Cake of the Day

It's been a little bit since I posted last - vacation took precedence!  But, to make up for it a bit, I've got three cakes for you today!

These cakes were all part of the same order - the airplane was the centerpiece with the other two flanking it.  Yes, the airplane is edible (except the wings and tail).  And, yes, I nearly had a breakdown building it - if you've been keeping up for long, you know I'm not a lover of 3D cakes...but occasionally I will undertake one.

Talk to you soon!

Cake of the Day

I always have the best time creating cakes for my niece.  She embraces the different, quirky, "out of the mold" ideas - this year's birthday cake for her husband was no exception.

Yes...that is an elephant passed out due to a sugar coma.  Yes, he is holding a gavel.  Yes, that's a cup of spilled tea and law books.  All perfect fitting references to him.

Those of you have been following along for any length of time know I don't enjoy figure sculpting - but this was, I must admit, fun to create!

Talk to you soon!

Cake of the Day

I built an edible iron throne! (There was cake with it too.)

The cake and throne survived a two hour car ride down Oklahoma's terrible roads to the party.  Success on so many levels.

Talk to you soon!

Cake posting streak = 2 days! (not a new record)

Animal Kingdom

October brought a veritable menagerie to my kitchen.   Yes, I said October; you know by now that I have a tendency to get behind schedule with my postings.  I figure it's something you like about me...maybe.

Anywho, back to that menagerie.  It started with the peacock.

(I've still got feathers in my house.)

Introducing Hooty

No..not that Hooty.  (It's spelled differently - Hooty rather than Hootie.)  No, this Hooty is an owl!

And a rather cute one, if I do say so myself.  Hooty was part of this groovy cake:

The tie-dye effect on the buttercream was easier to achieve than I expected.  I piped on blobs (really professional word usage there, I know) of green and blue frosting then smoothed it with an offset spatula and bench scraper.  Viola!  Tie-dyed cake!

Hooty isn't the only thing I've been creating lately though.  There's been this motorcycle themed cake:

Several princess themed confections...cupcakes, a crown and carriage cake, and a long-haired girl trapped in her tower cake (fairy tale reference - can you guess who?).

Yes, the toppers on the cupcakes were pre-made, but I was pressed for time and they were a perfect complement to the theme.  Don't judge.

The cakes were finished in buttercream with fondant decorations.  The cupcakes and both cakes traveled to south Texas...but not with me.  I know they arrived in one piece because I've seen photos, but travelling cakes are always stressful; nothing like adding a bit of additional worry!

And, last but not least, this week, several dozen cupcakes for a local P.E.O. group.

I had ordered fancy scalloped liners to bake the cupcakes in, but with the reliability of our post, they of course didn't arrive in time.  Luckily, the design didn't hinge on the liners; the group's flower is a Marguerite, so the cupcakes were styled to look like the flower (white icing with yellow centers).  The "PEO" toppers were piped from white chocolate then airbrushed with just a hint of gold sheen.  They weren't exactly what I envisioned, but they still looked beautiful.  Improvisation - sometimes it's necessary.

Talk to you soon!

The Last Cakes of 2012

Well, we survived 2012.  Though to be honest I hoped you did more than just survive it.  I hope you lived it and had some fun along the way.  I did, and I'm positive that 2013 will be even better.

Since 2012 is kaput, I figured I had better get on the ball and share the final two cakes of the past year with you before too much time went by.  So, here they are!

A harvesting tractor.  Yes, I know it's the middle of winter and there is no harvesting going on (at least not 'round here), but this particular little boy loves tractors, so I built him one.  From rice krispies.  And put it in a "field" made from buttercream.  The tractor turned out being easier to build than I had originally thought; I did make a few notes to make the going even smoother if I ever tackle one again though.

And a superhero themed cake for another little boy who was turning 5.  (Just in case you didn't catch that from the picture. Haha!)  The cake was a double barrel (double height) finished in buttercream with sugar sheet cutouts for the name and age.  The mask topper was cut from gumpaste and then hand drawn and colored.

I've got a few days off from the kitchen this week.  Not sure what I'm going to do with all my free time...I'll figure something out though.

Talk to you soon!

Coffee & Rainbows

Coffee to keep me going.

And, rainbows for when I see the light at the end of a long stretch of caking.

Of course, before I hit the coffee, there's a few hours of blissful work that's all bright, happy colors and lollipops (i.e. yay, I'm ahead of schedule!).

Followed by the first cup of joe and the time monster letting me know I'm actually behind schedule.  But, at least he & his companions are friendly little things...usually.

Then there's the late nights stumbling through the cake patch (or in this case the cupcake pumpkin patch), when the coffee's quit working, but I can see the light at the end, so plow on I must.

The reward?  One more cup of coffee, a few hours sleep, and knowing I finished my to-do list.  Oh, and the rainbow, of course.

Can you tell most of the photos in this post were taken after dark?  See...I'm telling the truth about my late nights.  Or it could just be that the time changed and it now gets dark at practically 4:30 in the afternoon!  Puts such a crimp in my outdoor activities.  *sigh*

Talk to you soon!

Life, A Condensed Version

Nope...no birds and bees discussion today, sorry kiddos.  We won't be getting that in depth with the explanation of life, the use of "condensed" in the title should have tipped you off to that one.  In fact, we're going to jump right into the middle - after you've found the love of your life, dated, gotten married, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Fast forward a few years - the kids are starting to grow, form opinions of their own and just generally behave like little monsters...

Not that all children do, of course, I just needed a way to tie this cake into the post.  I'm sure there are plenty of ALWAYS wonderfully and perfectly behaved children out there; let me know when you find one that meets the "always" condition. Hehe!

