Garrett's First Birthday

Okay, so I'm terrible at blogging. I've never been big into the blogging thing, and although I love to make cakes, blogging about them just isn't my thing. But, so my friends and family can keep up with what I've been doing, I'm back. This is my youngest sons first birthday cake. I took the rocket from the design in his plates, tablecloth, etc and free handed it on the top of his cake. I think the colors turned out pretty spot on. I used the star tip and just filled it in.

In a couple of days I need to start working on a bridal shower cake. It's for a Christmas wedding, so I will use white fondant to cover the cake, and then there will be red flower cut outs applied. Then, a few day after that I will have to start a wedding cake for mid December. This one is supposed to be square offset tiers covered in a dark steel blue fondant with white and pale blue five petaled flowers. I'll post pics as soon as I'm done.

More Cakes

I'm excited that another one of my cakes was accepted for publication on a popular cake website. It was Zach's 3rd birthday cake of McQueen. It's fun to see your cakes posted on the web. I'm tasked for two more cakes. One is a bridal shower in just a few weeks, the other a wedding cake, also in December. I'm excited for both. I haven't had much time to make many cakes. But, I did have the opportunity to make a simple anniversary cake for a friend of mine. I really enjoy working with fondant, and my buttercream roses are getting better.

Finally finished!

Okay, I finished the Anniversary cake that I was so stressed about. And, I've finally got the time to write about it. It didn't quite turn out like the picture in my head, but it definitely turned out better than I expected it to. The entire cake was edible, from the wine bottles and labels, to the fruit, to the napkin cloths. It wasn't perfect, and as I sat and looked at my finished project I could see more and more flaws and was thinking of things I could have done differently, better. But it was a nice cake, the client seemed happy, and the anniversary couple was happy and impressed. I made the entire basket of stacked cakes and used chocolate buttercream on the outside, using a basketweave technique. The wine bottles are from poured sugar molds. The grapes are just balls of colored fondant. The cheese wedge is a wedge of cake covered in fondant. And, the napkin cloths are also fondant. I used one of my sons Play-doh tools to cut the scalloped edge. It came together very quickly, and nicely. I was debating earlier on how to build the side supports, whether I should use cake or styrofoam. Well, I went ahead and used cake. I just cut a big rectangle out of the middle. I hope that it tasted as good as it looked.

Now, onto my next project. I think I'm going to attempt to make a bearcat. That's one of the SWAT vehicles my husband drives at work. I'll keep you posted.

Baby Shower Cake

Well, another cake and another lesson. I volunteered to make a baby shower cake for a recent get together. It was a shower for two women, so I wanted to make two cakes. I had an idea of a baby block, one for each woman. One turned out okay, the other cake completely collapsed on me and there was no saving it. I had a mental breakdown. I don't know why, call it my female DNA, but I had to go upstairs and have a good cry about it. I felt disappointed that I couldn't achieve with the cake what I wanted to. I felt frustrated that I wasn't very good at something I love to do so much. It's one of those paradoxes; either you are really good at something and don't like doing it or you really love doing something but just aren't that good at it. I was experiencing the latter. It was scary for me because although this cake was just a gesture and nobody was depending on it, I do have a cake due on Saturday that people are dependant on and that I am getting paid for. And, the commissioned cake was way more elaborate and complex. Would I be able to pull it off. So, I went upstairs and had my good cry. Then, I had an idea. I finished decorating the one block cake that came out okay. I say okay because it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. After I finished icing and trimming that cake, I took some of the pieces leftover after trimming the collapsed cake. I cut them into four smaller blocks, iced them, and stacked them on top of the finished cake. The result was cute. It wasn't perfect, but it was a cute cake. Everyone at the shower enjoyed it, and it tasted great!!! But, can you really go wrong with chocolate. So, the lesson learned: a step back and a good cry can lead to delicious outcomes. I also learned to lighten up on myself.

Cake Dilemma

So, I've been thinking about this cake I have to make for the Anniversary. I have the design in my head and have been working on the wine bottles. But, I have no idea how I'm actually going to construct it. This is a pretty big undertaking for me. I've never made a cake like this before. It is supposed to be a picnic basket with wine bottles, grapes, and cheese in it. It's uncomfortable to me that I can see this beautiful image in my head, but absolutely can't figure out a way to construct it. I know I should probably attempt to make one prior to the actual day, as a practice cake. It would definitely be worth the experience to do it. I also don't want the cake to look terrible for the party. My plan as of yet is to bake large rectangular cakes and then stack them to make the basket. Then I was going to make a couple more layers and cut out most of the center, leaving an inch of cake all around the side as support. I would then roll out some fondant and use that as a "table cloth" and drape that in the basket, then pile in the wine bottles, grapes and cheese. I'm not sure if the rim of cake would be enough support though. Should I use a layer of styrofoam instead? I could make a styrofoam tray with a raised edge and then decorate it as I planned. Then, when it comes time to cut the cake, they could simply lift the top off and they would be left with a large rectangular cake. I'm really not sure which is the best way to go. Well, I'll just have to keep thinking on it. I have two more weeks before it is due.

My First Cake Blog

I really enjoy cake decorating as a hobby. Perhaps someday I will be good enough to do it as a profession. For now, it is a fun hobby. I've made several wedding cakes and a baby shower cake for friends and family. I'm now working on a 50th Anniversary cake for a friend of a friend. I'm always looking for a reason to make a cake. And it's not that I enjoy eating cake all that much, although a good fudge cake with a rich chocolate ganache is always a good thing. It's just that I really enjoy the decorating. I've taken one basic class; it was a total of 5 days I think. But it was fun and I learned some interesting basics. Other than that, I primarily teach myself through experimentation. For my current cake, I'm making a wine themed picnic basket. I decided to make wine bottles out of sugar. I had to first make wine bottle molds out of liquid latex. That took about a week of my time. My first bottle turned out okay, but due to my clumsiness and carelessness, it rolled off the counter and shattered. I made three more bottles today, and I have to admit that they look pretty good. I'll be sure to post pics when I'm finished. Wish me luck!!!