Minion Cake for a 3 yr. old

Minions! This hot trend doesn't seem be going anywhere anytime soon. I have to say that they are very fun to make so I don't mind at all. 

This is a two-tiered vanilla cake covered in buttercream and fondant appliques. The cake topper is about 5" tall and made of fondant.

A pretty cake in brush embroidery

Today's cake was for my daughter who requested chocolate and vanilla cake with a raspberry cream filling and ganache. You bet.

The decoration was up to me so I made it so I could try out a couple different techniques. Inside was a checkerboard pattern that looks much more complicated to complete than it is and on the outside I did some brush embroidery which was so much fun to do. One pretty cake that was really fun to make. : )

Casino Slot Machine Cake for a 57 yr. old

Today's cake is a vanilla butter cake sculpted into a casino slot machine for a fan of the one-armed bandits.

Wishing you a fun-filled and winning 57th year Alicia.

Bollywood Style cake for a 50th Birthday

  Today's cake was for a repeat customer looking for a 50th birthday cake with an intricate Bollywood style. The interior was vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream. All the decorations and coverings were made with homemade fondant. Elements like the centre pearl and the gold appliques were made shimmery with edible lustre powders.

Sweet 16 black and white birthday cake

Today's cake is an 8" black and white sweet 16 birthday cake with a rainbow interior. I topped it off with a black and white sugar paste anemone with black berries and twigs. Created for clients with gluten sensitivity, I altered my recipe to use sweet rice flour, tapioca flour and a minimal amount of all-purpose flour.  

Giant carrot cake with sugar paste bunnies

Today's cake was 3D giant carrot cake with large sugar paste bunnies created to look like the client's pet rabbits. The interior of the cake was chocolate with chocolate buttercream and a surprise filling of homemade caramel and pecans. This is one decadent cake. Enjoy little bunnies.

Yoga birthday cake for an eighty year old

 Today's cake was created for a client whose mother is a yoga enthusiast turning 80 years old. It was made out of chocolate devil's food cake and and covered in traditional buttercream. The orchids, bamboo, blades of grass, lotus and figurine were all made of sugar paste.  

Creating the figure was the highlight for me and I made sure that she was able to separate from the flower so that both pieces could become keep-sakes. 

Dachshund dog and pillow cake for an 8 yr. old

Today's cake was such a fun one to make. For ages I've been wanting to do a pillow cake and try my hand at quilting fondant. Lucky for me the birthday girl also wanted a cake topper and I got to try out some new techniques there too. 

The cake is a simple 8" square chocolate and vanilla cake carved into a pillow shape. The larger dog was sculpted in styrofoam and fondant while the puppy was purely fondant.

If you would like to see a sequence shot of the cake being made you can find it on my Flickr account here.

Mod Monkey cake for a 2 yr. old

I sent out another birthday cake yesterday. This time it was a Mod Monkey cake for a 2 yr. old girl. Mod Monkey is not my own design but rather a popular birthday theme package that you can buy online. Here's the link to the hundreds of different items you can get for a Mod Monkey themed party. 

The client had requested a 6" cake along with 18 cupcakes coloured pink and green. The two requirements for the cake were awesome flavour and No fondant. We went with a vanilla cake and a traditional buttercream which is more kid-friendly than Swiss Buttercream. The monkey's face and  No. 2 was created from modelling chocolate. Very yummy.

Orchid and Peony Cake

Today's post is the cake I did for my daughter's 10th birthday. I always let my kids pick whatever they want for their cake and this year she gave me a quite challenge because it involved sugar flowers and I've never attempted them before. For this cake I enrolled in the Sugar Orchids class with James Rosselle to learn how to make the orchids. The bonus lessons included how to do bamboo, rocks and leaves. The lessons are quite detailed and very easy to follow. What I didn't know was that the cost of the flower cutters are pretty pricey so I had to figure out some other way to cut the peony petals. Thanks to Google I pieced enough information together to create an adaptation. After I finished just these three flowers I got a good understanding as to why you can expect to pay a premium for sugar flowers. Each flower is created in multiple stages and require delicate handling as they are very fragile once dry.

Although this is probably closer to a wedding cake than a birthday cake I'm pretty happy that my daughter gave me the challenge. What do you think for my first time?

A birthday "Breaking Bad" cake

So this cake has got to be the hardest cake I've done yet. It was epic. Back when I was creating the Squirt turtle cake, I was talking to someone about how cool it would be to do a Breaking Bad turtle cake. Low and behold, I got an email from someone requesting just that. I can't take the credit for the design of this cake because it was created for one of the show's premier parties. I couldn't seem to source out the bakery for it which is a bit of a bummer. Anyone know?
The client wanted this cake to be a surprise for the birthday boy so it was a bit tricky for me to get photos of him and make the head in his likeness. I had to make do with a few head shots and a lot of guessing. I created a practice rice krispy turtle and a trial head cake with the help of the lessons I had learned through the "Bobble Head cake" course I took through Craftsy. ( I highly recommend their course BTW)

The head was carved out of vanilla pound cake and covered in fondant. The turtle shell was made from a chocolate/vanilla marble cake while the turtle's head and legs were formed in rice krispy treats and then covered in fondant. This was one heavy cake.

I'm happy to say that the cake got to the party safe and sound and everyone seemed to be thrilled with the results. Below are some shots of the birthday boy with the cake as well as some photos I took of the cake. 
So now what cake do I do to top that one? 

60th Ruffled Rose birthday cake ombre style

Today's celebration cake was an elegant and simple ruffle rose ombre cake for some repeat customers. The cake was chocolate devil's food cake with real buttercream icing. I really enjoyed decorating this cake and I loved creating the ombre effect. What do you think of the little candy pearl additions.

Finding Nemo "Squirt" birthday cake for a one-year old

The latest cake order I had was so much fun! This order was for a little boys first birthday and I was to make a 3D "Squirt" turtle Cale in red velvet along with 6 large fondant decorated turtle cupcakes and 50 mini buttercream covered cupcakes in the shape turtles. This order took quite a bit of planning but I'm really thrilled with how it turned out.

When the client picked up the cake she seemed happy with what I created and it just so happened that they were holding the birthday party at where I work my day job. Later I was able to talk to the server who did the party and see if everyone liked the cake. My co-worker's eyes went big and she said,"You made that cake?! I took pictures of it because I've never seen a cake like that before." Nice! I asked if there were any leftovers and she told me, "No. I was hoping she would leave me a little cupcake but she didn't." My kids complained of the same thing.

Happy 1st birthday Joshua. I had fun making your cake.

Peanut Butter and chocolate birthday cake with a tabby cat topper

What do you think of my little kitty? This 8" chocolate devil's food cake was covered in a peanut butter buttercream. It was an order for a repeat customer who had requested a tabby cat as a topper. I think I'm still pretty new to sugar paste sculpting but I'm happy with how this little guy turned out. Does he look guilty about trying to open that gift?