"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:)



"Christmas Cupcakes"

In order to have time for all my Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts, spending time with my family and baking other Christmas goodies, I opted for a small scale alternative to doing a special holiday cake--Christmas cupcakes!  I was able to make the royal icing poinsettias ahead of time so these were a breeze.  They are dark chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream icing, sprinkled with white "cake sparkles", and topped off with the festive poinsettia flower. Thank you to all who visit my blog, Merry Christmas!



"Hot Pink/Zebra Print Cake"

This hot pink, zebra print cake was for a 12 year-old fellow Cake Boss fan who wanted a fabulous birthday cake!  The inspiration was taken from her party invitations and she was very specific that she wanted square cakes with fondant and a tiara on top.  I was not too sure of myself at the thought of yielding a crown out of icing, but I am willing to try just about anything.  So with only one failed attempt and some minor mishaps along the way, here sat an entirely edible crown fit for a princess--or at least "cake diva"! ;)

  The cake flavors are German chocolate with chocolate buttercream filling and the other is white cake with vanilla buttercream. All decorations are fondant except, of course, the tiara.

 



"Kristin Turns 21!"

This is a 21st Birthday cake for my friend Kristin. I think it really went well with her personality...fun, colorful and a little crazy;)  It was a white chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant and buttercream decorations.



25th Anniversary Cake

I was given total freedom to chose the design and colors of this cake and to mine and their surprise, it was the same color theme of their wedding 25 years ago--what a blessing!!  It's a two-tier cake (white on top, chocolate on bottom) covered in burgundy fondant with white fondant flowers cascading from the top.  The silver "25" and the ribbon trim are not edible.





50th Birthday Cake

This is a 50th birthday cake that I was asked to do as a joke with an "AARP" theme.  It is a half sheet cake covered in buttercream with fondant and buttercream decorations.



"Smiley Face Cake"

Here is a birthday cake for an 11-year-old girl who wanted a cake with colorful smiley faces all over it so this is what I came up with:)  It is an 8" round cake cut in a "topsy turvy" manner.  The cake was yellow with chocolate buttercream icing covered in fondant. Decorations are fondant (except for the wire swirls).



"40th Birthday Cake"

Here is a 40th birthday cake I did for my former boss's husband.  She definitely wanted something with a black "turning 40" theme so after doing some research I came up with the black and gray stripe design with a burial plat signifying the "death of his youth".  He loved it!   

The cake itself is a yellow cake with vanilla buttercream (colored black), covered in gray fondant with black fondant stripes. The stones, "40", rose and tombstone are fondant, the dirt is crushed chocolate cookie crumbs and the grass and bottom border are buttercream.



"Maeve's 2nd Birthday Cake" - 11/10

For my daughter's 1st birthday, she received a toy from her Grandma and Grandpa by Leap Frog called "My Pal Violet", which is this little stuffed puppy that plays music, knows her name and plays games.  Ever since then, she has absolutely adored her puppy Violet.  So this year, I made her a cake to look like Violet.  Although I didn't get it exact, it looked like a close relative;) LOL  I had a hard time getting the right proportions and exact same colors of her puppy and also getting the arms to stay on.  The arms and legs were rice crispy treats and the arms ended up being to heavy to stay on the side of the cake so I had to prop them up with dowels.  I figured it was better than having no arms at all! 

The (strawberry) cake is made from a 6" ball cake for the head and a half ball and 6" round, double layer cake for the body.  It is covered in buttercream using the brush embroidery technique and the features are fondant.  The birthday hat is paper with a buttercream border which I think really finished it off and says "Birthday cake!"  Overall, I was pleased with how it turned out knowing that it made my baby girl happy:)



"Pizza Cake" - 11/10

For my husband's 36th birthday, since he absolutely loves pizza (and I think he would eat it 7 days a week if he could;)), I wanted to make him a pizza cake.  I also had to make a cake for my daughter, whose b-day is two days before his, so I just made a small cake instead of the 12" size I would have liked to make.  So it is a 9" chocolate cake with the edges rounded, covered in buttercream with both the "crust" and the "sauce" being buttercream.  The pepperoni is fondant with a layer of piping gel to make them look greasy and the cheese is melted and grated white chocolate.  To finish it off, I used a creme brulee torch to brown the chocolate a bit and I think it even deepened the color of the sauce to look like real marinara!  And, of course, presented it to him in a pizza box--he loved it!



"Nurse Cake" - 10/10

I was asked to do a cake for a retired nurse for her birthday and found several great design ideas on Cake Central.  This design was by far my favorite!  I love all the little elements and had a lot of fun making them.  The cake is classic french vanilla with vanilla buttercream filling (with added raspberry preserves in the top tier).  Both tiers are covered in mmf with all fondant decorations except for the "heart beat" around the bottom tier which is buttercream.  Also, the syringe needle is a small piece of floral wire.  The only thing I would have done differently is made the bottom tier bigger so I could have fit the stethoscope on it better. 



Bible & Starbucks Coffee Cake - 10/10

This is a cake I made for my Pastor's 52nd birthday.  He is a faithful man of God who loves the Lord (and Starbucks coffee) so I really wanted to make him a cake that would portray this.  I envisioned his time of studying the Word with his Bible in front of him and his coffee nearby, ready to receive whatever the Lord gives him.  Now I just had to build it out of cake... 

 I made a dark chocolate mocha flavor cake with a vanilla toffee crunch filling--a coffee lover's dream-- and covered it in fondant.  The pages are edible images of actual Bible pages made to include one of Pastor's favorite verses, 2 Timothy 2:21 "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."  The coffee mug is constructed of rice crispy treats covered in fondant with an edible Starbucks logo as well and brown piping gel to look like coffee.  The pen and napkin are also fondant. 

I had thought about putting fondant on the cake board itself, but to me, it seems like such a waste:/  Therefore, I wrapped the board in wax paper, thinned out some brown food coloring with lemon extract and painted the wax paper with long brush strokes to make it look like wood.  It turned out great and had the effect of an aged wooden desk!  The only problem I had was that the "paint" remained quite tacky so I dusted it with cornstarch and that took care of it. 

Anyhow, I think my Pastor really enjoyed it!  I took it to church on Wednesday night and it was gone within 10 minutes--Praise the Lord everyone loved it!