Birthday cakes as of late

I've made a couple birthday cakes recently that I would like to share with you. First, I made a cake for Scott's 30th birthday.

 

 

Yep, the theme was farming! The plan was to have a combine on top of the cake but Scott's collection didn't include one small enough to fit on the cake. Maybe next time I'll plan better and test out the possible cake toppers prior to the day of the party!

A couple weekends ago I made this cute mermaid cake for a former coworker's daughter. I was informed she would know if it didn't look exactly like the picture she had chosen. I hope I didn't disappoint!

 

 

 

Having a professional photograph of one of my cakes makes them look even better!  Photograph provided by https://www.facebook.com/AmySheridanPhotography.

Now the big question is come will Scott and I have farming cakes or mermaid cakes in our future when Baby B. arrives in March?!?! Place your vote in the survey on the right.

Two birthday cakes that traveled

The past two birthday cakes took a little road trip.  The first was a baseball theme cake for a sweet boy, Justin, who turned 7. It was so fun to create the baseballs, bats, and glove that decorated the cake. His baseball team colors are navy and grey. They took the cake to Central Kansas for his birthday party. It's great to see that the cake survived the trip. Happy Birthday Justin!

The next cake just makes me laugh! My cousin Sarah celebrated her birthday this past week and she loves my white cake. So, I decided to decorate a big piece of cake and mail it to her. I know it wouldn't survive in one piece but it would taste the same. My Mom shipped it and told the UPS guy that it was frozen and if he could make sure it gets there still frozen that would be great. He told her he wished he could deliver it himself but I guess that didn't happen. Happy Birthday cousin Sarah!

Now here's a fun baking news story for you. Have you heard of cronuts? They seem to be a cross between croissants and doughnuts. They were created by baker in New York City's Soho neighborhood and people stand in line for hours to get one. According to the article below they are now being scalped for $100 each! Sounds like a sweet treat I need to try making myself. I'll let you know when I have some for sale :)

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/19/baker-cracks-down-on-cronut-scalpers/#ixzz2WwXbh5k9

Two weddings, two states

This past weekend was a first for me.  Not only did I make two wedding cakes for the same day, I also managed to make wedding cakes for two receptions in two different states! Of course I did not do it alone. The first cake was for a friend from church and the reception was at the Firestone building in Kansas City. I baked and frosted the cakes but I have to give my Mom credit for delivering the cake and making the gorgeous flowers that adorned the cake. The flowers were made out of gum paste and my Mom was way more patience than I do to make them. Delivering this cake was no small feat considering the bottom two tiers were a total of 5 layers of cake. Flour, sugar, and butter can be very heavy! The rest of the layers had to be put in place onsite so my Mom gets credit for putting it all together.

The second cake was for my husband's cousin in Iowa. I baked the cake at home and put it all together at my in-law's.  The bride and groom both went to Iowa State so the colors were fitting.  It's always a treat to be asked to make cakes for my family. Not only did I make the cake I got to be a cake cutter. It may sound sarcastic but cutting cake is my favorite job at a wedding. Almost everyone comes to get a piece of cake so you get to greet almost all of the guests. 

Stay tuned for my creation later this week.  The theme is baseball!

Happy 99th Birthday!

A friend asked me to make a cake for her father's 99th birthday and she left the design up to me. I get ideas from browsing the Internet. I wish I could dream up fantastic designs but that's just not how I work. I can however, find a design and duplicate it! Browsing the Internet for cake ideas to celebrate a man's 99th birthday returns many pictures of sheet cakes with lovely roses and other flowers made of frosting. Nothing was catching my eye. So, I changed my search to "modern birthday cakes". I found four designs I liked and let my friend pick her favorite. What a treat to make this cake for a dear man who has graced us with his presence for 99 years!  Happy Birthday, John O.!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Who doesn't remember The Very Hungry Caterpillar book?!?!  When a former co-worker asked me to make this cake for her daughter's 2nd birthday I was happy to take on the job.  The decorations are made with marzipan. I have found that it takes colors so much better than fondant and it tastes better. I hope the cake was enjoyed by all!

 

Pie Contest Winner!

This past week I entered the Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce Farm-City Banquet Pie Baking Contest and I won! Technically I tied for first in the fruit pie category but a tie is still a win. I made a blueberry pie. My triple coconut cream pie took third in the cream pie category.  Now, the competition wasn't equal to a county or state fair, but it felt great to win. It felt great because I'm not an expert pie baker. My husband reminded me that he has yet to taste one of my pies. I love pie! Both sides of my family love pie and there are some great pie bakers in my family. The competition in my family is fierce and I have never felt my pies can compete. Heck, why do I have to bake a pie when I can enjoy a pie baked by my Mom, my Grandma, numerous Cousins, or any of my Aunts? If only we could still enjoy my Grandma's apricot pie! I have entered pies in the Johnson County Fair but I have never won. So, winning felt great and it gave me motivation to enter a pie in the Platte County Fair this summer! Here's the prize winning blueberry pie straight from the Betty Croker cookbook. I kind of want a piece of pie right now!

Chanel and Minnie Mouse

Ah, I love baking and I love transforming cake into art!  It's been several months since I had an excuse to make a cake and it felt good to be creative the past couple of weeks.  First, a Chanel cake for a bachelorette party.  I learned two things making this cake.  First, the design on top is not two horesehoes, it's the CHANEL logo!  Second, it's hard to make frosting or fondant black, but marzipan takes black food coloring perfectly.  The cake was red velvet with cream cheese frosting. 

Thursday night I put this cake together for a little girl's birthday.  Got to love Minnie Mouse!  It's a white cake with a thin layer of raspberry jam between the layers.  I tried a new product by Wilton called Sugar Sheets.  Basically it's very thin sheets of fondant that you can cut with a cookie cutter or scissors.  It doesn't taste like much but it's edible and I used it to make the Minnie Mouse silhouettes.

My next cake will be a replica of our wedding cake to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary.  Who needs to save the top when the baker is in-house and cake just make the cake again!