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!

Go Leafs Go!

I had a request to make a cake for Saturday, no special design required, only that it had to say "Happy 70th Birthday Dad."

I found out he was a Toronto Maple Leafs fan... I can imagine how hard it is to be a Leafs fan (my husband is one, too)... at the time of the order, the Leafs lost 10 out of 11 games! As a result (and by fan demand), the head coach was fired and was replaced by another, who lead the team to a win this past Saturday night. What a nice birthday gift! :)

The cake was chocolate with sweet and rich chocolate icing. The top was made of fondant and gumpaste with the TML logo, and edible food marker. I used my new dough scraper (baby shower prize) to guide the icing into a smooth finish. Another plus with this icing recipe is that the cake can be left at room temperature for a few days without fear of "melting!"

Happy 70th Birthday!