My PawPaw Got Married!!!

And I was able to do his cake.  This now makes for my second wedding cake and I busted my butt working on it.  My poor tried his best to avoid the kitchen at all costs b/c I commandeered every inch of counter space we have.  But, it was wonderful and everyone loved it, especially my Papaw and his new bride.

 

The top layer was for them to keep and it was a single layer of vanilla.  The Second Layer was vanilla cake with strawberry filling.  YUM YUM!

 

 

I found the most AMAZING technique for fillings online.  The recommended buy a jar of whatever flavor jelly you wish to use and microwaving the jelly in short bursts until jelly is runny.  Then, you add a small box of jelly mix in the corresponding flavor and stir until combined.

While it's still a bit runny, you spread a thin layer on between your cakes and VOILA!  The jello mix makes the jelly solidify more so it doesn't make your cake soggy.  Plus, the flavor is more intensified (and not as sweet) thanks to the jello as well.  Needless to say, it was very well received!

 

 

 The third layer was just a single layer of chocolate.  But the bottom layer was my favorite...Red Velvet!!!!!  Oh YEAH!  Those that took a slice of the other tiers made sure to come back for another slice to try the red velvet.

 

All in all, it was a wonderful cake and a wonderful wedding. 

LVN Cupcakes

My cousin just finished his training for his LVN certification!  So proud of him.  This is definitely not something I could do.  (Too squeamish)  I'd rather stick to decorating cakes.

Anyway, his wife asked me to make some cupcakes for his graduation party.  This is the picture she showed me.





She said she liked the gloves, stethoscope, pill bottle, and red cross.  I'm glad she didn't want the bandaids...not so sure that would really tempt the tastebuds.

Here's what I was able to come up with...



I even got creative and made little cupcake covers.

Back to the Bakery

I stepped in to help at the bakery again and had these cakes to design.  It's funny to try decorating while pregnant.  My belly got in the way!

In the midst of decorating this lego cake, I noticed a glob of green icing on my apron.  Then, as I am piping the borders, I notice a patch of icing was missing on the corner of the cake.  I had some retouching to do but it all worked out.

No day would be complete without a zebra cake.  Funny thing is the shoe cracked all the way through when I tried to place it on the cake.  I attached 2 more cutouts of the same fondant shoe to cover the crack...one on the front and one on the back.  Luckily, they called back and asked for a heart that read "I Love You"!  I knew just where to put it! 

Speaking of a baby belly, this order was for a rocker chick belly cake.  We ended up going a little more subtle than what I would have called "rocker chick" but I think it worked out for the best.  Plus, they wanted the belly to read "Born to Rock".  I opted to use a silver star to draw in the silver dragees.  I was also VERY proud of my bow!!!

Fondant Sculpting

Ihad a great time sculpting fondant into little figures at the bakery the other day.  Most of these were for a safari baby shower.

Monkeys

Turtles 

The zebra was by FAR the most difficult!!!  All those stripes took forever.

Giraffe

The teddy bear was for a 2 year old's birthday.

OSSAS 2011

My hubby and I just got back from the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I went last year and placed 3rd in my division, which was Semi-Professional Holiday Cakes.  I don't "want" to be a semi professional b/c I've only been doing this for a little over 2 years.  But since I have taught a cake class and have worked as a decorator in a bakery, I have no other choice.

I chose to compete in the same division as last year b/c I wanted to do better this time.  AND...I actually got FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!!  YEAH!!!!!!

Everything is made of fondant and is hand shaped.  I used an extruder for the fence and the witch's hair.

I based my Frankenstein out of a book for sculpting clay figurines but made sure to add my own flair.  His spiked cuffs were my favorite addition.

I made the skeleton out of fondant and was very proud of the skull and hands.  I could not get his arms and hands to sit right with the sign.  So, I just let him look like he fell apart.

My tree was my pride and joy.

I used wire and chocolate fondant.

Here's my tree skeleton.

And I simply added the fondant in sections starting with the branches and working my way to the trunk.  I added texture and let every section dry before attempting the next.

