My World Famous Creations of Delectable Proportions.
I began a cake decorating class on August 11, 2008. Here are some cakes I have made before, during, and after the class. Hopefully some improvement will be seen. Maybe it will be inspiration for others too...
12-19-10
A Cake built for a graduate. Can you guess which college she just graduated from? Well, this was a 12 inch round 2 layer cake that was Orange and Blue through and through. The bottom layer was orange flavor, and the top layer white cake simply colored blue. The base border was gumpaste lace on the marbled fondant. The top tier was a golden butter cake in a 7 inch oval. It's base border was balls of fondant. Topping the orange fondant was a fondant creation inspired by the University of Florida's emblem. However, unlike Al, this gator has an extra tooth and hasn't gotten his jaw opened as wide. I received rave reviews, but would like to give a special thank you to my mother-in-law for doing the actual baking of the 12 inch rounds for me.
12-17-10
My version of a cupcake cake. 136 cupcakes frosted with white icing topped with gumpaste letters. I had to do a dry run of the cupcakes in a rectangle to figure out how large to make the font. I did contact the logo owner for permission before I attempted this. I was amazed at how quickly they responded with a Yes! Transporting that many was a bit tricky, but we managed without having any cupcake casualties.
12-04-2010 This was a cake I made in honor of my husband's birthday, as well as his yearly LAN Party with friends from all over central Florida and Aruba. Since they are constantly playing Halo Reach through Xbox Live, I thought it only appropriate to recreate a cake in the shape of one of the characters that appears in the Halo games. I was wondering what I should make and turned to my son and asked what flavor cake I should make. After listing the typical Vanilla, Chocolate, and Marble, I then said Confetti. As soon as the word came out of my mouth the cake design was already forming in my mind. We agreed that Confetti would be a great choice, because you can't think of Halo and hear the word confetti and NOT think of a Grunt.
For those of you who do not play video games, or are not familiar with this particular game, there is an option that can be turned on called "Birthday Party". When the Birthday Party skull is turned on the result is children voices cheering an excited "Yay!" while confetti is strewn around only if a head-shot is made on a Grunt.
My husband took some still shots from the actual game so that I could use them as reference photos for the cake. I made the cake out of 2 oval, one 6 inch round, 1 regular cupcake, 4 mini cupcakes, buttercream frosting and fondant. Though I do not believe the actual cake had the detail I wanted to give it, I am impressed by only decorating for 6 hours and not really putting too much planning into it. I just started it and kept on going until it was finished all in 1 day. It seemed as though it was enjoyed, but I was informed they were kind of freaked out by the fondant peel away skin, as well as the face, so they ate the rear of the head and left the rest.
I was informed AFTER using the red icing to stack the layers and make the crumb coat that Grunt blood is in fact blue, not red, so sorry for that inaccuracy.
11-13-10
A cake for a woman who loves the outdoors as well as chocolate. The request was simple, but the task proved complicated, as a ran through many designs in my head. I think I captured it nicely with this final design being a chocolate lover's delight. Chocolate frosting covers a chocolate cake hill that has been lovingly situated with home made molded chocolates. Atop that hill in the middle of a small, green, grassy butter cream pasture lays a chocolate cake made to mimic a terracotta pot. A single rose colored gumpaste rose rests inside with plenty of chocolate frosting soil and a few hand painted, glistening fondant leaves. The sides of the cake are simple, yet elegant with the hint of nature also in the form of hand made chocolate leaves.
11-01-10
Cupcakes in the form of apples. Tootsie roll stem and Brach green apple fruit slices top a cupcake covered in pink icing and rolled in red sprinkles.
This is my final for my fondant class I began on my birthday this year. It doubled as my sister-in-law's b-day cake. This was not only the first time I ever covered a cake in fondant, but also the first time I had ever made a hexagon cake. It was a tad tricky to cover, but I managed to do it without tearing it. I had sculpted fish, lily pads, water lily centers, and bubbles earlier in the week so that they had time to dry and harden. The actual water lilies were made the night before. The cake itself was a 2 layer marble cake iced with cream cheese frosting. The base border was a fondant rope using the shell imprint tool. I dusted the imprints, lily pads, and fancy tail gold fish with green pearlized dust to give them some sparkle. I enjoyed working with fondant, as it is easier to make pieces in advance, cutting down on the stress of having to do it all directly on the cake once it is iced smooth.
