Monday, November 17, 2014

Chris and Leann Naked Nuptials



 "Naked" cakes are cakes without frosting on the outside. The cakes had four different flavors, four different fillings. Bottom is chocolate fudge, then lemonade, the second tier was chocolate covered strawberry inspired and the top tier was fresh strawberry shortcake. The bride brought fresh flowers to match the rest of her decor. They also requested fresh berries to add to the natural theme.





 The topper was an antique that was used by her grandparent's wedding.  You may see cupcakes in the background, I also made 5 dozen cupcakes chocolate and lemon blueberry. 




Holley Woodland Cake



 Another girly cake: one of my favorite's. This was made for my co-worker Katie in honor of her baby shower.  It is a lemon cake with blackberry filling and fluffy vanilla buttercream. The fawns were hand-cut from fondant. The garland is made of handmade ribbon roses and mini pansies.



 






The fluffy peony took me about 2 hours. It is made of 40 center wrapped petals, 10 medium cupped blossoms and 8 large cupped blossoms floral-taped together.  It was lightly dusted with pearl dust to give it a touch of shimmer.

It's a Wizard! Bodhi

Baby Harry was hiding under an invisibility cloak (Not pictured) to use as a gender reveal baby cake.








Hedwig is molded RKT (rice krispies treat) covered in 100+ fondant feathers and took me about 3 hours. The spell book was also RKT covered and sculpted and since the letters were hand-cut it also totaled over 2  hours of labor. It brings back all my childhood memories with playdough; so much fun.  The sorting hat is solid hunk of fondant that was hand-sculpted and dusted with black pearl dust.  For non-Potter enthusiasts the dangling objects are" winged keys" which I made from a key mold and a butterfly plunger.  All decoration are edible except of course the dangling wires.

The cake flavor  was a gluten-free, egg free chocolate cake that was more like a "decadent brownie with caramel filling" per customer Nicole.


Sunday, August 31, 2014

Coral Wedding Cake

 This cake has three tiers of chocolate marble with vanilla buttercream filling and a buttercream fondant covering.  The decor is obvious: coral satin ribbon, raffia and God's beautiful bounty of fresh flowers. I created little flower picks with cut straws to create a barrier between the cake and flowers. (Suggestion: From a Pinterest subscriber.)

My friend and co-worker Nicky had confidence enough in my ability, to refer me to her  doctor for a beautiful wedding cake. The only challenge in this cake was using my new fondant mat.  This  will take a bit of practice which I got plenty of on the bottom tier. I definitely couldn't have finished the fondant covering without my sister, Sandy's encouragement, brain cells and help. The bottom tier took about 3 tries.  I am building more confidence with each cake I cover in fondant thanks to "The Mat".


Wedding greeter: Charlotte casually hanging out.


Saturday, August 30, 2014

Minion Edan

My first Minion cake. I say "1st" because I know there will be more.











                             This little guy took a lot more time than intended. This is where experience will help me down the road unfortunately, I have to waste so much time and cake with these life lessons. But it is always worth the end result; a Happy Customer.

My lil minion took a total of 5 layers of cake. 4 - 6" round layers for the base and a 6" dome for the head. The first lesson is ONLY STACK 2 LAYERS at a time, then add dowels and a cake plate THEN  stack the next 2 layers. Lesson #1: Too much cake for such a tall cake always put cake plates between every 2 layers. Lesson #2:  Trial and error with my new fondant mat system.  With some help from my sister, I think we figured it out. 

 The flavors were chosen by the birthday boy; cake was chocolate fudge with a peanut butter fluff for the filling. Rave reviews and I am grateful. This cake was ordered from my former teacher that saw some of my cakes on Facebook and ordered this for her darling grandson.  It was so nice to be able to do this cake for her and Edan, and even more wonderful to see her again. Thanks, Nun.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Mia's Birthday Party Under the Stars


Owls-Eye View

What a Hoot!

I love this cake, in case you didn't notice Mia's favorite color is orange. The ombre effect is so popular right now, so I incorporated it into the sides. It was a special cake which was made gluten-free and dairy free. The buttercream was made with shortening, coconut milk and clear butter flavor. The cake is a vanilla cake from Bob's Red Mill selection. It turned out delicious and very light I was very impressed. I always like to make a mini cake for tasting.
Toasting Marshmallows with her Bestie

Love this digger dog




























Mia has two pups in her home one is the yellow lab making his own marshmallow and the other one is a unique breed called a Malinois (Belgian  Shepherd~ Look him up he's stunning).  I wanted to respect his breed, so I simply made him a digger which I have been told is his number one favorite thing to do.

