Baby Einstein Cake

Fressia wanted a colorful cake for Alejandro's first birthday. He loves Baby Einstein and so we put a lot of different characters on the cake for him. For the border, I rolled out the same colors that I used making the characters and cut them into small square. Then, I created a two-layered border of squares. After putting the animals and and border on the cake, I thought it needed more so I added the confetti of fondant dots around the cake. I LOVE making colorful fun cakes like this. It's amazing to think that these one-year old birthday cakes can take much longer to make than a 4-tiered wedding cake! Luckily I love caking!

One tier was Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (Chocolate cake with hazelnut cream filling and buttercream) and the other tier was White Almond Cake (a light almond flavored cake layered with almond slices and cream cheese frosting). Yummy!

Tinkerbell's Cake

Susan wanted a pretty big cake to celebrate a really big occasion. Isabella was turning one and so a big party was in order. She wanted this cake to be colorful and fun for Isabella's birthday. One of the tiers was Coconut Cream Cake (light coconut cake layered with coconut cream filling and coconut flakes), one was Rainbow Bright Cake (vanilla cake with sprinkles baked in and colored to match the cake), and Chocolatey Chocolate Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate buttercream). The cake is covered in homemade marshmallow fondant with marshmallow fondant decorations, including the flowers, poem, and Tinkerbell herself. Tinkerbell was quite a challenge to make. She's extremely recognizable so I had to get it just right. I usually cut out figures and then keep layering on different color fondant. For Tinkerbell, however, I thought hand-painting her onto fondant would be better. She was pretty tricky, especially her eyes. In the end, I had to turn to my man-friend who is an amazing artist to finish the job. Her eyes, nose, and mouth are all the work of an artistic genius!

The flowers were also really fun to make. I used multiple cutters for different sized flowers. Then, I layered the different colors of the flowers into a blossom and let them dry in a cupcake holder. In the end, the cake was really colorful and I hope Susan and Isabella loved it.

Shimmering Quilted Wedding Cake

Brittany got married this weekend and wanted a shimmering cake for her special day. She had seen the purse cake I made a while back that was covered in shimmer dust and wanted that technique for sure. This is done by hand painting the edible shimmer onto the cake. Her colors were this beautiful aqua and chocolate brown so we incorporated that into the edible ribbon on the cake. In the corners of the quilted diamonds are light blue edible dragees.

The bottom tier was Rainbow Bright Cake (vanilla cake that is dyed to match the color of the cake, so light brown, light blue, and white), the middle tier was a Brownie Lovers Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate ganache and a nice layer of brownies in between the cake), and the top tier was Buttery Yellow Cake layered with chocolate buttercream. I love how simple, yet elegant this cake looks. I rarely get to see the bride and groom's reaction so I can only hope that they loved it. Congratulations, Britt!

Alice in Wonderland Book... in Cake Form

Bill needed a unique cake for his daughter's 18th birthday and thought the new Alice in Wonderland movie would be a good inspiration. He said she loves reading so making a life-size book was his idea as well. I wanted to put as many details on this cake as possible so I had to take several shots to get the angles. All the decorations were handmade from marshmallow fondant. This first picture shows Alice's outfit and the Mad Hatter's hat (ah, Johnny Depp can really make any character look a little extra crazy). I hand-painted the front cover of the book and then placed the mushrooms as though they were coming out of the grass. The Cheshire Cat looks a bit different in this new film so this is as close as I could get it with that really big grin. Kalee was the birthday girl (in Wonderland) and although you can't see it very well in this picture, the White Rabbit's clock says 18 (except that there is so such thing as 18 on this watch so it really says 1:40... I did what I could :) You can see the playing cards with hearts on them too.

In this second picture, you can see Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum's shirts, again very different in the new film. You have the "Drink me" liquid that shrinks her and the matching "Eat me" cake is on the top of the book. A little teapot and cup of tea are also on this side of the cake.