This was an entry into a contest called Threadcakes. This cake took me a total of about 7-8 hours to do in stages.
It was particularly difficult for me to figure out what the maze really looked like since there is only the one view from one particular angle on the shirt. I tried several different techniques and even tried contacting the artist to find out what his inspiration hedge maze was, but received no reply. In the end a combination of Inkscape and old fashioned graph paper and pencil prevailed.
I used 2 butter cake mixes that I tinted green. I knew that I was going to carve out the maze so I baked it one day and the next began the maze prep.
I began cutting the paper pattern for the maze out with a regular pair of scissors, removing what would be the inside of the maze. I then realized I was going to have to leave certain pieces connected in order to ensure the maze stays properly proportioned the way I had it on paper.
Once the pattern was finished I pinned it to the top of the cake and began using a hem gauge to outline and remove the cake from the inside of the maze. I thought about leaving it without any icing once I had it carved out. However, what's a cake without icing?! So I decided to apply butter cream icing to the top of the cake, making sure none was actually inside the maze itself. My husband then reminded me that I needed to add texture to the icing, as it is meant to look like hedges after all. So I spent some time with a toothpick and roughened up the icing I worked so hard to smooth.
Pac-man and the ghosts were made using a technique I found on a website that I follow (www.snackordie.com), called cake balls. It is crumbled cake and icing mixed together and then cooled. Once cooled they were covered in melting candy that I had tinted the appropriate colors. They then had to return to their cooling chamber, AKA the fridge. After removing them from cooling in their little candy coatings I had to carve away the extra and smooth it out a bit.
Once they were done I added them to their places using the picture as a guide. That's when I added the eyes on Pinky and Inky to make sure they were looking the right way for their final photo shoot.
Toothpicks were definitely used a lot in this cake, but strictly for adding icing, sculpting, and carving. This cake, I am happy to say, is 100% edible without any support structures, and was even nice and moist.
I just hope that I did the artist justice in turning it into a cake. I hope you all enjoy seeing it as much as I did making it!
After playing with Picasa I also figured out how to do a video, so here it is as well. Enjoy! :)
I had originally intended to carve a cake for an entry into a contest called Threadcakes. However, when I leveled this one I found way too many air bubbles for it to work for my intentions. So, instead of wasting a perfectly edible cake I decided to turn this one into an entry and try again for the other later.
I chose this design because I was looking for one that used some frosting colors I already had made from previous cakes. I had enough black to cover the cake so I began looking for a design with a dark background, yet simple so I could get this done and move onto my intended design.
The cake itself was a sprinkle Duncan Hines mix that I tinted green. This makes no since for this design, but it's what I made. I had only one 9 x 13 pan so it took me an hour to bake both layers. Once they were baked I leveled them and used some green "cookie icing" as the filling and stacked them. Then I trimmed the edges about 1 inch back so that there would be no gaps in between the layers.
Once the cake was assembled I prepared the canvas. I spread the Black frosting over the top and each side. I then let it set for 10 minutes to begin crusting. After that time limit was up I smoothed it with parchment paper and my spatula and did some touch ups with Viva paper towels.
While waiting for the icing to crust I began my pin prick cheat sheet. I took the image from the website and inverted the colors and printed it to the size I would place on the cake. I then placed the printout onto a clean towel and used a quilters pin to make the pricks. I only pricked the people, a few snow flakes and stars for reference points, and the clouds. I didn't want it to simply be a stamp and trace cake, I wanted to see what I could do on my own to make it look identical. Once it was finished I laid the paper onto the top of the cake and lightly pressed it into the icing leaving a slight indentation in the black icing.
I started decorating by following the trace lines I had made for the people using white butter cream icing with a tip 1 on the bag. Once I finished them I stepped back and realized that I forgot that the people were green. Instead of starting all over, I decided to fix that later by mixing some food coloring and clear vanilla extract and paint them. It worked so well, that I decided to do the rest of the colors on the cake the same way. I actually think that was my favorite part. After all, it's not everyday that you get to paint the stars.
I moved onto the clouds and snow flakes, leaving the stars for last using the methods previously mentioned. I was particularly impressed with myself for not getting lost in the blue lines that the people were standing on. I did not prick those out at all and was hoping it would be really close to the original design. I'd say it was a pretty good job for free hand.
