Updated Post - Calvin and Hobbes Snowman Cake

Another previous post updated with details and more pictures.  You can click on the link below to go to the post and check it out.

Calvin and Hobbes Snowman Cake

(I created my animated name at this site.)

Shabby Chic Baby Shower Pink Rose Cake and Teabag Cookies - September 2013

A friend asked me to make this pink rose cake and these teabag cookies for a shabby chic themed baby shower she was throwing for her sister.

 

Once I gave her the cookies she was going to put string through the hole with a tag attached to it to finish them.

My mom went to the shower and snapped a few pictures of the cookies (below) after my friend had added the strings and tags to them.  The tags had the baby's name and the due date written on them.

 

Below is a picture of the table with the cake and cookies on it (along with pretty decorations and other yummy goodies) that my mom took at the shower.

 

Amanda, from i am baker, created these rose cakes and makes them so beautifully.  She has lots of great variations, not to mention tons of other great things to check out on her site.  One of the best things is that she has a step by step tutorial AND a video tutorial for this technique, which is great to be able to actually see it being done.  This technique is easy but it has beautiful and elegant results!

 

More details to come... :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)

The Black Pearl Pirate Ship Cake - July 2013

I made this pirate ship cake of The Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean for my daughter Cara for her 14th birthday.

For this cake I used two 9" x 13" cakes.  I stacked one on the other and carved the basic body of the ship.  I used pieces that I cut off to build up other parts of the ship.  I crumb coated the body of the ship and then iced it with chocolate icing.

I put all the railings, stairs, cannon doors, and the figurehead, which were all made from white fondant, on the cake next.  I used a paring knife to make the lines in the icing to look like the wooden planks of the ship.  The vertical masts are wooden dowels cut to size, and for the diagonal mast above the figure head I used a long white lollipop stick.

I airbrushed the cake and everything on it at this point with black food coloring.  Then I placed the cannons, cannon balls, and steering wheel on the cake.  These were made from black fondant.

I used some thin wire and fondant to attach some white lollipop sticks to the wooden masts.  I made the sails from black fondant that I rolled very thin.  I tore and stretched the fondant sails to make them look ragged and old.  I draped the fondant sails on the masts and pulled some pieces off them to put some finishing ragged touches on them.  I airbrushed (or painted, I can't remember) the exposed parts of the lollipop sticks that the sails were draped on.

The pirate flag was made from black fondant.  I painted the skull and swords on it with white food coloring; then I attached it to the mast.

Although I didn't get everything on the cake that I would've liked (ropes, windows, lamps, etc.) I was really happy with the way the cake turned out.  Cara loved it, yay!  :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)

Updated Posts - Horse Cake & Dragon Cake

I've added details and more pictures to posts of two of the cakes that I get emailed about most.  You can click on the links below to go to the individual posts.

3D Horse Cake

 

Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon Cake

 

Enjoy!  :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)

Golf Themed Cake (with a Surprise Inside) - June 2013

I made this golf themed cake for my brother-in-law, Josh, for his birthday.

And, SURPRISE, the cake was PLAID inside!  :)

For this cake I used a new recipe that is so good!  I had heard about it a long time ago, but had never tried it.  It is a white almond sour cream cake.  Here is a link to the recipe that I used, and here is a link to the same person's recipe, just written a little differently.  I highly recommend trying this recipe out.

So, this is how I made the inside of the cake plaid.  After mixing my cake batter I separated it about in half and then took out a small portion from one of the bowls.  (Sorry, I don't have exact measurements that I used.)  In the bowl with the majority of the batter I added blue food coloring to make a light blue shade.  In the bowl with the small portion of batter I added blue food coloring to make a darker shade of blue.  I left the last bowl of batter white.  When pouring the batter into the pans I used my checkerboard cake pan set.  In two of the pans I poured the white batter in the center circle and the outer rings.  Then in the same pans I poured the light blue batter in the middle rings.  In the third pan I poured the light blue batter in the center circle and the outer ring, and then poured the dark blue batter in the middle ring of that pan.  This is how the batter looked in the pans ready to go into the oven.

After baking I flipped the cakes out of their pans after 15 minutes and let them finish cooling completely.  Then I leveled the tops of the cakes.

When stacking the cakes I put one of the white cakes on the bottom, the all blue cake next for the middle layer, and the other white cake went on top.  I used orange buttercream icing in between each cake layer.  (My brother-in-law is a Broncos fan, so I figured I'd incorporate those colors into his golf cake. :) )  Later when you cut into the cake you have plaid inside!  :)

I put a 1-1/2 inch strip of white fondant around the bottom of the cake.  Then I used a grass tip to cover the rest of the cake with green buttercream icing.  I made a diamond template that was 1 inch in diameter and about 1-1/2 inches tall.  I rolled out blue and orange fondant and cut out enough diamonds to go around the cake.  I attached the diamonds to the white strip at the bottom of the cake, and then drew on the dotted black diamonds with a black food coloring marker.  I made mini golf balls and placed them around the top edge of the cake. 

The golf tees are lollipop sticks covered in fondant and shaped to look like a tee.  Originally I was going to make cake balls for the golf balls on top of the tees, but my golf ball candy mold was still packed from moving, and I didn't have time to find it.  So, I just made them out of fondant and painted the letters on with black food coloring.  I may have used my black food coloring marker for the letters, I don't remember now which it was.  :)  I stuck the golf tees into the cake and attached the golf balls to the tops of the tees.

I really liked the look of this cake, and I was excited about the plaid inside!  :)  And everyone loved the new recipe that I used for the cake.  It was delicious.  :)

Afterwards I used the cake scraps that were leftover from leveling the cakes to make some cake balls.

(Created animated name at this site.)