaps? I guess we'll see if I get another order.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thank you Cupcakes
Cupcakes are not an item that I get a lot of orders for. But they are becoming something that I like making more and more these days. My client was so happy with her first order a couple weeks back that she decided to get more. These ones were heading out to her doctor and dentist and ortho for all their hard work.
I was glad to be able to try something new, and apparently I will get another go at it because she says she plans on ordering Christmas cupcakes too.
In the meantime I am searching the internet for great design ideas. If you have a good one, send it my way. Maybe I'll try it out.
I was glad to be able to try something new, and apparently I will get another go at it because she says she plans on ordering Christmas cupcakes too.
In the meantime I am searching the internet for great design ideas. If you have a good one, send it my way. Maybe I'll try it out.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Showing off after Hallowe'en
Well, I am always late at my posts, and I thought I might not blog this one as it is not actually cake. But I am inclined to anyhow because it's still a picture of a cake.
So, Taa Daa! My cake pumpkin!
I spent a lot of time searching for just the right picture to carve this year, and I was worried that it would not turn out, but was pleasantly surprised with my results. Maybe next year I might finally try to do one of those carvings that shave off different layers of the pumpkin to get the right image to show through. Dreaming big here!
So, Taa Daa! My cake pumpkin!
I spent a lot of time searching for just the right picture to carve this year, and I was worried that it would not turn out, but was pleasantly surprised with my results. Maybe next year I might finally try to do one of those carvings that shave off different layers of the pumpkin to get the right image to show through. Dreaming big here!
Donald and Daisy
A classic Disney pair. Now I need to do one with both Mickey and Minnie. Are there other Disney pairings that I am not remembering? Do Goofy and Pluto count? They are always together aren't they? I guess there are a lot of the other characters that I have yet to do.
Monday, November 1, 2010
NASCAR
I have heard of Nascar fans, but until recently had never encountered one. They really love their sport. Consequently, the perfect cake for a Nascar fan is one that represents his favorite driver. This order was on short notice so we had to stick with something simple. I may have ventured into making a car if there was more time. Instead we went with a copy of a license plate that I found online.
The signature part took much practice on paper first. I wanted it to look as close as possible to the real thing. Maybe Kurt can hire me to sign for him when he gets a hand cramp.
The signature part took much practice on paper first. I wanted it to look as close as possible to the real thing. Maybe Kurt can hire me to sign for him when he gets a hand cramp.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Black and White wedding
For Calvin and Jenifer. This cake was large, a 14 inch base, 10 inch middle and 6 inch top, all chocolate cake with Bavarian cream filling.
At the location their florist added the most beautiful deep red flowers to the top and cascading down the side. Also, the bride and groom placed animal figurines on the bottom tier ledge to represent their pet names for each other. A Cow for her and a Hippo for him. Sweet terms of endearment to each other. This couple was so nice, and they obviously have a good sense of humor.
At the location their florist added the most beautiful deep red flowers to the top and cascading down the side. Also, the bride and groom placed animal figurines on the bottom tier ledge to represent their pet names for each other. A Cow for her and a Hippo for him. Sweet terms of endearment to each other. This couple was so nice, and they obviously have a good sense of humor.
Toopy and Binoo
This cake is another that I have done in the past. What changed is that I did not do the characters in the usual star piping that is always seen on kids cakes. I think I like this look better. It allows me to get the color into the smaller detailed areas. It takes time to smooth it out, but overall I think that its worth it for the look.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Wedding Shower Butterflies
I was asked to make this cake with the wedding color theme in it. The colors were teal, cranberry, and avocado. I was not sure about the combination and how it would look, or how I would get the icing the right colors. So there was a little experimenting done with color.
I wasn't asked to do hand painted butterflies, but I had some time and a friend coming to visit so we spent a couple hours catching up and painting butterflies. Hers looked so much better than mine. One of them even broke but I managed to hide the break in the placement.
After it was all put together, I was please with the result.
