Mardi Gras Sweet Sixteen

In honor of Fat Tuesday, I thought I would highlight a Mardi Gras sweet sixteen cake that I created recently for a client in Boone, NC. The cake itself was three tiers - a 10" chocolate layer, a 8" vanilla layer and a 6" lemon layer all with vanilla buttercream and covered in buttercream-flavored fondant. All of the accents are made of fondant and I finished off the detail with gold sugar dragees.

For the topper, I hand-crafted a mask worthy of a Mardi Gras celebration. The mask was plastic and I added the feathers and beading with a hot glue gun. The beads hanging at the side of the cake were purchased at a local retailer and displayed by wrapping them around the wooden dowel rod that supported the mask into the top layer of the cake.

I would have like to have made the mask and beads from gumpaste, but with the client being the one to carry this cake in her personal vehicle from Winston-Salem to Boone, NC I was afraid something would break on the cake and I wouldn't be there to fix it or replace it. Perhaps I will have the opportunity to do another Mardi Gras cake sometime soon and I can test my mask-making skills at that time!

Halloween Treats

Over the Halloween holiday, I had a few cake requests that were a lot of fun to work on. First, I created Mr. & Mrs. Frank N. Stein for a costume party for a friend. I got this idea from a fellow cake baker on Cakecentral.com. I think they turned out super cute!

The other cake and cupcake order that I got for Halloween was for a pink lemonade flavored cake with chocolate cupcakes. I used my cricut for some of the decorations, including the haunted house, bats, and pumpkins. The tombstones were freehanded.

Happy Birthday to a REAL Trooper!

I made this cake for my best friend's step-dad who just celelbrated his birthday and is a retired NC Highway Patrolman. He LOVED the cake and could not believe how real the hat looked! I had such a great time watching his face as they brought the cake out to surprise him. Happy birthday, Willie!

Cherry Blossom Cake

I have always loved the simple beauty in cherry blossoms. I had a final cake project for my last cake class and decided to take inspiration from the cherry blossoms. I made an almond-flavored cake with raspberry filling and covered it in marshmallow fondant and added beautiful cherry blossoms made from tinted royal icing. I think this cake turned out beautiful and would make a great design in a multi-tier version for some springtime weddings. I'm just saying...order up!

A Birthday Cake with REAL Yellow Roses

I received a request for a cake with three yellow roses on top for a special birthday gift. Since the roses were real and needed to be kept in water and the cake kept clean, I used the little water viles that came with the roses to insert directly into the cake and keep the roses hydrated. I think the cake turned out simple yet sophisticated. Thanks for the order, Alex!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

This cake was created for a special gal in my bible study group who loves her Daddy as much as I love mine! She had me create a cake for his 63rd birthday in his favorite flavor...carrot cake with cream cheese icing. She said it was as yummy as it was pretty. Thanks for the order, Tracy!

Tenacious D Guitar Pick

So while Michael and I were in the NC mountains this weekend celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary I received a phone call for a cake order. She said she would send me a picture of the cake she wanted me to design for her boyfriend's birthday and warned me it was going to be the ugliest cake I ever decorated. A day or so later, she sent me an email with this picture for inspiration...

Tenacious D Pick of Destiny

Boy, was she right! This thing is so ugly it's kind of cute! I can't wait to begin working on it and see how she and the surprised boyfriend will like it. Thanks, Jessica, for giving me the opportunity to test my extreme food coloring skills!

Keep those custom cake orders rolling in...I always love a good challenge!