Snowflake cake

Brrr... It's cold outside!

Here in KS God has answered my prayer for snow- and with that comes snow days. Having 4 kids in the house 24/7 can get crazy on these snow days, especially when they have already been home for a few weeks for Christmas break.

I broke the craziness with a Playdough Ice Cream Shop toy. Not a grand idea on my part as now I will be scraping dried playdough out of the rug for hours.

Along with the snow have come record breaking lows- meaning it's also too cold t go outside and play in all this snow. I'll remember to be more specific in my prayers from now on.

This cake today was done a couple of years ago and was my first experience with patchwork cutters. Please note: These cutters are very different then normal cutters or cookie cutters, and I had to learn the hard way. Patchwork cutters can be GREAT and they have so many cute ones out there, but they must be used properly or they will leave you sitting in a pool of tears (I know from experience.) So here are some tips for you:
#1- They MUST be used with gumpaste. Not a mix and not fondant.
#2- You must let your gumpaste sit for a minute or two before pressing your cutter into it!
#3- You will want to grease you surface then lay your gumpaste on it to cutout your shapes.
The ideal is that the piece stays ON your surface and not in your cutter. If you find yourself having to peel out of the cutter then let your stuff set up longer before cutting.
#4- Be prepared to clean up edges using a toothpick or another very small thing. These don't cut super clean most of the time.
#5- Have fun! There are so many of these available, and you can do so many things with them. I don't recommend using snowflakes on your first try!
Here's a few links to places that I like to buy from: Patty Cakes in IL, and Global Sugar Art

There's no better way to stay warm then baking!

Baby Days ahead

On this snowy, snowy day here in mid-America, some can't help but dream of spring.
I'm not one of those people, I'm loving all the snow- it so beautiful and fun to play in!

But just because I love the snow and this colder weather doesn't mean I can't sympathize with all my friends who aren't used to this and hate it. This post today is for them.

Spring is known for a few different thing:flowering trees, greener grass, birds chirping, budding colors everywhere.... and babies.

This cake was done for a much anticipated baby girl. Simple, girly, and don't miss those cute toes poking out of the blanket!

Now think warm thoughts and go enjoy the snow!

Crossword

Well, It is a new year! 2010 is upon us, and great thing will happen this year........ that's what I'm hoping anyway.

This cake was done for a lucky lady who was born just 2 days into a new year, back in 1930. That's right, she just celebrated her 80th Birthday!

I was honored to be the person selected to make such a special cake. This would be a surprise party for this women, she had no idea her family was planning this party!

The cake itself is very personal. It's made to look like a table with a lavender tablecloth draped over it. This Birthday girl loves crossword puzzles, so this Kansas City Star page was made with gumpaste and hand drawn with black edible marker- by my hubby- handwriting extraordinaire.

The cup is a coffee cup, again made with gumpaste. I used the outside of a small cup as the mold, and did the handle separately. After this dried a couple of days it was filled with chocolate, then I put some caramel on top of that. I mixed in white with the caramel to make it as realistic as possible. The end result was lovely- a cup of steaming coffee with milk.
The client asked for a Rosary, so I researched a bit on how these are made and why. I couldn't make this one exact but I did try to get the idea of the different prayer beads, separation and meaning in mine.
The puzzle pieces were again made of gumpaste. Cut and colored, then once dried, labeled to be the names of her already gone son, daughter and husband. I can't even imagine he loss, but hopefully this cake helped them be honored at her birthday as well.

Last was the bead work added to the center of the flowers embossed on the tablecloth.
I love the end result and I'm sure she did too!

Adorable baby monkey

The new year is almost upon us, and maybe you're like me... feeling bit and like we are living in the space age that used to be on movies. I mean, have you ever played the wii? It's like it walked straight out of the Jetsons!

And what about this date that is soon to change to 2010... I mean 2010- it just seems SO futuristic!

Well fortunately, we have a few days before we have to start writing it on our checks and saying it when we talk to our kids. And all of this has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with today's cake.
It's not space age or futuristic. It's just cute and done to celebrate a cutie's 1st birthday. Her mommy loves monkeys so it only seemed natural for her to order a monkey for her baby girl's special day.

Her mommy is also a fabulous photographer, which is why I have the awesome picture. You can visit her website here at Holly Smalley Photography. Check her out!

This little friend's head was a 1/2 ball pan sitting on a 6" round. the body was made using 8" cakes and carved. She's sitting on a 9" square package cake.

