Crimson & Gold Stripes Cake

Natasha saw a wedding cake that I had done a few months back and wanted something similar just with her wedding colors. Her colors were crimson and gold so we made the base color white with just a little touch of color. She wanted these particular flowers on there and they matched the stripes pretty well here. The whole cake was Brownie Lovers cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate ganache and layers of brownie) covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. I made each tier 6-inches tall, instead of the typical 4-inches tall, which really gave this cake some height and character. I ended up really loving the color combination and the crispness of the sides. So much fun! :) Congratulations, Natasha!

Gerber Daisy Cupcakes

Lea was having a reception back here in Utah after her destination wedding in Hawaii. In order to tie in the Hawaiian theme, she wanted some bright and fun cupcakes. We decided to do bright orange, yellow, green, and pink gerber daisies made out of marshmallow fondant to top most of the cupcakes and then a few cupcakes with just bright colored frosting. This was the end product! I have to give a quick shout out to Dennis Jones Construction for his AWESOME carpentry skills in making this beautiful cupcake stand. It was hand-crafted and mailed to me from Carmel, CA, and I was so completely pleased. Every time I saw it, it made me smile. This cupcake stand exceeded even my own expectations of his abilities and I just can't say enough about it. Thank you so much! I will definitely be using DL Jones construction in the future :)

Now to the cupcakes. Lea wanted Tuxedo flavored cupcakes and so there was quite a lot behind getting these babies to be just right. First, I baked chocolate & vanilla cupcakes (I scooped half chocolate batter into the cupcakes and then scooped vanilla on top of that). You can see in the first picture how the chocolate is peaking through on some of the cupcakes. Second, I dipped the cooled cupcakes into rich, chocolate ganache (picture 2). When the ganache had cooled, I piped sweet buttercream on the tops of the cupcakes (picture 3). Finally, I added colorful marshmallow fondant flowers to the tops of the white buttercream and piped bright colored buttercream on the tops of some of the other cupcakes (picture 4).

My mom, who lives in California, was visiting that week and happened to help me make all 100 or so gerber daisies that were cut by hand, shaped, and topped with a ball of marshmallow fondant that had been rolled in tiny candy balls. This just gave them a little extra color, pop, and flavor. Thank you, mom!!

Lastly, here is the cake topper that Lea and her now-husband cut into. The flavor was Ruby Red Velvet (red velvet cake layered with cream cheese frosting) and the cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. All-in-all, I loved how this cake order came together. I was so pleased to have the help of Mr. Jones (who made the stand), my mom (who cut out so many little flowers), and Rosie & Drew (who helped deliver all of the cupcakes and set it up in site). Thank you all for your help in making this beautiful display!

Skulls & Graduation Hand-in-hand!

Bill wanted a personalized graduation cake for Kalee. When he contacted me to tell me that, I said, "Buuuut, you do realize it's September, right?" He admitted he was a bit behind on the celebration but it's always nice to apologize for lateness with cake :) His daughter loves skulls and the color orange so he sent me a print that she loves that alternates hearts and stars. I incorporated that into the sides of the cake (pictured below) and the lady skull on top with a graduation cap. The cake is covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and all of the decorations are fondant as well.

Bill has ordered several cakes from me in the past and I just recently learned from one of his daughters that HIS favorite flavor is Brownie Lovers (layers of chocolate cake and brownies covered in chocolate ganache). I was pretty impressed that he ordered his favorite because I can tell he's a very thoughtful guy for those around him and I'm just happy that he get something he loves as well. It's always a pleasure to create something for Bill and his family and I look forward to many more completely unique designs from their creativity! Congrats, Kalee!

Balloons on a cake!!

Colleen wanted a colorful and fun birthday cake for Leah's first birthday party. Since Leah has begun a recent fascination with balloons, we thought we would incorporate those into the cake. The colors were inspired by the other decor of the party and for some reason, purple always looks blue-ish in my pictures. In any case, it was green, purple, orange, and pink :)

The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and everything on the cake is edible, including the balloons and bow on the top. One tier was Ruby Red Velvet cake (bright red velvet cake layered with cream cheese frosting) and the other tier was Rainbow Bright cake (sweet vanilla cake dyed to match the colors of the party and layered with sprinkles and buttercream). Leah obviously needed her own cake to "smash" into so I ended up making a matching cake. It was pretty big for a 1-year old but that's okay. I'm sure she loved it :) The streamers popping out of the cake are also made of fondant. This cake was so much fun to make because I always love when people order colorful and vibrant cakes. Happy Birthday, Leah!!

