Congra-TU-lations!

Today was Towson University's winter commencement. A proud mama commissioned me to make this cake for her son's graduation party. Making the letters look clean and sharp was a challenge, but I'm happy with how they turned out. One of the benefits of creating a sculpted cake is that I get to keep all the scraps. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go have a snack...

T: 2-layer chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream icing, fondant, tassel.
U: 2-layer golden butter cake, chocolate buttercream icing, fondant, school spirit.

Let It Snow

Perhaps it was because we got our first snow of the season this week, or perhaps it's because I've been shivering in my boots all month, but something inspired me to make a snow globe cake. I brought this to the first of 5 (!) family holiday parties I'll be attending this year. It was a lovely time and I'm pretty sure that everyone enjoyed the cake. Everything is edible except for the plastic globe and Frosty's toothpick arms. And because I know you're going to ask, I got him in the globe by magic. Merry Christmas everyone!

2-layer 9'' red velvet cake, 1-layer 6'' yellow cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, fondant, holiday magic.

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Home Plate

Baseball season may be over, but cake is always in season! This particular one was for a couple who are huge Orioles fans. They live 2 blocks from Camden Yards and the Mrs. is a ball girl. They wanted to have a get together with their baseball friends so the design was pretty much a no brainer. I used the old O's bird because I think he has way more personality. I had a lot of fun making it and I think it shows :)

8'' golden butter cake stacked with 2 bowl cakes, vanilla pudding, vanilla buttercream icing, fondant and brown sugar.

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Cheese Cake

This would be a prime opportunity to make a "cutting the cheese" joke, but I'm MUCH too sophisticated for that... right. This was for a wine & cheese themed bridal shower. The wine bottle is made of milk chocolate that I melted and poured into a 12'' mold. I used rolled fondant for the label and painted the names on with food coloring. It's attached to the bottle with a gumpaste/water mixture so the whole thing is edible. The cutting board is actually a piece of 1/2'' foam core covered with faux wood contact paper. It was super easy to make and much lighter and easier to transport than an actual wooden board.  

10'' 3-layer vanilla yellow cake with strawberry jam filling, vanilla buttercream icing, and fondant.

Winnie the Pooh

"People who don't Think probably don't have Brains; rather, they have grey fluff that's blown in there by mistake" ~Winnie the Pooh

I promise you the fluff put into this cake was not grey, and it wasn't put in by mistake. It was for a surprise baby shower. The baby's room has a Pooh Bear theme, so naturally I wanted to honor the Pooh himself. Wilton makes molded cake pans, but I wanted to try something different and draw him freehand. I made the ears and nose 3 dimensional to give him a little more character. At the last minute I decided to put bees buzzing around the sides, and that ended up being everyone's favorite part. My favorite part was when I finished icing it because piping each of those stars was super tedious. "Oh, bother!"

8'' 2-layer chocolate cake with vanilla pudding filling and vanilla buttercream icing.

It's NOT a Hat!

...but everyone keeps telling me it looks like one. This was my first fondant-covered cake. Whenever I mention fondant, everyone says, "Ew that stuff is so gross!" Well, yeah, it's pretty much pure sugar, you're not necessarily supposed to eat it! You can if you want, but really the purpose of fondant is to give the cake a smooth, clean look and seal in the freshness. The cake is frosted with regular icing underneath, so all you need to do is peel back the fondant and then it is a normal, delicious cake. Mmm... cake.

 8'' 2-layer golden butter cake with vanilla pudding filling, vanilla buttercream icing, and Wilton ready-to-use fondant.

Nesting

This cake proved to be a challenge for a number of reasons:

1. It was my first tiered cake

2. It was 95 degrees outside
3. I had to hold it in my lap in the car for an hour to transport it. While driving! (Just kidding)

All things considered, it turned out pretty well. I made it for a wedding shower. The couple loved it and they were glad I included their son... in bird form. I'm just thrilled that I got it there in one piece without it completely melting! Whew!

8'' 2-layer marble cake, 6'' 2-layer marble cake, 4'' 2-layer marble cake, vanilla pudding filling, vanilla buttercream icing. Nest: toasted coconut. Birds: fondant.

Farewell, Sharalyn

My coworker Sharalyn announced she was resigning, moving to California, and getting married. There was a lot to celebrate so we wanted to wish her well with a going away party. It was supposed to be a surprise, but of course she found out so I let her pick out the colors and flavors. The chocolate icing was SO GOOD. People who say they don't like chocolate are out of their fool minds.

8'' 2-layer marble cake, chocolate pudding filling, chocolate buttercream icing, gum paste.

Onesie Cake

Shotgun wedding! Just kidding, this was obviously for a baby shower. I was going for a unisex color palette because they were keeping the gender a secret. But everyone loved the design and I would definitely like to make this cake again, maybe using fondant next time.

13'' x 9'' 2-layer golden butter cake, vanilla pudding filling, vanilla buttercream icing.

Flowers & Polka Dots

This was my final project for my first decorating class. I brought it into work for a baby shower and it was a hit. The nice thing about this cake is that you could pick any color combo and it would work for many kinds of events.

8'' 2-layer yellow cake, vanilla buttercream icing, vanilla pudding filling.