Long time, no update!

I know it has been a long time, so today there will be two separate posts! An update from my previous post where I drew the cake I was planning on making: here it is finally made!


The beautiful Bride actually did like the cake, she is just silly :)

Upcoming Challenge

This week I will be working with Pam to create my first-ever wedding cake.

Below is a sketch of what we anticipate it to look like.

Fresh magnolias on a red velvet and vanilla bean cream cheese frosted SQUARE cake... I hope I survive!!

Damned if I'm gonna miss a class

I may have been sick this morning, but damned if I'm going to miss my cake decorating class that I paid for and of which there are only three! (First one doesn't count, it was just an orientation!) Tonight we did roses, clowns, and other drop flowers. After my first practice clown sitting upright, we had to do one laying down and she said "Try to cross the arms in front of him so he doesn't look dead." To which I said, "Maybe I want him to look dead." So, I made a clown that looked like he had been thrown out of a 10 story building (sorry, to all the clowns that read my blog). Had I colored some frosting red I would have went to town with the whole display, but instead I just scooped him up and threw him back into the container to mix in again. But roses I like, so here are a few pics that I took at the end of class...

This is the second one I did and you can kind of tell that the icing in my bag was transitioning from the cream to the pink, not entirely on purpose, but it has a cool effect....


These next two are a more solid pink and after a little more practice. I have to say I wasn't a fan of my icing consistency because it gave me a kind of ruffled/ragged look on the end of the petals- but then again it does give it a peony look with those edges...hmm... peonies are one of my top favorite flowers, I definitely have something to experiment with this weekend....

Class has begun!

Guess what? I just had my first official cake decorating class tonight! I felt silly taking pictures during class, so all I have is the finished product here, but next time when I do it at home I will take pictures step by step. I learned about different consistencies of icings and how to use different tips. Next week we will be making flowers and clowns but I think I just had a great idea for Maggie and Phil's Halloween Party!

Fender Bender Cupcake Carnage

What you see here is deliciousness...
Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream frosting (left) and Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese frosting (right). I made them in three different sizes, filled the larger ones with frosting in addition to what is seen on top. I initially saw the recipe months ago on a blog that I regularly read and had been dreaming about them and searching for a reason to make them. I had a friend's birthday come up and decided that these would perfect for the occassion! Normally I don't even think to share recipes on this, however, I have received nothing but rave reviews so I included the links above- I take no credit for the recipes, I just made what you see.

But, I will take credit for this idea below... I made a cardboard "pint glass" as a cupcake stand! Lighting was not so good in the bar, but I abhor my flash. Fellow party-goers then suggested making "pint cakes" so now I am in search of tempered pint glasses that can go in an oven, any thoughts?



Did I mention that on the way to the birthday party I got in a car accident? I spent so much time baking these cupcakes and piping the frosting, only to have them thrown about my cupcake carrier (love it) in my car. Therefore party presentation- not so good, taste- loved by all, story of their delivery- priceless.

Cake and Cupcakes

This is a first of a many things. Let's play the never have I ever game! Never have I ever made a three-tiered cake. Never have I ever experimented with different types of cake (i.e., bottom layer is rainbow chip, middle is white, and top is strawberry).Never have I ever used multiple frostings on one cake (i.e., the top and bottom is whipped cream colored pink and green, the middle is rainbow chip). Never have I ever piped decoration onto a cake.

But why, oh why, did I make this cake? Reason is still undecided, I originally had visions of a topsey, turvey, wonky, crazy cake for the Fall into a Wonderland of Reading book fair, however, that would require much more experience than I had, so this is where I am starting! I MUST sign up for cake decorating classes, just like my best friend Courtney took! Therefore, I believe I am going to use this as a surprise for my marketing students tomorrow.

Anyway, I had extra batter and frosting therefore I made a few cupcakes and played with some more decoraring techniques. I must admit everything is out of a box or a can! While I had ambitions to bring this all together, time still is a factor so this is what I came up with Sandra Lee style. If you don't know Sandra Lee, that means it's semi-homemade and the semi- part comes into play because I added food coloring! I think I get points for baking the cake too, instead of buying a ready made one, right? Whoa, too much talking going on. Enjoy my designs below!

This one kind of reminds me of a kind of variety of chrysanthemum... Like my laptop staging area?


Friends forever <3


The garden with the brain...


The last of my favorite techniques...

CocoNuts

Vanilla Cake (out of a box) + Vanilla Icing (from scratch) + Angel Coconut Flakes = a pretty good cake, if I say so myself, I just wish I had someone to share it with!