Stack of Books for us Nerds

Corrinne was the one we grad students went to for... well, pretty much everything. If I didn't know what to register for, I asked her. If I didn't know my copy code, I asked her. If I needed something changed for class, I asked her. I don't know if everyone relied as much on Corrinne as I did but I was definitely sad to hear that she was leaving. Corrinne really just moved to a different office on campus because she's TEACHING now! (woo-hoo! Now she can get the joys that we get!) Even though we were all very happy for her, it was still a very bitter sweet goodbye. In her honor, I decided to make her a set of books since she loves to read and let's face us, all grad students are nerds, right? :) One "book" was Mocha Java Cake (chocolate cake layered with coffee buttercream), one "book" was Coconut Cream Pie Cake (coconut flavored cake layered with coconut cream filling, coconut flakes, and buttercream), and one "book" was Banana Cream Pie Cake (lightly flavored banana cake layered with banana cream filling, banana slices, and buttercream).

In order to make these books, I had to pre-cut the covers of each book so that when the fondant hung over the sides, they wouldn't sag. I dried them slightly over a fake styrofoam box and then that way, I could just lift it off and place it on the cake. The book's cover design was made by using a stencil and gold colored buttercream. I accented it further with molded cut outs. It's hard to see here, but I scored the marshmallow fondant along the book sides in order appear as though they are pages.

I remember being a few minutes late to the surprise get-together for Corrinne and so the new graduate advisor, Hilary, was waiting for me outside. I quickly carried the books toward her and she asked where the cake was... then she stopped and said, "Wait, this is a cake?!" When we finally got in and set the cake up, Corrinne came in to the surprise party, which at this point wasn't such a surprise because us Comm students/faculty and really talk :) She started to cry and then we cried and then we ate cake. I couldn't have asked for a better reaction. Corrinne, you really have done so much for us (me especially) and you are greatly missed! Come visit us soon!

Trio of Strawberry Cakes

Chris & Annie were having a cake tasting for their upcoming wedding and ended up picking three flavors with strawberry in them. For the tasting, I decided to decorate them with an old-school parlor theme. The real reason I decorated them was because I needed a way to tell them apart! :) The first cake is Old Fashioned PB&J. It was peanut butter flavored cake layered with strawberry cream filling and buttercream. The groom loved this flavor because of its uniqueness and they ended up choosing that for their wedding cake. The peanut and strawberry accents were made out of marshmallow fondant.

The second flavor was Strawberry Cheesecake, which is strawberry cake with strawberries baked in layered with cheesecake cream filling and buttercream. I loved this little cheesecake on the top of the cake. It made me hungry to eat the cakes!

This last cake is White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cake which is strawberry cake with strawberries baked in layered with whipped white chocolate ganache. It was RICH! Phew!

In any case, I loved the look of these three even though there was no reason to decorate them... just for funsies! :)

An Ode to my Students

Over the summer, I began teaching cake classes and have met some amazing upcoming cakers as well as some ladies that were just along for the ride. I have been VERY behind on my blog postings but I wanted to give a shout out to these wonderful ladies and their beautiful creations. For all of the women, this was their first time covering a cake in marshmallow fondant and for most of these women, this was their very first time making a cake in general.Alin's flower cake is impeccable. She has made beautiful cakes with buttercream and was experimenting with fondant for the first time. With such a great job here, I doubt she'll go back :)

Holli's circles cake was awesome. The colors worked well especially with the alternating marshmallow fondant border she created. I'm always impressed at how well these ladies have been at covering their cakes with fondant for the first time. This was definitely a first for Holli but you can't tell from this picture!

This beautiful cherry blossom cake was Sarah's first ever cake creation! Look at that fondant job! It was covered like a pro!

