Bake Me a Cake...

I like to bake. This is no secret to those who love me. To those who know me, for that matter. Cookies, cakes, pies...the occasion doesn't matter. Heck, I don't even need an occasion. I once baked four dozen muffins because it was a Tuesday and I happened to have the ingredients on hand.

When I set out to learn something new - especially in the kitchen - I often manically (maniacally, maybe?) work to master it, and won't rest until I do in most cases. Cake decorating has been no exception. For instance, the first cake I decorated…

…was a teensy bit time consuming, no? My kooky, wonderful grandmother, a seasoned cake maker herself, supervised this little project. She offered little hints, tips and techniques along the way - hints, tips and techniques I now employ on pretty much every project. After this cake, I was energized and inspired. Oh, the possibilities! But the time constraints of busy life became a bit daunting. Thusly my next few projects were much simpler, and also mostly executed late in the evening:

Before long, I got a few requests from friends to make cakes for their kids’ birthday parties. One work friend has two adorable daughters. My first cake for them was for the older daughter’s 6th birthday, a Cinderella themed layer cake…

There were also 2 dozen coordinating cupcakes. On this project, I became very proficient in piping flowers. Oh, the flowers. Hours of flowers.

Next came the younger daughter’s Strawberry Shortcake themed 4th birthday cake…

This one was especially fun with the polka dots and the green grass. The cake topper, provided by my friend (the mom), was actually a balloon anchor. The strawberry in Shortcake’s hand was actually a little metal ring to which one would normally tie balloon strings. It was quite tricky getting my icing to stay put, but I think it turned out rather cute!

Last May I asked my dad what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He quickly said, “Chocolate chip with vanilla icing.” This is what he got…

I love how fluffy the vanilla bean buttercream turned out on this cake. It was so yummy!

My friend’s older daughter’s birthday came around again recently, this year with a “My Little Ponies at the Ice Rink” theme. While shopping for a few new cake pans, a lady at the kitchen store gave me the great idea to use jello on top of the cake to give the illusion of ‘ice.’ It took awhile to figure out just how to execute this, but it turned out alright in the end! I still need to tweak my method a little if I ever use it again, but all in all it worked...

The same weekend I was asked to do the cakes for a little girl’s 1^st birthday party. The mom asked if I could make a special, small cake for the baby to dig into herself, so here’s what I made…

The grown-ups got to cut into this, a carved cartoon electric guitar…

Who knew it would be so easy to pipe leopard print!

My upcoming projects are butterfly cupcakes for a baby shower at work next week and zoo-themed cupcakes and cake for The One Most Likely To’s baby shower. Soon I’ll also have friend from work’s younger daughter’s cake, but I haven’t a clue what our theme will be this time around. I’ll post pics of these projects, and any others that pop up along the way.

If you need a cake for an event or special occasion, drop me an e-mail and we’ll brainstorm!