PacMan and Mario!

 Happy Birthday, Eddie!

You know how much I love the 80s!  This was a quick 80s cake that I threw together for Eddie's 40th Birthday. The entire party was a lot of fun from 80s music, to NES games, and a complete 80s candy bar!  This cake was a basic chocolate cake with creamy chocolate icing. The fondant decorations were simple and free handed to save on time. A special thank you to my sweetheart for keeping me company and helping me assemble the cake!

As always, Happy Baking!

Diesel 10 Cake

Choo Choo!

Yet another fun kid's cake.  I love the opportunity to make little one's birthday cakes for a couple of reasons.  First, it is just such a blessing to be part of such a milestone in a kid's life.  Second, I get to act like a kid and no one judges me :o)

And here is a close-up of his face:

Happy Choo Choo Baking!

New York, New York!

New York, New York!

I absolutely love this cake!  The cheesecake is the best part!  The glisten of the cherries was done with piping gel, the rest of the decorations are fondant/gum paste. I hope this was a great cake for Kevin to celebrate his birthday and what a fun opportunity for me!

As always, Happy Baking!

Poker Cake

Happy 40th Birthday to Billy!



May Wedding :: Pinwheels, Persimmon, and Pearls

Congratulations Valerie!

Being able to share in someone's wedding is always a blessing. And while each bride has her own beautiful theme and colors--sometimes it can be hard to bring all of those aspects together on a cake. Between Sara and I we were able to pull a cake together including the bride's colors, pinwheels, branches, and pearls.  I love the final product and the bride thought it was "perfect."  I couldn't have asked for a better compliment. 

To make the pinwheels we mixed some tylose powder with the fondant to make it more of a gumpaste consistency.  Let the fondant sit (covered) for about 30 minutes, then roll out to 1/8 inch and form into a pinwheel as usual!

Happy baking!

  

Nike Cav IV Cake

Happy Birthday Joe!

 

I love getting unusual cake orders, and while I have made a shoe before I didn't have the pressure of making a replica of a specific shoe.  This is the Nike Cav IV shoe on the shoe box.  I think it turned out pretty good! 

Happy Shoe Baking!



Guitar Cake!

Congratulations, Preston!

This cake is for a young man that is graduating high school and attending Alabama next year (Roll Tide, y'all). I am told he is quite the guitar player and very excited about Alabama. This is a white almond sour cream cake with strawberry filling and almond buttercream. The decorations are done in fondant and the silver accents are done with luster dust.

Before I start any shaped cake like this I make a template out of newspaper.  This helps me to get the size and shape right before I start carving the cake and it makes carving the cake go much faster.  If you are just filling with buttercream then fill between the layers, freeze, and then carve. If you are filling the cake, like I was in this situation, carve the layers first, make a buttercream dam, fill, place the second layer on top, and dirty ice the cake.  Here is a pic of the cake during assembly:

 Until next time, Happy Baking!

April Cakes :: Sports Cakes

Touchdown!

Over the past couple of months we have made several sports themed cakes.  Baseball is popular this season so there are a couple of those.  The football cake is one of my favorites becuase I got to try out a new icing technique.  The hair/fur/grass tip is exhausting to use when trying to cover a whole field, but the effect is really fun when you need grass or hair type accent.

Around easter you can buy edible grass for easter baskets but I buy some to stock up for any cakes that may need it.  In this case we used some edible grass for accents around the baseball cake.

Happy Baking!

March Wedding for 400 anyone?

Congratulations Clint and Amy!

So it had taken me a couple of weeks to recover and write this post, but here it is--the wedding cake for 400 people!

Some fun facts about the cake:

• Flavor: Vanilla Cream Cake with Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream
• Servings: 420
• Assembled cakes weighed as much as a 10 year old
• 35 lbs of buttercream were used
• 18 total sheets of cake were used.
• The largest tier was 16 inches square and fed 122 people

The bride and groom tried something different for the serving of the cake.  The wedding party helped cut the cakes and then served it to the guests.  I thought this was a great idea and the wedding party really got into it.  Everyone was served in just a few minutes and there was plenty of cake to go around.  I even caught a few guests wrapping up extra pieces and stuffing them in their purses--the cake was worth stealing!

The groom's cake was a breeze compared to the bride's cakes.  The University of Kentucky cake was the same flavor per the bride's request.

Phew!  These cake took days in preparation but I am so happy with the way they turned out.  And I would have never been able to do it without the help of Sara who kept me sane, even at 5 o'clock in the morning the day of.  There will be a new post soon with more cakes to come, but this one (hopefully) will be the biggest of the year!

As always, happy baking!

February Cakes :: Take 2

February was a busy month for cakes--so busy I forgot to take pictures of them all!  But there are still many to see....