I wasn't asked to do hand painted butterflies, but I had some time and a friend coming to visit so we spent a couple hours catching up and painting butterflies. Hers looked so much better than mine. One of them even broke but I managed to hide the break in the placement.
After it was all put together, I was please with the result.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
September in Full Swing
Sesame Street characters are always cute. For this last cake, I searched all over for a picture that had both Elmo and Abby-Cadabby. I've never done the Abby character before and so this was a good one for me. I think that the best part about her was her hair with the two-toned icing.
Woody is another one that I have not done in the past. He's such a skinny character that there is so much room left for writing or decorations, so I did both.
This princess cake was a great one to do, iced in buttercream and then decorated with fondant pieces. The birthday girl was going to have a smash cake photo session on the same day as the party so I did an extra little cake just for her pictures. I hope that they turned out great, it's such a fun photo shoot to do
I believe that last year at this same time, I made a Thomas cake for the same client, when her son turned one. She did mention in her email that he was obsessed with Thomas. I wonder what his preference will be next year.
Woody is another one that I have not done in the past. He's such a skinny character that there is so much room left for writing or decorations, so I did both.
This princess cake was a great one to do, iced in buttercream and then decorated with fondant pieces. The birthday girl was going to have a smash cake photo session on the same day as the party so I did an extra little cake just for her pictures. I hope that they turned out great, it's such a fun photo shoot to do
I believe that last year at this same time, I made a Thomas cake for the same client, when her son turned one. She did mention in her email that he was obsessed with Thomas. I wonder what his preference will be next year.
Monday, September 27, 2010
August cakes
I started to get back into the swing of things with cake once August hit. I had my first order for the first week of the month from a returning customer who wanted 2 cakes for her twin girls.
In the middle of August I almost always make cakes for my niece and nephew, so the Barbie cake is for my niece who turned 5 this year and King from cars is for her brother who turned 3.
On the same day that the King cake was due, I also finished this cute Bathtub Rubber Ducky cake. I really liked the way that it turned out. It was a really busy day. On top of finishing off the 2 cakes I picked up my mom from the airport and we hurried off to dinner as a family that night because it was also my birthday. I didn't make my own cake though. I had ice cream cake. Yummy.
In the middle of August I almost always make cakes for my niece and nephew, so the Barbie cake is for my niece who turned 5 this year and King from cars is for her brother who turned 3.
On the same day that the King cake was due, I also finished this cute Bathtub Rubber Ducky cake. I really liked the way that it turned out. It was a really busy day. On top of finishing off the 2 cakes I picked up my mom from the airport and we hurried off to dinner as a family that night because it was also my birthday. I didn't make my own cake though. I had ice cream cake. Yummy.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The New Addition
During the month of July I did not make any cakes. In fact, I actually turned down two opportunities to make cakes. That was a hard thing to do, I always want to take any chance I get to make something new.
My baby girl finally made her entrance into the world on June 30th, 6 days past the due date. Her name is Alexis Rose Henry, and she may have been late, but when the time came to arrive it was quite a big hurry. I am so thankful to have had great Midwives to help us through the process.
We've had a few rough nights, but for the most part Lexi has been a great baby. My challenge lies in keeping my two boys occupied and behaving well.
So even though there were no cakes in July, it was still a really eventful month. And now, two and a half months later, she is growing and changing every day. I just love to hear her 'talk' to me in her little baby cooing sounds. If I had a video camera, I would want it on all day to record and preserve everything she does, as I know it doesn't last long.
The first picture is at 13 days old and the second was taken at 2 months old.
My baby girl finally made her entrance into the world on June 30th, 6 days past the due date. Her name is Alexis Rose Henry, and she may have been late, but when the time came to arrive it was quite a big hurry. I am so thankful to have had great Midwives to help us through the process.
We've had a few rough nights, but for the most part Lexi has been a great baby. My challenge lies in keeping my two boys occupied and behaving well.