Here's the top shot of the cake. From here you can see the whole book as well as the background of the book cover. I used an edible ink marker to write "Kalee in Wonderland" on the top and side and used food coloring as water color in order to paint on the background.
Phew, alright, last bit of detail is that the cake was a Red Velvet Cake layered with cream cheese frosting. Bill ordered the Dancing Nancy cake for his wife around Valentine's Day and I guess Red Velvet is her favorite so when ordering this cake, she said Red Velvet once again. This cake was really, REALLY fun to make because of all of the details. I hope Kalee loved it as well!

Brown and Blue Circles

This week, the students in my senior class at the University of Utah gave great presentations to faculty, family, and other students at the Senior Materials Science and Engineering Dinner. In order to thank them for all of their hard work this semester, I made a celebratory cake for us to share during our final dress rehearsal last week. I wasn't sure what design to make but this design ended up reminding me a lot of their lab reports turned in over the year. They did several complicated labs that involved really intricate methods and although I didn't understand everything they wrote (because I'm a Communication instructor, not an Engineering instructor), their pictures looked similar to these circles.

The cake was decorated and covered with homemade marshmallow fondant. The beads at the bottom were also marshmallow fondant. The flavor was an experiment and ended up being pretty yummy. It was a Chocolate Cinnamon Cake which is chocolate cake baked with a hint of cinnamon layered with cinnamon cream filling and chocolate ganache. What do you think? :)

Pink, Black, and Silver Masquerade

Kavina went all out with her 30th birthday party by having a masquerade themed bash complete with the guests wearing masks. Because of this, she needed an over the top, extravagant masquerade cake to match. After going back and forth on a few design ideas, we came up with this design complete with beads, feathers, and edible masquerade masks. Kavina said that the cake was a huge hit and tasted delicious... so here's what she ordered.

The top tier was a Brownie Lovers Cake (chocolate cake layered with real brownies and chocolate ganache), the middle tier was a Strawberry Not-So-Short-Cake (Strawberry cake with strawberries baked in layered with vanilla cream filling and buttercream), and the bottom tier was Rainbow Bright Cake (vanilla flavored cake tinted three different colors layered with buttercream and sprinkles).

Now for the details, the edible sugar masks were made by cutting out the shapes of a mask and letting them dry over the top of a real mask to give it some contour. Once it dried, I brushed it with edible silver shimmer and placed a few edible sugar balls (or dragees) onto it to give it more character. They were very delicate but looked pretty realistic. I hope you like it!

Who doesn't need a Giant Edible Penguin!?

Hope wanted to surprise her husband-to-be with a personalized groom's cake. Apparently, it was a penguin that started their relationship (metaphorically, of course) and so she thought that giving him a penguin would be a great touch on their wedding day. Because Jonathan does a radio show, she asked to add headphones and a microphone. It's hard to tell from this picture but the penguin was HUGE. It was nearly two feet tall and the whole thing was edible. It had to weigh nearly 20-25 pounds... but what would I know? I'm a small-fry who makes someone else carry the heavy stuff. Anyway, it was made out of rice krispies and buttercream and then covered in marshmallow fondant. The eyes, beak, headphones, and microphone were made separately and then attached using skewers and buttercream to make sure it would all stay on for the hour drive north to the reception site. Wow, what a scary drive! Not for me, I sat in the back cuddled up next to my new penguin friend while my man-friend tried to ease the car over every bump and turn in the road (no, i didn't actually cuddle the penguin and yes, we made it just fine).

I wish I could give some advice or tutorial on how to make said penguin but my only advice would be .... buy LOTS of extra rice cereal and marshmallows because you will keep running out of those ingredients even though you think you have plenty. I made about 7 large batches or so.... and still needed more. I made the rice krispies and formed them into flat rectangles so that they could cool and harden. Then, I kept layering the "sheets" on top of each other with buttercream being sure to insert cardboard supports in two areas within the penguin (about 1/3 of the way up and again at 2/3 of the way up). Once it was the right height, I shaved it down to the right shape using a large serrated knife. I then covered the whole thing in buttercream and chilled it in the fridge. I shaved it down once again because when making a 3-D cake, it has to be pretty perfectly shaved, otherwise the bumps and nicks will show through in the fondant. Then I covered the whole penguin in marshmallow fondant. I added the white belly, headphones, eyes, and arms. Phew! It was so much fun and in the end, it was a pretty amazing feat! Perhaps more people will want giant edible penguins in the future... I know I do!

