Halloween Cat Cake

Yes, I know today is the last day of November, and yes, I also realize that Thanksgiving just happened.... so why am I posting a Halloween cake you ask?
Because I have gotten a bit behind on this blogging. That why. You know the holiday season gets crazy in your house. It does in mine too!

Does this cake look slightly familiar? It should! I learned how to make this at the cake convention, when Bronwen was kind enough to come and share her talents and knowledge with us.

This cake was super fun to make- however, Bronwen DID make it look a wee bit easier then it actually was.

This cake is made from 3 10", 3 6" cakes, a lot of modeling chocolate, and a Styrofoam ball which was cut and shaped like the head.
The other interesting thing to note is that the cat was all white fondant, then airbrushed with hot pink, then blue, then black. It gave the cake a very cool look. And the black turned out blacker.

The whiskers were spaghetti noodles, airbrushed.

I wish I had taken step by step photos to post... but maybe I'll do another one. Anyone ever heard of a Christmas cat?!

Wedding cake mania

Here is a cake I did for a lovely bride.

I had to drive about an hr to deliver this, and did so with the cake totally set up- which worked lovely!

It was pumpkin cake with chocolate ganache filling and chocolate buttercream, then chocolate fondant. It smelled like heaven from a mile away!

The design for this cake was simple yet elegant as I hand piped the decor then hand painted it with gold luster dust. The monogram was also edible and hand painted. It all came together very nicely and just as I had planned! Thank the Lord!

The problem I did have with this cake could have never been imagined in a million years: there is a pumpkin shortage in the US! A pumpkin shortage in the fall? How crazy!

As I attempted to buy cans of pumpkin, it became clear, that I wasn't going to find it anywhere.... seriously, nowhere!! I never could have guessed that in order to give this bride the huge 4 tier cake to feed 200 people..her cake of her dreams.. in pumpkin (all of it).. as ordered, I would have to (gasp) cook down actual pumpkins!

After I got over the shock I decided to make a game of it. After all I used to love pretending to be a pioneer girl!
I did just that, as for 2 days my oven was stuffed with pumpkins, I pretended I was a pioneer lady, only with an electric oven. And a blender. And lights at the flip of a switch.

So I wasn't exactly a pioneer, but not being able to just open a million cans of pumpkin did put a little bit of a cramp in my style and it was many hours added of work that I wasn't excpeting.

The lesson learned? Expect the unexpected... no matter how crazy it seems. I mean no canned pumpkin on shelves anywhere? What has the world come to?

How to: Chocolate leaves

One of my favorite things that I love to make this time of year is chocolate leaves.

They are stunning and will impress anyone who sees them! They are also pretty simple, all they take are some basic things and patience. So before that tree in your yard looses all it's leaves- go get some, make some leaves, and store them for your next cake!

You'll need:
Chocolate (good kind) and 1-2 tsp. shortening (Wilton Candy Melts work well, need no shortening, but don't taste great)
Leaves (I always use real ones, washed and dried well)
Paint brush
Parchment or wax paper
Luster dusts and grain alcohol if you want them colored.

1. Wash your leaves. Make sure they are dried WELL before you use them. You can use fake leaves as well, but I've never done it. I like real. Obviously, make sure you aren't using a poisonous kind.



2. Melt your chocolate and shortening in a double broiler slowly. Make sure not to overheat, or get water in this.

3. Use your paint brush to paint the chocolate on the leaves. Pay special attention to get the middle vain thicker, and the bottom of the leaf as well.



4. Let dry on parchment- about 10 minutes or so, or pop into the fridge for a minute.


5. Starting at the bottom, slowly peel leaf away from chocolate. Hold gently, and peel straight up, saving the edges for last. It helps if you hold in the center/bottom.


6. Using a small pairing knife, clean up edges of leaf where small bits of the leaf may still be stuck to the chocolate leaf.


7. Use another brush dipped in alcohol to paint on colors of luster. I usually blend red/orange or yellow/red, or golds to make them appear more realistic.

You're done! Don't worry if some of them break on you, You can tuck broken pieces into places on your cake- so don't toss them!
Use chocolate or royal or buttercream to attach to tops your cakes and down the sides.
Use them to adorn platters filled with other goodies for fall.
Store them in air tight containers in cool places to make them last months.

Ok Sugar Show 2009

This Past weekend was the date of one of the most fabulous sugar art competitions that exist in America.... The Oklahoma Sugar Art Show. It takes place during the state fair in Tulsa.
Sound familiar? Food Network usually does a special following a few of the competitors.

People not only come from all over the country to put their cake on display- but from all over the world. The talent is good, really good!

