Showing posts with label Cakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cakes. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Dr. Seuss Cakes

I haven't posted one of my cakes in ages. And, even though it has been a while since I made these, I thought I would post them for fun. I made these for my BFF's birthday. She LOVES Dr. Seuss.

So, with out further adieu...
Sam I Am

AND

Horton Hears a Who

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Bridal Shower Cake


A couple of days ago I showed you the royal icing flowers that I was making for this cake. Now it is finished and delivered, and I thought I would show you the finished product. I haven't done basketweave on a cake this large before, and I thought it would be unique. My only instructions were that it should feed 30 people, and be very pink and girlie. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Royal Flowers




Recently I shared with you how happy I am that I took a couple of Wilton Cake decorating classes a few years ago. I spent yesterday morning making 90 royal icing flowers. My pastor's son is getting married, and his mom asked me to make the cake for the bridal shower.



These flowers are the primary subject matter for Wilton's level 2 course. Royal icing hardens when it dries, and can be kept for a very long time at room temperature, literally months. I enjoy making flowers, and occasionally spend a day at it just to have some in reserve. When I have these on hand ready to go, I can decorate a cake in no time. One of my instructors said that a collection of flowers in your pantry is like money in the bank, and I agree. They are edible, crunchy like candy (but better than the hard icing decorations that you find in the grocery store). And, royal icing is a breeze to clean up. Since there is no fat in it, it literally melts away in hot water.



I will be finishing the cake on Friday, and I will share the final product with you then.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Wilton Cake Decorating Works for Me!


About 10 years ago I bought a "Cake Decorating Kit" with the idea that I would learn to be a decorator. It was nothing auspicious, I just wanted to be able to make shaped character cakes and have them come out looking like the character in question.

I spent an afternoon trying diligently to make canned frosting take the shapes illustrated in the kit. I'm gonna be real honest here. My roses looked like little piles of poo. There ended my 6 hour foray into the world of cake decorating.

Fast forward 7 years. A friend was having a birthday party for her son. His first birthday party to be exact. I made a cake to match the puppy theme of the party. It was really cool on the inside (a checkerboard cake), but the outside was pretty sad. I decided to finally get professional help and tame the decorating beast.

I enrolled in a local decorating class at my community center. Although not an official Wilton class, it was based on the Wilton method and tools. I learned that you cannot use canned frosting to decorate a cake...hmmm...no wonder I was getting poo-roses before. In my first class I learned proper techniques for making decorator icing, how to properly level and frost a cake, how to smooth the icing, and about all the tools of the trade. It was an 8 week class, (1 to 1 1/2 hours per week). And, the final project was, of course, a cake. The photo above is the cake that I made after 8 weeks...a definite improvement from my sad puppy cake. (I honestly tried to find a photo of that puppy cake to show you...but it appears to be buried somewhere on a cd. Trust me, it was sad.)



I then decided to take a second level course at my local Michael's craft store. Most national crafting chains now offer Wilton Classes, and they are incredibly reasonable. I think I paid $25 for 8 classes, plus the supplies. (You can use those nifty 40% off coupons that come out weekly in the sale ads for the supplies, too.) It was an investment of a little money and a little time. But, I learned so much in that short period of time. I have saved a ton of money on birthday cakes, and have been confident enough to make cakes for friends as well.

There are a couple of higher level classes that I want to take involving fondant and gum paste. I'm gonna have to carve out a little "mommy time" soon!

You can find more information about Wilton Cake Decorating classes in your area HERE. It really is a fun skill to have under your belt. And, your life is guaranteed to be free of poo-roses and sad puppy cakes ;)



*I have not been compensated in any way for this post. I'm just sharing my personal experiences and feelings about this program.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Conversation Heart Cupcakes


I know that this post is a little delayed...but the Valentine's Day parties have been delayed due to recent meteorological events. As a matter of fact, Valentine's Day was pretty much skipped here. In one of my local stores yesterday, I found the cashier sitting on the floor surrounded by dozens of deflated Mylar Valentine's balloons. There were still over a hundred inflated, suspended over her head. She said that they were trying to salvage them for next year. It has been interesting to see some of the strange after-effects of the storms.

But, I digress. I wanted to show you the cupcakes that I made for my preschooler's Valentine's party today. They aren't fancy, but these kids aren't real fans of fancy. I think they turned out kinda cute. You need three shades of pastel icing, and red. I recommend waiting on applying the wording until just before they are served. Red icing has a tendency to bleed if it sits overnight.

Happy Valentine's Day...real late. Love Y'all!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

A Green Star Wars Cake???

My best bud, Blond Chick, has two boys. I have had the fun privilege of making every birthday cake these kiddos have had. The oldest just turned four. As we all know, four year olds have opinions ;) This year he asked me to make him a Star Wars cake. Then, a few days later he informed me that it should be a GREEN Star Wars cake. Well, my fist thought was Yoda...he's green, right? But, as I perused the web looking for inspiration, I noticed that most Yoda cakes looked more like the angry spawn of the Incredible Hulk and a Gremlin. I knew Yoda was out of my league. Only an artist can pull that one off.

So, I started thinking about scenes instead of individual characters. The only green setting I could think of was the Forest Moon of Endor, in Episode VI. With a few vintage action figures in my arsenal, from Blond Chick's brother, I set to work. I decided to make an Ewok Hut with appropriate characters nearby. Now, I did learn through some research that some Ewoks had hut's at ground level (for the elderly Ewoks, maybe?) which was very good news.

Here's the process...


Starting with a plan. This included a pic that I found online for inspiration.


The necessary tools. Decorator bags, tips, gel icing coloring, icing spatulas, etc.



The foundation. I decided to go with a round cake, and used a measuring cup to bake the basic form for the hut.



Cooled & leveled.



Rough icing, not yet smoothed...Green of course!


Icing smoothed, hut construction beginning. I used a Little Debbie Cupcake to give more height for the roof.



The walls of an Ewok hut are woven of something that looks similar to bamboo. To get this texture, I manipulated the icing with a damp artist's brush.



I added some greenery for the forest floor. The path is crushed chocolate cookies. The fallen tree was constructed from a plastic cake support (used internally for tiered cakes). I simply piped stiff icing over it, and extended the pointy roots at the end.



Here it is with characters in place, which I did on-site. Han Solo is on the fallen tree, the Ewok chief (Boss, Head Honcho, Grand Poobah, what do they call their leader?) in front of the hut, R2D2 is on the path, C3PO is beside the hut, and Chewbacca is hanging out on the edge of the cake.



A view from the back.


Now, I know this is a bit of a stretch for a Forest Moon, but this little guy seemed to be happy with it, and that is all that matters!



This post is linked to Life As Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap this week.
Related Posts with Thumbnails