First, the "Two Peas in a Pod" was made for Miss Colleen's Baby Bash: 

And check out the beautiful mother-to-be!  Kid you now she was wearing non-pregnant lady skinny jeans and a regular top.  Aaaand she is 6+ months pregnant....with twins!  Unbelievable!

Second was another baby shower cake with a butterfly theme!  Also, a variation on the ever so popular "Bum Cake":

Then there were rose cupcakes assembled last minute that turned out remarkably well--love them!  Both the cake and buttercream was champagne flavored.  The flavor was such a hit, I used it for the last cake--the engagement party.

This last cake was made for an engagement party this past weekend.  In preparation for the inclement weather Nashville expected, I moved the baking to the basement and decorated the cake as tornado sirens went off and hail was coming down.  The decorating never stops!  The colors were made to match the colors of the event and here it is:

So that's it for now--as always, happy baking!

February Cakes :: Take 1

February is a busy month for cakes.  Fortunately I have a baking buddy that doesn't make fun of me given innumerable opportunities to.  You see, I can get super jazzed about a fondant fish....I can also get super psycho if the buttercream isn't thick enough.  So it goes without saying that Sara's patience and kindness is much appreciated.

We have made several cakes so far this month.  The first of which is the fishing cake:

Next up is a karate cake, designed by Sara:

And finally, one of my favorite cakes ever--Lightening McQueen:

This cake went off without a hitch and I think I have figured out the key to successful cake baking--80's music.  This all makes perfect sense seeing as my first cake was the 80s themed cake!

Several cakes are yet to come this month so stay tuned.  And as always...happy baking!

Stay Calm and Bake On!

New year--no time to stop!  January has been such a fun month and it's time to catch up on the cake-happenings.

First of all, how cute is this little bug?!? 

Miss Evelyn May

Miss Evelyn May turned one this year and I had the honor of making her very first birthday cake.  While I think the picture above is way cuter than the actual cake--this is what the cake looked like before:

This is one of my all time favorite cakes.  Pink and brown are some of my favorite colors and strawberry is one of my favorite flavors.  Couldn't ask for a better combo.

Next up are pea-pod cupcakes for a twin baby shower.  I helped a friend with these and I think they turned out great!  The strawberry and blueberry cake she made (one boy/one girl) was AMAZING!  I am going to be using those recipes for some cakes in February.

Next up are some quick carrot cake cupcakes for a sweet friend's birthday.  <3 them:

Miss Whitney

And we're down to the final two! I love getting requests for unique cakes.  Sometimes I really have to think about how to make an idea come together.  Perfect example, "Hey! Can you make me a rhino cake that incorporates Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?"

Sure!

Black Belt Rhino

Or how about, "Hey! Can you make me a baby shower cake that is green, blue, and cream with plaid, buttons, and a dinosaur?"

Sure!

That pretty much sums up the month of January!  Lots of wonderful things are on the books for February so keep a lookout.  And as always....

Happy Baking!

Week 52 :: A Year of Sweets!

Sorry this post is a few days late--my Grandmother has already e-mailed me to inform me I am behind!  

First--I can't believe 52 weeks have passed since beginning this adventure!  A lot has happened this year, and obviously I won't stop baking now--if anything my love for baking has multiplied. 

I began this year with a Cookie Recipe--so I thought I would end with one as well.  My favorite (and simple) White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie.  FYI--these are some expensive nuts!  So stock up if you find a good deal.

Ghiradelli Macadamia White Chip Cookies

Prep time :: 15 minutes

Bake time :: 12-14 minutes/batch
Yields :: 5 dozen cookies

::Ingredients::

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups (one 11 oz bag) Ghiradelli Classic White Chips
• 1 1/2 cups chopped Macadamia nuts

::Directions::

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.  Beat well.
3. Blend in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Fold in chips and nuts.  Drop tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 12-14 minutes.
   
   

   

I also thought it would be fun to sum up this year and the blog. I haven't looked in to the site's statistics until now, and it was kind of fun to wait.  So here are some stats:

• There have been more than 7,000 visits to the site (not all me, I promise)
• Different countries include Netherland Antilles, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Russia, Italy, Romania, Phillipines, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Canada (Hi Grandma!)--among many others.  A big "hello!" to all those visitors.  It's amazing how quickly one can circle the world with a cake.
• The most popular cake is actually my first cake--the 80s Themed Cake!
• The most popular cookie is the McQueen Cookie
• The most popular recipe is the Royal Icing Recipe

I can't believe this year is over, I have had a lot of fun baking all these treats.  Right now I am not sure what 2012 brings, but I will keep posting and hopefully you will keep reading!

And finally, for the 52nd time, Happy Baking!