Time Spent

One of the most common questions I get "How long does it take you to make something like this??" Well, I work in the lab until about 4pm every day so I can only work on these cakes in the evenings. I usually bake the cakes on Wednesday evening. Then, I can start the decorating on Thursday evening. If the cake is due on Friday, I have to get it all done on Thursday. If it's due on Saturday, I have a little extra time.

For example, the pool cake was due Saturday morning. All the stuff you see on top of the cake (chairs, dog, girl, beach ball) were made a week in advance because they need time to dry and become sturdy and hard. That cake was decorated in all buttercream so it was much faster than one with fondant.

The poker tournament cake was especially difficult to find time for this week. Adam's parents came into town on Thursday evening because his mom had surgery on her back on Friday morning. Like usual, I made the cakes on Wednesday and iced them with the chocolate buttercream on Thursday. On Friday, I covered the cake in fondant and then added all the hardened, pre-made poker chips, signs, and cards on Saturday. It may seem like I'm taking too long to do each step, but I like to let the cake "rest" between each major change. Sometimes, the weight of the icing or fondant can cause the cake to slide or slump. If I let it rest between each step, it's easier to fix things like that.

If I had more time during the day, these cakes could be made in a couple of days but it's more difficult for me right now since I can only find a few hours here and a few hours there. What's nice is that I can make a lot of stuff ahead of time - cards, chairs, etc - and have them ready to just set on the cake. One day, I'll log how many hours I put into a cake. I'll be willing to bet that I easily work 30-40 hours on any one cake. That's how many cake decorators can charge so much! I imagine that the poker cake could EASILY be sold for $150 at a bakery. One day, maybe I will be able to charge that too!

Speaking of ...if you'd like me to make a cake for you, I prefer at least 2 weeks notice so that I have time to completely think it through. This way, I can think through any problems that may occur and make a lot of stuff ahead of time. If worse comes to worst, I can make a cake with 1 week notice but it's a bit more stressful for me. When someone comes to me with an idea, I like to hear what they have in mind and then work up a couple of sketches over the next 24 hours. Then, I'll run those by the person, get their feedback, and make the final cake plans.

Poker Tournament!

About twice a year, one of Adam's poker-obsessed coworkers organizes a large poker tournament. Part of your entry fee includes dinner (hamburgers, hotdogs, and chips) and I always thought we needed desserts so I usually brought cookies or brownies or something like that. This year, I decided we needed an official poker tournament cake (Elise took care of the other cookies, brownies and goodies)! Here's the cake I brought:

























I paid a lot of attention to the playing cards so here's a close-up on them:


This cake was marbled (chocolate and vanilla swirled) with chocolate buttercream frosting and covered with both marshmallow and chocolate fondant.

Many of you already know that Adam and I have played in this tournament for a few years now. My goal is to always get at least one seat further than Adam. What can I say, I have a very competitive spirit but I set realistic goals - to expect to win every year is just ridiculous! haha! Anyway, usually I do end up beating Adam by a hair - I get eliminated right after him. This year, however, was a different story! I made it to 8th place, like usual...and Adam got 3rd! Way to go! He won $65 which covered our entry fees ($20 each) AND helped recover the cost of the cake!

2nd Order from Ph.D.-serts!

I've just completed my second official cake! This request came from my labmate Mike, who wanted a cake for his sister's birthday party. Apparently his sister really likes her new pool so he wanted a cake that resembled the pool. I was told the following: his sister is "busty" and has brown hair, she has a dog that digs all the time, the pool has a waterfall on one end, and she has 2 reclining beach chairs. Of course, I was told a lot more about the pool, but there's only so much you can fit on a 9x13-inch cake! :) Ok, so here's the finished cake:
In case you can't figure it out, that brown thing in the bottom left corner is the dog digging with his hiney in the air. haha! Here's the view of the cake from the side:


And here are a couple of close-up pictures to give you more details:















This is a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling. It's decorated in buttercream and the flowers, girl, dog, chairs, beach ball, and towel are made of fondant.

Mike, thank you for your support! This cake allowed me to explore a little more of what can be done with buttercream. Not all cakes must be covered in fondant to be beautiful and fun!

Lessons learned from this cake:
1. Decorating with buttercream is much faster than fondant!
2. Next time, use a double layer of cardboard under the cake to better support the weight.
3. Don't try to multitask while carmelizing sugar. This cake was supposed to have a carmelized buttercream filling...but after 2 batches ruined, I had to scrap that idea and go with chocolate filling.

Thanks again, Mike!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I just want to send a special note to my mom: Happy Birthday!!! I hope you have a relaxing weekend and really enjoy the cake Robin makes for you! :)

April - I just saw your comment to the Babies Galore! post: I'd love to make Mitchell's birthday cake! Yay, what fun!

Babies Galore!

A lot of my friends & family have had babies in the past year and I've really enjoyed watching them grow up - even if it's only through reading their blogs! I decided to make 2 cakes in honor of 2 of the babies - Lorelei and Ian. I've finished Lorelei's:


It's a really girly cake with daisies, play make-up and a purse. I have all intentions of making Ian's still. This one will obviously be more boy-themed. I plan to make a little hard hat, some blueprints, and a bunch of play tools. All boys like to build things right??? However, Ian's is still on the drawing board because life has gotten so crazy lately!

