Happy Birthday, Dad!

My family celebrated my Dad's birthday last night, a few days early. My mom requested that I bake the cake for him a few months ago. When asked about flavors or designs, my mom hadn't a clue. So I thought and thought and thought. I was thinking maybe something golf themed as my Dad likes to golf. But what to do? Then, I thought about something bike themed...but what?

Then, I thought about my Dad. He's a pretty traditional guy. Probably not the biggest fondant fan. He would probably like a classic cake. You know, vanilla with chocolate buttercream. Classic.

Yeah. I can't just do classic, not when I'm given the freedom to "do what I want". If I'M asked to make a cake, I'm MAKING a CAKE. So, a cake decorating friend of mine, Keith, forwarded an awesome website to me that features some pretty untraditional cakes (you'll see what I'm talking about in a second). "Everyday with Rachel Ray" magazine also featured a similar cake in the last year. I just had to try.

From the outside, it looks okay, right? It's a vanilla sponge cake with chocolate mousse filling/frosting. I decorated the outside with pretty...ahem...masculine and classic...cookies.

My Dad was pleased, and then I CUT the cake. Hee hee hee!

His reaction was worth it! He actually sat back and asked, "How did you DO that?"

Awesome.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Love,
Your Favorite Daughter
XOXO

Robin's Mosaic Cake

Oh, I've known Robin for a very long time indeed. She was one of my very first friends in high school. It was a welcomed friendship as I had just moved from Neenah and knew only the sweet girls in my neighborhood who took me under their wings. (Shout out to you Gina, Dena, Lisa and Emily!) Robin was in two or three of my classes freshman year and we sat next to each other and that's where our adventure began.

Through high school, college, our weddings and beyond, Robin and I remain close friends to this day. She happens to be one of the most talented people I know. Her mosaic designs are out of this world and I'm fortunate enough to have a few of her great pieces of work.

Look at the detail on this beautiful planter! I've never seen any mosiac work more detailed than this.

And this votive candle holder...seriously.

She also has a fantastic ability to capture wonderful images with her camera. A great eye indeed. She's taken my daughter's portraits the last two years and I still just look at them with great amazement and admiration.

So, when Robin's birthday was approaching, I was trying to find the perfect cake for her. She chose the flavor: Chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and caramel filling. Good choice. But how to decorate it?

A few months ago, my brother made a logo for Robin. (Consequently, my brother also made my Cake Mama logo, which I love.) I saw the logo and knew that I would somehow incorporate that into a cake design.

The fact that Robin chose a chocolate cake totally helped me out. But I do love the way it turned out. A mosaic cake.

After putting this one together and working on it for what seemed like hours, I have a great appreciation for Robin's talent. Even more than I had before, if that's even possible. You absolutely have to check out some more of Robin's work. You'll be AMAZED!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Robin-Downing-Photography/346884155505

Happy Birthday, Robin! I look forward to celebrating with you!

Adrienne's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake

Mickey and I go way back. Back to 1998. That was the summer that I had the privilege (or so they tell me) of working at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Oh what a job I had. Custodial Hostess was the fancy name they gave me. I can, without a doubt, tell you that Walt Disney World is the cleanest place on the planet. Seriously. At least, when I worked there it was. :)

Thinking about that time, I remember all of the "guest" questions I'd receive. The most common one was, "When is the 3:00 parade?" You'd think that'd be a pretty straightforward answer, but you'd be surprised. The correct answer is, "Where are you going to be watching the parade?" See? See how tricky that is? The true Disney fans will tell you that the 3:00 parade starts at Main Street and ends in Frontierland. Where you're standing will depict the time of the parade for you. You probably learned something here. Right? I bet you did.

I also got the opportunity to create a few hidden Mickeys. It's a rare opportunity, as the majority of the hidden Mickeys are created by the Imagineers. But I got to create one in the old Pirates ride and also the Haunted Mansion. Here's a group of us post-hidden Mickey creation. (I'm standing directly left of the chair. Me and my awesome Custodial Hostess costume.)

That's pretty neat, but, where am I going with this? Ah, I was asked to do another Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake. I just love Disney and was honored to make my friends' daughter's 2nd birthday cake. She's quite the fan! There are 3 Mickeys on the cake. See if you can find them. :)

And here are the bonus shots. One of Adrienne's first reaction to the cake. Seriously, could it get any cuter than this?

