Jungle Baby Shower Cake

Another cake I made about 3 months ago! ;)  This sweet jungle cake was made for the friend of a great customer's baby shower back in May.  The baby's gender was unknown, so I tried to make it as neutral as possible.  Cake was layered stacks of white cake filled with Swiss meringue buttercream filling, draped in marshmallow fondant. 

Animals and trees were sculpted from gumpaste.

Special thanks to Leslie for another fun order!!

On a personal note, this was my last cake for a while.  We found out we were expecting our first baby back in February, so I've decided to take some time away from the kitchen to focus on preparations for our little one.  Some day I will return to cakes, but a much needed break is necessary at the moment. We are so excited for the arrival of our little girl, Margot, this November.

Thank you for all of your support!

Karsyn & Payslie's Barn Cake and Animal Friend Cupcakes

I made this cake about 4 months ago, and am obviously a little slow at posting these days.  ;)

This super fun cake was made for sisters Karsyn and Payslie's 5th and 3rd birthday party back in April. The barn cake was layers of white with Swiss meringue buttercream filling.  barnyard animals were sculpted from gumpaste.

Animal cupcakes - assorted strawberry, vanilla, chocolate. YUM!

This was probably the most intricate cake I've done in a while, so it took a little extra planning.   I stacked the barn part of the cake in two sections for stability, so there were basically two cakes there.  Then I placed the barn on a set of two 10" stacked rounds, and drove a sharpened dowel through the entire cake. I used marshmallow fondant panels for the sides of the barn, and cut individual mmf files for the roof to make it look more authentic.  A little more work, but totally worth it.  

Hope you had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Karsyn & Payslie!  Thanks to mom, Christin for the special order ;) 

Aubrey's "Olivia the Pig" birthday

It's Aubrey's 4th birthday!  Olivia was the birthday girl's party theme, and I was thrilled because I love the simple and iconic design of the Olivia books, and have always wanted to design a cake around her.  Mom (Lisa) and I decided on a two-tier stacked centerpiece cake with two dozen cupcakes to surround it on the cake table. Lisa gave me the theme and let me have fun with the design, which is always super fun. The cake was two tiers of chocolate cake filled with red Swiss Meringue buttercream. Marshmallow fondant draped the cake and was used for accents.  Gum paste was used for the lettering and bows.

Of all Olivia's outfits, this one is my favorite so it was an easy decision to design her this way for the top of the cake. :) I used gumpaste to sculpt her. She was about 4" tall sitting down. 

Twelve of the cupcakes were chocolate with a teal blue buttercream swirl and red and white polka dotted wrappers.  I also wanted to mark Aubrey's 4th birthday with number "4" disks, which turned out really cute.

 The remaining twelve cupcakes were strawberry, with a white vanilla swirl on top decorated with red and black edible pearls.  The wrappers were black and white polka dotted. SO Olivia, right?

Special thanks to Aubrey's mom, Lisa and dad, Nate for asking me to make these fun cakes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUBREY!

David & Amy's Wedding

 I love to bake for weddings, and this one was so much fun! I first met with Amy (the bride-to-be), her fiancee David, and Amy's mom Peggy back in October of last year for a cake tasting and initial consultation. It was so fantastic to see all of our plans finally come together for the big day on March 10th! Amy's colors were lavender, lapis (a really deep purple) and light green.  For the main cake, the bride decided on wedding white almond cake filled with lavender vanilla Swiss meringue. The cakes are 8" and 5", draped in vanilla marshmallow fondant.  Satin ribbon was wrapped around for detail.  Amy wanted a super clean, classic design - always a good bet for a pretty wedding cake.

  On the cake table, we filled the cupcake tree with about 90 cupcakes and still had a little room to spare at the bottom.  Half of the cupcakes were wedding white almond cake with traditional buttercream swirls, tinted pale lavender. The other half were chocolate, and topped with deep purple Swiss Meringue buttercream to match the ribbon on the cake. All cupcakes were sprinkled with edible pearls.  That table smelled SO good.