Of course, with the children growing, they start getting involved in a plethora of activities.  Activities that require stuff...lots and lots of stuff.  All of which is usually handed to Mom with a "will you hold this for me" statement.  Leading to the giant purse or tote is strangely similar to Mary Poppins' magic bag.

Which when spilled might reveal everything from a ballet pointe shoe to a "Margarita Madness" punch card.  Don't judge, sometimes mommy needs her "me time."

All that chasing the kids will likely leave you exhausted and ready for some downtime.  Maybe cheering on your favorite team with an icy cold beverage and a slice or two?

Notice, I said "YOUR" favorite team, not mine; that cooler is entirely the wrong color and logo for my tastes, I'd much prefer something in "America's Brightest Orange."

Though, if you're really lucky, you'll be doing all of preceding with your favorite person in the world and in the blink of an eye, you'll be celebrating your 40th wedding anniversary.

Nothing like life-long love!  Did you know rubies are the traditional gift for the 40th Anniversary?  Hence the ruby red roses on the cake.

And, there you have it, one of the hundreds of possible short and sweet condensed versions of life.

Better get to living!

Snail's Pace

I only have one cake to share with you today.  *Gasp*  I know, it's quite shocking, but just wait until you see the cake - you'll likely swoon with the sweetness of it.

Here's the topper:

I mean, seriously, how cute is she?!  I modeled her myself from gumpaste. *big smile*  

But, don't let her adorableness fool you.  I came very, very close to chucking her smirking, pink and yellow self across my kitchen.  Don't judge...I had to rebuild her from scratch twice, then about the time I thought I had a successful base, her head (the 2nd attempt) split down the middle requiring a third effort.  The splitting head could have had the perfect horror movie-ish effect, just needed a bit of fake blood really, maybe some brain matter...hmm...oh sorry, I digress, but it is October after all.  I'm in a Halloween frame of mind, sorry.

Anyway, after the headache (get it?) the main body gave me, I figured it'd be smooth sailing from there.  Wrong!  Turns out sculpting a snail's shell that doesn't look deformed is not an easy task.  Fast forward an hour and 30 minutes later and I was finally successful!

Viola!  Complete and utter cuteness.

Bonus points if you can name what line of toys the snail is modeled from.

Talk to you soon!

It's Football Season

Did you realize that gridiron action is in full swing?  If not, I'm curious how you've managed to stay away from the referee brouhaha this past week, as well as the ever present arguments over the college rankings.

Anywho, in the event that you a) live and breathe football or b) are just a fan during the season, have I got some great cakes for you this week.  Those of you who could care less about the sport, bear with me, I've got cakes for you, too!

Back to the footballers...I've got everything from high school (our hometown team) and pro football helmets,

to Big 12 Conference representation, including my boys (Go Pokes!),

and Jay representing the crimson and blue:

Ok, finished with the football cakes, on to everything else!

A western themed birthday cake,

A race track "3,"

A first birthday cake and smash cake,

A "blinged" out birthday cake and cupcakes,

And, the pièce de résistance, and probably my favorite cake of the past week, an "over the hill" tombstone and grim reaper!

Sculpting the grim reaper (yes, I sculpted him myself, though he isn't edible since he was constructed over a wire frame) put me in a Halloween mood, glad my favorite holiday is coming up soon!  I've already got several Hallow's Eve themed cookie orders in the works, and I'm hoping to try my hand at a few new themed recipes.  If I find the time and any of the recipes work out, I promise to share them with you.

Talk to you soon!

Things That Begin With "B"

I still remember those Sesame Street segments where they had a letter of the day and then gave words that started with that letter - you know, "C" was the letter of the day, so "cat," "cup," "car," etc were some of the possible words that might come up.

Do they even still do that segment?  Is Sesame Street even still on air?  I hope so, I have fond memories of that show.

Anyway, the whole point of that little trip down memory lane was to provide some background/idea of where we will be going with today's post.  Best be beginning.  (See what I did there?)

Things that Begin with "B"...

Baseball Glove

The glove was covered in fondant and the ball was made from rice krispies, then also covered in fondant.  Adding the lacing details to the cake was a test in my patience, but it wouldn't have been the same without!

The baseball glove cake was for a 1st birthday, so there was also a matching smash cake.  Guess what it resembled?  If you said a baseball, you'd win the prize...assuming we gave away prizes for that kind of thing around here...

Another thing that starts with the letter "B:"  

Baby Bottom

This cake design has been fairly popular for a while now, yet this is the first one I've done.  The feet weren't nearly as difficult to model as I thought they might be; though I did find myself double and triple counting the toes to make sure I got five on each foot.

What else begins with "B?"

Bullet

In this case, technically, a shotgun shell, but let's not split hairs.  The deer head and gun were made from chocolate (my first attempt at painting molds to get multi-colored chocolates!), while the vest, hunting cap, and clay pigeons were made using gumpaste and fondant.  The cake was mostly buttercream, though the "brass" of the shell was fondant.

One last thing that begins with "B:"

Beach

Stretching a bit with this one perhaps, but it does have a "beachy" feel!  The seashells were molded using gumpaste and the mermaid was hand cut from fondant, then pieced together on the cake.  The fish was chocolate; yes, I was trying out my new technique.  This mermaid was a character from one of the birthday girl's favorite movies, and so I knew I had to get as close to the original as possible.  And, I thought I did a good job, until the birthday girl saw the cake - her immediate response was "her tail is the wrong color."  (The original character has a pink fading into yellow tail, I went with a pink and yellow swirled one.)  Just goes to show that small children do pay attention to the details, and they can sometimes be your toughest critic!

Talk to you soon!