Summer is Here!

June was so busy for me... I also took an insurance course on liability.  Interesting stuff.  While doing that, I was working on various projects.

Baby Shower Cupcakes

This was for a lady who had a traditional baby shower... when she herself is not traditional.  The cupcakes were chocolate, vanilla, and lemon, all topped with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.  I also made red velvet with cream cheese icing.  All the toppers were made from fondant/gumpaste.

Congratulations!

* * *

Summer Sprinkle Cookies

The end of the school year is here... so, these are cookies made to thank teachers and co-op placement staff.  I made it summer themed and chose to have simple shapes (only the beach ball was used with a circle cutter, the rest were handcut from templates).  The sugar cookies were brushed with corn syrup before having the sanding sugar coating.  The flip flop straps and watermelon seeds were royal icing dots.

* * *

Princess Ruffle Cake

I had altered a previous fondant design that was requested, and made a buttercream version instead.  The upside down ruffles were piped in gradated shades of pink.  The crown was fondant/gumpaste mix and sprayed with gold.  The cake board, I used marshmallow fondant and stamped a blossom cutter along the edge.  This cake was red velvet with cream cheese filling.  I wonder if the crown was eaten...

Happy Birthday!



* * *

Flower Cake Pops and Flower Pot Cake

This was made for my step-mother-in-law's birthday.  She loves gardening and such, so I thought it would be neat to make cake pop flowers stuck into a flower pot cake.  The pops had flourless chocolate cake (my step-brother-in-law is allergic to gluten and he was going to this shindig).  After baking, it was still very wet, but I guess that's normal if there was no flour to absorb the moisure.  I definitely didn't have to add any icing when I formed the cake balls.  Then I just cut circles of yellow fondant to form petals around it.

The terracotta colour... I got it right in one shot! :) One drop of red, brown and yellow to the white fondant was all it took.  I had to carve down the cake to a flower pot shape before it was covered with the fondant.

The "dirt" was just crumbled chocolate cake.  I rubbed green petal dust on the cookie sticks so it wouldn't be just plain white.  I wasn't sure if painting it with gel paste would soften the stick, so I didn't attempt it.

Here's the sad story... the day of delivery, it was so hot... humidity is not a friend of fondant.  We also had to travel to Brampton, which was about 1.5 hour drive away.  I also had errands to do before, so let's add another 40 minutes to the trip.  It was at this point, I saw that the flowers were skewered through!  I was so upset; I should have realized that the flowers would not survive the ride inside the pot.  Next time, all cake pops will be lying flat or upside down!  The cake tasted good (lemon with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream), which was its saving grace.

Happy Birthday, Lynne!

* * *

Baptism Cake

Solmaz, from Dress It Up Inc., ordered this cake (top tier vanilla, bottom tier chocolate; both with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream filling) for a little girl's baptism.  She had a specific design in mind, and it had to have pink and white gerbera daisies, sparkly pink crosses, pearls, a banner, and matching gerbera daisy cupcakes (not pictured).  All the white daisies have pearl lustre dust on them.

The flowers took a long time to stiffen (due to hot weather).  The crosses were all hand-cut, because I could not find any small cross cutters that were less than 1 inch!  I had to combine 4 thin 11-inch round cake boards because I couldn't find an 11-inch drum cake board.  I also added a 6" thin board to the bottom so it would be easier to move around.  I hope Kira liked the final results!

Congratulations, Kira!

May Happenings

I've been busy.  Had to deal with a chicken pox scare (it was dermatitis), then a lice scare (it was sand), then chicken pox again (this time, William got it for real).  And on top of these medical issues, I had orders, and this is what I made...

* * *

Bridal Shower Flower Cake

This was a red velvet cake underneath the lavender fondant.  I made brush embroidery flowers with royal icing and fondant ribbon roses on top.  I had to put pearls on because they go with the roses.  It has a really vintage feel to it.  The client had it made for her VP; hopefully, it was shared at the office, but the intention was for the VP to take it home to enjoy it with her husband-to-be.

Congrats, Catherine & Lincoln!

