Come Fly With Me...

A Butterfly Cake for Emma

Sometimes life comes at you fast. You wake up one morning and you realize, oh man, I was supposed to do something this weekend. And sometimes that something is actually quite big... like your baby's first birthday.

With the hustle and bustle of life, that's exactly what happened to a friend of mine. She realized that in the midst of crossing her t's and dotting her i's, she had forgotten one important aspect of her party planning - the cake!

So when she asked around the office if anyone knew someone who "did cakes", I laughed. It's not that I don't advertise it, I just kind of keep a little quite about my cake making. I often doubt myself on whether I have time, or if it will come out the way a person expects it. So I don't really offer. But, for a friend in need? No question.

I asked her to send me photos of idea she had, and I'd come up with something. Since Emma's room is all purple and green with butterflies, we decide that would be perfect. So I cake up with a sheet cake for the adults to eat and one small round cake that Emma can "smash into" - as every child should have that cake face look on their first birthday.

And while it was a stressful bake (I had started after working late on a Friday night), I am so glad that I had the experience of helping out a friend in need and seeing that beautiful little girls face smiling full of cake.

Happy birthday, doll!!

 

 

Na Na Na Na BATMAN!

For the Batman enthusiast!

One layer cake, covered in yellow fondant with, of course, the batman logo.

Inside is a delicious chocolate ganache.

This cake would also be good if you added a second layer and threw some fresh strawberries inside.

Since this was one of my first cakes, I added a black ribbon on the bottom. This is one of the ways I was able to cover up my sloppy fondant rolls.

Looking at it now, I kinda like the way the black pulls it together!

Put Your Game Face on - Xbox Cake

I love when people say to me, "you can do a/an ______ cake."

I don't know. I've never tried!

When a friend of mine called me up one day and said, "You can make an Xbox cake, right?" i just laughed.

"I don't know, I've never made one before. I've only made the Rock Band Cake," I said.

Her reply, "Oh ok... well, you're gonna make an Xbox cake. No pressure."

Yikes! Where do you even start on something like this when you've never made a REAL 3D cake?
The console.

I just stared at the Xbox for a good 30 mintes to gather my thoughts and ideas. And then I decided to trace the console out. When the cake was cooled, I put the cut out of the Xbox shape on the cake and cut it out. Easy.

Than the controller. Hmm... Not so easy. But I sat there at the tray with the controller in front of me and carved it a little at a time. Here's a tip: I use the food coloring markers to draw it out before I cut.

After everything was cut and wrapped I took the little details and started working on those. I cut out the air vents, the buttons, the side panels, the analogs. All of it.

I used a bit of water and attached all the pieces. Then a little bit of icing for some last details and voila... you have an Xbox cake.

I've seen some pretty awesome Xbox cakes out there, but I'm still VERY proud of mine. My second 3D cake. Second! Imagine that. I think I have a gift for "winging" it.