Music to my ears... and mouth....

Latu needed a cake for Kalatiola's 18th birthday. Because she's really musical, we decided to do a piano on the bottom tier and musical notes all around the top tier. For an added effect, I made musical notes out of fondant and attached them to 18-gauge flower wire so that when they dried and hardened, we could just place them in the top of the cake. Both tiers were Strawberry Cheesecake Cake (strawberry cake with strawberries baked into the cake layered with cheesecake filling and cream cheese frosting). The banner at the bottom was also fondant. In order to make this, simply roll out a long thin strip of fondant (I use homemade marshmallow fondant). Take a few straws and space them out on the counter. Then lay the fondant strip over the straws to make it look like it's wavy. Let it dry overnight and then it's done! You should try it sometime!

A Princess Cake and Painted Flowers

I've been doing some practice cakes for upcoming shows and thought I'd show you the work. The first is a Princess themed cake modeled after a beautiful cake done by The Pink Cake Box. I originally had a cake order for this one that fell through so I decided to make it anyway because it was just too cute. The whole cake is covered in marshmallow fondant. The butterflies and crown are also fondant. In order to make the crown, I rolled out the pink fondant and cut out the shape that I wanted. I added the diamond accents and used a fork to make the indents around the diamonds. Then, I took a fake styrofoam cake that was 4-inches around and wrapped the fondant around the fake cake. In order keep its shape, I then wrapped the whole thing with plastic wrap and let it dry for a few days. After it dried, I pulled the styrofoam cake out of the middle and the princess crown was hard and perfect!

The second cake I made was similar to the painted square cake I made a few weeks back. This was a really small cake, I think 4-5-6 inch square tiers. I hand painted the flowers onto the cake using food coloring and water. It was really easy to do! This would be really fun for a wedding with lots of color, maybe during the Spring. Pretty simple! :) More cakes to come soon, I promise.

Sports Cake

Dominique needed a cake for a sports themed birthday party. The party was a joint birthday for two boys who play baseball, basketball and football together. I knew I wanted to keep this cake simple but unique and this was the design we came up with. The top two tiers are fake cakes and the bottom is a real cake (Cookies & Cake flavor). The cakes are all covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and decorated with the MMF as well. For the final details, I added a scoreboard that had their ages and names on there and also a Happy Birthday flag (pennant? yeah, I guess it was a pennant :) In any case, it was so much fun to make and for those of you that cake, you know it's actually harder to do a simple cake than a more detailed one because you have to get it all done correctly the first time. No room for error! I was inspired by a cake I saw on cakecentral.com. Thank you!

Brown and Baby Blue Floral Wedding Cake

Lindy got married yesterday and needed a pretty big cake to celebrate the occasion with her friends and family. Originally, she wanted a cake that was very simple with zombies crawling up the side, awesome right? Then she and her future-husband realized that might not go over so well with the older generation of family members and so thoughtfully opted against the semi-bloody cake. Instead, she wanted a cake with some floral design on it but not too much so that it was overwhelmingly busy. Here is the final result.

