"Thanksgiving Turkey Cake" - 11/11

My first Thanksgiving turkey turned out to be a cake!  LOL  I made this from two 9 in. round cakes, "carved" into a turkey shape and covered in fondant.  The drumsticks and wings are made out of rice krispy treats, the garnishes are fondant and the "stuffing" is a mixture of cake scraps, cinnamon and brown petal dust.  Happy Thanksgiving!



"Firefighter Cake" - 11/11

This cake is not actually a cake at all, it's a brownie!  I made two 9"x12" pans of brownies, placed them side by side and carved out the shape of the maltese cross.  I then spread a thin layer of vanilla buttercream for a smooth even surface and then laid the fondant (pre-cut with the same maltese cross pattern) on top of the brownie.  I had made the flames a few days ahead of time so some could dry curved and have a 3D effect, using yellow fondant with orange and red food color markers for the outline.  I think the flames really made the design:)

 



"Maeve's Lollipop Cake" - 11/11

After a short week, and some last-minute changes, I decided to make my daughter a "lollipop cake" for her 3rd birthday.  She is so funny...the moment she wakes up from her afternoon nap, everyday, the first thing she asks for is a lollipop.  So what better way to celebrate her birthday than with some bright, colorful lollipops...and not just that...a blue raspberry and strawberry layered cake!  Since her favorite flavor lollipop is blue raspberry, I wanted to "experiment" by adding a packet of Koolaid drink mix to a basic white cake mix.  It didn't rise as well, and could probably have used a little more veg. oil, but overall, it was quite tasty:)  The cake was covered in buttercream with fondant and royal icing decorations.



"Pirate Birthday Cake" - 9/11

Here is a pirate-themed birthday cake I made for a little boy turning five.  I used the party invitations as well as the party plates to come up with the design.  I had originally planned on putting the "gold doubloons" around the sides of the cake but then I thought of the #5 gold coin and it wouldn't have looked right with the other chocolate candy coins.  The cake itself is a two-tiered chocolate cake with cookies 'n' cream filling covered in fondant.  The "Jolly Roger" on top is a fondant cutout, red stripes are fondant and the treasure map is handpainted using a mixture of brown petal dust and lemon extract.  I also made the rice krispy treats as party favors for the kids.



"Winnie the Pooh Cake" - 9/11

This is a "Winnie the Pooh" themed cake for a friend's baby shower.  It was a chocolate cake with cookies 'n' cream filling covered in sky blue fondant.  All of the decorations are fondant except for the grass (buttercream) and the wires holding the bees.  The fondant Pooh bear was quite challenging for me (mainly the shape of the face/head), but I think he turned out okay--still working on my sculpting;)



"Tow Mater Cake" - 8/11

I decided to include some progressive photos of the Tow Mater cake I made for a little boy turning 4.  I baked a 12"x 18" vanilla sheet cake, cut out the basic shape and filled with chocolate buttercream, then carved and "dirty-iced" it.  I then covered the cake in blue marshmallow fondant (which I forgot to take pictures of--it looked a truck belonging to a Smurf! lol).  Since Mater was originally blue, I figured this would be the best way to have his original color show through the "rusted" part.  

Now to create the rusted look, I used several different colors of luster dust including brown, copper, peach and aztec gold mixed with lemon extract.  To give him a lift and in order to have the wheels fit properly, I elevated the cake on a sheet of 1" thick rice krispy treats with black fondant covering the edges.  The wheels were also made out of RKT covered in fondant.  All other details were fondant with the exception of the towing cables which were Twizzlers painted with the same "rust" luster dust.  The towing structure itself was wooden dowels covered with fondant.

I was so thrilled that the cake actually looked like Mater!!

 

12"x 18" vanilla sheet cake

Cut, stacked and filled

Carved and "dirty-iced"

Finished product!  (Small Mater is toy model)



"Gibson Les Paul Guitar Cake" - 7/11

This is a full size Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar I made as a groom's cake.  It measured about 40" long by 14" wide.  The body of the guitar was red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, covered in fondant.  For the sunburst appearance, I used three different colors of luster dust with the base color painted on with a mixture of luster dust and lemon extract.  The neck and head of the guitar are made of rice krispy treats covered in fondant with fondant details.



"Mario Kart Cake" - 5/11

Here's the Mario Kart cake: 1/2 Sheet Vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream, all fondant decorations.  The main structure of cars are rice cereal treats under fondant.  Main characters include Mario, Luigi, Diddy Kong, Bowser Jr. and Yoshi.



"Mario Kart Cupcakes" - 5/11

These are some Mario Kart cupcakes I made for a boy turning 7 to share with his class on his actual birthday and then I am also making a cake for his birthday party this Saturday!  These were pretty fun to make:)  The toppers are all fondant and include Mario, Luigi, stars, coins, shells, banana peels, mushrooms and thunderclouds.  



"Mother's Day" - 5/11

This was kind of a last-minute Mother's Day cake I made for church using some roses and blue fondant left over from previous cakes.  It was strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in the blue fondant.  I used the drop-line technique for the swags and some decorative scrolls around the roses.  I have to admit, I love this color combination!  Happy Mother's Day!



