Minnie Mouse 1st Birthday Cake

I love this Minnie Mouse-themed first birthday cake. The soft pink buttercream makes it the perfect cake for a sweet little girl.


The cake was iced in buttercream and decorated with fondant polka dots & daisies. The bow and ears topper was created out of gum paste.



Happy 1st Birthday, Khamari!

Purple Bat Mitzvah Cake

Today is Day 2 of cake catch-up week! Here's a cake created for a fun bat mitzvah party in Gainesville, FL.


Emily's entire party was centered around different shades of purple, and they gave these purple lollipops as favors to all the party-goers.


The cake tiers were covered in white fondant and decorated with purple fondant accents. And, as usual, the purple bow on top was created with fondant!

Leopard & Zebra Print Birthday Cake

I've got some cake catching up to do so I promise to post 1 cake each day this week! And, stay tuned for another sneak peak on Facebook! This one may actually accompany a PRIZE!!!

Here's a cake I made while still working at Ms Debbie's Sugar Art in Newberry. It was designed by the birthday girl herself. She wanted Tiffany blue zebra print, leopard print, a glitzy topper, the word "Diva" on there somewhere, some purple quilted pattern, and a beauty queen-like sash across the front. Wow, that's a lot! Luckily, it all come together in one cohesive design.


Now, that's what I call a custom, personalized cake!

Diaper Bag Baby Shower Cake

Last weekend, Adam's mom threw us another baby shower! There were so many people there to talk to and so much good food to eat that I didn't take a single photo at the shower. Whoops! I can't believe it! So I have no new baby bump photos to share with you, but I do have a gazillion photos of the cake!

It's the first official cake for Mikaela from Mommy! In other words, I made it. I spent almost all day Friday working on it because I wanted it to be just perfect for her.

The cake itself was shaped like a giant diaper bag and had a layer of chocolate cake, a layer of vanilla cake, and guava filling. The baby shower was held at Cafe Nuevo in Tampa (yum!) so I thought it was appropriate to have guava filling.




I made a tag for the bag and wrote "Mikaela" on it so it looked like we were ready to drop her off at day care. Although, I don't know if she'll ever go to day care with 2 sets of grandparents dying to babysit. *wink*


And I made a couple of pairs of shoes using cutters from Cakes N'Supplies by Ximena. Love them! I made these late at night on Thursday so they came out a little sloppier than I'd hoped...I think my eyes had started going cross-eyed...but the cake wouldn't have been complete without them! In fact, Taylor, who came over to help me deliver the garbage truck cake & cookies, helped me by making the buttons and cutting out the Converse logos. Perfectly done!


Then I made a key teether set using another cutter from Cakes N'Supplies by Ximena. So cute! And I had to make some safety pins to represent the fact that we're going to use cloth diapers for Mikaela.


And after we finished putting all the accessories on the board, Taylor and I noticed a blank spot towards the back. Oh no! That will not do! But Taylor came to the rescue and made this adorable baby rattle to fill the spot!


My due date is only 7 weeks away now and we can't wait to meet Mikaela!

Garbage Truck Cake & Cookies

Last week, I had the privilege of making a cake and cookie favors for a very cute little boy's birthday.

Apparently, West is really into garbage trucks! He gets excited when they come to pick up his family's trash or recycling. In fact, the week of his birthday, they even let him help dump the recycling in the truck! How cool is that?!

So when his Mom contacted me to order his birthday cake, they (of course) wanted a garbage truck. We designed the cake based on photos of cakes she liked as well as photos of their local garbage truck. There were a few specific requests though. West wanted to make sure the cake had a front-end lift for garbage pick-up, not the traditional back loader, since that's what their local truck has. And he also preferred 3 wheels rather than 2. In addition, they wanted a yellow caution light on the top of the cake near the back, a number 4 somewhere on it, and "Happy 4th Birthday West!"



And you see that awesome logo "West Waste"? West's father made that logo, resembling their local trash pick-up company, to coordinate with West's Halloween costume last year. So the logo was a MUST on the cake!


The wheels were made of Rice Krispies Treats covered in fondant, but everything else you see is CAKE! The cake was covered with green or white buttercream and the decorations were done with fondant. And the cake flavor? Vanilla cake with Bavarian cream filling - yum!

West's Mom also ordered some garbage truck cookie favors for each of the party attendees. They were mini versions of the cake and were personalized with each person's name.


Look, it's like a momma truck and a baby truck!


Happy Birthday, West!

Redfish Groom's Cake

Here's a cake I decorated while still working up at Ms Debbie's Sugar Art earlier this year. And it was actually delivered to Clearwater Beach!


The cake was hand-carved, covered in fondant, and then airbrushed to add the color and detail typical of a Redfish.

A Casino-Themed Birthday Cake

Here's a fun cake we made for a man's 30th birthday party!


They wanted the cake to be casino-themed so we made a roulette wheel out of Rice Krispies Treats for the topper. The cards and poker chips were made of gum paste and we "glued" them to the cake to make the cake come to life.

They didn't want the cake to specifically say "Happy 30th Birthday!" so we subtly hinted at this birthday milestone. Can you find it? *HINT: You can see it in the picture below if you look very closely.*


ANSWER: The roulette ball came to rest on #30!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Groom's Cake

A couple of weeks ago, we did a wedding and groom's cake at Sweetwater Branch Inn in Gainesville. And now that I think of it, I can't remember what the wedding cake looked like for the life of me! Whoops!