This cake was very challenging. Four tiers tall and a 30 minute delivery time makes for a lot of planning up front. The top tier was Cookies & Cake (vanilla cake layered with crushed oreos and buttercream), second tier was Tall Vanilla Latte Cake (vanilla cake layered with coffee cream filling and coffee buttercream), third tier was Ruby Red Velvet Cake (red velvet cake layered with cream cheese frosting), and the bottom tier was Spices & Cake (spice cake layered with cheesecake filling and cream cheese frosting). That is quite a variety! :)

The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The floral pattern on the cake was done using brown buttercream and a few unique cake stencils. I hand-piped the blue accents on to the brown buttercream and around the design. Finally, I added a baby blue border to each tier to add just another little touch of color to match Lindy's wedding decor. In order to transport the cake safely, the bottom two tiers were together and the top two tiers were together for the drive. The wedding site was at a beautiful location up in a canyon here in Salt Lake. It rained and snowed pretty hard all the way up there but we made it and the cake made it in one piece (well, technically two pieces :) Here's an up-close picture of the top tier's design. I hope you likey!

Robot Cupcakes

Gabe was turning two and his mom wanted some cool cupcakes for the party. I had saved a set of really unique cupcakes a while back that had the robot's head on a top cupcake, body in the middle and feet on the bottom. I always wanted to try them and so it was great when Shannon asked to replicate that idea with her son's robot design. These robots here match her design as closely as possible and ended up being pretty simple, once I got the little pieces all figured out :) There were 30 cupcakes in total and two flavors, Peanut Butter No-Cup Cake (chocolate cupcakes covered in peanut butter buttercream) and Chocolate Chip No-Cookie Cake (vanilla cake with chocolate chips baked in, covered in buttercream). The designs on the cupcakes are made out of marshmallow fondant. Fun!!!

Mad Hatter Cake

Dominique needed a special cake for her daughter's Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party. The group ate the cake to celebrate and then went to watch the new movie Tim Burton film. We both thought that a topsy turvy "Mad Hatter" style cake would be perfect. The top tier was a Banana Cream Pie Cake (a light banana flavored cake layered with banana cream filling and fresh, sliced bananas and buttercream). I had a little cake left over and made some for my man-friend and best friend and they loved the new flavor. The bottom was a Cookies & Cake Cake (sweet vanilla cake layered with chopped Oreos and buttercream). The cake is covered and decorated with homemade marshmallow fondant.

I had so much fun making this cake. It was really about the colors for me because I had to make sure they were vibrant and fitting for a birthday party. The swirls on the bottom were marshmallow fondant scrolls that I rolled out and placed on the cake. The hat was made out of rice krispies covered in marshmallow fondant. So much fun! I hope you like it!

Hand Painted Flower Cake

I'm not much of a painter... especially on fondant so this was an experiment. This cake was modeled after one by Carrie's Cakes that I think is beautiful. I thought I would try it out. It took several hours to paint but was very calming and was what my man-friend would call a "flow" activity (a balance of enjoyment and challenge). It was a petite cake, I think it's a 4-5-6 inch square cake. For those of you who want to try this (and have the patience) all you need is food coloring and paint brushes to make it just simple water coloring. FUN!

Yo Gabba Gabba.... Who?

Marianne wanted a cake for her son's birthday. Since Charlie loves Yo Gabba Gabba, she wanted the characters on a simple little cake for the party centerpiece. I had never heard of these folks before (Gabba Gabba folks, that is), so I had to do some research. Turns out, the big red, cyclops dude is in a car commercial so every time I see the commercial now I think of this cake.

This was a 6-inch round, White Almond Cake (almond flavored cake layered with cream cheese frosting and sliced almonds) covered in marshmallow fondant and handmade characters. These were so fun to make because they were really unique looking characters. In order to make the characters, I cut out basic shapes in the fondant and then simply layer on other the details. I say simply but it's very time consuming to get these just right. Luckily I like doing little meticulous jobs like this (haha). The robot, in particular, was really fun because of all of his buttons and bars (I don't know what to call those... antenna? Yeah, let's go with antenna).

