Penguin's Igloo Birthday Cake

I love this little topsy turvy penguin cake! It's all buttercream and the swirls on the side of the cake are marshmallow fondant. I made the penguins out of fondant as well and the snowflakes were fondant that have been dried with a little wire in them. Everytime I see this cake, it just reminds me of how cold Utah is! :) haha

Wood Grain Wedding Cake

Elaine wanted a wood grain wedding cake to match her beautiful venue up in Millcreek Inn. At this point, I had done a few wood grain cakes but I wanted to try a new technique. This cake is all buttercream with a marshmallow fondant border, bows, and pine cones. I frosted the cake a few times and let the buttercream set up. Then, I went over the cake with a modeling tool to create the grooves to look like wood grain. Then, I took brown food coloring and traced over the grooves with the color. I used a much wider brush and a bit of water to smooth out the color to give a much lighter wood grain color throughout the tiers. I darkened the tops of each tier, then added the forest green marshmallow fondant border and pine cones. I wish I could take credit for the base but that was provided by the wonderful bride and groom. That piece of real wood weighed A TON! I wasn't strong enough to put it into the car or carry it up to the venue myself! But it was so beautiful with the cake, and therefore totally worth it. :) Oh, and the whole cake was Can I Have Smore's Cake (You can check out my full flavor list at www.SaltCakeCity.com)

Very Merry Unbirthday!

Breanna was throwing Londyn a very merry 1st unbirthday and wanted a fun cake to match the theme of the party. The top tier was Londyn's smash cake and it was all buttercream with a marshmallow fondant rim and card. The bottom two tiers were covered in marshmallow fondant with edible keys and watches covered edible gold shimmer. I piped on a buttercream pearl swagged border on the bottom tier and topped off the cake with a peacock feather. The cake was so much fun to make. All of the details took quite a long time to make but were totally worth it in the end. The cake was Lemonberry & Candy Bar Cake (check out my full flavor list at www.SaltCakeCity.com).

Chanel No 1... in cake form

Katie was throwing an awesome 1st birthday bash for her daughter, Chloe. She had adorable pictures of Chloe in pink and black with a Chanel purse done up for the invitations so I modeled this cake after that idea. We have the perfume Chanel No. 1 bottle on the left  covered in marshmallow fondant and edible pearls. Then, I made a cute black and pink hat box with a Chanel purse on top that's covered in edible shimmer. The little pink purse in the front was little Chloe's smash cake. I had so much fun with this cake! Thank you, Katie, for always giving me such great cake designs!! :)

80s Themed Birthday Cake

Jenna wanted a fun birthday cake for her husband's big 3-0! She sent me her birthday invites which were 80s themed and sooooooo cool! We designed this cake around the theme and I think it turned out so great! The bottom tier was Pac-Man, the middle tier was a Rubik's cube and the top was a throw back to Mario, except it was Brian coming out of the pipe. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and I added an old-school boom box and two cassette tapes at the base (made out of fondant). Making Yoshi, his egg, and Brian as Mario were especially fun!

The cake was Brownie Lovers cake and Strawberry Not So Short Cake. Yum!

Tangled Inspired Birthday Cake

I did Oakley's Minnie Mouse themed birthday last year and this year, her mom wanted a Tangled themed birthday cake. Jill knew she didn't want a typical Tangled Tower cake so I came up with the idea of doing a dress-inspired cake. Since I love the movie, I knew what Repunzel's dress looked like and I wanted to incorporate the main symbolic star as well. Now, this being a Repunzel cake, I had to have some hair right? Well Oakley's smash cake was the top tier so it was all buttercream and then I added the yellow braid of marshmallow fondant hair. The cake was Rainbow Bright & Strawberry Cheesecake Cake (check out my full flavor list at www.SaltCakeCity.com). After i was done, I was a little worried that she looked.... like... I don't know, a headless doll! Oakley loved it so that's all that matters, right?

Painter's Topsy Turvy Birthday Cake

Effey wanted a unique birthday cake for YiaYia's 80th birthday cake! She wanted to incorporate her painting and the color scheme from their birthday invitations. To make it even more interesting, we did a topsy turvy cake. The whole cake is covered in marshmallow fondant and it was Caramel Crunch Cake (check out my full flavor list at www.SaltCakeCity.com). The paint on the top of the cake was all buttercream and the painting was done using food coloring as water color. The paintbrushes are marshmallow fondant as well. Yum!

