A couple of cupcakes

A quick little view of some specialty cupcakes I did recently. The top photos are fondant Tiffany cupcakes covering chocolate devil's food cake and the bottom ones are vanilla cupcakes with swiss buttercream and fondant Elmo toppers.

Right now I'm dabbling with the idea of creating an Etsy shop that will sell edible and keepsake polymer cake toppers. What do you think? Would you shop for some handmade cake toppers for your little one's birthday?

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.

Two-tiered "Masquerade" cake

I thought you might like to take a look at a recent cake I did for someone. The theme for the party was "masquerade" and they asked for a two-tiered fondant covered cake in chocolate and vanilla. The 10" bottom was chocolate devil's food and the 8" top was vanilla. 

It's kind of hard to tell in the photos but all the yellow decorations were painted or dusted with gold. The masks were made of sugar paste and royal icing while some of the applique decorations were made of fondant.

Favourite part to make on this cake? The masks of course! I loved creating the gold tipped feathers.

30th "Tigger" birthday cake

Today's custom cake is a two-tiered red velvet cake covered in fondant and topped with a handmade fondant "Tigger".

Done on short notice the cake proved to be a bit difficult to finish thanks to the heat. Luckily the cake was on the smaller side so I was able to finish sections of it before anything got too hot and unworkable.

The client picked up the cake and said she was thrilled with results. She had confided in me that she left the ordering of the cake a bit too late as everyone else she had asked was booked or unable to squeeze the cake in. I have found this to be the dilemma for most people inquiring about a cake. Pre-made cakes from the store are easy to come by and there is little time needed to order one. A custom per order cake takes time and planning and should be ordered at least a week in advance. I'm so happy that I was able to help make this birthday special for this Tigger fan.

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.

DIY Cake Stands

Last weekend I participated in the Crafty Affaire in White Rock hoping to sell some of my arts and crafts. Because it was a local show I thought I would create a hand-painted fondant mini-cake and some sugar paste cake toppers to see if I could drum up some more interest in my cake decorating. My only problem though was that I didn't have a proper cake stand to display my creations. Not to worry, a quick search on Pinterest and I found the easiest solutions to making my own cake stands.

I picked up a decorative plate and a ceramic platter along with a sundae dish and a brass candle holder to create two lovely cake stands with a little help from E6000 glue. I found out later that the platter would not be food safe so I will keep that for other displays.

What do you think? I think they turned out pretty great considering they ended up costing me about $6 each.