Erin and Anthony

This wedding was for our niece Erin.  The design is one from the Cake Boss and tho it looks black the color is actually dark purple.

This cake is faux with one tier of real cake, for cutting pictures.  The cake is covered in fondant and feature appliques cut of fondant.  The flowers were a white poppy with black eyes and purple calla lilies.    She had sheet cakes for serving the 300 guests.

Mr. Suit

This  15 x 17 half sheet cake is half Almond with Raspberry compote and half Chocolate with peanut butter mousse.

The son of the gentlemen being honored always called him Mr. Suit, as he always saw his dad in a suit, and the nickname stuck. 

I first carved the cake to the desired shape.  I covered the cake in fondant by first putting on the shirt, then the pants and belt and finished with the jacket and tie.

Cayson

Cayson is a beautiful little boy of a young couple from my church.  They recently had him Baptized and I made the cake for his large extended family. 

The cake is white with fresh strawberries and features a cross made of fondant and blue hydrangea flowers made of gumpaste.  

Jailyn

Jailyn is celebrating her first birthday.  

Her mom chose a princess theme and the cake was designed after the napkin used in the theme.  

The cake was half chocolate with a fudge filling and half white with fresh strawberries.  

The top surface was airbrushed with swirls and a large heart.  I then piped the birthday message.  The number one, crown and hearts were made of fondant in advance.  I then covered in entire surface with edible glitter.  Happy Birthday little one!

"Tom" is no longer 49

I have done this design several times.  Its always a hit for those celebrating those big birthdays when youth is a by-gone age.  

The cake is baked in a long loaf pan and the top half is cut away for the opening.  The open coffin lid is done in pastillage and the birth year passing is done in fondant as well as the pillow.  The coffin handles and lilly's are gumpaste. 

The first layer of cake is covered in a ruffled buttercream and the coffin is covered in a dark chocolate fondant. This will served 30 guest.  Happy 50 Birthday Tom.

Kennedy's 1st

Our youngest grandchild recently had her first birthday.  She is just a "baby doll" and her parents wanted a cake that was girly.

Girly, ribbon and bows.  I made six small pink 5 petal flowers and dusted the edges in  purple.  I also made a large "1" in purple and a pink butterfly.

The cake was a six inch white cake with fresh raspberry and covered in buttercream.  After crumb coating the surface, I marked the sides of the cake with a toothpick so that the ribbon would be balanced.  I piped the ribbon using a rose tip.  The top was  just one continuous chain of ribbon in buttercream.

This cake was transported to Tennessee and the edible items were added just before the guests arrived.

This is our girly girl with a fist full of sweetness.  Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Junior

This was for a little neighbor boy celebrating his 4th Birthday.    It features a 15 x 17 sheet cake; half carrot with cream cheese and half chocolate with fudge filling.

Diego and pal were done as a buttercream transfer.  You outline your art in black buttercream on wax paper and chill completely.  While the outline is chilling, mix all the necessary colors needed for the fill-in. Put each color buttercream in a small pastry bag with a small round tip. Carefully fill in your outline and chill overnight.

Base-coat your cake with white buttercream.  Then airbrushed clouds in the sky and green for grass to give depth to the finished design.  Chill the cake again at this point to allow the airbrush color to dry.  When ready carefully lay the buttercream picture on the cake and peel off the wax paper, add the celebration message.  Happy Birthday little man!!!

Bob

This cake also features buttercream transfer of the Corvette logo.  Bob was celebrating his 60th Birthday. 

The 15 x 17 sheet was half Banana cake and half Chocolate cake with Chocolate Mousse inside both flavors.  The cake was covered in buttercream and I airbrushed the side with the checkered flag pattern and the edge was done in a single side shell pattern.   

Donna turn 90

This cake was for a very loved mother who was having a big birthday...  

The cake was a 15 x 17 White sheet cake with Raspberry Compote.  The base frosting is buttercream and the accents are fondant and gumpaste.  All the adult children went to church with their mother and asked the congregation to stay after the service to have cake and coffee  in celebration of their mother.  Many happy returns Donna!

