Wedding Cake!

My first wedding cake- hooray!!

I was excited and a little nervous because I haven't made such a big one, or one of such importance!

But it was fun and the Bride loved it!

They chose a cinnamon cake with cream cheese frosting.

See that cinnamon-y swirl?? 

Remember my other post about the flower nails? 

Well, I'm just loving using them! 

I also learned that instead of dowels, straws are a great option!

They displace less cake, and I'm not worried about leaving a splinter in the cake!

I was also excited because I read that milkshake straws work better because they're so much bigger, and I found some in the ice cream section at Winn Dixie.

So, the cake wasn't very intricate, but still just lovely!

I used a 'diamond' banding around the bottom of the cake that was 5 rows tall, and then added the big diamonds on the corners.

After talking to the bride and her friends, there was a discussion about freezing the top layer for the anniversary. The bride wasn't too keen on adding another layer to the cake, but the friends were insistent to the tradition. 

I remembered that my mom found these great little mini cake pans for me. I told her I could make one for both the bride and groom, and in their favorite flavors: Lemon and Red Velvet. 

I used the recipes from Ming Makes Cupcakes, since I didn't need a large batch, and the pans were closer to cupcake size. 

But, I didn't tell her the surprise. After speaking with her friends, we decided to make the cakes a little special for each of them. 

A loves Chanel and purple, so it was no contest to make a purse-themed bag!

I started with the classic quilted look from the purses:

Next, I added a golden chain and made the logo out of gumpaste.

Then, for D's Red Velvet, his sister found out his favorite shoe:

The Air Jordan XXIII

I decided to take the swirly design and add it to the bottom tier. 

Looking back, I probably should have made the second tier have some little laces loop around, but hindsight is 20/20!

I did make the crazy jumpman and the number 23 out of gumpaste, and I think they turned out just fine. 

They even got added to the special table for the bride and groom, instead of the big cake display. 

I call that a success!

First 'Real' Cake Order!

I have an email just for cake stuffs. 

It's synced to my iphone accounts. 

It is never used. 

Which is sad because it has the cutest ice cream background that makes me so happy!

But then.....

I got an email in it for an order!! 

Hot dog!

She lives in my building and her friend remembered my little flyer from a networking night the office hosted.

The order was a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, decorated with zebra stripes and a pink bow!

In case you're looking for an excellent red velvet cake recipe, look no further! I got this one from my favorite baking blog: Bakerella!

You start by mixing the liquids separately from the dry ingredients.

Then, it looks pink, so you add more red food coloring.

Sift together your drying ingredients, including the cocoa.

There's just a hint of brown, but that will combine with the vinegar and food coloring to make a nice red for the cake!

Now, for the combining!

Pour right into a little well. Makes it easier to ensure you don't have clumpy flour parts on the bottom.

You might be concerned that it will still be pink, but after mixing it, compare bowls:

Definitely redder, about as red as a spatula. 

That's good enough!

Pour into the ginormous pan, being careful not to knock over the flower nails. 

Don't know about that?? 

Add a few to the inside of a large pan (upside down, of course) and they'll conduct heat during baking to help you have a more even (flat) cake!

See how the nails stay upright in the pan? What a great trick!

Once the cake cools, you have to flip it out with those flower nails. 

It's a little tricky. 

Especially on a 16" cake. 

But still possible!

A few tiny holes are totally worth having an even cake for decorating!! 

You may not even have to cut a bit of it!

Next up: Frosting!

Damming is mostly for when you are stacking layers. You're dam frosting is a little stiffer to keep the rest of the frosting/filling from smooshing out, but it works nicely for getting an even amount on a large cake.

And God bless the disposable icing bag inventor!

 Snip the tip, fill it up, squeeze it out, throw it away!!

Now, the nice icing will make it easier to smooth the fondant.

One big piece lays right over the whole cake!

Don't worry about seeing the frosting lines. They'll smooth right out!

Make sure to work the corner so it doesn't have wrinkles.

Trim the extra and start on your pink ribbon.

Then, you can add little funky black pieces. 

(ps- I don't ever make my own black fondant. It's just too tricky to get it not gray. And with that much coloring, I'm sure the flavor would start to get wonky. Go ahead and buy Duff's brand. I won't tell!)

Dust off any excess powdered sugar.

Add a fondant (gumpaste is totally what I should have done instead! much stiffer) bow and you're ready to go!

Bubbles, Bubbles, My Bubbles!

Well, I guess I'm the cake lady for my husband's work now! 

They had their first baby shower in the office and hired me for the cakes! 

I created a pinterest board of ideas for them, and off we went!

I rolled some little swirly, fondant balls:

And rolled and rolled and rolled!

Then I made little feet, with tiny toes. Pretty sure the toes took at least 30 minutes!

Then I started on the little duckies 

(What I wouldn't have given for a paisley cutout!!)

Add a little baby blue frosting to the cupcakes

Buy a rubber duckie to place on top a domed cake

Add a few strategic bubbles around the cake and voila! 

Duckie cake, cupcakes, and baby feet cupcakes!

If I had been thinking, I would have made duckie punch to go with it!

Hello, Color!

My friend at work asked me to make a 'Spring Cake' for her family. 

Nothing too big, nothing fancy. 

Just a little something for spring. 

I didn't do a very good job of taking pics while making it, but here's the final result:

Flowers, leaves, and grass were made with the same daisy cutter.

Side Flowers were made with a tiny flower cutout. 

A ridiculous amount of color!! 

Super bright, super Miami!

I think I need to make more colorful cakes soon!

Shower cakes!

K's class has two teachers and one of the teachers is pregnant, while the other one recently got engaged.

Two of the other class' teachers decided to be sneaky and sent home secret notes asking the kids' parents if anyone wanted to contribute to a stroller and dish set for them, but not to say a word to them!

So, of course, my brain thought of cakes!!

They are what every celebration needs, right?

So here's a little close up of the cakes:

As you know from the previous posts, I chose to make two 8" cakes, because of the design I wanted for the inside: ombre and checkerboard.

(Incidentally, the recipe that came with the checkerboard pan tastes just like a sugar cookie to me - fantastic!) 

I'm working on my frosting skills for inside the fondant. It's tricky when using a regular knife but I can't justify the price on a frosting spreader just yet...

And, oh man, I just love how smooth fondant feels. I even made my husband feel an extra little piece.

I don't think he cared as much as I did.

So, first up is the bridal shower cake.

I have to admit that these cake ideas were totally found on pinterest...but were so cute I just had to do it!

First I got to make a little wedding dress.

See those little imperfections? yeah, I forgot to sift the powdered sugar first.

But it's all good - that's what little pearls are for!

And I just love how the folds fell at the bottom of the cake!

Next is the baby shower cake:

She's having a boy, so I knew this was the one!

The little laundry basket and socks are too cute!

Oh, how I'm in love with this cake!!

*****update!*****

So, we just gave them the cakes! They were speechless! :)

Sweet kids who kept a secret for nearly a month!

And what I've been waiting for - the insides!

The baby shower cake was the ombre cake.

Blue was definitely a good choice! Turns out that is also her favorite color - score!!

Haha - thank goodness for frosting filling - those cakes did *not* bake evenly!

Seems like it might be a good time to invest in some baking strips.

Then, in the bridal cake was the checkerboard cake.

A rough cut, but man they look so good with those colors!

I doubt I'll ever do a black and white one again :)

I'm so happy I had a reason to make these cakes!!

I'm so happy I had an opportunity to make it!