Pam had an awesome idea for her cake creation. Her husband is a really big golfer and so she wanted to make him a golf-themed cake. This was totally her idea! She cut the blades of grass but even more impressive was the way that she used a melon-baller to indent the cake in order to put the impressions (i don't know what those hole-looking things are called on a golf ball!). Great work here, Pam! SO creative! I told her I was going to take this cake and tell everyone it was my own... but alas, I'm not creative enough to think of that! :)

Andrea was probably the funniest student I've had in my cake classes. Every time I turned around, she was eating something... cake, frosting, marshmallow fondant... it was hilarious to watch her work. By the end of the class, not only had she created this beautiful work of art, but she was COVERED in powdered sugar (don't worry, most of it was just thrown on for the picture :) Thank you for the fun time, Andrea!

Starla made a red and black circle cake for her family. Again, look at those beautifully covered sides! This is tough, even for pros!

Honey had crisp edges here at the top and the blue border really gave the cake a little punch of character. This looked effortless for her! Well done!

Hearts, hearts, and stars... Marcela's first time using marshmallow fondant seemed so easy! She was definitely a natural! That's probably because she's always hands deep in chocolate or sugar or something sweet. She brought homemade chocolate truffles to our cake class so along with powdered sugar, we had chocolate.... yummm! You can check out her chocolate deliciousness at www.thesweetbrigadier.com

This cake was pretty much Rosie's first time making any type of cake related creation. She was definitely afraid of the outcome but did a beautiful job here, as you can see. She accented her cake with bright orange and blue shapes and kept it very simple. Nice work!

Michelle's cake creation was totally unique because she designed as she went along. Great job, Michelle!

Sara was so excited to learn how to use marshmallow fondant. She has made many cakes in the past using buttercream and was always a bit scared to try fondant. As you can see, she did a beautiful job with the flowers and the fondant in general. Since the class, she's been making more cakes with fondant and getting better with each new creation!

Salley's hearts and stripes were very feminine and the purple accents brought a little more depth to this cake. Great job, Cathy! I'm sure her hubby loved it :)

Thank you so much to all of you who have filled my cake classes with hard work, laughter and fun! Even though some of you were disappointed in the process, you all ended up admitting how much fun you had and how proud you were of your creations. I have been amazingly proud of your work as well because trust me, my first cakes did NOT look this good. I hope to see more pictures of your caking and as always, feel free to call or text or email with any caking emergencies! :)

Cherry Pie Cake

A while back, I made Terry's daughter's wedding cake (the celtic tree wedding cake). Luckily, she loved that cake and was hoping I made cherry pies since she has a long running tradition with her husband to get and/or make him a cherry pie for his birthday. Because I don't make pies, I pitched the idea of making him a pie-cake. Luckily she went for it because this is what we ended up with. The cake was a Chocolate Dipped Cherry Pie Cake (chocolate cake with cherries baked in layered with chocolate buttercream). I used real cherries on the top of the cake that are "peaking" through the pie strips. In order to make the cake look like pie, I used a light-brown colored marshmallow fondant as the outside and stripes. Then I hand painted them with a light coat of brown food coloring so that it had some variation and depth to it. Lastly, I sprinkled the cake with crystalized sugar because I think that's what they usually sprinkle on pies, right? Right-o! I made the "picnic blanket" out of marshmallow fondant as well. Ah, I had SO much fun with this cake. I love making cakes that look like other things... more to come!!

Barbwire & Shotgun Shells

Capryl wanted a unique wedding cake... and I mean UNIQUE! When we originally talked, she wanted shotguns shells, barbwire, and bullets on the cake. I was definitely interested in the challenge. I had the couple over for a cake tasting and her fiance, Rob, happened to see my Chocolate Flower cake (all brown with lots of bright flowers on it) and wanted something like that. I remember telling them at that a barbwire-shotgun-cake couldn't be any further from the Chocolate Flower Cake. Turns out, I was wrong! We ended up using shotgun shells made from chocolate, fake barbwire, AND beautiful, bright flowers. The couple had a dark red and orange/dark yellow color theme so I made these sugar flowers to match their colors.

