Well, its that time of year again :) Time to add a new post. It seems that I'm good for about 1 post a year. I will try to be better this year (even though its already October!). I will admit to not making as many cakes as I use to. I kinda burnt out on the "Summer of Wedding Cakes". That and my obsession with all things Sims. I have been putting my creative efforts into creating for Sims 3 and sharing my work with that community. It's a lot of fun and I get to create dream homes on an unlimited budget. What's not to love I ask you? I think I have missed my calling as a designer.  Oh well, maybe that's what I will do when I retire.  Here is one of my favorites:

If you play Sims and want to download it, just let me know and I'll send you the link :)!  Back to cakes!

Another reason for the decline in cakes could be the trend towards cheesecake.  Cheesecakes are my Sister-In-Law's department and she has been fulfilling the kids birthday requests for the past couple of years.    Lime, chocolate, lemon, you name it!  They are amazing! I did come across one that I made for Charlie's birthday.  Now, Charlie does not really like cake, weird I know. There are cakes he likes, but he really wouldn't consider it a good dessert.  That being said, a birthday cake for him is a challenge! He is worth it though - don't get me wrong!  I usually end up making him the secret family cheesecake or getting him an Italian fruit cake.  The cheesecake in question is an Italian Style Cheesecake that is simple, plain, but really tasty!  

Last year I tried my hand at Marzipan Fruits.  They came out really well (if I do say so myself!) I really enjoyed making them and they looked great on his cake as his is a November/Fall birthday. Did I mention they tasted great too? Almond - yummy!  I will definitely do that again, and I encourage anyone to try it out, it was really very simple to do.  The results look so amazing, everyone will think you spent hours on your creations. For this cheesecake I sculpted pumpkins & butternut squash each with clove stems. I also created roses for the center of the cake, and added green gum paste leaves.  The marzipan I bought from the grocery store, but you could make your own if you wanted to.  Checkout this blog for a great tutorial: ajinthekitchen.  Well, Charlie's birthday is around the corner - wonder what I will do this year??  

  

The Very Hungry Cupcake...

So as I look through my blog posts (yes, I realize its been a while! ) I can't help but notice that I have come full circle. I started my blog with the cake I shipped to Shiloh & Chris for a belated wedding present. Shortly after that, I posted about the wedding cake that I made for her sister Christa & her husband Matt.

Now, I am posting about the cupcake display I made for their joint baby shower! Time sure flies! Shiloh & Chris welcomed Sarai a little over a month ago, while Matt & Christa are still waiting for their new arrival. They celebrated together and the shower theme was The Hungry Caterpillar. I had no idea what to make for a cake so I (of course) googled & came across this great blog site ~ Coco Cake Cupcakes .

I made 40 cupcakes & a red fondant covered head. Half were golden butter cake with green buttercream frosting & half were dark chocolate cake with fudge frosting. Very yummy!

..... still would like to know who ate the frosting off that cupcake - fess up! :)

Wilton Class - Grand Finale Cake (with a little help from my kids :)! )

This was the Grand Finale Cake for the Wilton Fondant & Gumpaste class I took in September. I made medium & large pink daisies with green leaves. I brushed them with pink & green luster dust so they really sparkled! I finished it with a twisted rope fondant border. I just love that Dark Chocolate Fondant! It's left over from the wedding cake I made this summer - so you can probably expect to see more cakes covered in it!

My children made the little bugs and flowers from the left over gumpaste. (I believe Larry the Cucumber is there somewhere!) They really did a great job.

Wilton Class - Draping 101

I took a Wilton Class this September & I'm just now posting pictures! I know, terrible of me. I've just not found the time to post. Thinking back on that class (Wilton's Fondant & Gum Paste Class), I was hoping to get some fondant tips & learn how to make flowers. Unfortunately, we only learned 3 flowers, but it sure got me interested in learning more. The flowers are really pretty & the more you practice the better they come out. It really helped being able to watch the instructor actually work the flower in front of you instead of watching a video or look at a book. Anyway, it was fun. This cake was our first cake. We used a fondant & gum paste mix, which makes the fondant drape really nice!

Special Occasions continued...