* * *

Fun Fair Cupcakes

William is going into kindergarten this fall (where did my baby go?).  I made a donation last year for their auction (cookies), but this year I changed it to cupcakes.  In addition, I was also able to sell mini vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.  100% of the proceeds were donated to the school.  I brought 48 of these minis... and sold them all in an hour, with the help of my neighbour's daughter who goes to the school (a familiar face to help rake in the sales).  Awesome. :)

* * *

Tropical Sweet Sixteen

This was secretly a black forest cake!  It was my first order for this type of cake... and I used real cherry brandy - kirsch.  The cherries were marinated in the stuff and I even used the leftovers to douse the bottom cake layer... it smelled so boozy!  Since the theme was tropical, colourful hibiscus fondant/gumpaste flowers trailed off the cake on top of whipped cream and tan coloured whipped cream were piped along the sides to resemble a straw grass skirt.

I also made a cupcake bouquet.  Green vanilla buttercream-topped chocolate cake with teal and fuchsia hibiscus flowers.  I dipped one end of a lollipop stick into melted chocolate before inserting it into the cupcake.  It worked out great... but I don't think it survived in the vase during transport :(... I'm guessing because there wasn't much stability for the sticks not to move around (the white stuff was vase filler) even though I put a blob of fondant into the vase before filling it.

Happy Sweet Sixteen!

* * *

Baby Shower Cake and Cupcakes

This chocolate cake was simply adorned with fondant/gumpaste blossoms with sugar pearl centres, buttercream ruffles, and a fondant top. It was filled with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.

The cake was paired up with mini cupcake favours (chocolate with pink vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and red velvet with yellow cream cheese icing).  I had to figure out how the guests would take them home.  Initially, I wanted to use a cupcake wrapper and a handle, but I thought it would be too flimsy.  So, I happened upon espresso cups at the dollar store, which were the perfect size (no handles needed!).  I wrapped the cups in pink scrapbook paper.  I wanted to put the cups into individual plastic packaging, but my cookie bags didn't have a flat bottom, so the cup refused to stay upright.  I just put the cups into a 12"x12" box, as is.  I'm sure most people would consume these bites before arriving home, anyway.

Congratulations to the parents-to-be!

* * *

iPad Birthday Cake

My most favourite cake this month... this iPad cake (chocolate cake with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream) was so fun to make!  The toughest things to do were the letters, but I think my X-acto knife cuts were decent.  I wish I had an iPad myself for a model, but I only had online images to work with.  I heard the the cake was well-received, which made my efforts even more worthwhile.  Everything was decorated with fondant/gumpaste, with royal icing text, and the cake was covered in fondant.

Happy Birthday, Rex!

April & May Creations

I had it all figured out... I had booked time off work specifically for a grooms cake that was placed months ago.  And then I get a request for a donation of a slab cake for Yellow Brick House's fundraising gala, which was due a few days before the grooms cake.  So, I was able to start working on the gala cake (vanilla cake with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream) and complete it a day ahead of schedule.  The theme was black and white, but I decided to add a yellow house to represent the organization.

Then... my youngest had a fever on April 26th, which got worse as the day progressed.  By evening, his fever was so high he had a fibrile seizure.  My husband called 911 and the ambulance arrived quickly.  We were at the hospital for 2.5 hours, but he didn't have a second seizure (which could've happened at any point after the first).

* * *

On April 27th, I started to get chills and achiness and a fever.  My first thought was, "Holy crap, how am I going to finish the grooms cake due in two days?!"  I had to rest a lot, because my body refused to co-operate.  Luckily, after taking naps here and there, I was able to complete the cake at 4:30am on the wedding day.  I made a few finishing touches after a 3-hour sleep, and was completely done by 10 am.  Baking the day before the deadline is something I don't normally do, but I knew that it wouldn't take as much time as the decorating, so it wasn't as high a priority.

The theme for this red velvet cake is "The Nightmare Before Christmas" because that is one of the groom's favourite movies.  The characters took the longest time to make, and they are made of fondant/gumpaste and lots of floral wire.  Sally and the Mayor are in white, because this was for a wedding after all.  Jack was tricky to assemble because of his thin limbs.  Easiest to make was Zero the dog.

Congrats, Kristina & Gary!

* * *

I had a request to make Mickey Mouse cookies.  But, since I didnt have a cutter, I traced the shape by hand (good thing it was only for a dozen).  No royal transferring, just piped straight onto the cookie.  I added some pearl lustre dust to his head for a little sparkle.

* * *

Finally, my last item for the day: a tea party themed bridal shower.  The teapot cake was strawberry with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and the cupcakes were red velvet, half topped with a blob of cream cheese and the other half piped with the meringue buttercream.  Since the details were not finalized until last Friday, I only had all of Saturday and half of Sunday to work on it... not enough time to have detailed work done, unfortunately (see the flowers).

