No Picture Intended

Hey there.

Just so you know, not all of my cakes turn out exactly the way I plan.  Take today, for instance:

I have been asked to do a birthday cake for a coworker (this is happening a LOT), who happens to be a BIG OSU Beaver Fan.  That's Oregon, my friends.  Not Oklahoma (cowboys), Not Ohio (Whatever the heck they are).  Oregon.  So I decided to make a 3D football helmet.  Oh yeah.  Awesome.  Well, I gave myself the WHOLE DAY to get it done, and I started baking around 11 am.  While the cake was baking, I made a face mask out of Wire and fondant, and three logos:  Two "OS" to go on the sides of the helmet, and the Beaver head to go on the back.  I thought the hardest part of the cake would be the details, but apparently not.

Because the cakes had been out of the oven for quite some time, I figured I was safe to start putting it together.   Boy was I wrong!  The cakes were moderately warm, which means they melted the frosting, slid ALL OVER each other, and kept falling down.  I had no choice but to scrap the cake and start all over.  So, here I sit, while my second round of cake is baking, knowing that I don't have the time to make it 3D again.  I'm down to 30 minutes left before delivery time... Do I think I'll make it?  Probably not.

Commence Fun In Baking. :)

And no, you don't get pictures, because I'm COMPLETELY frustrated with myself!  This cake should have been done an hour and a half ago... and would have been, had I cooled the cakes properly.  Noted.

Farm Memories

Last Fall, my husband's grandfather passed away.  He was an incredible man, with an amazing past, and an unheard of work-ethic.  Both of his parents were deaf, and since he was the only boy in the family, he assumed work and responsibility of the family at a very young age.  He helped build the home that his parents lived in, which would eventually become his own until the day he died.  Among a million other things, he built roads, worked in a lumber mill, and rode trains down to California for work.  After getting married, he raised three wonderful children, who went on to give him grandchidren, and eventually great-grandchildren!  When he passed last Fall, his family and friends gathered at the family farm for a luncheon. By special request, his daughter (my mother-in-law) asked me to make a cake of the farm with hay bales and tractors.  The picture I have here only has one of the two tractors on the cake, but everyone was pleased with it.  I'm glad that I was able to contribute something to a day dedicated to such a remarkable man!  He is truly missed every day.   I hope you enjoy the cake!

Grandpa's Farm Cake

Chocolate cake, buttercream icing, toasted coconut rows

What I Learned:  Frosted Mini-Wheats make GREAT Hay Bales!

Auctioned Away

Andrew's school did a fundraiser auction last November and I thought that, since I don't have anything else of value to give away, maybe I could donate a few cakes.  So, I made a couple of gift certificates for One Free Wedding Cake, and up to $200 worth of cake (retail).  Although the wedding cake didn't get purchased, the other did, and I met with a mother early this year to plan a couple of cakes for her kids.  

The first cake I did was for a 16th Birthday party for her son.  He was having an Airsoft themed party, and she wanted something that would be appropriate for that... whether camouflage or gun related.  I found a great design idea online and copied it...almost element for element.  I hope they don't mind!  

I was greeted with a WONDERFUL surprise when my best friend showed up, after driving 3 hours with her 3 kids in tow, to help me execute it (since I had 2 more cakes to do that same weekend!).  With her amazing talent with detail work, we were able to get this cake put together.  I hope you like it!

 Airsoft Cake

Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, raspberry filling

What I learned:  Airbrusing is REALLY fun!  (And fast!)
I don't love detail work, but my best friend is the best friend a girl could ask for!  Thanks, Cassie!

Since that cake didn't quite fulfill the whole dollar amount of the certificate, my client asked me to make her daughter's graduation cake.  I was very excited, and the client had brought a few ideas of cakes she really liked.  We decided on one and I was left to figure out how to make it happen.  With only a few minor bumps in the road with delivery times and rush-order shipping for the butterflies, this was the result:

Butterfly Graduation Cake

Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, raspberry filling

What I Learned:  Double check the delivery date.  Even though I had sent the e-mail with the date I thought it was supposed to be delivered, I clearly was wrong, and we had to freeze the cake for a week.

I Also Learned:  Planning ahead on a holiday weekend is important.  

Shipping is expensive when under time constraints!

Row, Row, Row, Your Boat

Here is a cake I made about a year and a half ago.  Could it have been that long?  At any rate, it was for my cook at work who is Vietnamese.  My boss is always saying that she's going to send him away and make him row himself all the way home.  We really do love him, Honest!  This was fun.  It had a coconut and almond flavor in the frosting, a raspberry filling, and the cake itself was yellow.

Row boat Cake

What I learned:  blue frosting can make a BIG mess!

I added the sharks for fun, and my manager wanted me to make sure an oar was floating away by itself!

Relief Society Birthday Celebration

This cake is long overdue, as well.  This was my first REALLY big cake without any help from my best friend.  I volunteered to do a cake to celebrate the birthday of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints.  The emblem alone took me about two hours, and the rest of the cake came together pretty quickly.  It actually stayed together all the way to the church to drop it off, and everyone seemed very pleased with it.  I don't think anyone knows how anxious I was about this cake.  I was SO glad it turned out well.  I hope you like what I did!

Relief Society Birthday Cake

What I Learned:  Detail work is REALLY hard!  And I really need to learn how to cut out letters of fondant without making everything into a mess.

Also learned to turn OFF the ceiling fan when working with fondant.  The air just dries it out too quickly!

Americana Quilt

Well, I realized today that I haven't posted in way too long, which means I have a full TWENTY-ONE cakes that I haven't posted yet!  I will get started today and try to have them done by the end of the week.

First up is my Mother-In-Law's 60th Birthday cake.  She wanted to have a Western Theme for her birthday and requested chocolate cake with Raspberry filling.  I slaved all day to make this (hahaha), and the raspberry filling was a DEFINITE hit when paired with the deluxe devil's food cake I made.  So yummy!  Happy 60th birthday, Mom!  And sorry it took me so long to get this one on here!

Deluxe Devil's Food Quilt Cake

What I learned:  When a filling recipe asks to strain the filling with a fine mesh sieve, it would actually be a good idea to do so.  We had a TON of seeds in the filling, but it was delicious anyway

Also Learned:  In the heat and humidity in Seattle, cakes sweat. And when given air to dry them off, air bubbles form under the fondant.