My First 'official" Cake Order.

Well after months of practice, I finally felt comfortable accepting my very first cake order!  I have to admit that when I was asked to make this cake, a few weeks ago, I was a bit intimidated even though I agreed to make it.  To-date, I have only made cakes for us at home...and I've brought a couple in to work for farewells and potlucks.

 

Even though people 'rave' about how good my cakes look and taste, I still felt nervous about taking an order.  People can be really tough critics, especially when they are paying for something.

 

Thankfully, my first order came from a co-worker whom I have know for over 5 years (we worked together at another company before joining the one we are at now).  She wanted a small cake for just her family of 4, to celebrate her hubby's 47th birthday.  Her girls requested a vanilla cake with a layer of chocolate pudding.  The design for this cake was a motorcylcle to represent her hubby's love of motorcycles, after he recently purchased a yellow pocket bike.

For this cake design, I had to use a loaf pan to get the size and shape I needed to create the motorcycle.  After the cake cooled I layered it and spread the chocolate pudding in between and then left it to set.  I then cut out the shape of the motorcycle before coating it with a layer of icing and let it set in the fridge.  I rolled out yellow fondant and hand cut the shapes I needed before using the black fondant.  I had to go back and forth with the shapes as I was cutting them using a photo and I had to reshape and resize them to fit.  After I had all the shapes I arranged them on top of the cake to form the motorcycle.  Some minor details were added to give a bit of a realistic look, like brushing silver dust on the handles and wheelsf.  'Happy 47th Dad' was cut out in red fondant and arranged at the side (bottom) of the cake.

Hope the family has a great celebration and enjoys their cake...as much as I enjoyed making it!!!

 

Halloween - Cute Monster Cake...

Halloween was approaching and our social committee organized an office potluck...with only deserts!  It was difficult to decide what to bing but some people were expecting me to bring another cake ...and I didn't want to disappoint them!

I looked online for some ideas and I have to admit...there are some pretty creative people out there!  I ended up choosing this monster design as it was so cute.  I coudn't decided on a colour but ended up agreeing with Ariana and went with orange.  The cake was just a simple chocolate cake layered with buttercream frosting.  To create the monster shags or fur, I used a grass tip to apply the frosting.  I started from the bottom and worked my way up carefully letting the shags overlap the last layer.  For the eyes, I made cake pops and covered them in fondant.  I also used fondant to create the mouth and some scary teeth.

Everyone at home, and at work loved this cute monster.  The only problem was...no one wanted to cut into it!

Lazy Day Cake - Ladybug & Flowers...

Ariana and I just felt like making a cake and we had a bit of left over fondant from another project so we put this cake together.  It was the first time I tried making a rose and bud.  We started out with a lemon flavour cake and covered it with green fondant.  For the boarder, we molded green leaves. Then we did some cut out flowers in different shades of pink and different sizes.  I made the rose and bud and attached a few leaves.  Then we thought of the lady bug.  We just placed the flowers where we felt they looked good.

 

This was the outcome after having no plans...but it did taste good!

 

Goodbye...

Well I had the pleasure of working with my boss for just under a year, when he announced that he was taking another position with another company...and that left me with the job of arranging his farewell lunch.

 

He was a very good boss so I wanted to create a very special cake for his send off.

 

For this  creation, I baked a lemon flavoured cake and added a layer of butter cream filling before covering it with fondant.  For the sad face I stacked 3 layers of cake and then shaped the head.  The eyes were just layers of fondant...white, blue and black...adn arranged to look sad.  Ariana cut out the eyebrows from black fondant.

 

Just before presenting the cake I glazed the eyes with clear piping gel and added some tears just below one of the eyes.

 

Andy's Birthday Cake...

All boys like to play with trucks and cars but when he correctly guessed I was going to create his beloved Honda, I had to quickly change my plans.  His family plants rice in Guyana and own tractors.  I always hear the stories and I often see him looking at photos online, so I thought what better cake to make...his own tractor!

 

Even thought it was a lot harder than it looked, this cake had so much more potential...but someone couldn't stay out of the kitchen.  He kept walking in unannounced and I had to keep grabbing a towel and covering it.  I finally had enough when I told him, "you can stay out of the kitchen and let me finish or I could give you the cake now, just the way it is"...and then I had some privacy to finish it.

He was pleasantly surprised when I revealed it to him.

Gardenia Flower...

One of my girlfriend was baking a cake to celebrate one of her co-worker's birthday and she needed something to decorate it with.  Since I knew her friend personally I decided to make her favourite flower...a gardenia.

 

I came home after one of Aaron's game late one night and had to get his uniform clean for the next morning so while I was waiting for it, I decided to make this flower.

 

Since we knew the lady was going to cherish the flower instead of eating it, it made better sense to use the gumpaste...as it dries harder and lasts longer.  I used the large rose petal cutter for this flower and bud.

