What's Up Don?

This was the most interesting order I've received to date. I was getting my hair done and was talking to Lorraine (see Carly's Cake) about a carrot cake I was going to make for another client (see Meow!) when another woman approached me and asked me to make one for her husband. Just like that. She didn't know who I was but heard "delicious carrot cake" and that's all it took. I do say that my carrot cake recipe is DELISH! I use one FULL POUND of organic carrots per recipe. Mmmm! And don't even get me started on the cream cheese frosting!

Well, her husband's name was Don and the only thing she wanted on the cake was "Happy Birthday Don!" The rest of the decorating was up to me. So I went ALL out!

I did the basketweave on the side and included a ring of carrots as a border.

This cake weighed a TON with all of the carroty goodness and frosting! I hope Don had a happy birthday and enjoyed the deliciousness of the cake. :)

Make sure you leave a trail of bread crumbs...

Hansel and Gretel would most certainly love my latest creations. I think making these gingerbread houses is one of my favorite things to do this holiday season. I just had SO much fun!

It all started by baking my batch of gingerbread. Each batch yields two gingerbread houses and I knew I wanted to make one with my daughter, Josie. The other one HAD to go to my nephew, Connor. What a fun thing for us to do together.

Here are the finished houses:

And here are Josie and Connor with their creations. I LOVE how they're just studying their houses. And they were SO good about not picking at the houses. What self-control they each have!

Well, after my mom saw Josie's and Connor's she was just so complimentary that I just HAD to make one for her.

And, after much discussion and thought, I was trying to find the perfect gift for Josie's 4K teachers. I wanted to do something homemade (don't worry, I also gave a giftcard in case they get sick of homemade gifts) and I figured a personalized gingerbread house would be a great gift. So here's how they turned out.

I just love how each house looks similar, yet very different from one another. It was fun coming up with different designs. Connor's and my mom's was made to model the houses they live in. Santa, on Connor's house, is right outside of his bedroom window. :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Cake Mama Classes

My friend, Melanie, asked me to teach her a few cake-decorating tricks so that she could make her daughter, Cecelia's, 3rd birthday cake for her party later this month. I was absolutely THRILLED to be called to this task. Teaching is one of my favorite things to do!!! (So, yes people, start getting ideas!!!)

I asked Melanie to pick out a cake from Wilton.com that she wanted to make for the occasion and she chose this lovely one featuring the Ribbon Rose.

Melanie's friend Lexi and Lexi's mother-in-law, Pat, joined in to learn the techniques. Both Melanie and Lexi brought a cake to the class and I supplied the buttercream. My "students" learned how to properly frost a cake and a few "secret" techniques.

They also learned several borders, dots and writing, leaves and even a few flowers. Once the learned the concepts and practiced, they got to finish decorating their cakes.

I think Lexi's turned out great!

And Melanie's daughter, Cecelia, will surely LOVE her birthday cake!

I had such a wonderful time teaching! Thanks so much, Melanie, for hosting such a fun event!

The Carly Cake

Lorraine has done my hair since I was 15 years old. And she's done my hair for more than half of my life, so I've known her for quite some time. She requested a cake for her daughter's 14th birthday. Carly is an athletic girl who's not really into the girly-girl pink stuff. Lorraine wanted a marble cake with chocolate buttercream filling. As for the design of the cake, the direction I got from Lorraine was, "...something electric blue and green. If you could incorporate the iPod swirly things and maybe soccer?" Ah...ssssuuuure? I'm always up for a challenge! Luckily I had a few weeks to think on it.

So this was my inspiration picture. I liked the green and the blue colors...and then I decided to add a few colors to the mix.

I made the "polka dots" to look like the iPod "swirly thing" and created the soccer ball topper out of Rice Krispie treats smooshed into my Magic Bullet cup for the form. Then I covered it in buttercream and fondant.

I really like the way it turned out and Carly did too.

I hope she has a fantastic birthday party and a wonderful birthday weekend!