After it was all done I decided to put a border on the base of the cake. My husband suggested that it match what was going on on the top of the cake. So, taking his advice we have blue lines, white snowballs, and yellow stars that make up the border.
Overall time to complete: I have no idea. I have 2 kids that I had to stop for, and great events such as the Star Wars at the library that we just couldn't miss(501st Legion - great job btw!). If I had to give a guess I would say a total of 6 hours. I baked and iced it on one day and the next began the decorating. I did try a half of a piece and found it to be particularly good. My daughter stole the other half while I was taking the eating it picture. I gave the rest to a family with a 16 year old to dispose of for me. I'd be surprised if any of it was left by the time they got home.
06-18-10
My first Topsy Turvey cake, made for my daughter's third birthday. No Fondant, though it probably would have been easier if I knew how to use it. It is strawberry cake and butter cream frosting. All the plants and foliage were Tinkerbell inspired.
05-21-10
The requested cake was to be an "oriental" design. This mini Japanese Zen Garden is made from an 8" x 8" square butter cake with buttercream frosting. The black frosting is a chocolate buttercream dyed black. The top of the cake was cut to leave a square recessed well. It was frosted with buttercream as a "crumb coat". Inside the well are crushed rice crispies to use for the sand. The rake is made from Pocky that was cut and glued together using a melted hershey's kiss. Candy rocks were placed in the sand and pattern was made using a fork around the stones. Bamboo in pale green was piped on the sides using a tip one, while the Chinese kanji symbols were piped in white using a tip 2 and a toothpick to shape the details. A 100% edible creation.
04-17-10 This is a 9x13 2 layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing filling and buttercream frosting for the decoration. The requested design used air brushing. Since I do not have the equipment to do an airbrush, I had to use a piece of paper and cut out the desired design and place it on top of the cake and buy Wilton's Color Mist food color spray. This was only the second time of using it in over 5 years, but the first time to use it to make a specific design. I used a tip 12 to create both the top and base border and a tip 3 for the details of the orange swirls and bats, as well as the writing. Overall a very happy recipient, and a very tasty cake even if I do say so myself. The chocolate cake itself was done from scratch, as I have yet to find a boxed chocolate cake that tastes good. Thank you Hershey's for the recipe online.
03-13-10 This is a 6" round cake specially made just for the birthday girl turning 1. Her party was decorated with the 1st birthday butterfly theme from Oriental Trading Company. This is the number one that the butterfly was hugging on the themed paper products.The one was piped on with a tip 5 and then a paint brush used to feather it into the center. The vines, blue flowers, and leaves were placed just as they were on the paper plates.The base border was a simple pattern of dots with a leaf placed after every fifth one.
03-13-10 This was the cake for the party attendees. It was a yellow Butter cake with buttercream filling. The top border was my first attempt at a reverse shell. I am rather pleased with how it turned out. The sides had four frilly hearts that held a grouping of three dark pink flowers with yellow centers and three green leaves. In between the hearts was stringing. The base border was a regular shell border. The top held the requested message as well as a representation of the butterfly that was on the paper goods chosen for the theme.
03-13-10 Since the party was a joint one for her and her sister, I wanted their cakes to match, but be different. The sides of the cake have the same frilly heart filled with a grouping of three deep pink flowers with yellow centers and three leaves. Also, like the other cake the base border is a shell border and the top border, a reverse shell. The difference on the sides is the design for the stringing. The color was tinted a deeper pink to better fit with the Disney princess theme. The top of the cake had the requested message as well as the Disney princess crown design. This cake was triple chocolate fudge with fudge chocolate icing as the filling.
02-13-10 This was a cake created for a party for a little girl turning 3. The cake was a 9 x 13 strawberry flavored cake of 3 layers filled with buttercream icing.The sides of the cake were striped to match the bow and the top of the cake was iced pink with darker pink strawberries polka-dotted like the hat. There was a blank space left in the center for the candle that was the shape of Strawberry herself. The writing was done in white icing, with the top border as a white zigzag and the bottom border white stars. The strawberries were drawn on with a tip 12 making a filled in "y" shape topped with a tip 14 star in green. Using a tip 1 to place the curly vines on the tops of the strawberry leaves really made a finishing touch.
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