Steampunk Gramophone Cake

So Steph & Stacy, the twins, were turning 30 and wanted a very interesting cake for their birthday. I love their sister, Corrinne, and so when they were referred to me, I was down for the challenge. A Steampunk Gramophone Cake? I don't even know what half of those words mean! So I did quite a bit of research and then freaked out a little bit... and then designed this cake. This is an all edible sugar & cake creation. It was Ruby Red Velvet & Boston Cream Pie Cake all covered in marshmallow fondant and then decorated with more marshmallow fondant.

The gears on the bottom tier were hand cut and then I sprayed with edible silver & gold shimmer. I added a border around each side of the bottom box and then painted it with edible bronze shimmer. The brown background was hand painted with a mixture of brown edible food coloring and bronze shimmer.

For the gramophone, I created the shape of the top and then dried it around a cone. I made an extra cone just in case, because after all, this is all sugar! Lucky I did because on that day, I had two deliveries, a wedding cake and this one. I delivered the wedding cake first and on my first bump into that neighborhood, I heard a crack. Now, a little background, I usually crank the music when I deliver cakes so that I can't hear anything in the back (the slightest noise from a cake freaks me out). For this cake though, I knew the weight of that cone would be a problem so I kept the music down and sure enough, that first bump killed the gramophone. So the wedding cake was all delivered and set up and I was driving to the twin's house thinking "Well NOW what am I going to do?" Luckily, I brought my back up cone and my cake-emergency kit (It looks like a tackle box filled with all sorts of goodies in case of emergencies like this!). Parked outside of their house, I popped open the trunk and started fixing this cake. The weight of the cone was hard to prop up correctly but I made it work. The girls loved the cake and after the immense amount of stress & pressure it gave me, I loved it too :)

A Distinguished Gentleman's Birthday Cake

Joshlin was throwing a mustache themed distinguished gentleman's surprise birthday party for her hubby and wanted a very unique cake for the shindig. Everything in this picture is made of cake or sugar. We did a bottle of Brandy, a bowler hat, a folded shirt with his favorite "relax" logo and cuff links, a replica of his favorite watch, a bow tie and a gentleman's loafer shoe. Oh, and there's a mustache in front of the shirt box that you can barely see.

The cakes were Lemon Supreme Cake, Banana Cream Pie Cake, and Caramel Macchiato Cake (check out all of my flavors at www.SaltCakeCity.com). Everything was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and the box, Brandy, and shoe were all hand-painted. This cake was so cool to make because each piece was very different. Joshlin has since moved out of Utah and I was so sad to see her go! She came up with such fun cake ideas and challenges! More cakes for Joshlin to come on the blog :)

Doctor Who Tardis Groom's Cake

I can't tell you how many people see this cake in my portfolio and say "Oh my gosh! Doctor Who!" Yes, this is a Dr. Who Tardis which is his time machine. I had seen a few pictures of Tardis cakes before but I wanted to be as exact as possible. I researched this thing for weeks before the wedding because the one thing the groom asked for at the cake tasting was that the groom's cake be awesome. He was quite serious about it too! Haha. It was half Emerald City Cake and half Brownie Lovers cake covered in marshmallow fondant. I painted the wording on the top with edible food coloring and the sign on the front was written with edible food coloring markers. You can check out the real Tardis to see what it says because I wrote it word for word.

When I delivered the cake, I set this puppy down and started taking pictures of the wedding cake. Then I heard the groomsmen come in and start ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the cake. The groom walked in very slowly and walked around the table before saying. "It's perfect." Haha. That's all I wanted!

Rainbow Birthday Cake

I make a cake for little Sheridan every year and this time, it was a fun rainbow themed birthday cake. There was a song that went along with it and so I used the details from the song to decorate the cake. Everything was made of fondant but my favorite little details were the little cupcakes! I wanted to eat them! Lisa, Sheridan's mom, had a little cupcake station at the party so that all of the little kids could make their own cupcakes and add the sprinkles they wanted. She dyed the inside of the cupcakes to be rainbow as well. How cute is that idea??

Lime Green & Pink Topsy Wedding Cake

This bride wanted some REALLY bright and fun for her wedding cake. This 3-tiered topsy turvy cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and then I added the swirls at the bottom by rolling long thin ropes of MMF and cutting them in half (so that there was a flat side to stick well to the cake). I free-handed the design which created way more variety in the design. I added white pearl swags and multi-colored ball border. For the sugar flowers, I used daisy cutters and sunflower cutters and dried them in small bowls to give them some shape. I love that we used the extra flowers on the table!

