Busy, Busy, Busy!

I've been busy, busy, busy! It has really been a while since I posted any cakes I have made. That isn't because I haven't made any! I've been making a cake and/or cupcakes at least once a week for the last few months. I figured it was time to get on here, and give some updates! I actually do not have pictures for a lot of the cakes and cupcakes, but I am doing my best to remember to take pictures! :)

I made a dinner for my mother-in-law and her mother (and their drooling husbands :) ) on Mother's Day this year and this was our dessert. The bottom layer was a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and the top layer was a french vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. Simple and utterly scrumptious. Of course, they are covered in my vanilla fondant with fondant and gumpaste mix for the various white, pink, and purple flowers on the cake.

70th Anniversary Cake

My husband's grandparents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary a week in June. 70 years! Neither one of them could remember if they had a wedding cake when they got married, so we finally gave them one. This was such a fun cake to do! A 70th wedding anniversary is symbolized with platinum and diamonds. I loved being able to make it nice and elegant. Okay, so there aren't real diamonds on the cake, but you get the idea. :) I also added a random sprinkling of white fondant roses.

Each cake layer was a different flavor. The top layer was a french vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. The next layer was red velvet with cream cheese filling, and the third one, vanilla cake with cream cheese filling. The bottom and largest cake was chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge frosting. Then, each layer was crumb-coated with a butter-cream and wrapped in my vanilla fondant. Of course, I had to try a tiny sliver of each layer at the party, and they were all delicious!

Terry's Birthday Cake

This is a birthday cake I made for my brother-in-law. This is a different cake than what I normally would do. You see, my brother-in-law is weird. He doesn't like chocolate! In fact, cake is not his favorite thing. So, what kind of birthday cake do you make for someone who doesn't like cake?.... Rice Krispies! The cake on top is just rice krispies, frosted, and covered in fondant. He loved it! I made the cupcakes and mini cupcakes to appease the many children and grown-ups who were at the party.

This is just a picture I had showing my progress. It shows the mini and regular cupcakes in both vanilla and chocolate flavors. And that frosting! I was amazed that I could get it that bright of a blue!

Star Gazer Lily

This is my first attempt at making a lily. Instead of gumpaste, I actually used fondant to make this flower. Everything is made out of fondant. (except for the wires, of course!) I just used color dust mixed with clear vanilla to make a paint and painted it on all of the color. I used edible color markers to put the freckles on. It was a little time consuming, but so worth the effort.

End of Soccer Season

This year Lexi played soccer. Her coach is one of my awesome friends whom I have helped learn how to play in fondant! So, for the end of soccer season party, when everyone was asked to make something, lo and behold.... I made cupcakes!

Teacher Appreciation

Just before school got out, we had teacher appreciation week. I for the life of me could not figure out what to make for the kids' teachers. I was working on umpteen projects that week, and had just kept putting off coming up with something really awesome for them. So naturally, a few hours before school got out, I came up with these simple gifts. They are simple, yet classic. I knew the teacher's favorite cakes already, so that made this a cinch.

This one was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. There is a cream cheese layer in the middle as well. I just used basic tips to pipe borders on both the top and bottom and wrote on the top. It's pretty cheesy, I know, but the teacher loved it!

This cake was a yellow cake with a chocolate fudge filling and creamy chocolate frosting. Again, I just used basic decorating tips to pipe on basic borders and writing. I accented it with the teacher's favorite color-green!

Kitchen Collection Cupcake Bake Off

Let's be honest, I have a really hard time putting myself out there. Recently, I did something that I never thought I would do. A store in our outlet mall, Kitchen Collections, was having their "2nd Annual Cupcake Bake - Off" on March 24, 2012. They would have two categories: Recipe and Decoration. I thought about how much fun it would be to try to come up with something really creative, so I entered their contest. No big deal, right? That is something that people who like to bake do, right? WRONG! I never expected I would actually do it. I mulled it over for weeks, before I finally turned in my entry forms - the day they were due.