 

What Do You Make For A Baseball Player?

Well he assumed I would be making something baseball for his cake...and I did!  I thought it would be to obvious if I made a baseball, so I chose to imitate the hat he wears.

 

This year he was on the Royal York Cardinals team and the hat is a simple red hat with a photo of a red cardinal on it.

 

I honestly thought it would be more difficult to make this cake but it wasn't too bad.  I created the cardinal the night before and left it to dry.  It didn't take long to layer the cap and dirty ice it.  I started this one in the evening and had it done before midnight.

 

When I showed it to him, he was surprised and thought it was nice.  He admited that he thought I was making a baseball and didn't think it would be a hat.

 

My cardinal looks a little more macho than the one on the hat!

Father's Day Cake...

Since he liked all the cakes I've made to date, I decided to do one for him for Father's Day too.

 

The idea for this one wasn't too difficult to come up with either.  He loves to fish and every year we take a trip up to Peterborough, Ontario during the Summer.  Since I haven't attempted making a person as yet, I was lucky to find a fisherman and boat at Bulk Barn.

 

This was a simple round cake to imitate a man fishing on a pond.  I tinted the fondant a light blue to represent the water and made a little hill on which the guys sits.  Aaron wanted to put the boat upside down and set the guys foot on the boat.  Ariana make the two lily pads with 2 flowers (one blue and one pink)...to represent her and Aaron.  We did the mash land grass around the pond and made little rice grains as Andy's family plants rice in Guyana.  I brushed clear piping gel on the water to give it a bit more effect and I used a grass tip to creat some grass.  Little fishes swam around the pond but instead of cathing one, the fisherman pulled up the letters to spell DAD. 

 

This Is Why It Started - Ariana's Cake!!!

I have to admit that in the days leading up to June 5th, I was still doubting myself!  I was seriously wondering if I should just let Andy use his back-up plan!  Ariana's party was set for Saturday, June 7th at Bowlerama but her actual birthday was on June 12.

 

All along everyone thought I would be making her a cake with flowers...since it was the only type of cake I've made so far.  She kept asking what kind it would be and all I said to her was "it will be one of the things you like most"...she thought the cake would have a puppy!  I left her with that thought.

 

For her champagne birthday cake, I decided to make the one thing I know she really loves most in this world...her converse shoes, with a champagne candle!

 

I came home Thursday evening ready to start the cake as I knew I would be in the kitchen for a while.  I even had the next day off since it was a PA Day at school...and just in case I need to rest!  Aaron took her out to play in the backyard and kept her out of the kitchen so she wouldn't ruin the surprise.

 

By the time Andy left for work, at 11:00 p.m., I had the cake baked, cooled, layered (4 layers) and almost shaped!  The kids were in bed so I could work freely now.  I dirty iced it and then attempted one side of the shoe.  It was tricky but after a few attempts, and well past 1:00 a.m., I managed to get it to hold in place.  I was sleepy but wanted to keep going...I didn't think I would remember what I did by the morning.  It was just after 4:00 a.m. when I emailed Andy, and my boss, a photo of what it looked like...so far!  I had the sides, back and toe in place...and boy was I tired!  Andy messaged back to say it looked really good so I decided to pack up and go to bed.

 

The next day I had a hard time keeping her out of the kitchen so I waited until Andy came home to take her out before I got to work on it again.

 

The laces are just strips of white fondant but it was hard lacing up the shoe through the holes.  Then all the finishing touches and I was done...and couldn't believe I actually did it!  I sat down and stared at the cake for a while before I called Aaron and Andy to see it.  They were both impressed and amazed.

 

I was planning to reveal the cake at the party but Andy said I should let her see it before the party...so she could enjoy it before it's gone.  I will never forget the look on her face when I took off the cover..the big hug and the "Thank you Mommy, for making the coolest cake ever"!

 

At the party, none of the kids wanted to cut the shoe...thank God there was enough chocolate cake for everyone in the base layer!

 

 

She is just lucky I love her so much as I will not be doing this for anyone else!!!

 

The compliments at the party and the look on Ariana's face was worth every minute of loss sleep!!!

More Practice...

We had still had some time to practice before Ariana's cake was due, and the kids didn't hesitate to point out that the cake plate was empty!

 

Since I didn't get the fondant to go on smoothly on our mom's cake, I decided to try it again...and it was a better for sure.  For this particular cake we just molded simple blue flowers and some leaves.  I started out by placing one flower on the cake, then another, and another, and then tucked in some leaves...until I looked like something!  Aaron suggested we make some really tiny flower and add it to the side of the cake since we didn't do a border at the bottom.

 

 

The next weekend, I attempted these two.  I purposely did a square one, which I gave a friend, to see if I could cover it without messing it up.  By now I had the circles under wraps!