That's ok though. The star of this blog post is the groom's cake. If you follow Mel's Cake Walk on Facebook, this cake will look familiar. I posted a very similar cake by Cup a Dee Cakes almost a year ago as a "Friday Feature."

This bride and groom wanted a close representation of that cake. If you do a google image search for Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake, you'll find a bazillion of them. Apparently, there are quite a few Reese's fanatics out there!

For this cake, we created a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups package and left one cup peeking out the opened end of the package. Here's a shot of the cake just after completion in the bakery:


At Sweetwater Branch Inn, the bride left a LOT of Reese's cups for me to spread around the cake. I have to admit that the cups really completed the look of the cake. And they really smelled delicious, but by the time I opened my 200th Reese's cup, I was sick of them! Of course, I still ate the 2 damaged cups on the way back to the bakery...but that's besides the point...

Cake for a Hair Stylist

Last week, we created a cake for a hair stylist. The customer brought in a picture of the cake and asked for an exact replica. No problem!

We carved the blow dryer out of a chunk of cake and covered it with red fondant. Then we used black airbrush color to add dimension and shadowing to the blow dryer. And, finally, we added the stripes, personalized "B", and the power cord.


And all the accessories around the hair dryer were made of gum paste by yours truly.


That reminds me, I'm due for a hair cut! *wink*

Ketchup Bottle Groom's Cake

Here's a groom's cake that's close to my heart. Growing up, my best friend Amy put ketchup on everything - even potato chips! She was a definitely ketchup lover!

So I totally understood when a bride & groom came in to order a cake that looked like an old-fashioned ketchup bottle. The groom is apparently a ketchup fanatic too!


The cake was hand-carved and covered with red fondant. And, when we delivered it, the groom oohed and awed over it! So here's to you Amy and Mr. Ketchup Groom!

Super Bowl XLV

The Super Bowl is this Sunday! Are you excited?! I'm not...not about the football part at least. I'm more excited that all my shows will be starting up again - Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, etc.

But here is a football groom's cake I did a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd post it in honor of the upcoming super bowl.

Fondant 101

It's time for a new tutorial! Today, instead of showing you how to do a specific project, we're going to talk about fondant.

What the heck is fondant, anyway?

Well, I like to think of it as edible play dough. Pretty much anything you can do with play dough, you can do with fondant!

You can purchase pre-made, ready-to-use fondant from a variety of sources:
Wilton
Satin Ice
Fondarific
FondX
Choco-Pan (actually an alternative to rolled fondant and made with white chocolate)

Or make your own from scratch:
Rolled Fondant Recipe
Rolled Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

The first think you need to know is fondant dries out quickly so you need to store it wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. I like to wrap mine in plastic wrap and then put it in a zip-top bag for extra protection against air exposure.


Working with fondant is very hands-on so you MUST wash your hands before you begin! Also, be careful what you wear. Any lint or hair particle on your shirt will show up in your fondant as you work. For this reason, knit tops and dark colors are usually avoided. Or just wear an apron!

When you first open your fondant, it won't have much elasticity. If you pull the fondant in opposite directions, it will just break as shown in the pictures below.




So you have to knead it for a while until it become stretchy and elastic.



Now, you're ready to work with it!

You can do so many things with fondant, including but not limited to:
Cover Cakes with Fondant
Decorate Cookies
Add Fondant Accents/Cut-Outs to Buttercream or Fondant Cakes
Make Fondant Bows
Make Fondant Pleats

For many of these applications, you'll need to roll the fondant out to a thin sheet. If you're just beginning, you may want to use Wilton's rolling pins with guide rings. On the rolling pin pictured below, the purple rings allow you to roll your fondant to 1/8 of an inch thick and the pink rings let you go all the way to 1/16 of an inch thick. Using these guide rings helps you get an even thickness throughout your fondant sheet and ensures that you get the thickness you're aiming for.


Before I begin rolling the fondant, I always "smoosh" it with my hand. Just flatten it a little so it's easier to roll.


Then start rolling! Roll from the center of the fondant outward. When you reach the end, go back to the center and roll the other way. Keep rolling until the fondant is so thin that the rolling pin is just gliding over the surface of the fondant. That means your guide rings have worked and you've rolled to the right thickness!


And now you have a sheet of freshly rolled fondant to use for whatever your little heart desires!

Seven-Tier Wedding Cake in St. Augustine, FL!

This wedding cake is from back in October...why haven't I posted it before now? Your guess is as good as mine! But I think you'll all really like it.

It was a seven tier wedding cake - all decorated with white and ivory fondant.


The cake topper was a dome of white and ivory gum paste flowers, and the top two tiers were decorated with fondant swags, lace, and quilting.


Then we had some ivory fondant stripes, more lace, more quilting, and a lot of fondant pleats around the base!


While I was in the middle of setting up the cake, the bridesmaids announced that Caroline was dying to see her cake! So, I moved all my stuff aside and...here comes the bride!


I think she liked it.


And I think she was even more excited to cut into it!


After tasting the cake, Caroline gave the camera a thumbs-up...yummy! But, wait a minute, Rob has icing on his finger...and a rather sinister look on his face. Don't do it, Rob! Do NOT rub that icing on Caroline's gorgeous nose!

*Thank you to Dana Goodson Photography for providing such amazing photos of the cake and cake cutting! See more of her shots of the wedding here.