Sesame Street Cake

Sunny Day
Sweepin’ the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street ….

Hahaha…that song’s in your head now, isn’t it?  

It was in my head when a new client emailed me for a cake for his son’s 2nd birthday party.  He emailed me a couple ideas for a cake: bold colours, alphabets and numbers scattered around, and a few sesame street characters to finish off the piece.

That was the fun part.

I started off with my favorite character: Cookie Monster.

I started off with a rice krispie body and head.

Then covered him in blue fondant, which i scored to get his messy furry look.

And what is Cookie Monster without his own accessories?  COOKIES!!!

I then started on Big Bird.  Of course I wasn’t going to put a 7′ tall bird on this cake, but he turned out to be just as cute.

I layered on fondant feathers for a ruffled feathery look.

Elmo was done the same way as Cookie Monster – except in red fondant, of course.

And “Tah-dah”…. Sesame street couldn’t get any sweeter….

 

 

Cowgirl Birthday Party

Ah Summer time – school’s out, the days get longer and both my kids get a year older.  Yep, both of them are summer time babies.

This year, my daughter is turning 5 (it’s an important milestone in kindergarten terms).  She’s a great kid with a mind of her own, and so we asked her what kind of birthday theme did she want.  After much, much, MUCH thought on what to have, she finally settled on: Cowgirl.

We live in the suburbs – she has never ridden a pony, nor seen a rodeo, but she wanted to be a cowgirl.  How I love my daughter!

So right away, I got to work on her cake.  But first my daughter pulled me aside and instead of chocolate or vanilla, she asked for a rainbow.

Sigh…

So I baked up 6 layers of white cake, each coloured in different segments of the rainbow: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.

Stacked each in that order and decorated the cake in a simple cowgirl theme.

I particularly loved the handkerchief detail.

When it was time to cut the cake, I honestly held my breath as I cut out a slice and slide it onto the plate.  Every little girl screamed with delight (I’m really not exaggerating – a small group of 4 and 5 years olds screamed) when then saw the “rainbow” inside.

All in all, it was a great birthday party for my little girl.  She had a blast…. now onto my son’s 3rd birthday party next month.  Stay tuned.

Have your cake…..

So yes, I’ll be the first to admit that I have badly neglected my little blog.  Sigh…So much for new years resolutions….

But like always I’ve been busy…baking and designing cakes, of course.

What have I actually created, you ask?

In December I was playing with cakes … these little bars are my “just a taste” cakes – when you don’t want a whole cake…but still want the decadence of sweetness.  Hehehe.

I like these cakes the best for their simplicity.  Because I was only trying it out for the first time, all three bars were vanilla and buttercream frosting, but I’m willing to make varieties.

In February there was the Barbie silhouette cake….

And what is Barbie without her accessories?

The Lego cake.

I wanted this unique cake to look like the classic Lego figures had come to life and had decided to cover up a large Lego block in fondant.

Viola!  Lego Cake!

And then I designed the Phineas and Ferb cake for a friend of mine from work for her son.

I had taken the time to paint out the cartoon characters on gum paste.

And I wanted to do the very first episode with the roller coaster….

And of course Phineas and Ferb!

In the lovely month of March, I did a bridal shower cake for a lovely bride-to-be (whom I was honored and privileged to do her wedding cake and cupcakes this past May.)

Which was followed by a Dinosaur birthday cake for another friend of mine, for her little boy….

Yes, Dinosaurs celebrate birthday’s with 3 year old little boys – haven’t you heard?!

Last but not least was a Hiking Boot cake, requested by a gentleman who read my blog (yeah!!!) and simply requested this unique shaped cake for his sister’s birthday.

So there you have the last six months done in up in sweet cakes.

Hoping to bring you more soon.

L

Cakes for April and May

What I enjoy most about my job (besides creating unique cakes and bring smiles to people’s faces), is getting actually the initial request for a cake.  The specific idea that someone wants brought to life in cake-form.  What I also find interesting is how sophisticated birthday cakes are getting (not like the rectangular slab cakes I grew up with) and what kids are now requesting….not just vanilla birthday cake (although this is still classic!)

Late last April into earlier this May I had a few birthday cakes and a first communion cake to work on.

My friend asked me to do a puppy themed cake for her son’s birthday.  The birthday party had cookie shaped like dog biscuits, and party plates were replaced with (new) doggy bowls.

Instead of doing a large 3D form, I opted for a 2D relief of a puppy.  All formed with yummy rice krispies.

I then simply painted on the spots and doggy paw prints.