So even though there were no cakes in July, it was still a really eventful month. And now, two and a half months later, she is growing and changing every day. I just love to hear her 'talk' to me in her little baby cooing sounds. If I had a video camera, I would want it on all day to record and preserve everything she does, as I know it doesn't last long.
The first picture is at 13 days old and the second was taken at 2 months old.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
June Cakes
I told myself that I would go easy on the cakes in June because my little girl was due near the end of the month and I needed the rest. This first cake, another Topsy Turvey was for the beginning of the month, and I had already finished working my full time job (YAY!) so I had time. But of course I am really good at procrastinating and left a lot to the last minute as usual.
The design changed because of my lack of time at the end, but I am glad that it did, as I like the way it turned out. I can't even remember now what I had planned on doing for the middle tier.
The other cake of the month, a Farm theme done for a friend who was having a double birthday celebration for her two girls, was actually scheduled to be made by someone else because I thought for sure I'd be having a baby right around the time the cake was due. But of course stubbornness runs in my family and my little angel decided to stay put for another week, and I got to make the cake to pass the time while waiting. I had a lot of help from my mom who was staying with us for a while to help out with baby. So along with helping to keep my two boys in line she helped model the little animals for the cake. The cake was a hit at the party and I've already had a request to make another one down the road.
To view more cake pictures see my Flickr page.
The design changed because of my lack of time at the end, but I am glad that it did, as I like the way it turned out. I can't even remember now what I had planned on doing for the middle tier.
The other cake of the month, a Farm theme done for a friend who was having a double birthday celebration for her two girls, was actually scheduled to be made by someone else because I thought for sure I'd be having a baby right around the time the cake was due. But of course stubbornness runs in my family and my little angel decided to stay put for another week, and I got to make the cake to pass the time while waiting. I had a lot of help from my mom who was staying with us for a while to help out with baby. So along with helping to keep my two boys in line she helped model the little animals for the cake. The cake was a hit at the party and I've already had a request to make another one down the road.
To view more cake pictures see my Flickr page.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Back At It - May Cakes
Wow, it has been a really fast few months and I have not posted anything since May.
So here are the other cakes that I finished off that month.
The Dragon cake was made for my son's 6th birthday. He had his party at a movie theater, and we watched "How to train a Dragon" I modeled the cake after one that I spied on someone else's Flikr page a while back. I loved her version and think mine turned out quite well too.
The other cake was actually designed by my husband for his friend's 40th birthday. He went shopping for the accessories and had the design ion his head, but is in no way adept at icing a cake to look the way he wanted it so he had lots of help from me. But he was still pretty proud none the less.
So here are the other cakes that I finished off that month.
The Dragon cake was made for my son's 6th birthday. He had his party at a movie theater, and we watched "How to train a Dragon" I modeled the cake after one that I spied on someone else's Flikr page a while back. I loved her version and think mine turned out quite well too.
The other cake was actually designed by my husband for his friend's 40th birthday. He went shopping for the accessories and had the design ion his head, but is in no way adept at icing a cake to look the way he wanted it so he had lots of help from me. But he was still pretty proud none the less.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
A Topsy Turvey month
In the span of one months time I ended up making three Topsy Turvey cakes. I became very confident in the construction of them. I used to believe that the cake had to be very dense in order to not fall apart when carving it and so that it can support itself when stacked, but really this is not the case.
The first TT was the Casino cake and I used alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate pound cake. I was trying out a new (to me) recipe for the vanilla pound which tastes absolutely wonderful, but was a hassle to make. The density of made it take forever to bake and once it was completely baked through the outside was very crusty. Good thing I was carving it off.
When I made the Abstract TT, since I knew that it did not have to travel very far, I decided to used my easiest vanilla cake recipe, which is light and moist. Carving it and icing it was not that much more difficult than using pound cake. I was also not covering it in fondant as there are so many people who really prefer to leave it off since it doesn't have the greatest taste. It made it to the party perfectly fine and everyone loved it; the look and the taste.