"56th Anniversary Cake" - 4/11

I was asked to do an anniversary cake for a couple celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary!  I included several elements from their special day; white cake with lemon buttercream filling (yellow to match the bridesmaids dresses), pink roses which were on their original wedding cake, and daisies, carried by the bride and her bridesmaids.  To cover the cake, I used vanilla buttercream with the Cornelli lace technique on top.  This was my first time and I really like the effect of the finished product! The photo of the bride and groom is an edible image.



"Mini Cake" - 4/11

This was made for a newly married couple, as a mini "post-wedding" cake of sorts.  I was not able to do the couple's wedding cake, but the bride's mother still wanted me to make a smaller one to have waiting for the couple when they arrived at their new home. 

The cake is chocolate with chocolate fudge filling, covered in fondant.  I used the quilting technique for the bottom tier and I had originally planned on doing a stencil on the top tier, but it ended up being too short, so I just did some scroll work.  The topper is made to look like a blue hydrangea flower, using a rounded piece of RKT, covering it with fondant and tiny blue blossoms.  I was happy to learn that the bride was carrying a bouquet of blue hydrangeas down the aisle!



"Sweet Pea Baby Shower Cake" - 3/11

"Sweet Pea" was the theme for this baby shower cake.  It is a two-tier vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream filling.  I used white fondant to cover both tiers and four different shades of green to create the random stripes and polka-dots.  The baby is made of gumpaste/fondant (my first one!) and the peas in the peapods are green candy-coated chocolates, kind of like Sixlets only bigger.  I decided to do a monogram using the baby's initials and trimmed it with tiny buttercream dots.  One of my favorites!!  I just love how the design came together so nicely:)



"Piano Cake" - 3/11

This piano cake was made for Miss Marsha, our church's piano player, for her surprise birthday party. It was made to look like the piano that belonged to her grandmother(?) I think. It was vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream filling, covered in fondant with all fondant details.  This was definitely one of the most challenging cakes I have done!



"Tea Party Birthday Cake" - 3/11

This is a chocolate 1/4 sheet cake filled and covered with vanilla buttercream.  The decorations were made to match the party napkins with both the teacup and teapot cut out of different colored fondant and pieced together like a puzzle.  I then "painted" on a mixture of edible pearl luster dust and lemon extract to give the teapot and teacup a pearl finish.  I had fun doing this cake, there were so many little colorful details that would brighten anyones day:) 



"Golden Anniversary" - 3/11

This is a 50th anniversary cake I was asked to do for a friend. Bottom tier: white chocolate cake w/ raspberry buttercream; top tier: raspberry cake w/ white chocolate buttercream. They are covered in vanilla fondant with ivory roses and swags on the bottom and brush embroidery roses and scrolls on the top.  It was my first time doing both swags and brush embroidery--I'm always up for trying something new! 

This turned out so elegant, I love the look of ivory! Really makes me want to do some wedding cakes now;)

 



"Viva Italia!" - 1/11

This is a cake I made for our church's annual "Italian" potluck for our anniversary (our Pastor is Italian).  The cake is vanilla with three layers of vanilla buttercream colored in green, white and red.  It's covered in buttercream with a handpainted fondant flag.  This was my first time making droplines with icing and I love how they turned out!  "Old school, baby!" as Buddy (a.k.a. Cake Boss) would say;)



"Baseball Cake" - 1/11

I was asked to do a baseball themed birthday cake for a young man turning thirteen, so with free rein of the design, I wrestled with several different options for a cake to serve about 12 people.  I had originally thought of doing just a square cake covered in grass with a large baseball on the top, but I wanted to do something a little more challenging than that;)  After doing some baseball research, I found a great photo of Wrigley field and decided to try to replicate it.  It worked out great with the sheet cake size because I was able to fit the infield and outfield as well as the other elements.

I used the "Cake Boss'" vanilla cake recipe with vanilla buttercream icing colored green. The baseball field "dirt" is crushed graham crackers and brown sugar, the baseball is RKT covered in fondant, and the bat and glove are both fondant.



"Lily's 'Tangled' Tower Cake" - 1/11

After taking my daughter to see the movie "Tangled" back in December, she decided for sure that she wanted a "Tangled" theme cake for her birthday.  She was very specific that she wanted the tower with a waterfall and stream--and of course, Rapunzel:)  Even though we weren't planning a big party, I ended up making a 1/2 sheet cake just so that all the elements would fit!  The tower is made of ice cream cones and rice crispy treats, with fondant coverings and details and buttercream vines.  The trees are also ice cream cones (sugar cones) with piped royal icing for the branches.  For the waterfall and stream I used a sky blue buttercream, swirled with royal blue piping gel and sprinkled with white cake sparkles.  Rapunzel is a plastic figurine I purchase from Publix.  It was a large cake, but my daughter was thrilled-- she absolutely loved it and I loved making it for her:)