25th Wedding Anniversary cake

Here are some pictures of an anniversary cake I created for my lovely friend Fran & her husband.  Cheers to 25 years!

Front

Top

In the box :-)

As requested, I baked a 2-tier vanilla sponge cake with Boston creme filling and vanilla buttercream.  All of the exterior roses were also crafted out of buttercream.  Mmmmm!

Hey ladies, Fran is the owner of a beautiful business,

check it out! Your Day - Giftable Polishes 

Wine bottle cake

Here are some pictures of a birthday cake I created this past weekend for a lover of wine and fabulous woman turned 42!  Happy birthday Brenda!

Krispie treat wine bottle - top

Krispie treat wine bottle - side

Bottle covered in melted chocolate

Completed cake - side

Completed cake - top

Ok, so this cake is pretty straight forward.  For the base I baked two 9 x 13 chocolate fudge cakes - torte, filled and stacked.  Covered the base in chocolate brown fondant and decorated.  For the bottle I made a double batch of original recipe krispie treats and molded to bottle shape.  I then melted chocolate and smoothed it over the entire surface of the bottle.  Once chocolate hardened, I sanded and smoothed the bottle with a Micorplane (thanks Mom) to kind of get rid of some of the bumps.  Covered the bottle in black buttercream fondant, added label, brushed with clear piping gel and decorated.  Yay!

Ninjago cake

Here's a picture of a cake I created for an adorable, now 6 years old, boy named Bryce.  Because he's a huge Lego fan, he asked his parents if he could have a Lego themed birthday cake.  Bryce decided he would love to have a Ninjago character cake but of just the head and face.  So this is what I came up with......

To created the head I baked four 10" round cakes.  I torte and filled all four cakes and then stacked each cake with a layer of buttercream in-between.  I then inserted a few dowels for added stability and crumb coated the cake with additional buttercream.  Next I covered the cake with a yellow color fondant for skin tone and then I wrapped it with a green color fondant to represent the Ninjago face mask.  For the last step I added the "menacing" fondant eyes, hahaha.  Voila`, a Ninjago cake!

For the true peanut butter fan

If you love peanut butter, then I have the cookie for you!  They boast a delicious peanut butter flavor without being overly sweet.  Warning - these cookies are incredibly crunchy, so if you're looking for a chewy cookie look elsewhere.  The crunchy outside plus smooth center equal one great sandwich cookie.

(Super crunchy) Peanut butter sandwich cookies

adapted from Cook's Illustrated March & April 2012

Cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp. whole milk
1 large egg

Filling
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Cookie Directions:
1.  Adjust oven racks to middle of oven and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.  Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in bowl.

3. Whisk butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar,milk, and egg together in a separate bowl.

4.  Blend dry and wet ingredients together until well combined.

5.  Using tablespoon for good measure, place 12 equally portioned balls of dough (evenly spaced) onto cookies sheet and then flatten (I used my finger tips) until approximately 2 inches in diameter.

6.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Filling Directions:

1.  Microwave peanut butter and butter for 40 seconds, then blend.

2. Stir in confectioner's sugar until well combined.

Place about 2 tablespoons of filling between two cookies, sandwich together and then enjoy!

Vroom vroom!

So awhile back I had the opportunity to create a Cars themed birthday cake for a sweet young boy named Landon.  Here's what I came up with, enjoy!

Everything you see was crafted out of fondant, except for the two cars.  I purchased those as a birthday treat for Landon!  I painted the cake using various colors of icing gel to give the cake a more realistic appeal.  Oh, and I used pop sticks to hold up the road signs.  I covered the cake board in black fondant and used royal icing, tinted yellow, to create the road striping.  I really loved this cake!

Superheroes!

Here are some pictures of a couple of cakes I created for two adorable children, Mary Katherine & Jimmy (sister & brother), who decided they wanted a superhero themed birthday party!

Mary Katherine's Wonder Woman cake!

Jimmy's Spider Man cake!

All decor was created out of fondant with the help of some shimmer & pearl dusts and royal icing. 

Ok, so they're not baked.

I wanted to share with you some really neat "cakes" I had the opportunity of creating for some family members and friends.  Candy Cakes!

Birthday cake for Cousin Nicky

Birthday cake for Kristin

Vegas-style birthday cake

Side shot of Vegas cake

All I did was purchase bags of candy in various flavors, shapes and sizes and hot-glued them (with all wrappers intact) to different sizes and shapes of styrofoam and disposable aluminum baking pans.  Oh, and I had some fun with embellishments too -- ribbon, toys, candles, beads, etc.

I have to admit, even though they're not baked, they sure do put a smile on your face!

Tip

This might be one of the oldest tricks in the book but while I was frosting my "50 nifty" cupcakes I realized I could place my disposable decorating bag inside a glass to help me fill it with frosting.  I folded the top of the bag over the top of the glass, just like this.......

It's like having a helping hand!  That's it, just thought I'd share :-)

50 is nifty!

This month was my boss's 50th birthday!  His favorite desserts include anything chocolate & peanut butter, so I baked-up some cupcakes that included his favorite things.

Unfortunately these are the only pictures I have, but here you go.........

Truly chocolaty and dense, these cupcakes embraced a sweet peanut butter filling and were topped with a swirl of light & airy peanut butter buttercream.  Oh and don't forget the mini peanut butter cup garnish.  Holy peanut butter were these delicious!!  

Just had to share

Love this!

Totally rad!

I was very excited to bake this one!  This cake was a request from someone who's son was having a baked-goods auction at there school.  I couldn't resist the excitement to help, especially when I found out he wanted a skateboard.  So cool!

(baked back in March 2011)

Ok so I baked a vanilla spongecake and filled it with vanilla chocolate chip buttercream, iced it with vanilla buttercream and covered it in white fondant.  I used gumpaste to create the "stickers" on the skateboard and painted on them with icing gel colors.  I also painted around the outer edge of the cake, with gel colors, to give it the look of "wood".  As for the wheel assemblies, I used pretzel rods and mini chocolate donuts which I then covered in fondant.  Another fun creation!

Easter cupcakes

Here are some photos of Easter cupcakes I created last year (April 2011) for some family & friends.  Boy were these fun to decorate!!

The whole gang!

Easter Bunnies w/ Jelly Beans

Easter Bonnets

Chicks & Tulips

Ok, let's see......the chick & tulip cakes were dark chocolate angel-food with chocolate buttercream.  The bunny cakes were vanilla bean with vanilla buttercream.  The Easter bonnet cakes were traditional carrot with creamcheese frosting (my favorite!).  All decorations were crafted out of fondant and I used FoodWriter edible color markers to draw on the bunnies & chicks.  The bonnets have a hint of pearl dust, buttercream and sugar pearls.  Oh, and don't forget the jelly beans!!