Finally, since it made my life that much easier, I did the same with the Dots and Stripes TT. Everyone seemed to want vanilla cakes that month. Again with this cake there is no fondant decorations. It makes it a little harder to get really smooth edges on the designs, but it does make the cutting of the cake much easier as well as making the taste nicer. Another good point to make is that the cakes are much lighter in overall weigh when there is no fondant, making carrying so much easier.
It was certainly a busy time for me, and now I must really slow down. My baby girl is due in under 4 weeks, and I do still have a couple more cakes to make before she comes. I think that is she does happen to come early, the people who the cakes are for will likely understand why I can`t get the cake finished. Think so?
The first TT was the Casino cake and I used alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate pound cake. I was trying out a new (to me) recipe for the vanilla pound which tastes absolutely wonderful, but was a hassle to make. The density of made it take forever to bake and once it was completely baked through the outside was very crusty. Good thing I was carving it off.
When I made the Abstract TT, since I knew that it did not have to travel very far, I decided to used my easiest vanilla cake recipe, which is light and moist. Carving it and icing it was not that much more difficult than using pound cake. I was also not covering it in fondant as there are so many people who really prefer to leave it off since it doesn't have the greatest taste. It made it to the party perfectly fine and everyone loved it; the look and the taste.
Finally, since it made my life that much easier, I did the same with the Dots and Stripes TT. Everyone seemed to want vanilla cakes that month. Again with this cake there is no fondant decorations. It makes it a little harder to get really smooth edges on the designs, but it does make the cutting of the cake much easier as well as making the taste nicer. Another good point to make is that the cakes are much lighter in overall weigh when there is no fondant, making carrying so much easier.
It was certainly a busy time for me, and now I must really slow down. My baby girl is due in under 4 weeks, and I do still have a couple more cakes to make before she comes. I think that is she does happen to come early, the people who the cakes are for will likely understand why I can`t get the cake finished. Think so?
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Boys Birthdays
I was more than busy in April. There was one weekend totally devoted to one year old boys. Here are two of the cakes from that weekend. One for a little guy who's mom wanted it to be quite obvious that this was a boy's cake. What boy doesn't like playing in the dirt digging up worms.
Barney
Another of the boys got his favorite character on his cake. Although Barney is not my choice of characters I was more than happy to try a new character on cake.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Seeing Doubles
So, things have gotten out of hand with blogging, meaning I haven't done any in way too long. So here's a few of the cakes that I have done before which were made in the last few months that I've been neglectful.
I was asked to make another Butterfly cake in April, I made Minnie Mouse again back in March, and another of the Millenium Falcon in February. See, I told you I was way behind.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Elmo
Elmo is such a popular character with kids, I am really surprised that it took until now to have a request for one. The usual Elmo cake is done as only his head, which I guess if you think about it, to a 2 year old that may be a little scary. Anyhow, the mom asked that the cake have his whole body so that her little one would really recognize him. Regardless of how he's made, he's still the cutest Sesame Street character.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sports Fan
Catching up with some cakes that I haven't posted about yet, this one goes back to February. It's another new one for me. I used the frozen buttercream transfer method to put all the pieces on the cake individually. I figured they would look so much better that way than doing it with all the stars. I'd have prickly looking sports balls.
The lady who ordered the cake picked it out from the site of a bakeshop here in Calgary that does fantastic work. The picture she choose from is here.
The lady who ordered the cake picked it out from the site of a bakeshop here in Calgary that does fantastic work. The picture she choose from is here.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Exciting Month
Well, another month has passed me by so quickly. A couple of great things have happened in my life this month.
One good thing is that I finally handed in my notice to leave my full time job last week. Mind you it is notice of my due date, which is coming up on me faster than I had expected. My family and I will be expecting a little girl to arrive in June and when I handed in the formal letter of notice to maternity leave to my boss, it felt like a weight being lifted. Everyone at work already knew about my pending arrival, but this just gave me an actual date to announce.