Two of the tiers were Banana Cream Pie Cake (lightly flavored banana cake layered with banana cream filling, sliced fresh bananas, and buttercream). The other two tiers were Mocha Java Cake with Caramel Cream filling (chocolate cake layered with coffee buttercream). Rob came to the cake tasting saying he doesn't like cake and I sold him on the Banana Cream Pie Cake (since it tasted like pie :) and Capryl came to the cake tasting saying she doesn't like fondant. I sold her on my homemade marshmallow fondant (as I mentioned in a earlier post).

Now onto the delivery. My best friend/marshmallow fondant maker, Rosie, came with me for the delivery. Capryl and Rob held their wedding pretty far out of town on, what I could only describe as a farm (but I'm from Long Beach so what do I know?). It was a BEAUTIFUL setting and they decorated the reception site to match their colors but kept that outdoor-home feel. On the day of the wedding, it was ridiculously hot but really windy for some reason. The caterers could barely keep the red-bandana themed napkins on the table. It was challenging to set the cake up on site because of the heat and wind but it was a success and I heard their wedding was also amazing.

I LOVE when couples make their wedding their own and really personalize every detail. This wedding cake was so unique and turned out great! Capryl & Rob, thank you for trusting me with this amazing creation and congratulations!

Inspired by Twilight

Brynlee was having a pretty awesome birthday bash and to match the party decor (complete with full-sized posters of Jacob, Edward and Bella), her mom, Mette, wanted to get her a large centerpiece cake. This cake was the result. The bottom tier and the second tier were both real cake while the solid white and solid red tier were used to make the cake even bigger. The cake is covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and the ribbon, chess pieces, apple, and flowers were also made out of fondant.

One tier was Mint Chocolate Chip (chocolate cake layered with chocolate chips and mint buttercream) and the other tier was Rainbow Bright cake (vanilla cake that is dyed to match the colors of the theme and then layered with buttercream and sprinkles).

I was lucky enough to deliver this cake and got to see Mette and Brynlee's reactions, not to mention the awesome party scene! I'm so glad they loved it and I hope Brynlee had an AWESOME 10th birthday bash!

Two-Sided Pirate Cake

Last year, I made a two-sided cake for Patty because her three children celebrate their birthdays so closely together. Last year, it was a car and kitty theme but this year, they all three wanted a pirate themed party. The top tier was Strawberry Not So Short Cake (strawberry cake with strawberries baked in layered with vanilla cream filling and buttercream) and the bottom cake was Banana Cream Pie Cake (lightly flavored banana cake with banana cream filling, fresh banana slices, and buttercream).

The whole cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and all of the accents were also fondant. The ladies wanted hearts and a more friendly looking skull while Junior wanted to keep a more classic red and black design. I made the top treasure chest out of rice crispy cereal and then covered it in fondant. In order to keep the top of the chest at an angle, I had to make it separately and angle it by stuffing the chest full of treasure-looking candy. All of coins, pearls, and pirate "booty" were edible made out of either fondant or pearlized dragees (edible balls). I marbelized the fondant on the chest in order to make it look more like wood and brushed brown sugar underneath the treasure chest to give it a beach feel.

I loved make this cake(s) and really like how it turned out! I hope I continue to be a part of Patty, Giselle, Alyssa, and Junior's parties because they definitely keep me on my toes with their cake ideas.

Race Car Cake

Last year, I make Kieran's first birthday cake, which was a Wubbzy Cake. This year, Kieran's mom wanted a race car theme for his birthday so we came up with this idea. The cake was Chunky Monkey, just like last year (chocolate cake layered with banana cream filling, banana slices, and chocolate ganache). The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and all of the cars and signs were also from fondant. I have to give a shout out to Cake Journal for their adorable race car tutorial. It was definitely my inspiration for these race cars. This cake was small, compact, but pretty darn cute! :)

Black, White, & Silver Birthday

Jim was turning 50 this year and to celebrate, his wife wanted a classy cake. Last year, she surprised him by hanging an over sized picture of him as a baby outside of his office so this year, she wanted to tone it down just a bit. :) The bottom cake was German Chocolate Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate buttercream, chopped pecans, and coconut flakes) and the top cake was Carrot Cake (carrot cake layered with cream cheese frosting). The cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and accented with marshmallow fondant pearls and silver dragees. The "50" was also marshmallow fondant painted with edible silver shimmer.