Marianne wrote me afterwards and said she felt bad eating the cake because it was so cute.... haha... Well, it's all sugar so I'm glad they ate it and enjoyed it :)

Green Dots & Bows

This is a four tiered wedding cake accented with green and black. The green turned out to be darker than I had anticipated but the men in my home say this is one of their favorites. Everything on the cake is made out of homemade marshmallow fondant and the green accents are hand painted with green food coloring to get it a better shade of green (yet not exactly what I was looking for). This cake is modeled after a beautiful cake I saw on Cake Central and hope I did that person proud. It was actually very simple to make, it's a lot of dots and circles along with three small bows, but it took quite a bit of time to get the dots perfectly aligned. I was practicing with these colors because I have a few upcoming wedding cakes with green and black accents... exciting! Oh, and in case it's unclear, the bottom is the cake base that makes it look like the cake has a little character... I like that :)

It's HERE!! SaltCakeCity.com!

I'm so excited to finally announce that I've created (painstakingly, hours upon hours, yelling, screaming, calling tech support, late nights, etc.) www.SaltCakeCity.com! Finally! Please check it out and let me know what you think... :)

Topsy Turvy Flowers and Duckys

My apprentice, Alex, needed a cake for her sister's homecoming party and she's always wanted to make a topsy turvy cake. This was the perfect opportunity! She wanted to personalize this cake to her sister's likings and so the top tier has hand painted gerber daisies, the middle tier has doormats (because her sister collects photos of doormats and we specifically modeled these doormats after the ones her sister took pictures of), and the bottom tier has rubber duckys swimming in bubbles. The cake weighed 20 pounds and took hours upon hours to complete. The top tier was a Ruby Red Velvet cake, the middle tier was Chocolaty Chocolate Cake and the bottom tier was a Rainbow Bright Cake (with each layer of cake colored to match the design of the cake, so blue, pink, and yellow layers of cake with buttercream). Here's another view so you can see some more of the doormats.

Now for a little more detail. The gerber daisies were made by using a flower cookie cutter and simply layering two flowers on top of each other to give it some depth. The doormats were really fun because Alex spent a ton of time really getting the details right. They look identical to the ones in the pictures. Essentially, it was like using food coloring as water color painting. Took a while but was totally worth it. Lastly, the duckys were shaped by hand to look like rubber duckys. This is where it takes me back to being a kid and playing with play-doh. I use homemade marshmallow fondant for my cakes and it was really fun to mold that fondant into ducks. The beaks were then painted orange, we put little eyes on them and Alex painted cute eyelashes on them. In total, the cake was really a great reflection of Alex's sister and I hear the cake was a huge success at the party. Great job once again, Alex! :)

Dave Matthew's Dancing Nancy Valentine

Bill wanted a unique Valentine's Day cake and thought that Dancing Nancy would be a good way to personalize this holiday for his wife. When he started describing what he wanted, I finally had to ask, "Is this a Valentine's Day cake...?" :) He wanted the Dave Matthews Dancing Nancy on top and DMB on it (Dave Matthews Band). I added in a few roses and hearts and Bill was pretty happy with the end result.

This was my first attempt at a cake that's shaped this way (Ah! I don't know what it's called!). It's wider on the top and tapers in on the bottom. It's amazing what an electric turkey carver can do in the right hands. haha. All of the decorations are made out of marshmallow fondant, including the roses. I modeled the hearts after a cake I saw on Cake Central (I apologize for not getting your name). I cut red fondant into tiny strips and then rolled the ends inward. After letting them dry for a bit, they were nice and east to put on the cake. The letters and the Dancing Nancy are painted with silver shimmer dust to make it shine just a little more. It was red velvet cake to match the holiday layered with buttercream. Happy Chocolate Eating Day everyone!

Silver Dots & Bows

I love silver in general so I definitely love silver on cake. It's more time consuming than people probably think because fondant doesn't come in silver... instead we have to paint on edible silver "paint" essentially. It's a four tiered cake covered in marshmallow fondant. The dots are a mixture of black and white dragees (they're basically fancy versions of tiny and shiny jaw breakers) and dots of fondant that are painted silver. The trim and bows were also painted silver (hopefully that's noticeable :) This cake is modeled after a beautiful cake from Pink Cake Box. They do amazing work there and so I've always wanted to recreate some of their cakes. I hope I did them justice!