‘Meghan’ Topsy-Turvy Cake

‘Meghan’ Topsy-Turvy Cake

This cake is very similar to the cake I made for my friend Katonna’s birthday a week or so ago. The cake was a Topsy-Turvy design, featuring pink and black fondant with polka-dot and stripe details. The flavor of the cake was Marble (Vanilla & Chocolate) with Vanilla Buttercream.

The top tier of the cake was decorated with pink polka-dots, both large and small, and was finished with three pastel pink ribbon roses.

The bottom tier was covered in pink fondant and was decorated with black fondant stripes.

The borders around the cake tiers consisted of fondant “pearls” that were made by simply rolling small bits of pink and black fondant into pearl-shaped balls and placing them around the border of the tiers.

For tips on how to carve a cake like this one, check out the “Cake Carving” Post that I uploaded last week! There are some great and simple techniques that will help you create a cake like this for someone you love…or…for yourself! 🙂

Happy Birthday Meghan!

‘Katonna’ Topsy-Turvy Zebra-Print Cake

Topsy-Turvy Zebra-Print Cake

This week I had the priveledge to make a friend and co-worker of mine a birthday cake for her __ birthday. (She has now reached the age of no return!!…just kidding…she’s just suddenly gotten secretive about that two digit number…)… Anyway, having gotten some ideas from the Birthday Girl a few weeks in advance, I decided to go with a theme that I knew she liked…zebra print and diamonds.

The cake ended up being two tiers, since she liked the idea of the “Mad Hatter” or “Topsy-Turvy” design. The top tier was Vanilla Cake Batter with Vanilla Buttercream, while the bottom tier consisted of a Strawberry Cake Batter and Strawberry Buttercream. The entire cake was carved and then covered in fondant, with the top tier featuring the Duff Goldman Brand of fondant in pre-dyed black, and the bottom tier with Satin Ice Fondant that I dyed a pastel pink.

The top tier of the cake featured pink-colored fondant diamonds that I made by using a medium-sized square cookie cutter. I simply adhered the fondant cut-outs to the cake at an angle, giving the appearance of diamonds. There are diamond cookie cutters and templates that can be bought online or at craft stores, but a simple square cookie cutter like the one I used, or even cutting a diamond shape by hand with an exacto knife or pizza/fondant cutter will work as well. Whatever works easiest for you…

The very top of the top tier was finished with four ‘Ribbon Roses.’ Ribbon Roses are extremely simple to make. You take a piece of fondant and roll it into a log. Use a fondant smoothing tool as a guide to roll the fondant into a perfect log, or snake-like shape. Once you roll it to the length of your choosing (for larger roses, create a longer piece of rolled fondant, and for a smaller rose a shorter piece), take a rolling pin and flatten it out long-ways. Then take your newly flattened piece of fondant and fold it in half longways. Then, grab one end, and roll it in once–this will be the ‘bud’ of the rose. Then gradually ‘wrinkle’ the fondant, pinching at the bottom after every ‘petal’ and repeat until you have a beautiful ‘lil rose.

(If my hand-written directions were less than helpful and you’re scratching your head at home thinking, “What?!”…then go to YouTube.com and check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/09165067633#p/u/2/Mm_IDwMficM

or type in “How to make a gumpaste ribbon rose” in the search box).

The bottom tier of the cake featured Royal Icing zebra print. This was fun to do and allowed me to try out a new technique. I’m calling it the ‘Royal Icing Transfer’ technique, but I’m sure it probably has another name in the cake world that I do not know as of yet. Anyway, all I did was place a zebra print stencil (these and many, many more are available online for purchase at www.thebakerskitchen.com or www.sugarcraft.com) on the fondant (with the help of my hubby to make sure it didn’t come off) and with a spatula, applied a fairly thick layer of black royal icing. Once applied, I then thinned the royal icing, by scraping away any excess I could. Once I was satisfied with the look, the zebra print stencil was pulled back and viola…there emerged a not-so-bad-for-a-first-attempt-zebra print. 🙂 I did have a few boo-b00s here and there, but it’s okay. If you have the same issue, don’t sweat it. There are ways to cover up mess-ups…you can add fondant designs, you can pipe more detail, you can try to remove it and start again (don’t recommend this though as it could make a bigger mess) and/or just hope that no one notices. From a personal standpoint, I’ve learned that the average person will not pay as much attention to the perfection of the design as you do. (This is coming from a wanna-be perfectionist when it comes to decorating, so please know that a few mistakes are okay…it’s not the end of the world, and you’ll get better as you keep decorating).

