GeoCaking, I mean GeoCACHING Fun!

Jessica and I go way back to Camp Whitcomb/Mason.  She was my supervisor there (Boris) when I was Walleye many moons ago.  She's always been into the outdoor activities and I was so excited that I got to make a birthday cake for her son, Elijah's 9th birthday.  He was going to be celebrating by going on a geocaching adventure.  Check out geocaching.com to find out more about it or to get involved.  Think of it as finding buried treasure.  All.Over.The.World.  SUPER fun!

So, you see the logo above?  I wanted to re-create that to top Elijah's cake.

I placed the N, E, W, S for a compass...because you'll need one or a GPS to find the treasures.   And then, along the side of the cake, I made a path with an "X" marks the spot.  

 The little geocaching guy is holding a 9.  You know, Elijah's now 9.  :)

And here's the birthday boy.  About to dig in to his chocolate cake with Oreos and fudge and buttercream filling.

I got news that they found the treasure they were looking for!  Congrats to his mighty crew!  What a fun birthday idea!  Happy Birthday, Elijah!!!

Ben Franklin Crafts Turns 40!

   

Last Friday, Ben Franklin Crafts in Oconomowoc celebrated their 40th Anniversary.  I teach the cake decorating classes at that location and was asked to make a cake and cupcakes to celebrate this very special occasion.  

Here are the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Ray cutting the cake.  How cute are they?  And what a wonderful store they've created!

I'm so incredibly honored to work at such a fine store.  And the employees there are absolutely awesome! Honestly, if you are into ANY kind of crafting, this store will be your heaven.  :)  Hope to see you in class!!!

Baby Cumberbatch Shower

We were thrilled to hear that my sister-in-law, Rachel and my husband's brother, Jake, are expecting a little boy later this year.  They live on the west coast and were planning a visit to Wisconsin this last weekend.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to host a baby shower for Rachel while they were in town.  

As a joke, they started calling their little guy "Cumberbatch" after seeing a movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch.  He also plays Sherlock on the BBC version of this character.  So, I opted for a Sherlock themed baby shower.  Surely that hadn't been done before!

Here is some of the decor.  Blue balloons, of course.  I made four mini-diaper cakes and stuffed cake pops in as toppers.  The cake pops were our parting gift.  

A local restaurant in town used parchment paper with a London newspaper theme.  They gave me a few sheets of this great paper and I used them to decorate each of the cake boards.  

I found this great onsie at CafePress.com.

Here's the cake, topped with gumpaste baby shoes.

 

Rachel's favorite cake flavor is chocolate.  So here's her chocolate cake, with chocolate fudge and Oreo filling and chocolate buttercream frosting.

I went to my local Ben Franklin Crafts and found some great scrapbook paper.  I cut out little Sherlock silhouettes and onsies for this banner.  

My friend Sarah, who has her own Etsy page for crocheted items, made these Sherlock hats for the special occasion.  One for Daddy and one for baby Cumberbatch when he arrives.

And here was the menu:

Fruit Water

Coffee and Moriar-TEA

Fruit Pizzas

Fruit Ka-Bobs and Veggie Vases

Caprese Bruschetta

Deviled Eggs

California Quinoa Salad

Sandwiches

Asian Pinwheels

Cucumber Salsa

Josie and her Grandma made this little family tree.  As guests arrived, they wrote down some advice for the new mom and placed their leaf up on the tree.  When their gifts were opened, each guests advice was read to Rachel.

We had a great turnout and a fantastic day!  What a special occasion to celebrate!  We can't wait to meet the new addition to our family!

Grandma's Ninety-Three!

My Grandma Dorothy spent her actual 93rd birthday at home in northern Wisconsin this year.  But when she visited me today, I couldn't let her go without some birthday cake.  I whipped up this lemon poppy-seed cake with strawberry curd and cream cheese frosting this morning and had such a nice visit with her this afternoon.  

Happy Birthday Grandma!  Here's to many, many more!

Mary Kay's 75th Birthday Sock Hop

This was a quiet party.  Mary Kay's daughter, Joan, was throwing her a surprise 75th birthday party.  The theme was to be a sock-hop and guests were encouraged to dress accordingly.  (How fun?!!)  Joan requested a sheet cake, one half yellow with raspberry filling and the other half marble with buttercream. She late requested additional cupcakes which I made chocolate with buttercream filling and frosting.  The little 75's are made of fondant/gum paste mix in colors that coordinated with the cake.  

I'm absolutely in love with the colors.  This was a fun one to do.  And I hear that Mary Kay was super surprised!  Woo hoo!

A very Happy 75th Birthday, Mary Kay!  I'm so happy to have been a part of your special day!

Alaskan Iceberg Wedding Cake

Rachel is definitely the exception to my rule about wedding cakes.  I've sort of ruled them out to focus on birthday cakes and other special occasion cakes.  Wedding cakes usually require a significant amount of space and time of which I am limited.  I applaud my fellow cake people who frequently make wedding cakes.  It's not an easy task and the patience required for such accomplishments is to be applauded.  

Soooooo, getting to this cake.  This cake is the exception.  A cake baking friend of mine, Kari, had an order for this very wedding cake and then her house had a fire.  A bad one.  Her kitchen was gone.  She called me requesting back-up support and I was happy to step in.  A cake needed to be made, wedding cake or not I was in!  So, Kari referred Rachel to me and the rest is history.

Rachel's mom was getting married and then heading out on an Alaskan Honeymoon Cruise.  She wanted a cake that would incorporate icebergs and Alaskan wildlife.  So, I tried to give her the best of both worlds.  The bottom two tiers of this cake are "Alaska" and the top tier is the iceberg.

All three cakes are chocolate-flecked cake with buttercream filling.  They are topped with homemade marshmallow fondant and lots of buttercream and gum/paste decor.  

I had a really good time with this one.  I'm sure that the wedding was absolutely beautiful and I hope that the Newlyweds are enjoying their honeymoon!