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!!

 

 

Patty Cake, Patty Cake...

So this is a different kind of cake... a Diaper cake!

Even when I'm not baking a cake, I'm thinking of cakes!

I always dip into my creative side when I go to a baby shower (that I'm not making an actual cake for). Sometimes I make the money kite or the oragami money. Other times I make Diaper cakes.

This is just a simple design I did in less than 20 minutes.

Using a water bottle for support, wrap diapers around the water bottle till the base is to your desired thickness. Then secure with a ribbon

Hint: use a rubber band as you are going along if you don't have any help holding the diapers together... otherwise you may lose the whole thing.

Keep layering as much as you want, securing each bundle with a bit of ribbon. Then just add accent pieces. I found that glue dots worked best for securing pieces to the ribbon.

Try not to poke holes into the diapers (for obvious reasons) and try not to add glue or tape either. The object here is to send the mommy-to-be home with diapers she can use.

I was putting this in a bag, so I fastened it all together with some clear plastic basket wrap.








If you want something more masculine, you can try out my motorcycle biker pup.

Star Light, Star Bright...

The bridal shower theme this weekend was based on Vincent Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' painting.

The ambiance was romantic: white lights strung across the pavilion, drapery for a vintage look, star confetti drizzled on the tables, candles and flower centerpieces on each table, and of course, my rendition of 'Starry Night' in cake form.

I used almost every circular tip (1-7) I own for this cake, along with the leaf tips (59 and 60).

The most challenging part of this cake was getting the colors vibrant enough. I went through a lot of food coloring. The trick to not using too much icing is to do all the light colors first and then gradually get darker.

I started with the stars. Then moved to the light blue swirls. Then I just started filling in other places. I made sure to keep a little bit of every color for the final touch of accent colors. The final thing I did was the chocolate tree.

To add the "painting" aspect, I put a picture frame around it. Congrats to the Bride and Groom on their upcoming nuptials and a BIG thank you for letting me be a part of the "Starry Night" Bridal Shower experience.

Cake Central = Overload

I recently got involved with an online cake community called Cake Central. All the foods that I post on my blog are up on my profile there already. 

This was a big step for me. The amount of talent on this website it unreal. Some of these people are ACTUAL cake bosses. 

So putting myself out there was kinda a big deal. It feels good when someone gives you a compliment on something you do. But it feels even better if they are an expert. 

If you got some time to kill, needs some good baking tips or tutorials, check them out now. 

Warning: you'll find yourself lost in the black hole that is the internet while on this site. 

I go hard in the 3D cakes!

Here's my Rock Band tribute cake. It was also made as a send off to a dear friend that was moving away.

What better way to send her off than a night of good old fashioned Rock Band?

So we did what we do best: go totally overboard and theme out our Rock Band party. We sprayed our hair pink, dressed in our Rock and Roll gear, set up the instruments and jammed out all night till our hands hurt and our voices were gone.

 But when it came time for dessert, my friends were in for quite a surprise: My first ever 3D cake.

The cake itself was basic vanilla with butter cream icing. Of course, I used my trusty Wilton cake recipe. The time and effort was all in the decorating.

I did the entire cake in homemade butter cream icing (one that's an absolute secret). I free hand piped the side of the cake that mimics the bars where the notes show up on the screen when you play Rock Band. I made all the instruments and Rock Band logo in fondant icing.

While it might not be the best, the most outrageous or even the most difficult cake, this one will always be my favorite. It was my first time stepping outside of that "safe" cake zone and doing something crazy.

It's also the day I learned I had more patience than I ever thought.