After I made the cake, I stepped back and thought "I'm so happy I spelled 'You're' correctly." Otherwise, I could have been on cake-wrecks and not for a good reason! Phew!

SuperBron

Leona needed a cake for her husband, Bron, who is a big kid. She said he loves Superman and so she wanted a cake in that theme. I kept this cake pretty simple to make it more "adult" rather than kid-friendly. The cake was English Toffee Cake (yellow cake layered with rich, chocolate ganache and crushed toffee bits in between the layers of cake). It was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant with marshmallow fondant words and letters.

Because the cake ended up being a little bit shorter than I had anticipated (my cakes are usually 4-inches tall and this one was more like 3-inches or 3 and a half inches tall), I ended up making cake truffles to accompany the order. These cake truffles were also yellow cake covered in chocolate ganache with a piece of English Toffee right in the center of the bite. Then, I sprinkled a little bit of red sugar on top to match the cake. Yum.... I always "have" to sample the cake truffles when I make them... fun for me! :)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Last year I made a cake that I was so unimpressed by and simultaneously disappointed in that I didn't even post it on my blog. Because of that catastrophe, I had to make this second cake awesome. So let me explain....

Lisa, my mentor, was one of the first people to tell me to follow my dreams of caking (which was funny because she was concurrently my mentor helping me earn a Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD degree). When she had Sheridan, her first beautiful baby boy, I HAD to do the cake for his first birthday. The only problem was that I live in Salt Lake and she lives in Sacramento. I decided to make a fake cake for her and ship it to her to put on top of a real cake that she served to the guests. Sheridan was loving the song about monkeys jumping on a bed so I made a bed with Sheridan's favorite afghan on it and then made monkeys that looked like they were jumping on the bed. I lovingly wrapped the monkeys in bubble wrap hoping it would help them stay together which totally backfired because the fondant must have warmed up on the way over and the monkeys all had a bubble wrap texture (NOT what I had originally wanted). Then, it just so happens that monkeys made from fondant don't like to travel very nicely so most of them broke in the mail (I made double the amount needed and I think almost all of them broke). Poor Lisa ended up doing late-night-monkey-surgery in order to get the monkeys back into shape for the cake.

Now, back to this cake. This year, Sheridan's favorite song is the Itsy Bitsy Spider so I wanted to make a cake with that theme. Since I had to go above and beyond the last cake-tastrophe, I made this a three tiered cake with multiple spiders and a huge sun that stood out of the cake. I was so happy with the result and packaged it lovingly once again with plastic wrap. I added special instructions on how to get the legs for the spiders in the corresponding holes and prayed all night for a safe travel. I am happy to report that the cake made it nearly without a scratch. There was a tiny piece on the back of the cake that broke off but all the spiders and tiers made it perfectly.

The general idea here was that the Itsy Bitsy spider was going to go up the water spout on the side of a yellow house with orange rose bushes. Then, the water washed that little spider out, hence his little sad face. Finally, the sun came out and dried up all the rain and that lil' itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again. I think Lisa's description (and singing) is much better so here you go: http://geneticenhancement.blogspot.com/2010/08/minor-spider-surgery.html

Everything on this "cake" was made out of fondant and technically edible. I'm so just so happy that Sheridan got a cake that was up to my standards :) I can't wait for next year's cake!! Happy Birthday, Sheridan!!!

Skateboard Cupcakes

I was so happy to do these cupcakes. Cutting, shaping, and painting each of these skateboards was so much fun... but very time-consuming. Trish wanted to surprise her son, Jacob, with skateboard themed cupcakes for his 16th birthday since they were having the party at a skate park. Half of the cupcakes were chocolate with vanilla buttercream while the others were Cookies & Cake with Oreo buttercream. The skateboards were made out of marshmallow fondant and hand-painted with food coloring to match Jacob's favorite brand of skateboards. Many of them are turned upside down so that you can see the wheels and some of them are right side up. It was a bit tricky to get the wheels to stay on there but I managed to make it work. I have to say a big "Thank you!" to my man-friend for his amazing artistic help here. He's an amazing artist and his help here was invaluable. You can tell the ones that he did because they look AWESOME! :)
Here's a shot of just some of the skateboards. Like I said above, the good ones were done by my lovely man-friend. :)