And here's an inside peek into the top tier of the cake. Marble with buttercream filling. Bottom tier was vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream filling (thanks for sharing these with me, Adrienne's parents!).

It certainly looks like Adrienne had the most magical 2nd birthday EVER! I'm so happy I got to be a part of her special day. ;)

Cake Mama Class 1-30-2011

My very good friend Erin requested a Cake Mama Class for her sister, her mother, her niece and herself. I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself. Teaching is what I like to do best of all!! Erin was definitely an over-achiever when it came to hostessing. She got all of the supplies and included little plastic boxes for everyone. Not only that, she baked everyone's CAKES!!! It was awesome.

The first thing I did was teach how to properly torte and frost a cake. I needed a little help with the frosting so I also taught how to make some delicious buttercream (we went through 4 double-batches of it!!!) and color it, which is what they are doing in this picture.

After everyone torted and crumb-coated their cakes, we practiced different borders, making dots, writing and making various flowers, including the Wilton Rose.

Someone was having a REALLY good time!

Because refrigerator space was limited for everyone's cakes, I thought it would be a good idea to place the cakes in the 20-degree front terrace for a little while. I mean, we in Wisconsin have the largest freezers at our disposal. I know I'm forshadowing a bit by telling you this, but Erin is VERY proud of the albino squirrel she's seen in her neighborhood. She talks about it frequently, posts updates on Facebook regarding its whereabouts...you know...she pretty much stalks it.

So, when it was time to begin decorating the cakes, we all nearly died from laughter when Kristi returned from outside with a cake that had been half-eaten by some sort of critter with long nails. If you look closely, you can actually see the scratch marks ALL over the cake. (I'm totally laughing while I type this!!!)

Did Kristi let that albino squirrel bring her down (we're totally assuming that it was the albino squirrel because it just makes this story all the more funny!)? Absolutely not! She just used a TON of buttercream and filled in the chunks of missing cake and numerous scratches. That cake turned into the one below! Viola!

Here's Sheila's cake.

And Lindsay's cake.

And Erin's cake.

And here's everyone holding their beautiful cakes. I'm SUCH a proud teacher!!!

It was sad, but it was the right thing to do. Here, Kristi is tossing her cake into the trash.

Perhaps we should have set it outside and waited. Tee hee hee!!!

Thanks so much, Erin, for hosting this class. I had a fabulous time and hope you did too!!

Mint Chocolate Chip...CAKE?!!!

One of my brother's favorite ice cream flavors is Mint Chocolate Chip. He loves the stuff. The combination of mint and a semi-sweet chocolate is really bliss, don't you think? So when I came across a recipe for a homemade mint-chocolate chip cake, I got so excited. Then, when I was asked to bake his cake, I got even MORE excited!

Here's the outside of the mint-chocolate chip cake. Pretty classic. Not too much decor. I think fluffy top and chocolate chip-covered sides were all this cake really needed.

Then, I got to cut the cake. Doesn't that look GREAT?!! (I usually don't get this shot unless I'm there...or one of my clients sends me a photo...)

And then I got to sample the cake. It was divine. They served it with some really rich mint chocolate ice cream and words cannot describe the deliciousness....

Happy Birthday, Jimmy!!

Love,

Your Little Sister

85 Years Young

My sister-in-law, Lisa, requested a Cake Mama Cake for her grandma's 85th birthday. I was very happy to oblige. Lisa wanted a really "fun and colorful" cake for this milestone of a birthday and thought that this one was the way to go!

There are three tiers to this cake. The top tier is a lemon cake filled with lemon buttercream and lemon curd. The middle tier is a vanilla cake filled with raspberry buttercream and raspberry preserves. The bottom tier is a chocolate cake filled with vanilla buttercream and crushed Oreo cookies. The candles are made out of chocolate sticks covered with fondant.

I certainly hope that they had a fantastic celebration. The cake was certainly happy! :)

Angie's Blue Daisy Cake

There is nothing more fun than getting a cake request from someone I haven't seen since high school. I've had many such requests for which I am so thankful. This Blue Daisy Cake is from a high school friend of mine who I haven't seen since 1994! What fun!

Angie contacted me earlier this week requesting a birthday cake with blue daisies. She wanted a chocolate cake with cream cheese filling and buttercream frosting. That sounds good enough to eat!

I made the blue daisies out of my home-made fondant. Everything else is buttercream.

I think this one turned out to be a very elegant cake. I hope she had a great birthday celebration!