Fortunately for me, Tulsa isn't very far away from where I live. Unfortunately for me, I had a wedding cake that needed to be set up right in the middle o the day so there was no swinging me going to the fabulous competition.
Fortunately, I have other cake people who take and post photos of what I missed. This year the theme was "Of Sea and Shore".

I'm not posting any pics of the winners, just a few photos of cakes that are amazing. Stay tuned for the winning cakes!

The first photo is hand painted- WOW! Not to mention the detail on the bottom of the cake!
The second photo is an amazing mix of either royal or a new product called Sugarveil, and fondant. Gorgeous and modern. Perfect for todays brides!
The third pic I think is a stencil. Hard to manage those, and it is done wonderfully. I love the golden hue against the chocolate brown fondant. LOVE IT!

Ok- I'm done for today, go practice your cake skills and you can plan to be at this competion next year!

The wedding that made me covet

This weekend I had the honor of doing a wedding cake for a very sweet couple.

I tried out a new support system in their cake and really loved the ease it provided. I had no problems transporting their cake completely assembled! That means less time at the venue, less mess, etc.

This cake turned out lovely. It was the embodiment of simple yet elegant. Black and white.

I dare say I broke one of the 10 commandments as I walked away from setting this baby up. Not only was her wedding my favorite colors, her pattern of damask matches my bedroom, and her choice of flowers my all time favorites- Hydrangeas and Orchids. Oh yes- this wedding made me covet the reception and want to get married again! (Not to someone else... maybe just a big renewal ceremony?)

The monogram was made to look exactly like the couple napkins- and I have to give my handwriting genius the credit for it.

Art on a cake

I had a different kind of request a few weeks ago.

The client who contacted me was requesting a cake for her grandfather's 100th birthday- which I though was pretty cool. That's when it got, well, strange. She proceeded to tell me her grandfather had passed away a few years ago. Hmmmm. This had my curiosity!

She then told me the story of her grandfather- who was an artist. A sculptor to be exact. She wondered whether I could do a cake with that in mind. Then she forwarded me a few pictures and I was astounded! He was not only a sculptor, but of marble. Large women and men carved by her grandfather's hand are scattered all over St Louis MO.

The time line I had to work on this cake was short, so she gave me a design to work with. I managed to put it on the cake with royal icing, which took nearly 5 hrs to pipe!
I love the finished product and think it is awesome that this man made such an impact, reaching out and loving his family, that they decided to honor him even after he is gone. (They traveled with cake in tow to St Louis and spent the weekend touring his works!)

An exciting weekend

In case you haven't noticed, the world of cakes is becoming VERY popular these days. All the good channels have at least 1 cake show on.
This results in a few things:
#1- More people are getting interested in having a custom cake and awesome creation at their event. Never have more people known what can be accomplished with cake, and never before have people realized that a great cake is KEY to a great party. (My humble opinion!)


#2- More people are finding and calling people like me to create the cakes they see made on these shows. This can be both good and bad. The good part is listed in #1, the bad however, is that many people WANT awesome cakes, but aren't interested in spending money. We call it the Walmart budget in the cake biz.
I am happy to work with people on a budget, however, to do SUPER fantastic things it takes special supplies that can be expensive, the knowledge on how to use them properly, and TIME. LOTS of it! TV doesn't tell you the price of these,nor how much time actually goes into them.
For instance, Duff Goldman's cake START at $1000.00. Anything you see on Ace of Cakes cost AT LEAST that.

#3- More people are recognizing the art of all things sugar, and are wanting to learn themselves. (See link below for great learning tools!)

#4- Cake people are getting famous! Their are SO many talented, wonderful amazing decorators out there- and this is their day (Or year, or however long the high lasts.)

Which brings me to my post. This weekend I had the chance to attend a cake conference. It was fantastic. 2 days of learning techniques from the pros. How great it was that they shared their wealth of knowledge! Among the demonstrators were Pat Jacoby who renetly won a TLC competition w/ her lovely Uncle Sam cake; Jennifer Dontz who is amaazingly talented and will be on an episode of TLC's "Cake Off" next week; and Sharon Zambito who will be featured in another episode of the TLC's hit show on Oct. 5th. (Sharon makes fantastic vidoes for those of you who want to learn at home and sells them at http://www.sugaredproductions.com/Sugar_Ed_Productions.html )
The icing on the cake (pun intended) was Bronwen Weber (she has been and won numerous food network challenges) teaching us a scuplted cat cake. I will never do my sculpted cakes the same now that she has shared her wisdom! (The picture is me with Bronwen.)
It was inspiring and humbling to be in the midst of such talent, and I hope to make the 4 hr drive to the Oklahoma Cake Show to see more incredible works of art.
I am still buzzing from my weekend of sugar, and have so many ideas that I am dying to try. So come on people- order your cakes now!