A Cake Tasting with Three Cakes

I did a cake tasting for a wonderful couple and decided to actually decorate the cakes for the tasting. This first cake was a Banana Cream Pie cake, which is banana cake layered with banana cream filling and banana slices. Originally, the couple wanted all buttercream and no fondant so I left this cake bare, with no fondant. It's covered in buttercream and the yellow dots are marshmallow fondant. This was their favorite cake, despite the fact that the groom never eats cake. Yes! I sold another one! :)

This second cake was Ruby Red Velvet cake and I covered this one in homemade marshmallow fondant so that they could see and taste the difference. Then, they both agreed that they wanted marshmallow fondant for their cakes. Double score!
This last cake was a Caramel Macchiato Cake, which is coffee flavored cake layered with caramel cream filling, caramel, and buttercream. This cake was also just covered in buttercream with marshmallow fondant accents. In the end, I had fun decorating with buttercream, I sold the groom on cake, AND I sold the bride on using marshmallow fondant! Woo-hoo! It was a great day! :) Thank you, Caisxa, Capryl & Rob! I had a fun time tasting some cake and talking about barbwire and shotgun shells (don't worry, this will all make sense in a few weeks when I post the Barbwire wedding cake... oh, it's awesome... you just wait!)

Hawaiian Luau Cake

Amber needed a "girlie, princess, hawaiian" themed birthday cake for Madeline's 3rd birthday. She saw a beautiful cake done by The Pink Cake Box and wanted something similar for the party. She decided on a Rainbow Bright Cake (multicolored vanilla cake layered with sprinkles and buttercream) for the top and the bottom and Brownie Lovers Cake (chocolate cake layered with real brownies and chocolate ganache) for the middle tier. The whole cake was covered in homemade marshmallow fondant and all of the accents were also marshmallow fondant.

To make the shells, I cut out large round circles and then shaped them into shells. I used an exacto knife to make the indents in the shells and then painted the shells with a light blue color and shimmer dust. I waited till they dried a bit and then added the green.... string? I'm not sure what to call those. :)

The grass skirt was a bit tricky. First, I rolled out the green fondant into one long and wide strip. Then, I used a pizza cutter to cut the grass strips into large pieces. I ended up putting two or three layers of "grass" all around the cake to make sure there were no open areas. Ah, the trouble with the weight of fondant :)

Although I'm not even in the same ballpark as the Pink Cake Box, I ended up loving this cake because of its bright and vibrant colors. Thank you for inspiration and I hope Madeline loved the cake as much as I did!

Wasabi Border Cake

Cindee wanted a very simple wedding cake for her daughter, Jordan, with a very interesting color choice. She sent me a color swatch of "wasabi" which I LOVED! She wanted a taller cake but didn't need to feed too many people so she opted for the bottom tier of real cake with two fake tiers on top. The bottom cake was Carrot Cake layered with cream cheese frosting. I matched the wasabi color on the border of the cake and for added detail, I placed dots all around the cake and painted them with shimmer dust. When I put them all together, I loved how simple yet playful the cake was. I delivered the cake to the reception at a beautiful house in Sandy. I remember thinking, "Wow, now this is a wedding reception!" It was a beautiful home with a great reception going on in the backyard complete with a trampoline and playground for the kiddies and a beautiful patio area for the adults. It looked beautiful! This order was so much fun and easy to complete due to Cindee's constant faith and support in my abilities. Thank you, Cindee, and congratulations, Jordan!

Turquoise & Lime Wedding

Rebecca wanted a very colorful and fun themed wedding cake but didn't need to feed too many people. So, we made two bottom tiers from fake cakes and then had the top tier real, which was Chocolately Chocolate Cake (chocolate cake layered with chocolate buttercream). Her colors were turquoise and lime green and so we incorporated those as best as possible. I love how vibrant the colors ended up being on the cake. Congratulations, Rebecca!