Making Music Cake

This cake was lots of fun to make!  This was made for a musician who was very emphatic that the violin MUST have 4 strings!  :)  I covered it in fondant and made the ribbon and musical notes out of black, buttercream-flavored fondant.  The violin is made of chocolate-flavored fondant.  Everything is edible except for the violin stings--they are wire.  When I was a kid, I took music lessons for about 4 years.  Every time I had to get my music teacher a gift it was something with a keyboard or musical notes on it.  I am sure he had oodles of muscial themed gifts sitting around--think about how happy he would have been to have a yummy cake to eat instead of another keyboard tie!  So for this music lover in your life--this cake can be made with any instrument on top!

Spring Brunch & Tea Party

I created this cake for a friend's birthday party.  I had been wanting to make this Spring Flower Bouquet Cake for months, so I was very excited to be able to create it!  I also wanted to make these Butterfly Cupcakes, which went perfectly with my theme.  The cake and cupcakes were both our Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake with our Chocolate Peppermint Ganache filling.  The cake and cupcakes are iced in our Classic Buttercream Frosting.  The daisies and leaves are edible gum paste/fondant.  The daffodils are Royal Icing.  The butterflies are made of candy melts and Chocolate frosting.  Anyway, I loved how it all came together!

Baby Shower Gift Cake

This is yet another cake that looks like a gift.  :)  They seem to be very popular.  They have a simple elegance that people find attractive.  This one was made to match the colors of the baby shower--lavendar with light pink and green polka dots.  It was four layer Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake with our Chocolate Ganache filling.  It is iced in our Classic Buttercream Frosting with fondant/gum paste accents.  The gift tag is also edible fondant and says, "Welcome Baby Girl!"

Giraffe Birthday Cake

This cake was for a baby girl's first birthday.  Her brother was having the jungle theme birthday cake, so they wanted a cake in a similar theme.  They requested a giraffe sitting up on its haunches.  This cake was challenging.  For a cake that has to be carved and stacked so high, I used a Lemon Pound Cake with a Raspberry Filling.  I covered the giraffe in fondant and the details were also fondant.  I made the head and feet out of Rice Krispy Treats.  This cake was also a huge hit at the party. 

Christmas Present Cake

This cake was made for two people who had birthdays right around Christmastime.  They requested a Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake with Chocolate Peppermint Ganache.  This cake was made vegan because one of the people this cake was made for is vegan.  After tasting it, they were very surprised this cake was vegan because it had a great taste and texture.  It is iced in Buttercream Frosting and has gum paste/fondant details.

Ribbons & Bows First Birthday Cake

During the wedding reception, I was asked to make this cake.  They were impressed with the wedding cake and loved the flavor, so they asked if I would make the cake for their little girl's first birthday party.  They chose the Ribbons & Bows theme and chose their colors.  They also decided to have Strawberry Cake and Strawberry Filling.  The pink of the inside really complimented the pink of the frosting!  All decorations are edible (except for the stick holding up the birthday sign.)

Their comments about the cake:

"The cake was beautiful.  We didn't feel like cutting it yesterday.  Everyone admired your work.  Thank you soooooooooooooooo much!  It tasted good too.  Thanks again...."

Up To My Elbows in Marshmallows!

Anyone who uses fondant knows that its not cheap!  I had heard some people saying that you can make your own fondant out of marshmallows.  So, I bought big bags of marshmallows and confectioners' sugar and commenced attempting to make fondant.  You have to melt the marshmallows until they turn into a very sticky fluff.  Then you have to grease down your counter very well, put a huge pile of confectioners' sugar on the counter and make a well in it.  Then you pour the melted marshmallow into the well.  I colored the melted marshmallows first because I figured that would be easier than trying to add color after it was made.  I greased up my hands, too.  The marshmallow was so sticky it was really hard to knead.  I had to knead it for probably about half an hour to get all the confectioners' sugar worked into it and get it to the right consistency.  It was a lot of work and once the mixture got stiffer it took a lot of elbow grease to keep kneading it.  I ended up using it on a birthday cake for my mother-in-law.  I worked OK, but it didn't have as smooth a look as store bought fondant.  It does have a better taste than most store bought fondants.  I decorated the cake with white fondant polka dots and a white fondant/gum paste bow.