Jim & Alie

I made this cake as a part of one of my Wilton classes at Joann’s.  I used royal icing to make all of the flowers in advance.  I tried to make gerber Daisys by stripping the icing bag with a different color.  They turned out pretty good.

The basket weave technique looks much more difficult than it really it is.  This cake is impressive!

My sister in-law loves her Harley so a Harley Davidson cake was perfect for her birthday celebration this year.

This was a 2 layer cake.  One layer was a white cake that I colored orange to be consistent with the Harley Davidson colors.  The second layer was chocolate which I added additional black color to make it a true black.

I printed the logo from the internet and then created it out of fondant.  It was very tedious, but turned out okay.

My favorite part of this cake was the fondant and gum paste replica of “Marsha” (my sister in-law on her bike).  I had never made a figure out of fondant so this was a learning experience.  The head, helmet, sunglasses, hair blowing on the bike was the easy part.  The hardest part was the hands to hold on to the handle bars.

Jim helped me with the flames and airbrushed them to make them look realistic.  It was a nice touch to the final cake.

Lesson Learned
I wouldn’t do the tread on the wheels in the fondant. I should have carved the cake and then put the fondant over the cake to form the tread.  The fondant started drying and didn’t look like tire tread as much as I would have liked.

I enjoyed creating this cake and it brought tears to Marsha when she first saw it.

A Ball for Little Billy! Billy is 3 years old and loves anything that has to do with a baseball, soccer ball, football…you get the idea! A soccer ball cake was a perfect birthday surprise for the little man.

I made this cake at the same time I made the princess cakes. I used the ball pan and then decorated it with buttercream icing in blue, grey, and green. I love the grass that surrounds the ball. It’s so cute. I had so much fun with this cake.

Lesson Learned
Because the cake is so thick, it took this cake almost an hour to bake…even longer than the directions specified.  How do you know when the cake is done?  Touch the cake lightly with your hand and it should bounce back.  You can use a knife or tooth pick and insert into the cake and if it comes out clean then the cake is done.  The last sign that guarantees your cake is done is that the sides will start to pull away from the cake pan.

Lastly, I had to level this cake with a large knife as it was not flat.

First-Time Using Fondant!  Of course, I can’t start out with an easy cake.  I had to jump in with a fondant cake.  I made this cake in August and took it to a family picnic. It was a hit.

It was yellow cake with buttercream frosting. Then covered in pink homemade marshmellow fondant and purple decorations. I was so proud of my first cake!  I really like the simple look of this cake.

Lesson Learned
If you have the time and are comfortable with the marshmellow fondant, it is definitely cheaper.  As an experiment, I have tried all types including Wilton, Satin Ice, Buttercream fondant, etc.  I find the Wilton fondant is the easiest to work with.  It is less sticky and easier to roll out.

Happy New Year! Yes, I’m always finding reasons to make cakes. Always looking for new techniques to try so I can improve. Practice makes perfect…right? 

I just finished this cake for New year’s eve.  Me, Jimmy, and some friends will cut into this cake after our dinner on New Year’s Eve. This is a yellow cake with strawberry filling. I have been torting my cakes and trying different fillings. Also, covered in buttercream icing and then purple fondant. I made curlicues and stars and air brushed the stars with silver and gold food color paint. There is lot of confetti in preparation for the BIG celebration tomorrow.

Lessons Learned
I used the circle cutter to measure the fondant to ensure the fondant balls bordering the cake were about the same size.  Some of the fondant was a little thicker so it did alter the size.  The rings on the fondant roller are very helpful to ensure you have the right thickness.

The letter fondant cutters work better if you put crisco on them before cutting the letters.  It makes for a clean cut letter.

The curlicues and curly ribbon are all made out of fondant. Next time I would add gum paste to make them dry faster.  I would also add tooth picks or candy sticks while still soft so it can dry with the stick attached.   All curlicues were attached to cake with toothpicks.  Ribbons were inserted directly into cake.

For gold and silver fondant, I used my air brush tool and purchased the sparkly food paint to color my decorations. 

I used gum glue to attach all the decorations.  Gum glue is water and a small amount of gum paste dissolved.