The other great thing this month was the entry into a cake competition. Last year I attended the L'Arche Calgary Cake Walk to view the cakes. This year I received an invitation to enter the competition. I was allowed to have a partner in the project, and there was only 4 weeks left to prepare, so a friend who is just as into cake as I am joined me in the adventure. And it was quite a challenging adventure for the both of us. Four weeks was just not enough for us when I work full time and tend to my family and she is a full time mother of three with a busy schedule.
The theme for this years Cake Walk was "Celebrating Unity" and there were several entries that really hit the mark demonstrating their interpretation of unity. Some we couldn't really see it. We were entered into the Novice category and I was very glad for that. Some of the entries in the Professional category were phenomenal. If you click on the link you can view the winners and all of the other photos of the great entries.
We did go through several options in the planning stage and even on the day of the set up we went from plan A to plan C or D in the span of an hour.
This is our final cake.
It really was a great learning experience, and if I chose to enter again I would make sure that I had much more time to prepare and really put forth my best work. I am so glad that I got the chance to experience this and equally happy that I had help from a friend who I got a chance to get to know much better.
One good thing is that I finally handed in my notice to leave my full time job last week. Mind you it is notice of my due date, which is coming up on me faster than I had expected. My family and I will be expecting a little girl to arrive in June and when I handed in the formal letter of notice to maternity leave to my boss, it felt like a weight being lifted. Everyone at work already knew about my pending arrival, but this just gave me an actual date to announce.
The other great thing this month was the entry into a cake competition. Last year I attended the L'Arche Calgary Cake Walk to view the cakes. This year I received an invitation to enter the competition. I was allowed to have a partner in the project, and there was only 4 weeks left to prepare, so a friend who is just as into cake as I am joined me in the adventure. And it was quite a challenging adventure for the both of us. Four weeks was just not enough for us when I work full time and tend to my family and she is a full time mother of three with a busy schedule.
The theme for this years Cake Walk was "Celebrating Unity" and there were several entries that really hit the mark demonstrating their interpretation of unity. Some we couldn't really see it. We were entered into the Novice category and I was very glad for that. Some of the entries in the Professional category were phenomenal. If you click on the link you can view the winners and all of the other photos of the great entries.
We did go through several options in the planning stage and even on the day of the set up we went from plan A to plan C or D in the span of an hour.
This is our final cake.
It really was a great learning experience, and if I chose to enter again I would make sure that I had much more time to prepare and really put forth my best work. I am so glad that I got the chance to experience this and equally happy that I had help from a friend who I got a chance to get to know much better.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Orchid Baby Shower
A friend of mine had a beautiful baby girl back in December and I offered to throw her the baby shower at the end of January. It gave me another reason to make a cake and experiment. She said it didn't matter what the cake looked like. But I knew that her favorite flowers are orchids and so I set out to learn them.
I had a very small instruction sheet that came with the cutters which had tiny black and white pictures, and so I headed to youtube to see if there was any good videos to help me. There is not much of an orchid video selection that I found. If you know of a good one please post it for me in the comments.
All in all, I was alright with how they turned out even if it did take me 2 hours to make two orchids and three calla lilies. Regardless of how I felt about it, my friend and all her guests loved the cake and thought it was beautiful, so that's what counts.
I had a very small instruction sheet that came with the cutters which had tiny black and white pictures, and so I headed to youtube to see if there was any good videos to help me. There is not much of an orchid video selection that I found. If you know of a good one please post it for me in the comments.
All in all, I was alright with how they turned out even if it did take me 2 hours to make two orchids and three calla lilies. Regardless of how I felt about it, my friend and all her guests loved the cake and thought it was beautiful, so that's what counts.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Jesse
This is Jesse from Toy Story 2. I must admit that I am not the greatest at drawing faces even if they are just from a cartoon character. Jesse came out alright, so maybe I am getting the hang of it.
