Barbie Girl!

Two of my favorite childhood characters came to live in my kitchen this week.  I don't really remember the story about Strawberry Shortcake, but I do recall having a Strawberry Shortcake mini-house and lots of plastic figures.  I also had a Strawberry Shortcake doll that smelled wonderful and had a fabulous haircut thanks to yours truly and a pair of scissors.  My Mom loves to hassle me about cutting my dolls hair.  I will post of picture of the Strawberry Shortcake cake later this week.  I also made my first Barbie cake this week.  Mattie sure is a lucky girl!  She had two parties with two fabulous cakes to celebrate her 5th birthday on Tuesday. 

No, I did not bake Barbie in the cake!  The cake is actually 3-9 inch round cakes topped off with a cake I baked in a mixing bowl.  Better yet, Barbie is made of carrot cake with a top secret pecan filling.  I made Barbie's dress pink to match the streaks of pink in her hair.  I hope Mattie had a wonderful birthday celebration all week! 

Fresh Fruit Sponge Cake

This week's project was a sponge cake topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.  It was for a coworker who is moving back to Japan.  Since she doesn't like super sweet desserts, I opted for a light sponge cake with pastry cream in between the layers.  It was topped with a thin layer of whipped cream and lots of fresh fruit.  Since I gave up sweets and dessert for Lent, I didn't try a piece but it sure looked good.  Oh, did I mention that I was up at 4:00am Friday morning to put these cakes together?  I didn't want to let it set overnight so I just got up early to get it done before work.  I must really like making cakes!  My next projects include a Strawberry Shortcake cake and a Barbie cake. 

Happy 1st Birthday Calen!

It was a Super Calen Bowl yesterday!  My little friend Calen turned one yesterday and I was happy to make is football themed birthday cake.  I had dreams of making an edible version of the Super Bowl trophy, but opted for a football field and 3D football on a kickoff tee.  Folks often ask me if I watch the cake decorating TV shows.  I do, but I often wonder if anyone eats those cakes.  They look cool on the outside but I'm not sure I want to eat cake that has been handled so much.  And I sure don't want to eat dried out rice krispies treats covered in frosting and fondant.  So, my goal is to make cakes that taste as good or better than they look.  Sometimes that means I can't make my dreams come true.  But, I was happy with the results of this cake and Calen seemed to enjoy it as well!

Wedding Reception Fun!

Last night I catered my first wedding reception! It was hard work but also lots of fun. It went great considering I only met with the Bride and Groom last Sunday to plan the menu! It was a busy week pricing ingredients, prepping food, and putting it all together yesterday. I recruited some help and to them I am very greatful! A big THANK YOU goes out to my Mom, Scott, and Natasha! Here's the final product!

I didn't make the cake for this wedding, but I didn't make some sweet treats to go along with the cake that someone else made.  Yes, more cake balls!   

Cake Balls!

In case you were wondering, this is what 200 cake balls looks like!  What are cake balls?  They are bite-size bits of moist cake blended with rich frosting, surrounded in a deliciously beautiful chocolate coating.  The flavor combinations are endless, but this weekend I made carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, red velvet with cream cheese frosting, orange cake with orange buttercream, and white cake with chocolate buttercream.  My favorite is carrot cake.  I made this large batch of cake balls for my boyfriend to give to his employees, and yes he did help make them!  Forget about cupcakes, cake balls take the cake in my opinion.

1st Birthday Bash!

The past couple of months I have helped two girls celebrate their first birthdays.  It was fun to see Elmo come to life in my hands!

Rumor has it Ava hugged this little cake.  I'll take that as a compliment!



Thomas and friends

I learned a few new things this weekend.  First, I learned that making espresso is an art.  I took an espresso fundamentals class at the local community college and now have a new admiration for baristas who can pull the perfect shot of espresso.  Maybe after my next class in a couple of weeks I will be able to pull a better shot!  I also learned that three shots of espresso before noon is way too much for my body to handle!  I also learned what Thomas and his friends Percy and James look like.  Some church friends asked me to make cupcakes for their son's 3rd birthday and I was happy to do so.  So, Thomas is the blue train and has triangle eye brows. 

James is red and has crows feet under his eys.  James is green and doesn't have any facial marks that stick out.  It's always fun to try new designs.  I also don't many cupcakes but I see why people like to make them more than cake.  They are easier, but making 40 faces took a little time and a lot of patience!