Pretty In Pink Baby Shower Cake

This weekend was another fun and fabulous baby shower. I, fortunately, got to make the cake. I made grandma Ruthie's italian cream cake which I make with a cream cheese frosting. Yes the piping took forever, and yes I colored each gradient.

Yummy!

Dr. Seuss First Birthday

I just love first birthdays. For most kids, its the first time they get to taste sweet like they've never tasted before. And the look on their little tiny faces when they see this bright cake with a flaming stick all for themselves is priceless.

A couple weeks ago I got to make a smash cake and cupcakes for a cousin's second son. Both parents thought it a neat investment to present their children with a large lithograph of Dr. Seuss's work on their first birthday. I thought it a splendid idea to theme the cake and cupcakes after the print. The print they chose is called "Lion Stroll."

"Lion Stroll" By. Dr. Seuss

I usually bake a 6-incher for the smash cake which is usually just enough to smash into and a little bit leftover for the parents to help themselves to. I went with Grandma Ruthie's italian cream cake recipe since she is little Lukie's great grandmother. 

The book was included to reference the print.

I made a tree out of gumpaste which had to be made two days before to ensure it was fully hardened. The frosting on the cake was piped with a couple different tips (the flat tip used for basket weaves and a leaf tip). The cake and cupcakes were tinted orange and the frosting on the cupcakes were tinted vermilion. 

And a couple pics of the birthday boy and his family. He loved it, then didn't know what to do with it, so started throwing the cake on the ground...boys.....

My Kind of Advertising

May I just suggest that if you are thinking about starting your own small business I cannot recommend listing on Yelp enough. I have been amazed at how many calls I've gotten just for a simple free listing. One such phone call last week landed me a cake order from my first out-of-state customer. A man from New York called asking for a camera cake for a potential client. At first I was very skeptical and the chatting in the background coming from the other line made me question whether it was a scam. But a few days later I received payment for the cake and happily commenced cake construction. The recipient is a photographer and creator of one of the largest and most renown photography information websites on the planet. I was pleased to see that he was pleased by the creation of my camera cake.


The inside was a chocolate fudge cake with Nutella filling and chocolate frosting. I used black fondant to cover the cake. I included the logo of the business whom purchased the cake in the digital screen display. My second camera cake so far and it certainly got a little easier the second time around. I did not freeze the cake as most are in the habit of doing when sculpting cake, but the cake was dense enough that it held its shape exceptionally well. 

I took the picture before adding some of the last minute details. I included the Nikon logo on the front above the lense and a few other bells and whistles.

Superman Sculpture Cake for a Super Man

Recently I had the privilege of creating my very first superman cake. Oddly enough one probably pictures two things when I say "I made a superman cake"- a 7 year old birthday boy and a cake shaped like superman's logo. The cake turned out to be for a man celebrating his 65th birthday and the cake was a little more than a logo. The man, whom his family lovingly refers to as "superman" has recently lived through both a liver and heart transplant. The cake happened to be a surprise gift to him from his wife in celebrating not only his birthday but the unique feat of conquering one of life's most difficult challenges.

The cake is actually very misleading. The dinner party was only for 15, so there wasn't much cake to be made. The whole top portion of the "cake" is a mix of styrofoam, rice krispy, modeling chocolate, fondant, and gumpaste. The base of the cake is tres leches cake with an almond buttercream frosting. The design of the cake is inspired by that iconic transformation when Clark Kent tears open his shirt coat to reveal his true identity, Superman. The symbolism of the super hero within seemed so appropriate for the recipient. This was certainly an exciting adventure and I hope to conquer such a challenge sometime soon.

The wife was kind enough to snap a pic and send it to me of the birthday boy and his cake.

Bridal Show at the Sheraton Carlsbad

  This weekend I had the opportunity to attend my first bridal show. I didn't know what to expect so I set my expectations very low, not wanting to disappoint or discourage myself. Well that turned out to be a smart idea because the show exceeded all expectations. It was relatively smaller than other bridal expos in the area which proved to be an advantage as it was easy to meet and talk to people one on one. My booth was stationed in the "caterers lounge" near the entrance of the show which sent us a lot of traffic. I decided to include five cake designs highlighting the different styles of wedding; modern, contemporary, natural, classic, and whimsical.

 I wasn't sure how many samples to include so I went with 250 mini cupcakes in four different flavors; red velvet, banana peanut butter, mint chocolate chip, and lemon coconut.

Here are a few close-ups of each cake:

The Contemporary, with an oyster topper and Tahitian pearls in varying colors.

The Classic, all white with bows, lace applique, and parrot tulips and peony topper.

The Whimsy, inspired by Monet's Les Nuages (The Clouds) with a water lily topper. The cake was hand painted with food gel coloring.

The Natural, Dan (my husband) found the tree branch while hiking and I built a cake stand out of it. The cake is also inspired by artist Astrid Preston who grew up near an apple orchard and who also did a residency at Lux where I work. The apples are real and the leaves and blossoms are gumpaste.

And the Modern, inspired by a friend's dress and all black and white cake with striking red parrot tulip toppers.

This was a great experience which I could not have done without the help of my loving, encouraging, and supportive husband, branch finder, delivery driver, muscle, and salesman. We were a great team and I am so thankful for all his hard work, help, and time he gave to me.

Classy Yellow Engagement Cake

Yellow and white have had quite a historical love affair over these past centuries. In the earliest of times they were paired textures of brocade and lace or in damask wallpaper.

Later in the mid-century modern era we found yellow and white in Eames furniture and Wasily Kandinski paintings.

Today it reappears in fabric prints, clothing, furniture decor, and of course cakes.

This week's cake was a lemon coconut cake with french vanilla cream frosting. The outer adornment was festooned in canary yellow fondant, white gumpaste flowers and ribbons. 

Bows are fun to make and they add a nice elegant touch to any cake. I recently learned that while most bows are made from fondant, its best to use gumpaste if using other adornments in the same white color to color match. The flowers are white tiger tulips with yellow stamens, and each bloom was cut using flower cutters and their shape and detail created from a flower veiner and dried on large soup spoons. 

Cleopatra and the Blossoming Egyptologist

This week I had the privilege of creating a birthday cake inspired by Cleopatra and the Nile for a little girl aspiring to be an Egyptologist. When I was ten I remember wanting to be a veterinarian, doctor, scientist, and artist (usually in the same day). There aren't very many children who know what they want to do with the rest of their lives at age ten. I fortunately was able to meet such an inspiring little girl.

The cake was a three-tier chocolately-chocolate covered in fondant. The reed grass and papyrus was made of gumpaste and Cleopatra was carved from rice krispy and modeling chocolate and dusted in gold luster dust. The hieroglyphics were hand painted and the top of the cake was also made from rice krispy which helped to keep the top light. I copied the hieroglyphics from the internet which worked in my favor because I later found out that the budding Egyptologist dabbles in a little hieroglyphic reading. This cake was one of my hardest to date but also the most fun.