Merry Christmas Ornament Cupcakes

Merry Christmas!
Yes, I am aware that Christmas is in fact over, however, we were so busy that I had no time to be able to post anything during the holidays.

I'm not sure what your family does, but for us, with no family here in this state, Christmas is day of simply hanging out. I love it. No pressure, no stress. Just fun. This Christmas was made even better when we received a foot of snow. Most people here complained, but our family was in heaven! Long days of shoveling, building and sledding, hot cocoa, marshmallows, and hot tubbing. Darn near a perfect weekend to celebrate the King of Kings coming here to Earth. I hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours.

Now I am normally a cake lady. I love the aspect of taking cake, and building with it- creating things that you wouldn't have though a cake could do. For this reason I don't do a lot of cupcakes. They aren't my forte. I did however branch out this year and make these cupcakes.

They were made 2 different ways. The first way was to cut large circles out of fondant, and set them into my "mold" (which was a mini ball pan- 6 1/2 balls per pan) then set that in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Pull them out carefully slide them out- they should be set in a dome shape, pipe some icing onto my cupcake, and then set the "cap" (molded fondant dome). I put mine back into the fridge for a few more minutes before decorating.

The second way I tried was actually baking little cakes into the miniball pan, (not filled full at all), then leveling off my cupcakes, attaching my dome cake with icing, icing the dome itself, then cutting circles of fondant and laying it down as you would on any cake. I also allowed these to set in the fridge a few minutes before piping on them.

Now, after trying both ways, I'm inclined to say I really like the first method the best. They looked better, cleaner, and were much less time then the second way. But the second way left me with bigger more impressive cupcakes.

Both sets I piped with royal icing, allowed that to dry, then painted the icing with various luster dusts. To make the hangers I rolled fondant out think- cut with a small circle cutter, then used a small sharp knife to indent the sides. I pushed a skewer through the middle to make a hole, then used tiny fondant rolls to make the actual hoops. Attach the hoops to the hanger bottom w/ royal and painted with luster.

Either way, I encourage you to try this. They were so cute- impressive and perfect for celebrating the season. They are time consuming as the details and small trival part take some time, but the wow factor will be worth it!

The book series sweeping the nation....

Twilight!

This client contacted me and rather then want the usual twilight cake (checker pattern, chess pieces, etc.) She wanted one based on a design her daughter drew up. Apparently, her daughter is a fan of all the cake shows and had a sketch of her "dream" birthday cake. Mom found it, sneakingly took it, and promptly contacted me to create it. (I was thrilled to do this cake since the young lady and I share our special day!)

I must give it to this young lady, she had a pretty great design (decorating in her future? I think so!) and I was very pleased with how it turned out. I did have to change the fact that in her drawing, the tulip was laying draped over the K. I tried it, but it left a massive area blank on the top of the cake and swallowed up the K so that the letter was no longer recognizable.

In the end- the cake was really stunning. The white background was sprayed with pearl dust before the lace was put on, the red K and ribbon shimmered with disco dust, and the tulip was dripping with life like blood. The board was covered and hand painted in a checkerboard pattern.

I didn't take the time to do a tutorial on the tulip, but Diane's Decorating Diary has a great one so check it out!

Too warm for frosty!

Yes- the holidays are indeed here, and as "the" day draws near I am increasingly stressed and worn out.
What exactly is the holiday spirit? That's what I've been asking as I deal with mean people in the stores, grouchy people on the roads and stressed people in my home and school. This isn't what Christmas is all about right?!

NOOOOO- It's about cold weather, sub-zero degree temperatures... so cold you are stuck inside and unable to do much of anything but surf the net. Or perhaps read a book. Try a new recipe. Drink hot choco.Watch a movie? That doesn't sound to bad now, does it?

Christmas is about snow, building snowmen, snow angles, snow forts, slides. Tubing, sledding. Yah- the white stuff isn't too bad sounding- is it?

Moving to the middle of america from the mountianous and snowy Northern Utah I REALLY miss the snow. A major snow "event" here is one inch. By contrast back west 1 inch was a skiff.
Maybe that's why this cake was a hoot to make. Snow is cold, wet. This man was much warmer and sweeter, and I got to stay inside.

His arms are chocolate clay (recipe coming!) as are his mini hat. The carrot is fondant as is his heavy and realistic looking nose.
Real snowmen are great to make- but if in your neck of the woods there is no snow, why not try recreating this guy from the warmth of your kitchen!