Cake Contest 2011 Cont...

The Divisional Awards from the 2011 Contest can be viewed from the All In One Bake Shop Website.

My personal Favorites are...

Cake Contest 2011

These are the cakes in the Adult Intermediate Buttercream Only.

This is my cake.

This is my competition.

And that's it!  So, I will be coming home with either a 1st or 2nd place medal.  Wish me luck!

Cake Contest Coming Up!!

Last year, i entered my first EVER cake contest.  I did a little lambeth-y number that placed in the beginner's division.  This year, I have decided to try my luck again and will have to moved up to the next level, which will be intermediate.  For the past month, I have been browsing the internet and my cake library for ideas and inspiration.  I took a little of this and a little of that from 4 different pictures and added a little of my own to make it more personal.  So far, I think it is going well.  I will post the final product with the contest results when it is all over.

My cake from last year entitled "A Grandmother's Love".  I dedicated it to my Mamaw who had passed away 7 months prior to the contest.

I started off with a 10" styrofoam dummy.  I used a 12" last year and decided size wasn't necessary to produce a beautiful cake.

I've been working on this for 7 days so far, doing a little each day.  Whenever I get frustrated or tired, I put everything down and walk away.  That seems to be going better than the mad 4 day rush, which included the day we left, last year.

Baptism & Confirmation Reception

Tonight, my church had a 2 baptisms and 11 confirmations.  I was asked to provide cake for the reception that followed, which would feed 125 people.  I am not accustomed to serving that many people and was not wanting to make a tiered cake.  So, this is what I delivered instead.

The 12" round cake serves 40 - 50 people.

The 12" square serves 50 - 60 people.

That comes to 90 - 110 servings, so I added 20 cupcakes to make it an even 110 - 130.

Attack of the Zebras...Again

Zebra is still the reigning champ.  There isn't a week that goes by that we don't get a zebra cake order.  It's a good thing I like doing them.

Care Bears

For your child's next birthday, might I suggest a cake like this!  It's AWESOME!!!  One is chocolate and the other is vanilla.  The rainbow is dried fondant and I piped the girl's name in the middle after this picture.  It was very simple to decorate and everyone loved it!

Making Small Sugar Flowers

This has to be the easiest way to make a gumpaste flower!

Intricate Piping and Lace Extension Work

This is the hardest thing I have EVER tried on a cake.  I think my biggest problem was the size of my tip.  You can practice with a #1 tip but you really need a #.5 or a #0.  But she explains this technique so clearly!  I don't think you could get a simpler explanation.

Royal Icing and Piping Methods

Elaine MacGregor - Master Decoractor

During my typical YouTube searching, I came across an amazing teacher.  Elaine MacGregor has published a series of Tutorial videos and books but I was unable to find any other info on her.  Pieces of her videos are published on YouTube and are definitely worth viewing.  She makes things look so easy!!!

ROAR!!!!!

Ahny's grandmother came in with a very special request.  Her six year old granddaughter had a very specific design for her birthday cake.  She required:

White cake

Chocolate icing

Pink borders

4 Hearts in the corners

Castle with hearts

Tiny crown in castle

"Dear" - RED

"Ahny" - LIME GREEN

"Happy 6th Birthday Princess" - TURQUOISE

You gotta love it when all the guess work is gone.

Flora and Fauna

Some of my favorite orders are when the client says "Just make it pretty."

This lady asked for Purple Flowers.

This lady's husband ordered her a cake for her birthday and asked for 50 little dots to place all the candles.  I was in a very "RED" mood this day.

Printed Cookies!!

I know there has been a HUGE zebra phase at the bakery I work at.  I do at least 3 zebra cakes a week and I only work part time.  So, imagine my surprise when I found THESE!!!!



These cookies are from the latest post at The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle.



And the best part, she offers a "How-To" demonstration with this post.

SifBeth Website

If you are a lover of the Lambeth method, this website has an excellent tutorial.  

This link will get you to the actual tutorial.

http://www.sifbeth.dk/lambethtut.html

I'm not sure where this cake decorator is from but I wish he/she would do more!  If you have time, you should check out her gallery of cakes.  The green one with the gold accent is my favorite.

How To Make My Marshmallow Fondant

What you will need:

1 package of mini marshmallows

1 Tbsp of shortening

1 Tbsp of water

6 cups of powdered sugar

Gel food coloring

1 tsp of flavoring (optional)

1 pair of plastic gloves

1 large bowl

1 medium glass bowl

1 spatula

plastic wrap

1 gallon zip lock bag

First, I coat both bowls, the spatula, and my plastic gloves with the shortening.  Microwave the miniature marshmallows and Tbsp of water in the glass bowl in 30 second increments until the marshmallows are melted.  It takes me about a 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Once they are melted, stir in the food coloring and any flavoring you might want to add.  The color will darken just a bit, so keep adding until you almost get to the color you want.  You may need to reheat the mixture for about 10 seconds.

Sift the powdered sugar into the large bowl and make a small well in the center.  Pour the melted marshmallow mixture into the well and carefully fold with the spatula.  Be careful so as not to burn your hands.     It will be hot.  Eventually, you will need to knead the mixture with your hands.  Mix and mush the marshmallow and sugar until it feels like play-doh. (You won't use all the sugar.)


Mold the fondant into a ball and coat it with shortening.  Wrap the ball with plastic wrap and store it in the zip lock baggy.  I leave the fondant to rest on the counter, not the fridge!  The your fondant rest for at least 12 hours...24 would be better.  Marshmallow fondant isn't as stretchy as regular fondant but will work just as well.  You may need to microwave the fondant for 5 seconds to make it more malleable.

Here is a video of the process.  I did things a little different.

How to Make a Leopard Print with fondant.

I've never really given much thought to adding tutorials to my blog.  So, consider yourself lucky to be reading my very FIRST!

A little girl from my church was having a birthday party and requested a pink leopard cake.  Being new to the business, I said "Sure thing" but inside my brain, I was wondering how the heck I would do pull this off.

For starters, I made a 12" chocolate cake, iced it, and stuck it in the fridge to chill.  (I always put my cake in the fridge to chill before smoothing fondant over it.)  Once out of the fridge, the cake and icing are a bit "stiff", which makes me more comfortable pressing it under the fondant.  Also, as the icing warms up, it "sweats" just enough to help the fondant adhere to the cake without me having to add anything.  

Moving on...

I made and colored my marshmallow fondant the day before so it would have time to rest.  I kneaded and rolled the hot pink fondant out almost to the size of my cake.  (You don't want to go the full size yet b/c there will be more rolling.)  I shaped small chunks of black fondant from Wilton and pressed them sporadically into the hot pink fondant.  Then, I did the same thing with the light pink fondant but the pieces were smaller and I placed them off the center of each black spot.

ROLLING TIME!!

Now is the time you finish rolling out the fondant, spots and all, which makes the spots blend/smooth easier.  It makes the spots seem more real to me.  If you look closely, however, the smaller spots are different; they aren't quite as smooth.  I had to go back and add in smaller spots to fill in the gaps in the pattern.  Essentially, I did the same thing by shaping a chunk of black fondant, adding a smaller chunk of light pink fondant to the black spot and smoothing it all together once it was already on the cake.

I finished up with a white fondant plague and black butter-cream bead borders.  Those are 2 real ribbon bows just to save time and money.  

I hope this was helpful or at least gives you an idea of the technique I used.  Stay tuned for other tutorials coming your way!!