CONGRATULATIONS, David and Amy! Thanks to you guys and also to Peggy & Randy for letting play be a small part in the big day.

(See below for the Groom's Cake and  birthday cake for Nick, one of the Groomsmen :)

David's Grooms Cake

David is from Boston and an avid sports fan, so it was a clear choice as to the theme of his Groom's cake. I designed the top tier around his love of Bruin's hockey, and the bottom tier was split with the Patriot's logo on the front...

...and a Red Sox jersey on the back.  The cake was white almond with gold tinted Swiss meringue buttercream filling.  10" bottom and 6" top tiers were draped in vanilla marshmallow fondant.  Gumpaste was used for logo and lettering detail. 

This Bruins logo was a labor of love.  It took about 6 hours to complete, but it turned out pretty cool.  The entire logo was made of gumpaste.  The details were cut with a fine exacto blade and "glued" together with tiny droplets of water.

 David's fiancee, Amy, suggested that the cake incorporate a hockey fan wearing a ball and chain. I thought it would be a great topper. He was sculpted using gumpaste.

                  Congrats David!!  Go Bruins!!

                                                                                                                                                                      

Nick's Deer Hunting cake

The final cake associated with this past weekend's wedding was this birthday cake of one of David and Amy's Groomsmen, Nick.  Nick loves to hunt deer, so this was a great opportunity to try out some camouflage fondant for the first time.  Basically, I just used strips of alternate-colored fondant squished together and rolled out to make one flat sheet of fondant to cover the cake. The cake was a 7" round filled with hunter-orange Swiss meringue buttercream. 

The animal we see here atop the cake is "scared deer #2", as the first little guy I made fell in the sink and broke in to a million pieces about 4 hours before delivery.  Such are the unpredictable moments of cake making!!  All was well, however, because I actually like the expression on the final deer better anyway, so it all worked out for the best.  The trees and sign are also made of gumpaste.  Border piped with hunter-orange Swiss meringue buttercream.

Hope you had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nick!!

William's Lego Harry Potter cake

It was all things Lego & Harry Potter for William's 8th birthday! I based on the design of the 

Lego Star Wars cake I made for Brett a few months ago. The 3 lego bricks of white almond cake and filled the layers with "Harry Potter Blue" Swiss meringue buttercream. Cakes were all draped in marshmallow fondant. I used gum paste to sculpt the glasses, wand and Golden Snitch ball. The tiny legos surrounding the cake were made from gum paste and marshmallow fondant.  I found the Harry Potter font online and made paper templates for the gum paste letters, then cut them out using an exacto knife. Thank you, internet!!

I was super happy with the final look of the wand.  Check out that "wood-grain"! This happens when brown food coloring gel is not completely incorporated in to the gumpaste - just knead and stretch a few color globs into the material and before too long, presto - wood grain.

 Happy Birthday William!!

Baby Shower Cake for Sydney

This was a cute little baby bottle cake I made for baby girl Sydney's shower. The bottom tier was two 8" layers of white almond cake with a layer of vanilla butter cream with fresh pureed strawberries mixed in - can't have enough pink touches for a baby girl.  The bottle was made up of three 4" rounds stacked and filled with butter cream. The top was sculpted for the rounded bottle-top look, and crowned with a 3" round for the bottle top. Gum paste was used to make the ribbon loops, bow, nipple and lettering. Marshmallow fondant covered the cakes.

Pink and mint green has to be one of the best color combos ever.  This was also the first time I've used my Tappits letter cutters - LOVE them. If you ever use them yourself here are a few beginner tips: Roll your material about 3-4 mm thick, no less and no more.  Use a good dusting of powdered sugar on the material surface before cutting, that way it won't stick in the letter grooves as easily.  And they're called Tappits for a reason - but "Whackkits" would be more appropriate. Seriously, don't be afraid to whack that letter strip on the counter top to get the letters out.  It's the best way to pop them out in one piece. 

Welcome to the world, Sydney!  Another thanks to Leslie for letting me make this cake for her event.

