Valentine's Day Cake

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm calling this cake "My Heart Belongs to You". I made it for my husband since he was sad that I had made so much cake and given it all away. He requested cotton candy buttercream so I raced around yesterday trying to find cotton candy. Phew. I finally found it after trying 4 different stores. Thank goodness its a movie food found at places where you can rent movies! :) I grabbed hastily though and the one I grabbed was cherry. Soooo cherry cotton candy buttercream was the only option! Luckily it was tasty enough (albeit not exactly what he wanted). Next time I'll be more careful and look closely before rejoicing and running to the counter! LOL!

This was my first attempt at gumpaste anything and ultimately it was OK. I was frustrated by my lack of good spots to dry the penguin so he ended moved around a bit and cracking in spots. SIGH. Oh well. I know now what not to do. That's how we learn right?!?! :)

Penguins are a favorite in our household and given how crazy cold it still is all over our great nation I figured this was a great choice of bird to use. I really liked using a bit of a different color scheme and was happy to skip the hot pink.
This cake was white cake with cherry cotton candy buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream and gumpaste decorations.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you remember that you are loved! Single, attached, married or not; God's love is really the only love we need.

Blessings to you!

Birthday Cake!!

I made this little cute cake for my sweet neighbor who turned 32. She didn't know I was making it so it was a fun surprise! Today is her birthday! This was just a little something to let her know that her day will be sweet. I told her to have cake for breakfast!

I wanted to try out some more all buttercream decorating. It is white cake with a chocolate chip crown. I told her I'm calling it chocolate chip crown cake! :) That's a cute little name eh? And I covered it in buttercream with royal icing decorations and buttercream polka dots and borders. This is my first time doing a top border. Is that even what it is called? I was proud that it turned out okay.

Also there's a heart...so ya know...Valentine's week continues ;)

Spreading the love all week!

Blessings!

Valentines on the Mind

There's a big game today. Did you know that? Being not much of a football gal myself I only just discovered that this week. How did I discover it? Reading blogs about football cakes and cupcakes.

Pretty lame, eh?

Although, in my defense, I've had a lot on my mind.

What's been on my mind is a bit girlier. Just a teensy weensy bit girly in its nature. Like this...



And this...



And because the cupcakes looked lonely without someone to admire them...



This last one is my shameless attempt to give actual utility to some of my Valentine's platters which usually just look pretty for a few weeks in February.



I'm really a Valentine's Day crazy person.

It should just be said. I think that it would be obvious except I work REALLY hard to hide it. And I have pulled back...a bit. Shhhhh. Don't tell the heart-shaped lights hanging over my entertainment unit. I might pull them down and decide to get a little less kitschy next year.

Or maybe not.

A Thank You

I'm really a ridiculously erratic blogger. Really. I am so lucky to make the cakes that I make, when I do get to make them. I'm even luckier in that there are people out there actually taking the time to look at my cakes and share in my cake joys and frustrations. I'm only a hobbyist. And I certainly don't feel I deserve to be honored for my inconsistent blogging...but I am! How 'bout that?

So this is a thank you to Baking Momma for this lovely award and the lovely words she typed about me on her beautiful blog. Thanks!



Now I'm blessed to pass this award along to:

Sweet Things
Party Perfect
Thirty Handmade Days
Pink Little Cake

I love reading these blogs! I love all the blogs I read and I only recently discovered two of them...the other two I've been following a long time!

I hope you enjoy following them as much as I have!

Blessings!

Christmas, an Anniversary, and a Company Cake

So I know I've been MIA for A LONG LONG time...I mean a month in the blogosphere is similar to a year in other circles. Let me start by apologizing for missing a post and then not getting a picture of the Christmas cake to even make a belated post out of... such is life.

Here, however, is a picture of my hubby and I on our anniversary celebration. 6 years!!! We finally made it past 5! My hubby always says no one listens to what you have to say about marriage for the first 5 years...since you are "newlyweds". LOL!

I had wanted to remake our wedding cake (the top layer only) but didn't get a chance to and with my new weight loss regimen...decided it was best not to make a cake that would sit here and beg to be eaten.

The following weekend I made this cake for a belated Epiphany Party which is my hubby's yearly office party. The cake is based on their office logo which is basically a blue tree.


I was so thrilled that with my new cake turntable my fondant was much easier to apply and cut off and overall I had a clean look on the bottom of my cake with no holes to cover! So wonderful!
It is a chocolate cake with oreo buttercream (my hubby's new favorite) covered in marshmallow fondant. AND, the most exciting news of all...I used the below gift to make it!!!



My refurbished commercial KA mixer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With a 6 quart bowl!!!!AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Yes ladies I can finally stop killing those poor handmixers (I've already had to toss 3) and move on to something more my size. This was the merriest gift of all! :)

So I'm back! On arriving back I discovered I won a blog award! I know little about it, but I know I get to name other blogs to receive this award now...so more on that next time!

Blessings in this New Year!

Advent Cake

I made this mostly buttercream cake for an Advent social I attended. I wanted something not "Christmasey" but not "generic holiday" and this is what I decided on. I used "REJOICE" since it's commonly heard in the song "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and is what the whole season of Advent is about...rejoicing as we await the coming of the Savior. So I also included text around the sides of the cake, "Hope. Joy. Love. Fiat (Your will be done)."

I was surprised how well I was able to pipe...given piping isn't my thing, but I think it has much more to do with a good consistency of icing. Which I actually managed to achieve by adding a bit of corn syrup to the all shortening buttercream. I'm really pleased that this little trick did wonders for my piping! Woo hoo!

The stars and dove are made from fondant. It's a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream. Nothing fancy just a little cake for a very blessed night with the ladies. It was fun! I have lots leftover again...funny how even when I make it teeny it is still too much! LOL!

Advent Blessings!

Choo-Choo my son is two!

Happy Birthday to my little man! I cannot believe it has been two years this week!!!! He was born on the first Sunday of Advent so we are celebrating tomorrow...even though his birthday is not until Wednesday.

I made him this "Choo-choo" cake. He, as all little boys do; loves trains, planes and helicopters.

This cake was made all in one day so the fondant was a bit rough to work with hence a little bit of trouble here and there. I am overall happy with it although if it was for someone else I would have piped little royal icing dots over all the "seams" and hidden some of the fondant flaws. Given the holiday weekend...all of the shopping and having family in town...that didn't happen. Sooo I'm leaving him (the train) as is and remembering that my beloved 2 year old son will love his cake even with all its little flaws!

Advent Blessings!