I had trouble with the cup, but it looked passable.  Other problem areas: the spout and handle - they didn't want to stay on.  I just hoped they didn't fall off during the shower.  I do love the little cupcake fondant/gumpaste toppers, though.  They were easy to make once I got the hang of it and they were painted with gel colours mixed with clear vanilla.

Congrats, Zrmena!

William is 4!

Another year has passed (it seems to go by very quickly now!  So, we had his birthday party yesterday.  12 kids... it's not as bad as you'd think!

William wanted a Spider-Man cake.  With 5 villains on it plus Spidey.  I feel bad that I couldn't deliver!  Lots of things came up and I lost a lot of time, and before I knew it, party time came.  Last year, I was on maternity leave, so I more free time.  This year, time is eaten away by my work commute and work itself.  I spent most of my time on everything but the cake. :(

"Wha-sa matta you face?!"



So, the chocolate cake comprised of 3 layers, all filled and iced with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.  That's all I did.  We purchased a Spider-Man in a buggy, so he could play with the toy after.  I also found personalized candles (so glad his name was spelled the common way).

The banner, I ordered through www.vistaprint.ca, when they had it on special.  The numbered photos represent the age in which it was taken.

"What?!  I'm eating here!"

I had a few activities planned, but due to damp weather, only one survived: Decorate Your Own Cupcake!  I made vanilla cupcakes, iced them, then used wraps with spiders on it.  I got a bunch of red/blue/black/white jimmies, sprinkles, jelly beans, gummy bears and yogurt-covered peanuts for the kids to use to their hearts' content.  Clean-up was not too bad, so I'm glad we did it.

Owen mixes up the cupcake toppers.

The rest of the time, the kids migrated down to the basement where all the toys were.  When the party was over, the basement wasn't terribly trashed, so it's safe to say we got a tidy bunch of kids (what luck!).

Even though my cake wasn't up to my standards, at least my gingerbread cookie favours were.  I used royal icing (red was made with a ton of red icing paste, gel, and food colour) and food-grade marker to decorate.

We think the party went well; no injuries to report, only a couple of hurt feelings.  We're pretty satisfied with our first daycare-heavy guest list.  The only thing I would've changed is to have a better design and execution of the cake.  I'm going to start planning next year's now, so I won't be in this situation again!

Happy 4th Birthday, William!

xoxo

Vehicle Cakes

What's the best way to get an auto management team all revved up? Why, by giving them a surprise cake, courtesy of their leader! I thought it would be funny to have a tow truck towing a car on the cake, since it's their department.  The cake was vanilla with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream; the toppers were all made with fondant/gumpaste and royal icing, and lace licorice.

* * *

This was for a mommy who wanted a Thomas the train and a school bus figurines for her son's birthday (his two most favourite things). The cake was chocolate with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream with a fondant/gumpaste top and lace licorice tracks.

Both Thomas and the bus were built from rice cereal treats, then covered and decorated with fondant/gumpaste and royal icing.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Cookies... Cookies... Cookies... Cake!

Happy St Patrick's Day!



I saw a recipe link to Chef Michael's Smith's diabolical chocolate chip recipe... I say "diabolical" because it has lentil puree in it but you can't taste it... plus, since I made them small, you could easily eat 5 without realizing it. I used green lentils and dyed it green for St. Patty's day.

* * *

Someone was going to another office for a few months ('til end of year, possibly), so I made these star sugar cookies for him.

* * *

And finally, a co-worker needed to raise money for a bike ride in support of the AIDS charity, so I made donations for him to sell...

...Shamrock sugar cookies...

...and a chocolate cake with peanut butter Swiss meringue buttercream. 

I hope he sold everything and got closer to his goal!

Thomas and Chickies

A friend of mine asked me to make a cake for her little boy, who's turning 2. She wanted toy-sized tracks and scenery, and showed me an existing design. This was my take on it, using buttercream and fondant/gumpaste and lace licorice.  We also added a bunch of matching sugar cookies.

The cookies were flooded with royal icing, decorated with edible images printed from frosting sheets, then with royal icing pipework. My hand was cramped from piping.

Happy 2nd Birthday Max!

* * *

Someone from work had a birthday, and I didn't find out 'til a couple of days before. I hurriedly made up a dozen sugar cookies and just sprinkled the yellow sugar before baking. When I brought them to work, I didn't see her all day. Turns out, she took the day off to spend her birthday at home with family. Oh well, the cookies will still be good next week, since I individually packaged them.

Happy Birthday Tara!