I just finished 4 weeks of teaching cake decorating classes at Michael's. My very first Course 1 group of 11 students had a 100% retention rate, except for the woman who had lots of family emergencies come up so she's retaking it in October. I can't wait to see how many stick around for Course 2 next month! It's been a lot of fun teaching this month and I don't think anyone knows that I've only been decorating since April or that this is the first class I've taught! The last session of Course 4 is also tonight and I have 5 students (100% retention also) in it. Next month, I'll teach Courses 1 and 2. Fun!

I've also had 2 friends ask me to make cakes for various occasions. The first was the purse cake. Next weekend, my labmate wants a pool-themed cake for his sister's birthday. I'll post those pictures as soon as the cake is complete.

I'm going to Phoenix on Thursday for 5 days for an Obesity Society Annual Meeting. Ironic isn't it? My life revolves around cakes and obesity research!

Camille

If you look at the websites of some cake bakers, they often give names to their wedding cakes...like Melanie or Michael! Well, I like the idea so I've named mine so far! The first one I made was the one with the swans on top that I took to the convention - that's Abby. The second one is the one with blue roses - Betsy! And here is Camille. Don't ask me where I got that name, it just popped in my head one day. I like to name the cakes the first thing that comes to mind...like it's meant to be! So, meet Camille! She's kind of a summer-y cake and the blue circles remind me a bit of the tiles on the bottom of a pool.

Scraps!

Over the last few months, Nani has become increasingly messy when she eats her breakfast and dinner. She has formed the habit of carrying a huge mouthful of food to various spots in the house, dropping all the food, and then eating each piece separately. The bad part about this is that she's not careful to pick up all the pieces that she's dropped. So, by the end of the week, we're constantly stepping on little crumbs of dog food - even though I sweep the floors like twice a week! Well, we finally decided we'd had enough of that so we're teaching Nani that when we say "Scraps!" she is supposed to pick up her crumbs! She's a very stubborn dog so sometimes she looks at her scraps and looks back at us like "No way, crazy. I'm saving those for later!" We KNOW that she understands what she's supposed to do - after all, she knows all her toys by name (Squeaker, Ghost, Rope, Hippo, Piggie (RIP), Dot (RIP), Puppy, Bone, Roo (RIP), Ball)! Anyway, here's a picture I took of her last weekend on Adam's lap. As soon as anyone pulls out a camera, she stops what she's doing to pose. No kidding! In fact, I was taking pictures of Lorelei one afternoon and Nani started making all kinds of noises because she was jealous that she was not the camera star! Phew, how did we get such a crazy dog?!

Happy Birthday, Shelby and Nicole!

Shelby and Nicole wanted to celebrate their birthdays together and they requested that their significant others order a cake from me for the party. The guys decided to keep it a secret, and chose a cake in the shape of a purse! At first I was intimidated by the whole idea of a sculpted, 3-D cake, but once I started thinking about it, it didn't seem so bad! So, I found a picture of an Louis Vuitton purse online and decided to replicate it:





To make it a bit more interesting, I also made them cell phones (Nicole got a Chocolate and Shelby got an iphone) a set of keys (Nicole's went to a Bentley and her keychain was a Java City Espresso Shot cup because she loves coffee and her guinea pigs love to chew on those cups; Shelby "drives" a Ferrari and her keychain was a sushi replica because she's a foodie), and a credit card with their sig. other's name on it (as if they went shopping with their credit cards).

The cake was a yellow cake with raspberry cream filling and was covered in marshmallow fondant (more tasty than fondant you purchase already made). I also made each of the girls a sugar plaque with roses that was completely edible (although it probably wouldn't taste that great).





Here is Ben cutting the cake: He ripped off the handles and cut right down the zipper! The girls were hoping the purse was full of money....keep dreaming! haha!


Thank you so much to Matt, Ben, Shelby, and Nicole for challenging me with this request! This cake will definitely go down in the books! Thanks, guys!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone! We're only 5 days away from the weekend - the countdown begins (again)! To cheer you up on such a depressing day, here's a very cheery cake. Let's just pretend it says "Happy Monday!"
People have asked about the Halloween Cookie Bouquet class. It will be on October 18th 1-3:30. The class registration fee (which must be paid at the time you sign up) is $20. Then, since the instructors will be making your cookies, you'll pay $10 to the instructors the day of the class. You'll also have a small supply list to pick up when you sign up for the class, but these supplies won't be exhausted when you take the class so you can always make more bouquets at home. So, basically you can take the class for about $30 plus supplies and take home this terrific bouquet! :) I'm really excited about the class so I hope some of you take it with me!

Class Plug: If anyone needs a stress-reliever or a new hobby or whatever, consider taking the Wilton classes at Michaels! Of course, please try to take it when I'm teaching course 1 (we rotate). I'll be teaching Course 1 in October and then not again until after the new year. The classes are a lot of fun and way worth it! You'll be impressed with what you can do with a cake/cupcakes/cookies after you take the classes! :) Each course is 4 weeks long and meets for 2 hours/week - Course 1 meets 6:30-8:30 Mondays.

Halloween Cookie Bouquet

We're going to offer a Halloween Cookie Bouquet class at Michaels on October 18th. Here's a picture of a bouquet I made to go on display at Michaels. It's going to be a super fun 2-hour class so if you're local, sign up! Cyndi and I will be teaching it (I think).