 

 

A couple ladies were leaving and we had a potluck at work.  I couldn't decide what to take so I chose to make them farewell / goodluck cakes!

These honestly didn't take me too long as I was comfortable making cirlcular cakes now, and I used simple molded flowers and lettering.

Everyone at work was impressed and loved the cakes!

Practice cake number four was a bit different.  I attempted to do a basket of flowers.  This particular cake had 3 layers and the fondant had to be done standing up!  I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to make for Ariana and changed my mind from the cake Aaron chose.  I wanted to be sure of a few techniques before I said yes to the cake I had in mind.

I came home one Friday evening and I was excited as I had the idea in my head and I just couldn't wait.  I added watermelon extract to the cake batter and patiently waited for the cake to cool.  I layered it and then dirty iced it.  This game me a bit of trouble as I had to give it a bit of shape so I had to take out some of the crust.  Icing a cake without the crust is a real task!  Also I should have let the cake cool some more and then let the stacked layers set up first.  What can I say...it was Friday night, the kids were sleeping, Andy was at work and I couldn't wait to see how it would turn out!

I tried to make the basket look old so I did some impressions on the fondant when I rolled it out and then I attempted to make the basket.  Standing the fondant around the cake wasn't the easiest thing to do.  And I didn't have any measuring tape so I had to cut as I went along.  The clerks at Michaels will be seeing me soon again!  By the time I got to the flowers, I was tired and sleepy, so I just molded out what I could.  I could have done a much better job with the flowers if I had waited until the next day but it's just for practice.  It still tasted great.

 

The only problems with making all these cakes is...they don't last very long, in my house!!!

Our First Cake - Mother's Day Project...

After experimenting with a couple  flower molds, the kids and I were ready to attempt our very first cake and because it was a mother's day project, Aaron didn't even object to helping. 

 

We used a simple box cake mix in vanilla and Ariana chose all my favourite colours...yellow, pink and purple.  For the flowers, we decided to go with the molds but we had to make a lot more than expected of the purple flowers because Aaron kept eating them!  The next morning, after the cake had enough time to cool, we dirty iced it and left it to dry in the fridge.  I was surprised at how much Ariana knows about cake decorating.  Apparently she's been watching YouTube videos.

 

Putting on the layer of fondant was a lot harder than I thought but after a few tries, we finally got it on.  It was hard to do as we didn't how much fondant to use or how thick to roll it out and we didn't have the right tools...using a marble board and rolling pin is not recommended!  I guess another trip to Michaels will be required...Andy!

 

The flowers were randomly arranged on the top as we had no design in mind.  We  used some icing to stick them and Ariana used some icing in a bottle to write the words "MOM".  Finally, our cake was done and it looked beautiful...and Aaron was ready to cut into it!  I had to convince him to wait until Andy came home before we destroyed it.  Thankfully, we had some extra flowers to give him so he agreed to wait.

 

I have to admit the cake wasn't just pretty...it was delicious too.  The best part was, I got to make it with my two creative geniuses.

 

I think we did pretty OK for our first attempt!

Now That Baseball Season is Over...What Should I Do?

Well instead of writing from the bleachers, I guess I will have to settle for writing from the kitchen counter!  I can safely say that baseball is much more exciting than baking but when the Season is over and you really have no other choice, baking will just have to cut it.

 

As a child growing up, I really HATED the kitchen!  My dad even joked back then that my intended spouse should know how to cook, otherwise I would surely starve!  I was the kind of girl who would rather help my dad change a tire than help my mom in the kitchen.  Today, cooking is still not much fun and I am grateful that I have a spouse, Andy, who loves creating new flavours in the kitchen.  I, however, found a new way to reclaim the kitchen!

 

It all started in May this year (2014).  My daughter, Ariana, who was going to celebrate her champagne birthday in June this year, had a very special request for me.  "Mom, this year instead of buying my birthday cake can you make me one"?  "What?  Um...ok".  How hard can that be?  I have baked before, and frosted a few cakes too!  My son, Aaron, and I grabbed the IPad and started looking at photos online.  He ended up choosing a fondant cake which looked very simple, with a few flowers and pretty pink bows.  We showed the cake to Andy and his response was - 'I think I better have a backup plan"!  I should have just smacked him across the head...but even I was wondering what I got myself into!  I gave it some serious thought and because I don't ever want to give the kids the wrong impression, I became more determined to make her cake.  After all, we can do anything we make up our mind to do...right???

Mother's Day was right around the corner and Andy couldn't decide what to get me, so he asked.  We are at the age now where surprises are no longer necessary!  After thinking about it, I suggested some baking supplies.  One day during my lunch hour he came and took me to Michaels and a couple hundred dollars later...I was ready to create my very first cake.