Orange & Blue Daisy Wedding Cake

It's traditional for wedding cakes to be white cake with white filling and white decorations. But, more and more, brides & grooms are choosing to incorporate nontraditional fillings (like guava, Bavarian cream, or raspberry) and using...*gasp*...COLOR on the cakes!

Of course, there is such a thing as too much color (think fluorescent green, orange, etc)...but bringing in touches of your wedding accent colors can really help decorate your reception.

Here's a cake we made for a bride and groom who were having an orange and blue wedding:


The cake was iced in white buttercream, and we wrapped real ribbon around the base of each cake tier.


The daisies were all hand-made from gum paste and attached to the cake. Then, we added a sprinkling of orange and blue polka dots around the daisies.


It's just enough color to bring the cake to life and still keep it elegant and formal. I love color on cakes, don't you?!

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!

Contests: 1 To Enter, 1 To Help Me Win!

I've got a couple of contests to tell you about today!

First of all, if you've ever dabbled in cake decorating, enter your beach-themed cake into an online contest on Cakes We Bake by August 23, 2011. The rules of the contest can be found here. I just entered a cake Debbie and I did for a friend's wedding in early May:


After all the entries have been received, you'll have a chance to go back and "favorite" the ones you want to win! Good luck!

Secondly, I've entered a contest that I would LOVE to win! The contest is hosted by Elise Kersey Photography, and I had to submit my idea for a "dream photo shoot." Of course, mine involved our future baby, Mikaela, and baking!

Here's my idea:

"I just opened a custom cake shop, and I'm my happiest when I'm in the kitchen elbow-deep in cake batter or powdered sugar. The only thing that can top my fun time in the kitchen is spending time with my husband and our baby girl, Mikaela. I would love to capture some photos of me and Mikaela working on some sweets together in our home kitchen. I'm thinking they can be shot with a sort of vintage, home-style feel. Picture some old 1950s photos of women working in the kitchen...but we'll modernize it by adding some subtle color, softening the focus, and - of course - using my KitchenAid mixer! We'd have powdered sugar on our cheeks and noses, bare feet, matching aprons, and you can hear our giggles coming through the photo."

To help me win, just "like" my idea on the contest page on Facebook. Share it with your friends! The idea with the most "likes" gets extra entries in the random raffle drawing to choose the winner.

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!

Princess Birthday Cake

Last weekend, I made my first cake in Tampa! It was only supposed to feed 25 people, but I hadn't touched a cake in weeks so I went a little overboard. I made it 2-tier, and it probably should have fed about 60 people. But, from what I'm told, there wasn't much cake leftover after the party so I guess they didn't mind!

The cake was for my mother-in-law's boss, Debi, who owns a clothing boutique called the Princess Boutique. They told me they wanted the cake decorated in shades of pink, topped with the Princess tiara, and to somehow incorporate high-heeled shoes.



So there you have it! I decided that using black silhouettes of the stilettos would look the most chic and help to contrast the "little girl" feel that the pinks & tiara were portraying. And I used the new Fabric Fondant & Gum Paste Mold from Wilton that I picked up a couple of weeks ago at the Wilton Food Blogger Workshop (stay tuned to see more of what I'm making with my loot).

But Debi wasn't the only one celebrating a princess' birthday last week! Our puppy Nani turned 4! In dog years, we're the same age now!


Taylor and my mother-in-law brought Nani some goodies, including this adorable ice cream cone cookie for puppies!


Nani was eager to please. Sit! Shake! Lay down!


Then she carried the cookie around the house for a bit...


...and finally settled down and smiled (or snarled?) for the camera.

Happy birthday, Debi & Nani!

Farm-Themed Birthday Cake

It's been quiet on the blog lately. There are a lot of exciting things going on in my life! I'll share some "sneak peeks" with you in a minute, but first let's talk CAKE! Here's a cute cake we just made for a 2nd birthday party.


They wanted it farm animal-themed so I made fondant cows and pigs and stuck them to the sides of the cake.


We also decorated with corn stalks, white fences, a farm tractor, and a huge #2 topper.


So, what's so exciting that it can possibly keep me from updating this blog regularly? Well, it involves moving, opening, birthing, and caking!

My family just relocated to Tampa so I can open my own custom cake shop. The cake shop is already in the works and I'm sure you'll read more about it on this blog. Be sure to stay tuned for the official unveiling of my new logo and website!

And, as you know already, I'm now 25 weeks pregnant with our first child! It's an exciting process and I'm loving every minute of it. Forgive me if setting up my baby girl's nursery occupies more of my time than it should. Some call it nesting...I think I'm just overly excited to welcome her to our family!

