Friday, January 30, 2009

I Need A Nap .

So this week was incredibly busy, so much that I am now ready to curl up and take a long, long nap.
About a month ago, I got a "last minute" (in the wedding world, anyway) order for a 4 tiered version of my very large wedding cake-the white Sparkly Cake. The only change was that they wanted red bows in place of the white ones.
The hardest part of this cake was the baking. The cake sizes are 6-9-12-15, which doesn't mean a lot until you see the sizes of the pans. When I shopped for supplies, I underestimated how much would be needed (I had only bought 6 dozen eggs, 18 cups of sour cream and 4 lbs of butter. It wasn't nearly enough). And when an ice storm hit during the week, I couldn't go out to get the rest of the supplies I sorely needed to get some of this work done! Ack!
The top tier is White Cake with Chocolate Mousse and Vanilla Buttercream. The 2nd tier is Italian Cream with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberry Buttercream. The 3rd tier is Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Mousse and Raspberry Buttercream, and the bottom tier is Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting. Phew! I would love to be able to say I took this on like superwoman and it was a breeze, but it actually took me hours upon hours upon hours, and I was beyond exhausted. Luckily, the decorating process wasn't nearly as bad!
So, as before, this cake is dusted with Super Pearl. The rhinestones are not edible, but are beautiful and stunning. There is just something about walking into a room with such a sparkling cake that catches the eye. The pipe work this time is a little more elaborate and elegant since the cake I made last year. I think it brings the cake up a notch and was done in Royal Icing.
This bride also wanted a Bleeding Armadillo Groom's Cake, ala Steel Magnolias. He is so cute! His insides are Red Velvet (for the "bleeding") with Cream Cheese Frosting. His body is cake, but his head is Rice Krispie treats. For the decor, I saw a similar cake online and followed their basic design scheme, with a few extra details. The body was covered in grey fondant, then in scales which I made with the wide part of a piping tip. I also added on some stripes. For the scales on the face, I used the small part of a #5 tip, and imprinted them all over. This is quite time consuming! His eyes were made with a leaf cutter, and the ears were free form.
The tail is a long rope of fondant, and his toes and claws are also ropes of fondant. I imprinted the scales on the toes in the same way I did the face. My husband thought that I should add a tongue hanging from the side of his mouth, but I don't know, he looks too happy for that! I think he is adorable, and I am pretty proud of it.
I also had a birthday cake this weekend, but was too tired to remember to get a photo of it. It was like my zoo animal cakes, but with monkeys only. The colors were dark brown, yellow and red. There were two smash cakes that came with it, also with monkeys. It was pretty cute, and I think the client liked it.
Well, it was a very productive cake week, and I am very proud of my work. But, I am off to bed for the rest of the weekend to catch up on all the TV I missed of my Tivo!

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Blue Period

It's funny to me that cake weeks can have themes, and that this week was blue cakes.  The first cake I made has been planned for quite a while.  Neatherly (cool name, huh?) contacted  me several months ago.  She is a very organized person, someone who plans ahead very well.  She is celebrating her 33rd birthday this weekend, and wanted me to design something around her invitation.The invitation is beautiful-royal blue, pale blue, black and white.  Along the side on the border was a sunburst pattern which she wanted incorporated on the cake. She said that she wanted to cake elegant with a modern twist, and not too busy.  So, keeping all that in mind, I came it with this design.  The scroll work always looks elegant, and I piped on the sunburst pattern onto the top tier.  I  hope she loves it, and has a happy birthday!
The next cake I made is a repeat of one I have done before, just in a different color.  I am glad that I had the opportunity to make it in blue, because I think blue and chocolate are so beautiful together.  This is for a baby shower, and there are 18 petit fours decorating the cake board.  I really love this cake, the coolness of the blue and the gumpaste J on the top.  It's adorable!
Next week is very, very busy for me.  I will be doing a 4 tiered wedding cake, a bleeding armadillo grooms cake, and a zoo animal/monkey cake.  

Friday, January 9, 2009

The Backyardigan Disco

This was a week for colorful cakes!

First up was this Backyardigans cake that I made for a friend of mine.  It isn't often that I get to make character cakes, but since it was a friend at no charge,  I was able to make this adorable cake.  I just love it-it is a two tiered version of my Over The Top Birthday Cake, but with Backyardigans in place of the butterflies.  She had only requested two of the animals, but I was able to fit in making the rest of them into my schedule, and surprised her with all five.  I am happy to say that I think it made a big difference in the cake to have all of them on there.  Too bad I can't make this for a client!

I also made this Disco Cake for a woman's 40th Birthday Party.  This was a surprise party her husband was throwing her, so all the ordering had to be done covertly.  This was inspired by the Pink Cake Box, and my biggest regret with it is that the background is too dark to see the outlines of the dancers.  However, he really wanted it to be chocolate fondant!  

On the Pink Cake Box Version, the borders were done with just plain ropes of fondant.  This is what I did at first, but as I continued to look at the cake, it just looked off.  Also, the only colors I had done were blue and purple, so it just seemed blah.

When I finally put the disco ball on, it still didn't seem right.  I looked at the clock, saw I had an hour before my customer would be here, and decided at the last second to add on more colors, and change the borders into the signature fondant balls that I almost always use.  I think it made the cake so much brighter and cuter-much more colorful, and the balls always look great!

The disco ball was made from Styrofoam covered in fondant pieces.  I painted it with silver highlighter and vodka.

I received an email telling me the cake was a huge hit, which always makes my day.  I am glad he loved it!


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