Hats Off to Graduates!

June 13, 2009

My great aunt, Carolyn, asked me to make a graduation cake for my cousin, Aaron. I ran into the conflict of trying to find a way to use the graduation hat cake pan, but have enough cake for everyone. I ended up using my 14 inch square and only filling half-full. I think that it turned out to be just the right amount of cake. Carolyn said she had just enough left over to take with her to work. It is a hard hard to find a balance between running out of cake and having cake coming out your ears. It is one of those things that just takes experience and practice.

ESL Super Star Cake

June 9, 2009
I try to encourage my students to work hard throughout the year. One of the ways I do it is have a ESL Super Star of the month. I look for students who show great improvement. At the end of the year, I invite them in my room for refreshments. I wanted the cake to be bright and I used marshmallow fondant to make the stars.

Polka Dots and Baby Booties

June 7, 2009

Most baby showers are pink or blue but there are still a few people who want to be surprised when their new little one arrives. Green has always been the color for neutrality but it has been updated when paired with brown. Baby apparel, bedding, and accessories are going for more trendy looks with brown/green, brown/pink, and brown/blue combos. The inspiration for this cake came from a picture of the table cloth that was going to be used at the shower.



The cake and baby booties are covered in butter cream icing. The polka dots are made of marshmallow fondant.

Christina and Chris' Wedding Cake

June 6, 2009


Chris and Christina are our next door neighbors who were brave enough to hire me to do thier wedding cake. I did a 50th wedding anniversary cake last July, but I hadn't yet had the opportunity to do a wedding cake. Christina and I designed the cake together, marshmallow fondant and edible pearls. We had initially thought of doing a three tier cake with an additional sheet to the side. But I decided instead to make it a four tier cake.

The 14 inch and 8 inch tiers were covered in Cornelli lace made out of royal icing. I also used royal icing to attach the edible pearls. Since royal icing dries hard, I knew that it would travel and hold up better than had I used butter cream. Ribbon was used around the bottom of the cake to incorporate the wedding colors.

I used a plain square for the base, the 14 inch was too large to fit on a round cake stand. I hope to one day have a square silver cake stand to add to the display of my wedding cakes.

80th Birthday Celebration

June 6, 2009

Heather's Granddaddy turned 80! I used the invitation as an inspiration. I thought it turned out very elegant but at the same time still masculine. I made the stripes out of marshmallow fondant with a butter cream base. The funny thing about this weekend is "when it rains, it pours". I started out with one cake and ended up with three. Not only did I have the birthday cake, but I had my first wedding cake. Luckily, I starting prepping for the cakes on Tuesday so I wasn't too stressed out.

VW Van!!

May 30, 2009

My principal, Chris, asked me to make a cake for his wife for their anniversary. What type of cakes do you consider when you think of anniversary? Flowers? Hearts? What about a VW van? Yeah, it was a first for me too.

Apparently, his wife has always wanted a VW van, so he thought he would get her one for their anniversary. I just hope she enjoyed her surprise.

I had a hard time carving the cake. I try my best now to waste cake when I carve it into shapes. I used two 9X13 cakes to make the van. I think I needed to use three. I had to trip the edges to add another level of height. But once I got the butter cream icing on the cake, the shape began to take hold. I make marshmallow fondant daisies to help "authenticate" the van.

I am very please with the way it turned out. The more I work with marshmallow fondant, the more comfortable I feel about it.

Strawberry Fever

May 30, 2009

I was asked to make a strawberry cake for a bridal shower. Heather's sister, Jackie, is getting married. Heather wasn't too picky about the design of the cake. She was only concerned with the taste. She wanted it to be strawberry with Strawberry icing. So I made strawberry cream cheese icing with strawberry cake, which happens to be my personal favorite. I used fresh strawberries as flower garnishes, mint leaves, and sliced kiwi around the border.