The flavors were Banana Cream Pie, Emerald City Cake, and Coconut Cream Pie Cake. For more info on the flavors, check out my website and the full list of flavors (www.SaltCakeCity.com).

Bumblebee Birthday Cake

Ashley wanted a showpiece birthday cake for her daughter's 5th birthday. She was having a bumblebee themed cake (which is appropriate since we're in the beehive state :) This three tiered cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and decorated with tiny edible MMF bumblebees. The cake was S'mores Cake, Lemonberry Cake, and Turtle Power Cake (Check out my flavor list at SaltCakeCity.com).

I made the little bees by forming oval yellow balls with fondant. I cut out tiny white little circles for wings and then let them dry and harden over night. I painted black lines on the yellow bodies with a paintbrush and black food coloring. I let that dry a bit, then shoved the little wings in the sides of the body. I curled thin flower wire and then inserted one end into the bees. It was so simple for such a nice detailed touch.

Pink & Orange Topsy Turvy Wedding Cake

Before I get started, here is a featured spot on this wedding: http://blog.thebrideandgroom.com/utah-wedding-planning/utah-wedding-vendors/stephanie-richiespring-wedding-at-la-caillefeatured-utah-wedding/

You know how you love your kids equally but some just behave better than others? That's how I feel about my cakes. I love them all but some just cooperate and flow beautifully while others give me trouble into the night. This cake, made for Stephanie's colorful and bright wedding, was so much fun to make. It really was a great night of marshmallow fondant that cooperated, just pearls that stayed together, and sugar flowers that popped off of the cake. I really couldn't be more happy with how this cake cake together, was made, and was completed. So let's start from the top.

 Stephanie & her mom, Grace, were so excited for this cake. That was a great start! I knew that they wanted something fun, colorful, and unique. They knew they wanted a topsy cake and wanted to use orange and pink. We went back and forth on a quite a few designs before ending with this one. Stephanie and her parents came to a cake tasting where they brought tons of inspirations. They had tulle from the bride's amazing custom made dress (from Modest Couture,

http://www.modestcouturebyelizabeth.com/), teapots, colors, teacups, and lots of excitement! It was a great night! At the tasting they decided on Ruby Red Velvet cake (layered with cream cheese frosting) and Coconut Cream Pie Cake (coconut cake layered with coconut flakes and coconut cream filling). I actually made quite a few cupcakes for the tasting as well since we supplemented the cake with cute cupcakes. They took those home and later told me that they ate them all for all meals of the day :)

 The cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and accented with fondant sugar flowers, sugar pearls, and topped with a sugar teacup filled with flowers. When I delivered this cake to La Caille, I couldn't believe just how perfect the venue was for this wedding. Please do check out the blog post that featured this wedding because you HAVE to see Stephanie's wedding dress and the room that was decorated so beautifully.

I cannot say enough about Grace & Stephanie. They were tremendously gracious and trusting of their vision and their planning of this wedding was executed so perfectly. I love when weddings are about the bride and groom and this wedding definitely was. Everything was thoughtfully planned to reflect the personalities involved here. Congratulations to the couple and I can't wait to work with you again! :)

Sassy Hippo Cake

Aimee wanted a cutesy hippo cake for Laci's birthday. Aimee basically said, "I want a hippo, I want purple, now do whatever you want." It was great! I had made a 3-D hippo cake not too long ago but wanted to take a different route with this one. The cake was Brownie Lovers Cake with a rice krispie head covered in marshmallow fondant (because carving chewy brownies can be quite difficult). For the head, I shaped it out of rice krispies, covered that in buttercream, then in fondant. I indented the nostrils using a fondant ball tool and then added the exaggerated eyes, eye lids, lashes, ears, and teeth. I dyed buttercream different shades of blue and piped it around the hippo (I should have named her!). Finally, I used an angled spatula to make the buttercream look a little messier so that it looked more like water.

I really did love this cake. My parents were in town visiting when I made this cake and I rarely get a chance to show them what I do. My mom gave her input on the eyes, ears, waves, etc. which made this order so memorable. Thanks, Aimee for all of your trust!

