Wedding Sampler

This is a simple tasting sampler for a September wedding.  The bottom is chocolate with raspberry filling, the middle is vanilla buttermilk with toasted pecan and coconut filling and the top is a lemon with vanilla buttercream filling.  It looks like those are the flavours they'll be going for when they say "I do" in September!

Whimsical Cat!

I was happy to work with a favourite customer again to make this fun little cake for her daughter's 6th birthday!  I was asked to make a pink kitty with white polka dots.  Thought this was fun style but I couldn't believe the trouble I had with getting the head correct. It originally started out as a cake carved into the head but ended up as a large ball of fondant stuck very carefully onto the body!  I was happy to hear that the brother of the birthday girl is crazy about fondant and would have no trouble partaking in the fondant cat head!

A Birthday Girl's Favourite Things!

This was a fun cake to make and was one of those ones I love where I'm given several ideas about what the person of honour likes and I am given free reign to be creative!  This was made for the 80th birthday of a former nurse who loves to travel the world, enjoys a good cup of tea, a good book and, most importantly, the company of her family!

This cake was huge and was completely edible, from the buckles on the suitcase to the teacup sitting on top of the books.  Actually, the teacup was palatable but I wouldn't recommend eating it, as it was made from gum paste, rather than fondant, so that it would hold it's shape.  I managed to get the teacup quite thin so that it resembled china and I finished it off my painting gold around the rim, handle and base and a purple "80" on the front.  I was happy to hear that the guest of honour kept the teacup as a memento of her birthday celebration!

Vibrant Ladybugs!

What can I say, I love these!!!  I love polka dots, this green colour, and I've been wanting to incorporate lady bugs into something, so here it is!  These are mini cupcakes that I made to use up a little extra cake batter I had.  Once again, I was just playing around but wanted to make something that would really pop and thought a nice vibrant green topped with a little something red would work.  Rather than doing the typical flower (not that I have a problem with that, I happen to love making little flowers), I decided on these!  Love love love!!!

Patch Treasurechest for Charlie!

 I've always wanted to do a pirate themed birthday party for one of my boys, but they've always been interested in something else!  I've put it out there again this year for the twins, who will be 5 next month, but I'd mentioned robots at one point and they're all over that like white on rice!  I am looking forward to that too and am already thinking of all the fun robot themed fun you could include in a birthday party...maybe the pirates will happen next year!!!  You can imagine I was happy to be asked to make a cake to go with a little man's pirate themed 3rd birthday party!  More specifically, it was themed around a Lalaloopsy Pirate doll, called Patch Treasurechest!  Charlie's only request was that the cake include a treasure chest and gold coins!  Well, it seemed like the only thing to do was a giant treasure chest with little Patch sitting propped against it!  Of course his little parrot friend had to be included and sat perched on top of the treasure chest.  This cake was huge and as I was making it, I was aware that it was far more than required for the party.  I thought it would look like a wimpy little treasure chest if I made it any smaller and you can't have a wimpy pirate cake!  The cake itself was vanilla buttermilk with vanilla buttercream filling.  I used a chocolate fondant to cover the treasure chest and then "carved" into in with one of my fondant tools to give the wooden look.  A bit of brown colour gel brushed on finished the look I was going for.  Strips of fondant that had been coloured golden yellow were added for the trim and then brushed with gold shimmer dust.  Patch was made completely out of fondant.  I tried to keep him realistic and made an enormous head.  Wow, was that thing ever tricky to hold up!  I got a bit carried away with the details and used small amounts of black and white fondant to make a little skull and crossbones on his shirt, as well as his little Chuck Taylor's.  Charlie got his wish and heaps of "gold" coins overflowed from the chest!  A little brown sugar for sand and a treasure map wishing the birthday boy a happy day, finished it off!  Phew, this was quite the project, but well worth it, especially seeing pictures of Charlie biting into Patch's head the second he was allowed at his cake!  The "carnage" photo of Patch afterwards had me laughing every time I looked at it!  So glad Charlie liked it and that he had a very happy day!!!  

Super Cookie!!!

I was recently asked to make a large cookie to mark a special day for a special family!  Using a 9" cake pan, I made my standard chocolate chip cookie dough and pressed it into the bottom of the pan.  I wasn't quite sure how long to bake it but it looked done, so out it came.  Using purple icing I piped onto the top of the cookie and made a few fondant flowers out of orange, pink and purple and finished it off with a touch of pink shimmer!  The special little one it was made for is apparently quite the cookie monster and was so excited to open it and find her favourite colours on a giant chocolate chip cookie!  I didn't know those were her favourite colours but do I ever love it when that happens!!!  Heard the cookie didn't last long!!!

More Play Time!!!

Using an extra 9" square cake, I decided to cut it into four and stack them to make a cute, but slender cake!  Using strawberry buttercream filling between the layers of chocolate cake gave it some additional height!  I then took some leftover icing and used one of my favourite techniques to create this incredibly simple, but pretty little number!