My favorite element on this cake is the tent and Mia. the tent is a RKT smothered in white chocolate and covered in fondant, talk about a sugar rush, YIKES!  I discovered during this cake if I freeze all my molded fondant before popping them out they are so easy to remove from molds. Duh, thanks "Amazing Wedding Cakes" show for a friendly reminder about this hint.  Truth be told my daughter-in-law Kristi told me about freezing fondant when using my Cricut cake machine, but I didn't even think to connect this method for all my molds.  The best part about freezing a fondant piece is that when it condensates it is perfect for applying to cakes because it's sticky.

The  trees I make are from a smoothie straw I cover with fondant and texture to look like bark. Then I stuff a hunk of fondant in a sugar cone then I stuff the bark straw into it. This will keep it from jiggling around when you transport or move the cake. These really need several days for all the chunky fondant to dry hard but they are pretty forgiving once they are delivered.   I love to use a straw because I can put a heavier dowel straight into the cake and slide the bark straw right over the dowel for increased stability. I haven't lost a tree yet. I simply pipe tree leaves in layers on the sugar cone and Voila!

Brooklyn's Lil Pony



This cake was made quite quickly.   My darling DIL, Kristi's little niece was having a birthday party on Saturday and she wanted me to help her make Brooklynn a cake.  Her Mom threatened to go to Walmart to get one, but Kristi nixed that idea and said my MIL and I can make one. So lickety split here she is.  The only downside was that we had to incorporate toy horses since we were in such a time crunch. I must admit they look adorable on the cake.
This is a chocolate marble cake layered to look like a zebra stripe (again, no photos I wasn't at the party so I couldn't shoot it).  The clouds were made from buttercream and marshmallow fluff to create lightness and shimmer to the cloudy look.  The sun was created with yellow fondant over a cookie and cut outs of the rays from a leaf cutter.  The rainbow was created also from fondant and squeezed thru my clay extruder to make even pipes then glued together and left to dry for 24 hrs. It needed more time but it stayed in place. All the flowers were punched out from a plunger cutter and pearls were added to the centers.  The ruffle was made with a rose tip from buttercream and the pearl border is white SIXLETS.  Yummmy and so satiny. The rainbow is my favorite element I can't wait to make another one. Maybe for a CareBear cake, hint hint~ someone? Anyone?

Friday, August 15, 2014

Annie & Hailey Love Nature

Annie & Hailey love Nature


This cake was made for two darling little ladies that loved their previous camping cake so much that they asked their Gramma for another one. You can see it is mostly buttercream with handmade fondant figures, complete with a squirrel, 2 bunnies (one bunny digger), a frog prince and lots of butterflies. I hand carved a hill to show that Annie was hiking and Hailey was swimming in her own private lagoon.










I have to make this particular cake Gluten-Free for the girls since they do not tolerate wheat and it has been ordered on several occasions now. It is a vanilla chocolate marble cake layered inside to look like a zebra print (photo to follow when I get my hands on one).




Sunday, July 13, 2014

Dan & Kimber Celebrate 35 Years


 This cake was created for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law for their 35th wedding anniversary. My niece Desiree, wanted to try a new recipe and it was a hit, Coconut Nutella Cake with Nutella filling. The ombre ruffles were created with vanilla coconut buttercream frosting. Each rose and carnation were made from fondant/gumpaste in shades of coral and peach.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Breathe Laugh Repeat


This cake was order as a very small wedding cake for 6 people in the beginning. So basically the top. Then the bride to be decided they wanted to invite their closest friends so she redesigned it.  The top is a rosette buttercream frosted chocolate cake which is gluten-free. The bottom cake is 4 layers of chunky monkey and chocolate fudge smeared with a generous dose of fudge ganache also gluten free. The bottom cake is a relica of birch stump made from buttercream and ganache.  The doves were hand-sculpted from gumpaste.  The Dahlia was also created with sugar paste and several steps of molding and drying.  3 nights of creation and about an 90 minutes of hands-on labor (of love).