Last, but certainly not least, I'm gearing up to attend the Wilton Food Blogger Workshop in Chicago later this week! 27 food bloggers are going to be there, and I think if we find time to sleep, we'll be lucky. They're showing us the test kitchen, we're having cake decorating competitions (I'm game!), we're going to the annual Sidewalk Sale, etc, etc, etc. I'll definitely blog the whole adventure when I get home. There are so many things I'm looking forward to in this trip, but I'm definitely dying to meet the peeps behind Cake Spy and Cupcakes Take the Cake who will also be there! Woohoo! Wilton HQ, here I come!

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!

Owl Baby Shower Cake

It seems like we've been doing a lot of baby shower cakes lately! Here's one we created for Betsy, the owner of The Plant Shoppe here in town.


The whole cake was iced in white buttercream and decorated with fondant polka dots. The bow was also made of fondant and rested at the base of the bottom tier.


The owls on the topper were straight from the baby shower invitation! They were printed on icing sheets using a PhotoFrost machine and mounted on gum paste to give them some rigidity.

Cute, simple, and to the point.

And don't you love the name Andrew Joseph?!

Brush Embroidery Lace Wedding Cake

Many brides ask us to replicate the lace pattern on their gown. Of course, there are many ways in which you can do this on a cake, but one way is brush embroidery. We used it on this Rustic Elegant wedding cake back in October 2010. It gives a very elegant, almost-sewn look to the pattern. Want to try it?

-Here's a tutorial by Wilton.
-And here's another video tutorial on YouTube.

This time, however, the cake was covered in white fondant and the brush embroidery was also done with white buttercream. White on white is pretty, but you lose some of the details so I went back and outlined the pattern again with white buttercream to add some definition.


The wedding reception was held outdoors at Haile Plantation Golf & Country Club. *Notice the golfer in the background. I'm sure he was gone before the wedding started.*

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*

Ladybug 1st Birthday Cake

Here's a sweet little cake we made for Maddie's first birthday.


The cake was iced in light green buttercream and was decorated with buttercream grass and white gum paste daisies. And the ladybug topper was made of Rice Krispies Treats and covered with fondant.

Debbie gave me artistic freedom on the ladybug so instead of going juvenile with the face, I went a little more adult. I tried to make her look like a sweet little lady - one Maddie might see in one of her storybooks.

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

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!

2011 Panhandle Cake CRUMBS Competition!

Well, you probably haven't noticed, but I've been pretty quiet on the blog for the past week. That's because I've been busy finishing my entry to the 2011 Panhandle Cake CRUMBS Competition. I entered last year's competition, fairy tale-themed, with Shrek's & Fiona's Wedding Cake. Here are a bunch of photos from last year's event if you're interested.

I don't want to overload you with photos so I'll just post photos of my entry today. Stay tuned for photos from the on-site 1-tip Decorating Contest and the other competition entries!

Here's the view of my entry from the front:


This year's theme was the 1960s so my cake was called "Sweet 16 in the 1960s." I tried to recreate edible versions of things you might find in a teenage girl's room in the 1960s.

And here's the back:


Of course, if it was a Sweet 16 cake, there had to be a birthday cake on it somewhere! Martha Stewart did a similar cake, and I like the mod look...so I adapted it: changed colors, added a few things, and here ya go:


And this particular 16-year-old has a scrapbook turned to a page showing her boyfriend Mark and her best friends at the drive-in, the skating rink, and the science fair. I found all these photos in one of Adam's uncle's high school yearbooks from the 1960s. Treasures!


This is my absolute favorite part of the cake - the lime green go-go boot made entirely of Rice Krispies Treats! I love how the pom poms came out! Wanna know a secret? I only made the pom poms to cover boo-boos on the boot! I didn't have the pom poms in my original cake sketch, but I'm happy with how they look. They add a little fun & flirtatiousness to the boot!


I built the cake stand for the birthday cake out of foam board and Rice Krispies Treats. Of course, I could have used a store-bought cake stand, but you don't get points for purchased and non-edible items. To decorate the sides of the cake stand, I use a fondant crimper and piped both traditional and Oriental stringwork.


And, on the back of the cake, I had an orange phone made of Rice Krispies Treats, and I propped up 2 record albums - The Beatles' Yellow Submarine and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Now, if you're a Floyd fan, you know that Dark Side of the Moon was actually released in the 1970s. Ooops! I didn't realize that until after I'd made the album cover, and it came out so awesome I just had to use it! Luckily, the judges didn't seem to notice. *wink*


So did I win anything? Well, that's the exciting part, isn't it!?


I won 1st Place in the Professional Division, Best of Show, and Decorator's Favorite.


And here's a photo of the massive cake, me, Lew Churnick (owner of PhotoFrost), and Lisa Menz. I used PhotoFrost images to make the scrapbook and LOVE their product! Lisa has a PhotoFrost printer so after I scanned the images and edited them a little, she printed them off on the icing sheets. Thank you, Lew and Lisa!


You can be sure that when I get my bakery going in Tampa, one of the first pieces of decorating equipment I'll purchase is a PhotoFrost printing system!