Black & Pink Wedding Cake

Amy wanted a totally different cake for her wedding and I was so excited when I found out what she wanted. Her wedding colors were black and bright pink and her idea was to do an all black cake with black vertical lines and very bright pink sugar flowers for the cake. I was definitely in! Then, Amy brought by this awesome cake base that her fiance made for the cake and these amazing skull cake toppers. They were hand made and worth almost as much as the cake itself so yes, it was a very scary delivery :)

The top was Ruby Red Velvet cake, the middle tier is Coconut Macaroon Cake and the bottom tier was Samoa Says Cake. The whole cake was covered in marshmallow fondant and the flowers were as well. The centers of the sugar flowers were rolled in crystalized sugar to give it a little extra sparkle. I wish I got a better picture of the cake because although it's definitely non traditional, the cake was pretty cool in person. Amy LOVED it, which is all that matters to me :)

Piece of Cake!

Contrary to what this blog might suggest, I don't always make a cake for my classes. I did happen to make this cake for my students at Neumont University last quarter. I wanted it to be fun and festive and I've always wanted to do a slice of cake-cake. This was my opportunity!

To achieve look, I baked a full size cake. Then, before I frosted and filled the cake, I cut out the slice that I wanted to use as the top. I torted and frosted each of these two pieces separately. I did a flavor experiment with my students (free cake should always be an experiment :) It was a Peach Cobbler Cake, peach flavored spice cake layered with peach filling and granola. Wasn't my favorite experiment but from it, I revamped my peach flavor and now have the Just Peachy Cake (cinnamon vanilla cake layered with peach filing, peach slices and cinnamon buttercream). Anyway, back to this cake!

I covered the whole cake in white marshmallow fondant, then, I used a yellow fondant and made the sides of the cake lined with purple filling (I'm not quite sure what purple filling would be but I loved the color combination). I added stripes to the outside of the cake, then covered the top of the cake with teal "frosting." In order to the get that ruffle look, I simple didn't push the sides of the fondant onto the cake itself, I lifted the sides of the fondant to give it some volume. Lastly, I added marshmallow fondant "sprinkles." Yum!

Thank you, ladies & gents for a great class! It's always a fun time at Neumont :)

Bright Zebra Birthday

Whitney wanted a bright & fun birthday cake with a zebra print theme somewhere in there so we came up with this design for her 13th birthday party. To make it a little more whimsical, I tapered in the sides and made it slightly topsy so that it almost looks like it's falling over. The cake was Cookies & Cake (vanilla cake layerd with crushed Oreo cookies) and white cake with raspberry filling (the birthday girl's choices, of course). The balls and the number "13" are all made out of fondant and the whole cake was covered and decorated with marshmallow fondant. I had a ton of fun with this cake because it was just bright and colorful. Hmm... I don't think there's much else to it! :)

Cake in the Hat?

Reena needed a small but fun cake for Sawyer's second birthday. She wanted to do a themed birthday cake and was thinking the Cat in the Hat would be fun. We came up with this design together and I actually think the real cake came out better than the sketch! The whole cake was Truffled Chocolate Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate cream filling and mini chocolate chips along with chocolate buttercream) and it was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The bow and the #2 at the top were also MMF so that Sawyer could really eat the whole thing.

To make the top cake, I layered stripes of white and red fondant over each other to make it look like fabric. Then, I used black food coloring and a paintbrush to paint on the infamous black lines from the book. When I delivered the cake, Reena loved it! It was just such a cute, whimsical cake :)

Mini Grasshopper Cakes

Kari needed two cakes for her friends' birthdays. One of her inside jokes is little grasshoppers so we went with this idea and made mini-cakes for them. This first one is a female grasshopper (can't you tell? She has pouty pink lips and eye shadow) made out of fondant on top of Vanilla Latte Cake (vanilla cake layered with coffee flavored buttercream). The blades of grass and bow are also marshmallow fondant and then I placed silver dragees on the cake for a little extra touch.

As you can see, these are pretty small cakes. They were around 4 inches in diameter, which is pretty small to work with when covering a cake in buttercream and fondant. This cake has a little boy grasshopper (why I had to make a girl and a boy grasshopper is beyond me. She said grasshoppers, I assigned them a sex). In any case, this one has a hershey kiss made out of fondant along with a puddle of chocolate underneath the grasshopper. Again, the mini-cake is covered in home made marshmallow fondant. This cake was a chocolate cake layered with chocolate chips and chocolate buttercream. YUM!

I later heard that the second cake never made it to Kari's friend because when she unveiled the first cake to her friend, they ended up eating both cakes together :) haha. Happy to do it!