Baking fun : Stormtrooper Cake

I will blog more about this when I regain enough energy.

Baking Fun - Baby Shower Duckies

Baby Shower Lemon Goodness!

I made this three layer checker board cake with lemon and vanilla cake mixes. I normally don't like to use boxes of cake mix but considering the time restraints, I didn't have much of a choice. The mom-to-be was aware so it made me feel a bit better about it. :)

I used the Wilton cake pans to create the checker board effect. I wasn't able to get  a photo of a slice of the cake because I didn't attend the shower but here's a shot of one of the layers. The process was quite messy and hard to figure out because I didn't have a clear plan or a single clue what I was doing.

I'm glad I used some more subtle colors because the layers of color didn't quite line up. Next time, I'll be more prepared and will attempt a more contrasting combo like vanilla and chocolate or something like that. I'd recommend to give this a try a couple times to get the hang of it before going all color-crazy.

I used some vanilla icing and some basic fondant for the decorating. Not much fanciness there. I don't have a board to measure my fondant and to anyone attempting to use fondant, I'd highly recommend buying one. It's the next thing on my list for sure. because this cake had three layers, it took me quite a few tries before I could get it the right size and thickness. The sided ended up being a bit chunky because of that but I was able to cover it up with some duckies all around. I added some blue buttercream icing for the "waves" and added some little silver candy for detail and a nice finish.

I had some left over cake mix so I mixed in some green coloring into the white vanilla batter and made some marbled mini cupcakes. I decorated them with buttercream icing in yellow and blue topped off with some cute candy. They looked awesome!

Mom and Dad to be were thrilled with how everything turned out and I got a prompt update that everything was all gone. Their guests loved the cake and cupcakes and the baby shower was a success!

Congrats to Sarah and Travis and I wish them all the best as they prepare to welcome their little bundle of joy into the world. :)

Baking Fun - Applesauce Cake

We made this cake last weekend to compliment our Easter feast!

Applesauce Cake

This cake was absolutely amazing. It was perfect for Easter because it was a nice change from all the chocolate we'd been stuffing down our throats over the weekend but it was still sweet and kinda special.

I used this recipe and I really don't think I'd change anything about it. The cake does turn out to be quite huge but in this case, I don't think the "less is more" rule applies. You could always make 2 cakes by dividing the batter in 4 different pans, making them thinner and serving more people.

The filling was fabulous too and I really liked not having to worry about icing the cake. Flop whipped cream, stack, flop whipped cream, stack, done.

The applesauce kept the cake moist and it was almost like a light-spice-cake taste. We had left overs for days and they kept really well in the fridge. The whipped cream keeps it cool so it's a good alternative if you get a craving for spice cake in July.

Overall, very happy with the turn out, easy enough and feeds a small country.

Baking fun - Birthday cake for my favorite Geek!

... by favorite geek, I mean Js - not you, Nick. His birthday was back in September so forgive me once again if it's a bit outdated!

Geeky Goodness - Vanilla, Raspberry and Skor pieces

So the icing wasn't quite as I wanted it to be but I had about 2 hours to come up with something that would be easy to execute, would look good on a 9in round cake and didn't require too many colors. Behold, the Green Lantern birthday cake!

I used my grand-pa's plain white cake recipe as a base and threw in about half a bag of frozen raspberries. Mixed those in and poured the batter in two 9in round cake pans. When stacking time came around, I leveled the bottom cake and covered it with raspberry jam *mmm* and then covered that with Skor pieces. The plain white cake worked out very well with the uber-sweet filling and the raspberries added a bit of extra delicious. Then I slapped the second layer on top and went on with the icing.

I didn't have a pattern, mold or anything like that so I just had to wing it. I started by covering the entire thing with white icing then colored everything I had left in green. I used the handle of a long wooden spoon to press a straight line into the white icing along 2 of the sides where I wanted the 2 bars to be. Then I found a bowl that would fit well between the 2 lines and pressed that to the white icing lightly to create a round mark. I used those lines to follow along and create the Green Lantern logo - who needs a mold!!

I piped and piped away at trying to make a perfect circle and eventually had to give up as guests were arriving and I had to put things away. Js was very happy with the end result so it was all well worth it! :)

Baking Fun - Hallowe'en Cake

I said I'd back track and blog about my past-cake'strordinaire baking, here's my first attempt at it so sorry if it's a bit outdated! :)

Chocolate and Pumpkin Hallowe'en Cake

I made this cake using this recipe and it was to die for! The pumpkin kept the cake super moist and really brought out the chocolate flavor.

The icing wasn't as wonderful as I had hoped but it still tasted great! It took me an INSANE amount of food coloring to get it this light orange color so I think the picture on the website is a lie. It did get a bit darker when it set but not by much. Also, the icing was very soft and wouldn't be good for decorations or any other form of fancyness. Worked wonderfully as a base though and the taste was very well balanced with the cake filling. I wouldn't ice this cake with butter cream icing unless I wanted to go into a sugar coma.

The glaze totally bombed but I was able to make it look droopy with some careful pouring and a lot of patience. I used little decorative skulls, gummy worms and some red gel for some festive decor. I shaved some chocolate and sprinkled that around the cake and topped it all with a real mini-pumpkin.

Wasn't the easiest cake I've ever baked but most definitely one of the tastiest!!

Baking excitement!!

Oh my! I have gotten a request to make a birthday cake for a friend and I am beyond excited to give it a shot! :) Yes, I know, it's very lame and house-wife like... but hell, it's something to do!

Not to toot my own horn but my cakes have become quite famous around here for their deliciousness AND their awesomeness! (Cupcakes too!) (PS: Wow! I looked everywhere to find previous posts about those cakes and I was shocked to discover that I have never blogged about them. I promise to blog more about my cake-making-fun!)

I have never done a cake pan cake before so I will have to make a practice cake sometime next week. I won't do all the black outline on it because I just don't feel like it, they'll most likely be white.

I promise to post pics, tips and such nonsense!

BIY - Baking under the influence

Js decided to host a last-minute bachelor party for one of his buddies. Of course, he informed me of this on Thursday and we had a couple hours this morning to shop for supplies.

I wanted to make a cake or some cupcakes or something in the shape of boobs. Yes, I'm classy like that.

So I cracked open a beer (more class!) and started looking for some inspiration online. I shared my ideas with my friend Whitney.

Then it hit me, I *did* have some supplies to make some boobie-cup cakes, so I exclaimed, much to Whit's entertainment :

"Oh! I have colored marshmallows for nipples!"

Class. I radiate class.

Welcome Spring! Welcome cake!

Behold! My cake decorating skills! :)



It was actually a lot easier than it looks an so much fun! I was certain I would be in a sugar coma by the time I got home from snacking on the icing. We also learned the technique to make those cartoon ones in cake pans... so I will probably be making a Spider Man for Js at some point!

There are more photos of the progress on my Flickr account!

I'm having friends over tonight to help me eat it all! Watch out sugar rush!