Fish Tank Cake.... harder than it sounds

So it turns out that making cake look transparent is quite difficult so making a fish tank cake was pretty darn challenging. Nychole's husband has several salt water fish tanks and so she wanted to celebrate that hobby in cake. The cake was 8-inches tall, 8-inches long, and 6-inches wide. It has two separate cake flavors, one stacked on the other. The top flavor is a Coconutty Almond Cake (coconut cake layered with coconut buttercream, light coconut cream filling, sliced almonds, and coconut flakes... I know it sounds like a lot of coconut but it's actually quite a nice balance) and the bottom flavor was Chunky Monkey Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate ganache, banana cream filling, and banana slices).

In order to pull this off to look as much like a real fish tank as possible, I layered fondant to look like coral popping out of the cake then I covered the whole cake in marshmallow fondant. Then I molded the fondant around the coral so it really looks like it's coming out of the tank. I sprayed the cake with a light sky blue color even though water in a fish tank doesn't look blue at all (weird!). The sand at the bottom of the tank is brown sugar stuck to the side (a genius idea by my new apprentice, Alex). I have to thank Alex for all of her help on this cake. She's more of a perfectionist than I am!! Anyway, here's another view of the cake for you.

Tinkerbell's Fairy Garden Cake

Carey wanted a cake for Cadence's third birthday this weekend and wanted it to be Tinkerbell themed. We decided on a cake that used lots of pinks, purples, and greens. For those of you who haven't watched the new Tinkerbell movie, well then you clearly don't have kids :) In any case, the top tier was a Spices & Cake cake (Spice cake layered with buttercream) while the bottom cake was a Brownie Lovers Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate ganache and a layer of brownies). I wanted to show another side of the cake so that you could get a feel for the whole design, and not just the leading lady. I also wanted to show what the inside of the Brownie Lovers Cake looks like. It's SO decadent and chocolately that it would fix anyone's chocolate craving (especially mine).

Dallen's 3rd Birthday with Lego Batman

One of my step-son's birthdays was this weekend and so we celebrated his third year with a Lego Batman Cake. He was totally thrilled and it was just really fun to see the kids love a cake and be there to witness it. As I was cutting into the cake, the kids got a hole of Robin's arms and legs and downed those before I even had a chance to limit the amount of sugar intake. Ah well, birthdays don't come around that often, right? This was a Rainbow Bright Cake (this flavor is really popular with kid birthdays... I think it's all the sugar!) which means it was a vanilla cake colored to match the decor of the cake and then layered with buttercream and sprinkles. Each side of the cake is supposed to look like a different building from Lego Batman's Gotham city. I made the characters out of fondant and I found Batman's abs the funniest part to make on these characters!

Here are another few pictures for you.

This is an inside shot of the Lego Batman Cake. Many people who ate the cake thought that the bottom layer was chocolate. Interesting idea... I'm not sure how I feel about a Neapolitan Cake flavor but if anyone's interesting, let me know!

This was Dallen's mini-cake so that he could tear apart his own little cake which is why it's pretty simple and fun for him. He didn't even care about this cake after he saw the Lego Batman cake. Oh well, more cake for me.

Scooby Dooby Doo, Where are you?

Apparently Scooby's right here! Shandell wanted to celebrate Brady's 2nd birthday with a Scooby inspired birthday cake. Brady and Scooby both love hamburgers so instead of Scooby eating a cake, he was eating a hamburger for his birthday celebration. Brady specifically asked for a rainbow colored cake with orange frosting (I know, smart kid, right! I KNOW!). So I made a Rainbow Bright cake (vanilla cake with sprinkles baked into the batter with a layer colored blue, yellow and green to match the design) and layered the cakes with orange buttercream. This cake ended up being 5-inches tall! Here's another look for you of the other characters. Alex and Rosie were diligent in helping with this cake as well. It's like I throw a cake-making party and we sit in the kitchen for hours just cakin' it up. haha. Anyway, I hope Brady loved his vanilla and orange cake :)

A Topsy Turvy First

Vanessa wanted a unique cake for her 16th birthday. She wanted teals and greens and a touch of black. Vanessa's birthday was 09-09-09 which is pretty cool so we wanted to highlight that as well. The top tier was a Cookies & Cake cake (vanilla cake layered with buttercream and crushed oreos). The middle tier was a Brownie Lovers cake (chocolate cake layered with rich chocolate ganache and a layer of actual brownies in between the chocolate cake). The bottom tier was a Mint Chocolate Chip Cake (vanilla cake with chocolate chips baked in layered with lightly flavored mint buttercream with chopped chocolate chips).

This was my first attempt at a topsy turvy cake and I was surprised at how subtly easy and subtly difficult it was at the same time. My two lovely assistants, Rosie and 13-year old cake-apprentice, Alex, were awesome in helping with this cake. We worked late into the night to make sure that every detail was right. I wanted to show another view of the cake without the writing on it so that you could see the design. Rosie said this cake reminded her of Alice in Wonderland. Awesome! haha

My New Apprentice

I'm breaking a personal rule of mine to not put photos of myself on the internet... and I might take this off later but I promised my new apprentice that I would show off her skills. This is Alex who helped me with the last cake I did that had the various super heroes on it. That same night, Alex made her second fondant cake ever and came up with the design on the spot! It was amazing to watch her work and I was so impressed with the outcome. This is a Spices & Cake cake (spice cake with cheesecake filling and cream cheese frosting) covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. She put the cake together, covered it in the fondant that she made and decorated it with her genius ability and creativity.

Although we both look like we're 13, I'm the one on the left with the proud mama smile and she's the one on the right with the glow of self-satisfaction. We will continue to work together and I'll keep her progress posted on here as well. Great job, Alex! I'm still in awe of your intrinsic talent!!

With our Powers Combined...

No, this isn't a Captain Planet cake but wow, I would LOVE to make one of those.

This cake was for Hunter who turned three. He wanted a Super Hero themed cake, specifically the Hulk and Spiderman. Rather than making a single tier cake for him, I figured we should go all the way with this one. There's only one real tier of cake and it's a rainbow bright cake. It's a sweet vanilla cake colored to match the theme (green, yellow, and red) with sprinkles baked in and layered with rainbow sprinkle buttercream. The other tiers are fake cakes covered in fondant and decorated with fondant. All of the logos and designs and capes are handmade from fondant.

This time, I had an awesome helper to create this monstrosity of a cake. Alex is an up-and-coming caker herself and has recently started decorating her own cakes with fondant. She's 13 and reminded me so much of myself. We started off the night just talking and sharing how we do cakes but as the night went all, we both focused in and zoned out. I usually put Friends, the show, on in the background and she even knew the lines like I did. I was not only impressed by her caking skills but also her Friends knowledge. I have a feeling that this is the start of a beautiful relationship centered around delicious cake! Thanks for your help, Alex! Hunter LOVED the cake when he came to pick it up today.... I wish you could've seen the reaction to your hard work!