To smooth out any lines or patch up cracks, I used small pieces of fondant and water.  I smooth the edges of the patch with my fingers until the edges were completely invisible.  I covered the entire tree with water so the coloring would be consistent and then packaged it separately for the trip to Tulsa.

Gender Revealing Shower

As we all know, I am expecting our second kiddo in January.  I hit the 20 week mark at the end of August and decided to throw a party where our family and friends could be present when we find out the sex of the baby.  The doctor wrote down the sex of baby and sealed it in an envelope.  I was a good girl and did not peek before I dropped said envelope with my baker.  He then baked the cake and cupcakes you see below.

Granted, it was my design but I couldn't very well make my OWN cake; that would ruin the surprise.

Inside, the cake was dyed either Pink or Blue and I had all the guests dress according to what they thought baby would be.

(The cupcakes were NOT dyed, which made for less temptation for peeking.) 

We played games such as "Dirty Diaper Diving" where you had to guess the type of candy bar melted in the diaper.  

(Note to self, do NOT use LUVS or HUGGIES...they melt.  Pampers or Target brand are okay.)

We also played a game called "Guess Mommy's Girth" where everyone had to break off the amount of toilet paper they thought would go all the way around my belly.  As you can see here, he guessed wrong.  I'm not that big...YET.

After everything was said and done, my hubby and I cut the cake to reveal a VERY pink inside.  So, we can now proudly say that we are expecting another GIRL!!!  WOO HOO!!!  

(Poor Daddy is going to be sooooo out numbered.)

Copy Cat

This is my attempt at copying Tinkerbell onto a cake in fondant.  Not my best work, but not that bad, either.  She was VERY difficult and took WAY longer than I planned.  Of course the eyes and mouth were the hardest pieces to make.  All the rest was rather easy.  I just basically free-handed everything with an exacto knife.

Then, I had to copy all the Mario scenes from the game.  Granted, they are not exact replicas but I got close.  My favorite are the plants coming out fo the pipes!  The bricks were pretty fun to make as well.  I cannot take credit for Mario or Luigi or the big star on top.  My boss made them.  But I did everything else.

And finally, a carnival cake based on a napkin, which had the dots and strips on it.  The little girls mother drew an example of what she wanted but left a lot of room for creativity.  I always LOVE those kind of orders!  I think she will be very pleased.

Texas Pride!

I made this cake for an auction fundraiser.  I hope it raises a lot of funds for the cause.

John Deere

Uber-Cute Tractor Cake!

But the BEST part was the little Piggy.

Check out his curly tail.

SpongeBob & Cupcakes

This was great practice for my daughter's next birthday.  She LOVES "BobBob".

This cake was for a little boy and I added Gary, Partick, and Squidward on the sides.  

I hope he liked it.

His little sister was celebrating her birthday on the same day with a cupcake theme.

This was her smash cake.  I have never iced a cupcake cake and, let me tell you, it was a lot HARDER than I expected!  Who knew?

Fiesta Time!!

Here's a cake with a festive flair designed to be colorful and fun.  

Mario Brothers!!

We had an order for a Mario cake and I think it turned out rather well.  The check pattern wasn't very difficult, just time consuming.  The hardest parts were the red line of buttercream and the white spirals, also made of buttercream.  Fondant would have been easier but the customer wanted buttercream.  The 5 white dots on the top are the supports for the Nintendo DS the customer will be placing on top of the cake.  Isn't that so cool!!!!

Also, I was so proud of my lettering!  I had to mimic the font used in the original reference picture.  Not bad for buttercream and free hand!

Here's the original...

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!!

Fun with Fondant!

My friend's daughter had her 4th birthday as a Tickerbell party.  I had so much fun decorating the cake! 

Happy Birthday Izzy!

Another friend's daughter wanted "All About Me" Cupcakes.  This 9 year old decided that these cupcakes covered all of her favorite things.  I liked this idea and I'm thinking it should become a new trend.

Tennis, Cartwheels, and Aggies...

Piano, Books, and Soccer!