She had also requested another birthday cake in May for her daughter’s 9th birthday.  A “Twilight” themed cake.  Twilight – as in the vampire books/ movies that are the craze among preteen girls.  Okay I’ll admit that I’ve watched the movie and have read all the books and I’m all for Team Edward…hmm I spoke too much…. anyways, moving on……

The birthday girl was all for Team Jacob (hence the little fondant wolf howling at the top the cake).

For the first communion cake, I was asked to create something with pink and purple flowers and white fondant covering the base.  I tried using my flower embossing templates to give dimension to the plain white background (in pictures it looks horrible because my camera is really really old!)

 

Fashionista Cake

One of the more ambitious cakes I’ve ever taken on was this weekend’s “Fashionista Cake”.

It’s for my husband’s cousin’s milestone birthday.  Can’t you tell she likes purses and shoes?

I wanted everything to be close to actual size.  So lots of cakes, lots of icing, lots of fondant.

The shoe, I found, was the most challenging aspect of the cake.

I wanted it to look like a dainty high heel.  I used a non-edible support for the sole of the shoe and the heel and covered these in fondant.  Allowing it dry over night.

For the strap and the “material” around the toe, I decide NOT to use a non-edible support and at this very moment I’m crossing my fingers (and my toes) that it makes it to it’s destination in one piece.

The shoe box was easier, and I loved making the “tissue paper” accent spilling out of the box.

The zebra printed purse was just as easy.  Covering the entire carved down cake in fondant, I painted on the black stripes.  I then added black fondant strips as accents and additional pieces of fondant as the purses hardware.

Hubby just left for the party (I’m watching the kiddies and getting some well desereved rest).  Hoping it got there safe and sound and everyone likes it.

Angry Birds

A few months back, a friend of mine turned my attention to a game to add onto my iPhone.  Angry Birds.  Ever heard of it?

And ever since that day, I have to admit, I’ve been hooked! 

The game basically, has you flinging a variety of birds with various abilities via sling shot at a group of grunting green pigs and the elaborate obstacles of glass, stone or wooden blocks that surround them.  Why are the birds so angry, you ask?  Because the pigs have stolen the birds eggs (can’t help but think of bacon and eggs here) … you can view a cartoon of it on YouTube.

I love the game so much that I’ve actually finished it – found all golden eggs and have gotten all gold stars for each level.  (For Lent I actually gave up my beloved Angry Birds, and have yet to actually finish the latest update in “Ham ‘Em High“, but aside from that last level I really did finish the game).  There are also subsequent games – Angry Birds Season (watch the birds attack the pigs dressed in their holiday best from Halloween to Easter) and the latest game being Angry Birds Rio, to coincide with the new animated movie “Rio“.

So when one of my friends told me that her son wanted an Angry Birds cake, I jumped at the opportunity!

I took each bird and hand-molded them using fondant.  It’s crazy that at first they looked like little colored blobs with white spots. 

Then as I drew on their features with my trusty black gourmet pen, they just seemed to come to life!  This is my favorite little bird….what do you think?

This is the entire Angry Birds cast all ready for the cake. 

The cake is a vanilla confetti cake with vanilla frosting, as requested by the birthday boy himself.  I then cut the cake into various hills and valleys for the birds and their nemesis to sit on.

I even included the elusive golden egg, hidden off to the side among some fondant green grass.

Granted that you can’t really play with this cake (there is one on Youtube that you can play and eat).  But I still love, love, love this cake! 

L

April Days

Sorry I haven’t been around lately.  Its been a combination of things, really….

For starters my computer is dead (I’m literally writing from my iPhone) and I haven’t a clue when I’m getting around to fixing it.  I’ve also been on that fun roller-coaster ride of flus and colds that has touched everyone in my family (the latest being me, catching a wicked case of strep throat).  I know, how lovely.

So what else is new? Well I celebrated my 34th birthday.  Yeah, I’m not one of those gals who shy away at the mere mention of my impending birthday and being a year older.  I actually embrace it.  Love it.  Make a cake for it.

Yep, you heard me right.  I made my on cake this year.  I figure at least it’ll be a flavour I like and in a design I want.  Unlike so many past years, where it has been a bunny rabbit.  Because my birthday is in the spring and somewhat close to Easter….well, you see where I’m going with this….  So what did I decide to do?  

Tattoos.

  I have 2 at the moment on my ankle.  The sun and the moon I got for my 21st birthday, and a dragon image I got a few years later overlaying the first tattoo. 

I have been playing with the idea of getting another tattoo, but it all boils down to location, location, location.  Do I get one on my wrist, on my other ankle, on my hip?  Oh the decisions.  So what easier way to get a bunch of my tattoos down, but on a cake?

L