Once I had the forms in, I knew I couldn't back out. I had to figure out something. Thanks to the help of some very willing neighbors, I got my Chocolate Cinnamon cupcake recipe down, and had narrowed it down to either a Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting, or a Cinnamon frosting. I decided to use both. One for the recipe entry, and one for the decorative entry.

Recipe Entry: Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting


After much deliberation, I went with a light blue frosting with an oriental-inspired branch with a few blossoms on it. Unique, but still something trendy. The blossoms were made out of a gumpaste/ fondant mix, and the branches were formed out of a chocolate fondant. I liquified pink dusting powder and painted the middles of the flowers with it. Over-all, I was very happy with my entries.

Decorative Entry: Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and decorations

Kitchen Collections had us submit one dozen cupcakes. We were to pick one cupcake out of each entry for the judges to view and sample. Each cupcake was judged on appearance, creativity, uniqueness, and recipe.

I apparently did a better job than I thought. I was doing this to try to get myself out there a little, and try something new. I received 1st place in the decorative competition. I won a $100 gift certificate to Kitchen Collections and a cake decorating caddy and supplies.

The Winning Cupcake: (before the judges dug in.)

Miss Brea's Birthday Cake

This cake is a birthday cake made for one of Lexi's friends. It was all made out of boxed Funfetti cakes. (For some reason Funfetti is the "cool" cake amongst the 10-year-old girls.) It is very similar to Lexi's Birthday Cake I made in February. Lexi and her cousin decided how they wanted to put the flowers on the cake. I just made the cake, gave them a bunch of flowers, and said "Have at it." This is what they came up with:

Fondant Fun!

I am so excited for a new opportunity I have. I am now a Community Education Instructor for Dixie State College Community Ed Department. My first classes will be teaching Fondant Cake Decorating I and Fondant Cake Decorating II classes, and will be starting up May 24th. They will be Thursday evenings from 6-8p.m. The first one will run only two weeks, May 24th and May 31st. I will be teaching the basics of baking cakes and how to make homemade fondant and basic decorating techniques. The advanced fondant class will run for four weeks, June 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. I will be teaching more advanced cake making skills, frostings and fillings, and advanced fondant techniques. I am so excited for these classes! They will be so much fun! I will also be teaching baking classes in the Fall and Winter as well. I am so happy that I will be able to use my talents by teaching other people to enjoy the blessings of being able to make your own baked goods! Yay for having fun in the kitchen!

Cakes for All Occasions

I have had people asking lately to see pictures of other cakes I have made out of fondant. These are some cakes I have made in the last month or two:

These cakes I made for an extended family birthday party, with the help of my sisters-in-law. In case you couldn't tell, it was an Angry Birds party. There are a few different flavors of cakes here: chocolate, Funfetti, and strawberry. The fondant, I just made different colors according to what angry birds and pigs I wanted to use. We used large marshmallows and chocolate chips for the eyes and black licorice to make the mouths and angry eyebrows. We used Starburst cut in half for the beaks and the pig crown. Very fun! The kids loved them!

This cake was for my daughter, Lexi's 10th birthday party. Very classy and feminine, full of bright colors, just like Lexi. I used two flavors of cake she had to have: Lemon with a yummy lemon coconut flavored filling, and Funfetti. The flowers are from a mold- the easiest way to do a simple flower like this. In the middle of the white flowers, I put a bead of white chocolate that I colored bright pink. The 10 on the top, her name on the bottom, and polka dots on the bottom platter were all made of melted white chocolate - freehand, of course. It doesn't exactly look professional, but she loved it!

This cake was actually a cake that I made with a friend for her daughter's first birthday. I made the bottom layer, showing her how to make fondant cakes, and she did the middle layer. I then wrapped a cupcake in fondant and topped it with a swirl of bright pink frosting. It turned out so cute! It's the perfect little tea cake. Oh, and my friend made the cute pink stand! It is Darling!

This cake was just a cake, for no special reason. I love those kind! A treat you can just enjoy. It is a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and my home-made chocolate fondant. I used green fondant and cut out individual leaves to see if it was worth it. Answer: It isn't. Find a cut-out or a mold. It is quite a bit easier.