35th Anniversary

That would be February 18, 1977 when a young couple said "I DO"

The couple;  my husband and myself.  We celebrated this past Saturday.  I read about this cake and decided to give it a try.  First, you will need to bake three 8" layer cakes in one flavor and one 8" layer in another flavor.  Split each of the three cakes in half.  Using a thin layer of buttercream glue three thin layers to create two finished cakes, each three layers high.   Carve the bottom of the heart by creating a well with a pointed bottom.  The top is a little tricker as you need to create an island in the center with a small point.  Next take the single flavor layer and make the "cake ball" mixture and put this in each side of the carved out cakes.  Next put the top of the heart on top of the pointed bottom.   

I covered the exterior of the cake with white buttercream and combed the surface and finished with a shell broader.

This is a picture of the cake after we cut into it.   They say the best way to a man heart is thru his stomach...eat up honey :)

Pansy

Gumpaste Pansy:  The first photo shows all the tools I use.

First I cut two of the smallest petals, two of the medium petals and one of the heart shape petal.  I insert my wire at the base of each of the five petals and thin the edges creating a soft ruffle.  I then insert the wire into styrofoam and allow all the petals to dry completely.

The next step:  I cut two large leaf petals and three small leaves.  Again I insert wire and thin the edges.  I add the veins to the leaves using a silicon mold and then dry the leaves on foam rubber to give then a natural shape.

I colors used to create this pansy, were violet and moss green.  I dust the flower petals close to the center.  The leaves are completely covered in the moss green petal dust.

After taping all the flower petals together I add spike lines from the center of the two small petals and the one heart petal.  This is done using airbrush coloring and a fine paint brush.  When the lines are dry I add a small center in bright yellow and attach the leaves.

My Blue Wedding

The modern day wedding is done around a theme.  This bride choose to represent her favorite color blue.

The cake featured four tiers in a  Hexagon shape.  The flowers were gumpaste Delphinium (there are very few flowers that are a true blue color) and were wired into gumpaste ivy.  The complete cake is buttercream and trimmed all the edges in blue for a unique display.

Leaves and Lattes

Fall makes a beautiful season for a wedding.  As with Spring, Fall has very define colors.

This was a last minute wedding cake for a small group of 50.   It features three round tiers in buttercream with gumpaste fall leaves.  The lattes is made of pistallage.  I first roll out the pistallage and then place it into the mold, using my roller, pressing with medium pressure, roll over the prepared paste to imprint the design.  Next using a pallet knife I gentle cut away the excess and carefully remove the piece from the mold.  I dried them on a flat surface for several days.  They were then inserted into the sides of the cake.

The flowers were fall mums also made of gumpaste with a few sprigs of gumpaste heather.

Golf

Golfing is a major summertime sport for local residence in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

This was for a man who played everyday.  The little figure was made of Mexican paste.  The cake was done in buttercream with a grass tip for the edge trim and field markers.  Blue pipping gel was used to create the water hazard and crushed cookies were used for the sand trap.

Flowers

Gumpaste:  Gardenia's, Gerber Daisy, Morning Glory's and Poppy's

20 years

If you have been flowing this post, I started this blog with gumpaste flowers and have added several additional post featuring them.

I spend the best part of my day, five days a week, making flowers.  I love all flowers and having the tools and talent to create these sugar flowers brings me much joy.  I left the work force 20 years ago. As of January 8, 2012, I have been in the pastry business 20 years.  I love my JOB!!!!

Sugar cookies

 Christmas time is cookie time.  This year I made cookie bouquets for clients and family.

I found large santa boots at a local holiday supply store and purchased them back in September.

First I make a sugar cookie dough and allow it to rest overnight.  The next day I roll out the dough and cut the necessary shapes.  Allow the freshly baked cookie to completely cool before trying to work with it.

 I personal frost the back side of the cookie as it is the flattest surface and gives me the desired finish.    

Some cookies are frosted with a "cookie frosting" and some are frosted with standard cookie frosting.  The difference is the "cookie frosting" is very thin.  Once the frosting as set or crusted you can then add all the details.

The house was turned into Santa's Workshop.


The large circles became Santa's head, the trees were trimmed and the holly leaves were inserted in a group.  The remaining cookies were candy cane, Santa's boot and a candle holder (not pictured?)  I use a shredded color paper to cover the styrofoam block that hold the cookies in place.

The final picture is the finished cookie bouquet.