For example, on this cake I had a gap where the stencil border had been, so I was left with a blank column in-between two sections of zebra print. So, I took some fondant and made the letter “K”, representing the Birthday Girl’s first name. I filled in the space with the letter and added a braided fondant border of alternating pink and black for the bottom tier, and oversized fondant pearls for the border around the top tier.

One thing I did not do on this cake, but that’s definately do-able is adding candles (roll fondant into oversized pearls and stick candles in them–the fondant acts as a stand) and/or a greeting on the cake board.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the post, and I hope you take some of the tips provided and use them for your next cake!

Pink Giraffe 1st Birthday Cake

Pink Giraffe Cake

This cake was a blast to make! I loved being able to get creative and make a cute ‘lil cake for my friend’s baby’s 1st Birthday that was age appropriate and a bit unconventional…however, in today’s day and age, cake is anything but conventional any more…

This cake featured a Vanilla Cake Batter with Vanilla Buttercream and was finished with fondant detail. (I highly recommend Satin Ice (it can be ordered online) or Duff Goldman’s brand of fondant is also very good, but a bit pricy. The Duff Fondant can be found at any Michael’s Craft Store).

I based the design of this cake off of a Birthday Theme that I found on 1stwishes.com. (If you want to check out the theme to get ideas for a cake you want to make, or to view the packet for your child’s next birthday, visit 1stwishes.com and look up “Giraffe 1st Birthday”, or Google it and it should bring up the URL for the website).

To add a bit more detail to make the cake extra special, I decided to cover the cakeboard in fondant and decorate it to fit the theme of the party. So, this cute little giraffe is resting on a pale blue backdrop that features some leaf detail (I used leaf cookie cutters to cut out the fondant shapes), a sweet little lady bug (who matches the colors of the giraffe), and a Birthday greeting.

I also made 1 dozen cupcakes that were also Vanilla with a Pink-tinted Buttercream Frosting, alongside a Smash Cake for the birthday girl. (A quick tip: Use a Cupcake Tower to make the cupcakes and/or smash cake a centerpiece for the party. There are multiple options for stands out there: Wilton stands that can be purchased at craft stores such as Michael’s and plastic, metal, and specialty stands that can be ordered online at such sites as efavormart.com).

 

 

Whimsical Melody Birthday Cake

This weekend was one full of birthdays! When March and April roll around in my family, that means that it’s time to get together as a family and celebrate not one, not two, but 5 birthdays!! Yes, 5! (We’ve recently inaugerated my aunt’s puppy Max into the birthday club).

So, in order to celebrate, we of course needed a cake! Now, out of all the birthdays celebrated, only one of those lucky few is a girl–my cousin Kelsey. And being the only girl, we all felt it was necessary to dedicate this birthday celebration to her, and thus make a cake that was suitable for her tastes.

The cake that ensued was the one in the above pictures! I have to say, this is one of my favorites that I’ve made to date. It’s a beautiful marriage of a whimsical, kind of faerie tale (and yes, I did spell faerie correctly…I use the British spelling… ;)…) cake and a music-themed cake. Kelsey loves to sing and play guitar, so I definately wanted to put that element into the cake, and I managed to do that by incorporating music notes into the spiral designs.

The cake also included fondant detail work, which consisted of fondant flowers, with two fondant roses sitting atop the cake. The flowers were dusted with pink and green pearl dust to give it that luster that goes along with a whimsical theme. The piping was done in Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting to mimic vines and of course, the music notes.

The cake, as requested, was my traditional Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Happy Birthday Kelsey….and Dad…and Robert…and Paw (who has had the best birthday present of us all because he’s already with the Lord)…and yes, even Max, our friendly four-legged Bruce-boy. 🙂

Blue & Brown Belly Cake

The Belly Cake has returned!

A friend and co-worker of mine is throwing a Baby Shower for her sister-in-law. She is expecting a little boy in the coming months, and she wanted a cake that reflected her theme for the baby’s room.

The bedding was Target’s “Lambs and Ivy Theme,” which features both light blue-greys and dark chocolate browns. So, I decided to make a blue-grey dress with polka-dots and flower detail. The cake itself was decorated with Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Buttercream border detail.

The cake was Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Filling.

Ladybug Baby Shower Cake

 

It seems that another round of babies is in the future! Every time I turn around, I seem to be surrounded by very pregnant women, and the inescapable fact that babies are taking over the world! Just kidding…!!!

This weekend I had the pleasure to make a Baby Shower Cake based off of a very special sister’s Baby Room Bedding Pattern. Since the baby is a girl, the color scheme included pastel greens and pinks, dark brown, and white.

Alongside the color scheme, the pattern included precious little ladybugs that I wanted to incorporate into the design of the cake.

