Ugly Firetruck

So sometimes you take on a job (or in this case I volunteered for a job) that reminds you that you still have a learn. Yikes! At least the birthday boy and his 3 year old friends liked it. :/ I think, had I used fondant, and given myself a bit more time, it would have turned out so much better!

Valentines Day Cake Ideas

Here are a few ideas for easy valentine cakes and cupcakes: The first were some cupcakes that I had bakes for my daughters class, last minute as usual, so easy was a MUST!
I made this cake quite a few years ago. I really just wanted to practice my basket weaving. :)
I saw a picture of one like this somewhere and though I'd gie it a try. The same size heart cutter is key but it can get to be a bit tricky trying to get the all to fit together just right.

Rainbow Wedding Cake

Last summer my mother-in-law, and her partner , took a trip to Cape Cod and were wed. They had a reception planned for October to celebrate here at home with their family and friends. Of course, I signed up to make the cake, and much to my delight, I was given free reign on the design of the cake. I wasn't sure if I needed to go traditional, in design, or something completely off the wall, after all the reception was a 70's themed costume party. :) But what I did know is I wanted to completely surprise them, and I knew I needed to incorporate the rainbow in somehow. Here's what I ended up with: A four tier (4 in, 6in, 8in, 10in) covered in buttercream, decorated with fondant circles.

I think they really like the cake. But maybe weren't so blown away with the "traditional" wedding cake appearance. Although, I did try do go more mod in design, it did look very traditional. They were happy, but not blown away.............yet. :) Here's what I did to knock their socks off............

Here are only four of the 24 layers of cake I baked for this cake. 4 tiers, 6 layers per tier.

Leveling....


Each tier got filled with my traditional buttercream icing, all 6 layers. Then crumb coated.Each tier got filled with my traditional buttercream icing, all 6 layers. Then crumb coated.

After icing and smoothing, the buttercream, I attached fondant circles to the out side of each tier.

The fondant circles were dried, sprayed with shimmer, and cut in various sizes. Here is a close up of circles:

Random pattern:

Tiers waiting to be stacked:

My husband and I were the only ones who knew what the inside looked like, and I was like a little kid trying to hold it in, because I knew how much they were going to like it. And lets face it, I do this to see the look on the faces of the recipients, it makes me feel good to see how excited someone can get over a cake that you have made for them. But alas, I had to wait, and wait, and wait.....

Finally, it was time to cut the cake. YAY!!! Here's is what they saw first...OMGeeee.

What one whole tier looked like cut...........

And what each piece looked like!

The ladies were thrilled, soooo very excited, and blown away but what I had made for them. Congratulations Mom and Missy Vet. We love y'all !

What a way to begin a blogging......

So this past week I was asked by a friend to make cake pop snowmen for her daughters class. After my last, and first successful batch of cake pops, I was SUPER excited. I was well prepared for this task and looking forward to having fun creating really cute snowmen for her.

I rolled my balls, a big one and small one for each snowman.

Then I "glued" them together.

Inserted stick, making sure to use candy melts.

So far so good, or so I thought. I dipped them all in pure white candy coating, and set them to dry. I added scarves and ear muff m&m's, and let them sit while I was doing other things. All I needed to do now was draw in buttons, eyes, nose, mouth, and headband for the earmuffs.

When I came into the kitchen I found what looked like a cake ball snowman massacre. All but 6 had cracked severely, imploded, exploded, and/or fell off of the stick. **devastation** At that moment I had neglected to take pictures, as I was trying desperately to save them, to no avail of course. So I texted my friend to tell her that she was going to have to find an alternative treat for her daughters class. **So Embarrassed**

But here is what they looked like:

And here is their graveyard:

On a lighter note, I was able to salvage 10 of them. So I packaged them them up just as I would have for my friend, and my two wonderful daughters decided to sell them to neighbors to raise money for a 10 year old family friend who is battling cancer. They sold 8 of them and brought home nearly $20. **So Proud**

Here is what the final product looked like:

If you would like to read more about Jaxon Piro, and his battle against brain cancer, click here. Feel free to share the link.