Character cakes are my most asked for cake, so I do get lots of practice with them, but there have been some interesting requests so far this year. I promise that I will be posting them soon in the blog. Keep checking back. I am very excited about the new ones coming up.
Character cakes are my most asked for cake, so I do get lots of practice with them, but there have been some interesting requests so far this year. I promise that I will be posting them soon in the blog. Keep checking back. I am very excited about the new ones coming up.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Ruby
This cake means more to me than just another cake to make. This one is special in that I made it for my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary. I made the three tiers only one layer of carrot cake each to keep the size down, and then covered them all with sugar paste, and added the scroll design. The final touch is 40 red ruby-like jewels placed atop the cakes.
Mom and Dad got married on Dec 31st, 1969. What an inspiration. There were no official plans to celebrate the milestone so I decided that I would make it a celebration. Since the date is so close to Christmas, and my brother and I and our extended families were all going to be home for Christmas, I planned a little surprise for while we were all there. The cake was the hard one to hide. I needed a safe place to put it, preferably chilled. Good thing it was cold over the holiday, because I stored it in a box outside in my parents camper. Then I invited a few of my parents close friends over to their house for drinks and cake and didn't tell mom and dad until about 5 minutes before people were to arrive. Needless to say, there were a few tears on my mom's part as well as mine, and both mom and dad were quite pleased with the little impromptu party held in their honor.
Congratulations Mom and Dad! You have been an example to me and also to everyone else who knows you.
Mom and Dad got married on Dec 31st, 1969. What an inspiration. There were no official plans to celebrate the milestone so I decided that I would make it a celebration. Since the date is so close to Christmas, and my brother and I and our extended families were all going to be home for Christmas, I planned a little surprise for while we were all there. The cake was the hard one to hide. I needed a safe place to put it, preferably chilled. Good thing it was cold over the holiday, because I stored it in a box outside in my parents camper. Then I invited a few of my parents close friends over to their house for drinks and cake and didn't tell mom and dad until about 5 minutes before people were to arrive. Needless to say, there were a few tears on my mom's part as well as mine, and both mom and dad were quite pleased with the little impromptu party held in their honor.
Congratulations Mom and Dad! You have been an example to me and also to everyone else who knows you.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Hula Girl
This cake was for a 50th birthday celebration that had a Hawaiian theme. They sent me an example of the plates they were using.
I had run out of fondant, and had been meaning to try out a new kind (at least new to me) from a store that I rarely go to because it's really out of the way. So I sent my husband to get it. Thankfully the ladies in the store knew what they were doing and pointed him in the right direction. This cake is covered using sugar paste. It is so much more enjoyable than store bought fondant. People will actually eat this stuff, and I think it totally smells like cotton candy. But since this was my first attempt with it I did have my own issues, like not rolling it thin enough in the center and the edges were too thin and almost didn't make it to cover the whole thing. But all in all, it was a good learning experience for me and I've since used it again and with much less trouble.
I had run out of fondant, and had been meaning to try out a new kind (at least new to me) from a store that I rarely go to because it's really out of the way. So I sent my husband to get it. Thankfully the ladies in the store knew what they were doing and pointed him in the right direction. This cake is covered using sugar paste. It is so much more enjoyable than store bought fondant. People will actually eat this stuff, and I think it totally smells like cotton candy. But since this was my first attempt with it I did have my own issues, like not rolling it thin enough in the center and the edges were too thin and almost didn't make it to cover the whole thing. But all in all, it was a good learning experience for me and I've since used it again and with much less trouble.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Peter Rabbit
Sometimes working with icing can be like painting a picture.
You get to blend colors and play with different textures to get the effect you are looking for. While I was working on this Peter Rabbit cake, I did feel like a painter.
My neighbor was throwing a surprise baby shower for his wife and the theme was to go along with the Beatrix Potter books and their characters. He brought me a few examples of pictures of the characters. What's funny though is that he really didn't want me to use any of the pictures. They seemed somehow, scary. So I did some online digging and came up with a nice example of Peter to use.