Nicole loved the idea of fiddle heads and ferns, I added the mushrooms.  She has a personal story that included the phrase breathe-laugh-repeat and wanted that incorporated onto the cake.  I asked if she would like it to sit on a vintage cake stand or a slab of rustic bark? It just so happens two nights before delivery we had to cut down my favorite crooked willow and I asked the tree man to please cut me some cake platters-hence the cake stand!


I don't really have a favorite element.  I loved making everything since I also love the great outdoors, but if I did it would have to be the pair of doves. I believe I stressed enough about them that after a few prayers, I let the Lord guide my hands. I love how porcelain they look. Next would be the dahlia, I can't wait to make another cake.  Bring it on!

Jessie Graduates SOU



I like to share all my flavor combinations for two reasons, to show versatility and my memory is not so great.  This is a fudge cake with Nutella whipped filling topped with vanilla bean buttercream frosting.  This young lady graduated from SOU, so I located her insignia and tried to replicate the badge.  All decorations are edible and were handmade from fondant and gumpaste.  The cap is a miniature cake made of all the same combos as the large cake.

Roses of Sheryl

Variegated Rosie Cakes

Roses are all Sugar Paste
These little darlings were ordered for a bridal shower.  The flavors are strawberry cake with cheesecake filling and white velvet cupcake with fresh lemon curd filling.  Both were topped with vanilla bean buttercream. All the roses were handmade from a gumpaste and fondant combo.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Under the Sea Babies



 This was commissioned as a baby shower cake and was such a darling idea.  The cake was vanilla and a butter cake. So yellow and white. The frosting is all cream cheese buttercream vanilla.
 The sand was created by remaining yellow cake and brown sugar whizzed in the food processor for a few seconds.


I handmade all the sea creatures, grass, and purple pods.  The coral, a couple fish and shells were made from sugar molds. I hand sculpted the top tier into a paisley type shape to give the ocean a little more fluid movement. The frosting was double-dipped in two shades of blue with my angled spatula to make small water waves.   All elements of this cake are edible as I try to do with all my cakes.  I use a dowel rod covered in peachy colored fondant to elevate the little clown fish above the coral so he looked like he was floating.
One of the most fun cakes I've made, even though it took me approximately 17 hands-on hours.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Stephanie Rose Ombre


This is a shabby inspired cake made for a 30th birthday party. The top tier was a vanilla cake with fresh raspberry filling.  The bottom layer was fudge cake and salted caramel filling (yes again). The frosting is vanilla bean buttercream piped in rustic pink ombre stripes on the bottom tier.  Creamy rosettes were piped on the top tier with roses placed in a delicate bouquet.





 I made the roses with pink fondant and gumpaste which gave them a more realistic look and dries to a porcelain finish.  I dusted the centers with a tangerine petal dust and sprayed them with pearl spray . To finish I dropped tiny droplets of clear piping gel on the petals to make them look dewy.





This by far is one of my favorites especially since
I have such a passion for all things vintage.

Lil Man Trip

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Lil Man Cake is a 1st birthday cake made for this lil man. I made him his own cake chocolate and stabilized whipped cream frosting.  The birthday cake is bottom tier-chocolate fudge salted caramel filling with vanilla buttercream.  The top tier is white velvet cake filled with blackberry cheesecake.  The decor is all hand made from fondant, gumpaste. The design was created by Mom Stacie, turned out pretty cute. 

Monday, January 20, 2014

Bailey loves her Seahawks


 Hat box Seahawk's cake was made for the humans to celebrate Bailey's (border collie) birthday, but I did make pupcakes for the dogs that are peanut butter, carrot & apple. 

Bailey & Aspen approve the cake
Cake is covered in buttercream and all decor is fondant. Katie helped design this cake my favorite element is bailey of course, but I also love the look of the polka dot ribbon.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Aidan's Monster Truck #4

 Aidan is an Oreo monster that loves his big trucks. The cake is Oreo cookie with fudge ganache filling with Oreo crumbs.  I made a buttercream frosting and a fudge buttercream frosting for the cupcakes.  The decorations were all made from fondant. The monster truck on top was sculpted from RKT and covered in fondant. 

Aidan loved his truck and cake, which made the 8 hours of caking well worth the effort. He's such an angel.