The cake itself was a three tier cake that consisted of White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting and Filling, on the base tier, Chocolate Cake with Cookies ‘n Cream Buttercream Frosting and Filling, on the middle tier, and finally Confetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Filling for the topper. The cake was finished with Vanilla and

Chocolate fondant.

Alongside the ladybug detail, there were also pink and white flowers incorporated into the design to add to a very girly feel. A fondant monogram was also incorporated onto the middle tier with the baby’s initials. The base of the cake was likewise covered in pastel pink fondant, and pressed into a floral emobossing pattern to add a very feminine touch. The base was bordered with a pink and brown floral ribbon to go along with the theme.

The cake was delivered to Burnt Hickory Baptist Church.

Congratulations Rachel on the awaited arrival of your precious little girl!

Mardi Gras Birthday Cake

It’s party time!

This cake is one of my favorites!

This Mardi-Gras themed cake was made for a lucky little girl who is celebrating her 7th birthday this coming weekend.

The cake consists of a Traditional Chocolate Cake for the base, featuring Chocolate Buttercream, while the top tier is Strawberry Cake with Traditional Vanilla Buttercream.

The decorations consist of fondant stars, diamonds, and a decorative border. The cake is topped with a traditional feathered mask and “shooting stars.” And of course, in honor of the Birthday Girl, a large monogrammed “N” is placed at the top of the cake.

Happy Birthday Natalie, and I hope that you have a wonderful, wonderful birthday!

German Beer Boot Cake

German Beer Boot Cake

Well, I must say, this cake has been one of the most challenging projects I’ve ever tackled…but I’m so glad that I took it on.

This cake was made as a Surprise Birthday Cake for a gentleman who brews beer for a hobby. In honor of his love for the “drink of choice,” his lovely wife wanted me to make a cake in the shape of a German Beer Boot. Now, up until this point, I had never even heard of a German Beer Boot, so this experience was enlightening as well as challenging! Lol!

After doing some research, I embarked on my journey to put this bohemoth of a cake together…

The cake itself consisted of three different cake flavors and icings:

A Raspberry Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Cream Filling and White Chocolate Buttercream

A Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Cream Filling and Chocolate Buttercream

And finally, a Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake with Vanilla Cream Filling and Vanilla Buttercream

To Rene and Scott-I hope you both thoroughly enjoyed the cake and I hope your birthday guests enjoyed it as well. It was a blast doing this cake for you guys! Happy Birthday!

At Gordon Biersch

This picture is of the final product at the birthday site…to all the wonderful people who helped get this cake from the car to the upper level of the restaurant…you all are wonderful!!

What a workout!

Topsy-Turvy Birthday Cake

Topsy-Turvy Cake

This cake is by far the coolest cake I’ve made to date!

My Sister-in-Law, Monika, had a surprise birthday party this weekend, and in honor of the birthday girl, I made a cake that was both girly and super fun.

The cake itself was two tiers, with the bottom layer being my Signature Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream frosting and the top tier was Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Buttercream.

The cake was covered with Buttercream flavored fondant, with the bottom layer being black with pink stripes and the top being a pastel pink with black polka-dot detail.

A topper was made out of black fondant in the shape of an “M” and accessorized with fondant flowers.

Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday Monika! Love ya!

Bali-wood Baby Shower Cake

"Baliwood" Carrot Cake

Okay, so I’m learning even more quickly that I am the queen of Baby Shower Cakes! Lol!

A wonderful, wonderful co-worker of mine is expecting her first baby in January, and along with my entire office, we threw her a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) baby shower! She received every gift known to man and she deserved it. She is such a kind-hearted young woman and it was a pleasure to be apart of such an occassion.

In honor of her ‘lil bundle of joy, I wanted to make a cake that was special for her and one that related to her culture. She and her family are originally from Pakistan, and I wanted to capture some of their culture in the cake. So…I took some notes from traditional Pakistani wedding dress (they

Diaper Cake/Cake Spread

were Saris) and made my own rendition of one…in fondant. 🙂 And, to add a special little bit of flare, I added some Henna detail around the belly button. Super cute!

The color scheme of the shower was purple and gold, and since I love making ‘Pregnant Belly Cakes,’ I made a special ‘lil mama to go on top! The cake itself was my Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing, while the “Belly” was Carrot Cake as well, but covered with Buttercream instead of Cream Cheese.

At the end of the shower, I must admit, this baker was stoked to see that all but the crumbs were eaten! (Except for the “Belly” portion of the cake, which Mama took home with her).

Also, as part of mine and my husband’s baby gift to her, I made a Diaper Cake, themed in purple and gold, all of which the Mom-to-Be took home for good use.

Ghazala, CONGRATULATIONS! We love you dearly, and we will be praying for the Lord’s hand to be over you and your precious little baby girl!