You get to blend colors and play with different textures to get the effect you are looking for. While I was working on this Peter Rabbit cake, I did feel like a painter.
My neighbor was throwing a surprise baby shower for his wife and the theme was to go along with the Beatrix Potter books and their characters. He brought me a few examples of pictures of the characters. What's funny though is that he really didn't want me to use any of the pictures. They seemed somehow, scary. So I did some online digging and came up with a nice example of Peter to use.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Fondant Birthday balloons
Have we seen this one before? Yes we have. Although, this one has a fondant finish rather than icing. I made one large cake, then cut it to shape, iced the separate balloons then put on the fondant, before placing them back together in there finished form. When I originally made this cake years ago for my niece, I really never thought about it being a good one for twins, but I guess I need to have twins (never going to happen, lol) to think outside the box like that.
Baby shower
I thought that this cake was so very baby appropriate. I have done a different version of this, only without the baby accessories. The quilting design is done with my handy cutter/embosser tool, and the butterflies are made and held in position with Royal icing. A little tip: before writing a long word like congratulations: practice, practice practice.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Cornelli everywhere
October and November were busy months for me. I quite often get cake orders that are repeats of previous cakes. That is not a bad thing. I do like to create something new and spectacular, but when I have lots on the go, it can be a relief to know that I've done it before and I know exactly what process I need to take.
I found I love the look of Cornelli lace on a cake. Well I'm not the only one. Here are two of my cakes done at the end of October and beginning of November that are quite similar.
The first is a red and white version of the first cornelli lace one I did in the beginning of September.
The next one was an order for a combination party. It was a 25th Anniversary party along with a 50th birthday party. The daughter ordering the cake liked the lace cakes and wanted to use the same idea for both of the celebrations. I wanted the cakes to both have their individual party theme visible and so using silver icing was the obvious choice for the anniversary. I'll tell you, there is a lot of the edible silver dust in my buttercream icing. Even when I was piping the lace on the cake I still thought it didn't look like enough. It still looked grey to me, but the photos, I think, show otherwise.
The gift tags make it obvious as to what the cakes are celebrating. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the writing.
I found I love the look of Cornelli lace on a cake. Well I'm not the only one. Here are two of my cakes done at the end of October and beginning of November that are quite similar.
The first is a red and white version of the first cornelli lace one I did in the beginning of September.
The next one was an order for a combination party. It was a 25th Anniversary party along with a 50th birthday party. The daughter ordering the cake liked the lace cakes and wanted to use the same idea for both of the celebrations. I wanted the cakes to both have their individual party theme visible and so using silver icing was the obvious choice for the anniversary. I'll tell you, there is a lot of the edible silver dust in my buttercream icing. Even when I was piping the lace on the cake I still thought it didn't look like enough. It still looked grey to me, but the photos, I think, show otherwise.
The gift tags make it obvious as to what the cakes are celebrating. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the writing.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Millennium Falcon
Oh dear. I guess I should say Happy New Year to everyone out there.
I haven't been a very good blogger for the last while.
This cake was actually made in October for a little boy who is a Star Wars fan. When his mom asked if I could make a Millennium Falcon cake I was at a loss. I had to look up a lot of pictures to figure out how to make it. In the end she found a couple of pictures of other people's cakes done the same way and I used the cake examples along with the photos from the movie to get this one to a point where I was happy with it. It's cool what you can accomplish with cake and icing. This ones completely fondant free.
I haven't been a very good blogger for the last while.
This cake was actually made in October for a little boy who is a Star Wars fan. When his mom asked if I could make a Millennium Falcon cake I was at a loss. I had to look up a lot of pictures to figure out how to make it. In the end she found a couple of pictures of other people's cakes done the same way and I used the cake examples along with the photos from the movie to get this one to a point where I was happy with it. It's cool what you can accomplish with cake and icing. This ones completely fondant free.
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