My Mom has hosted a Ladies Bible Study every Tuesday night for over 10 years. Every year we end our study with a dinner. Since it was around Mother's Day, I made a cake to celebrate. I had seen this cake in an ACD magazine & wanted to see if I could make it.
The green fondant covered cake was covered with gumpaste hydrangea flowers that I had to make a ton of. (I think I still have some left over!)

Special Occasions

This cake was for my Dad's Retirement Party. He worked for the Town of Windsor for over 30 years. Our theme was "Let It Snow". Retirement = No More Plowing :) !

The cake was chocolate, of course (Dad's favorite) and was covered in Dark Chocolate Fondant. I made the chocolate box & filled it with chocolate stars. The Monogram on top of the cake was also made out of chocolate & covered with a chocolate star transfer. For the finishing touch, I airbrushed gold over the entire cake. It was yummy!

Cakes for the Kids....

The Summer of Weddings

I thought I would post the other wedding cakes I have done - since this seems to have been my summer of wedding cakes. I haven't made very many since I only make cakes for family & close friends.

The first wedding cake I ever did was also the first fondant covered cake I did. I had only done birthday cakes up till then & wanted to help friends out who were on a shoe-string budget. They wanted a cake to match the topper they had picked out. Bears with a red heart - thus the red roses.


The next was my favorite - until Christa & Matt's (I love brown & blue). It was a fondant tiered cake that was covered in sugared fruit. That cake was for Carissa & Ben's outdoor reception, it looked great outside!


Cake #3 was for the niece of family friends. It also was fondant covered & had a purple theme. Funny story about this cake. This wedding was catered by Maneeley's; a fact that was unknown to me until I got there to set up the cake! This was the first wedding that I did a cake for that wasn't catered by friends! So I had to go and set up the cake with other professional bakers looking on. Now setting up cakes is stressful enough without feeling like I was taking some type of test, but they were really nice & said it looked great.


Cake #4 was a really "hip" cake that I did for a young couple looking for a more modern cake. They picked out all the color combinations & provided all the flowers for me to decorate the cake. It matched their wedding colors perfectly & was exactly the cake they wanted. They were really happy with it.

Allison & Ryan's Wedding Cake

Top Two Layers - Packed & Ready to Go

Bottom Two Layers - Ready to Go

The Finishing Touches

Alli & Ryan's Wedding Cake

Well, as you can see from the pictures, this wedding cake started as a 4 layer cake! However, after being transported from CT to Portsmouth, NH, the bottom layer's fondant had cracked. So it then became a 3 layer! Oh Well - it still looked okay, once I put on the flower top. It added some height.

My cousin Alli's wedding was really wonderful. It was great to see family that we don't get to see very often. Congratulations Ryan & Alli!

Cake Stats:

• 4 uhh I mean 3 Layer Yellow Cake
• Raspberry Seedless Preserve Filling
• Vanilla Satin Ice Fondant
• Sugar Pearls (cakeart)
• Pearl Dust
• Brown Ribbon Trim
• 118 Servings
  

Christa & Matt's Wedding Cake

On July 5, 2008, Matt & Christa were joined in Holy Matrimony. It was a beautiful ceremony. I use to babysit Christa and her sister Shiloh (see Cross Country Cake) and I was having a difficult time adjusting to the fact that I was witnessing her being married! Matt is a wonderful, Godly man and Christa was blessed to find him. I was honored to be able to make their wedding cake and very happy to say that the rain stopped and we were able to celebrate with them outside in The Meadow on her family's farm. The cake held up pretty well - in spite of the weather being very humid and never completely dry. Fondant and humidity do not get along at all! It lasted about 4 hours and then the fondant started sweating and seeping through the ribbon along the bottom of the layers. Other than that problem (and pictures were taken well before that time!) it did just fine.

Cake Stats:
* 4 Layer Chocolate Cake (6",8",12",16")
* Filled & Frosted with Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream
* Covered with Dark Chocolate Fondant (Satin Ice from Pfeil & Holing )
* Brown & Teal Stripe Ribbon Trim
* Teal Fondant Polka Dots
* Serves 180