Kennedy's 'Rainbow Princess' Castle Cake

For Kennedy's birthday, I made her this "rainbow princess" cake.  Kennedy is the niece of my good friend Jen, and also Lincoln's sister for whom I made the Mickey Mouse cake a few months ago. I love it: Lincoln and Kennedy - mom and dad get an A+ in the kid-naming department!! This is the second "princess castle' cake I've done recently, this time a little smaller and with one less tower. I also used a 8"round for the castle base as opposed to the 10 "square base used on Brooklyn's castle cake. The birthday girl requested strawberry cake, and I filled the layers with Swiss meringue filling, flavored with pureed fresh strawberries. Castle base and second tier were draped with vanilla marshmallow fondant.

I'd heard that Kennedy wanted a rainbow and a princess on top, so this was a great opportunity to attempt each which I've been anxious to try.

 Towers were made from cardboard tubes wrapped in wax paper and covered with gum paste.  I lightly scored each tower with a knife to make the "bricks". The tower spires were inverted ice cream cones wrapped in gum paste.  Balconies, windows and flowers were all cut from gum paste.  Other details were made with marshmallow fondant.

Happy Birthday, Kennedy!

Michele's Police Lady Cake

It was our friend Michele's last day at CTC last week, as she starts her new career as a police officer.  In honor of her new career, I made this giant doughnut cake complete with hilarious overly-busty police lady. It was a pretty funny and fitting cake for her new career choice. The white almond cake was made using bundt pans (two cakes were baked), sculpted and formed together for the doughnut shape. Cake was filled with a layer of vanilla Swiss meringue butter cream and draped in a layer of marshmallow fondant. The white "icing" on the doughnut was also made of marshmallow fondant.  "Sprinkles" were made with gum paste, using the fondant tube extruder, and cut to size with kitchen shears.
The police lady figure, tiny handcuffs and coffee cup were all sculpted using gum paste.

GOOD LUCK Michele!  

You will be missed but it certain that you'll make one badass lady cop.

Brett's Lego Star Wars Cake

My good friend Jen's son Brett turns 8 this year... I can't believe he is 8 already!! Lego blocks were chocolate cake with chocolate Swiss meringue filling and draped in marshmallow fondant.  Lego bricks were MMF and gumpaste.  He had a special request to include some real toys, which are lined up at the base.  R2-D2 and Chewbacca were sculpted with gumpaste.  

I found an awesome Star Wars font for free online. I printed out his name on heavy stock paper and cut it out, put the stencil on a thin layer of rolled out gumpaste and cut the letters out with an Exacto knife. 

I built the lego ship from thin blocks of gumpaste.  The lego "dots" were cut using a piping tip and pasted on with a dab of royal icing.  I propped it up with a chunk of marshmallow fondant as a base and "glued" it on with royal icing.  

Happy birthday, Brett! 

Brooklyn's Princess Castle cake

Brooklyn's 1st birthday cake was a castle fit for a little princess! The square bottom tier and top round was white almond sour cream cake, with a layer of pink Swiss meringue buttercream inside. Pink marshmallow fondant draped the tiers. The towers were made by wrapping gumpaste around cardboard tubes, which dried nice and stiff for stability. Turrets were inverted ice cream cones also wrapped in gumpaste. Marshmallow and gumpaste details.

The castle door was made of marshmallow fondant, with a gumpaste border and edible pearl door doorknobs.  Royal icing held everything in place quite nicely.

Here's a side view. I am still a little amazed that I managed to get all of the towers staggered in the same way I had pictured in my head before beginning the cake.  I think I got lucky!  Special thanks to Brooklyn's mom Leslie for an opportunity to make this castle cake. 

Happy Birthday, Brooklyn!

Matt & AJ's Wedding Cake

Three tiers of chocolate fudge cake with chocolate Swiss meringue filling.   Frosted and piped with buttercream.  Fresh stargazer lilies and satin ribbon decor. Chocolate fudge cupcakes topped with Swiss meringue buttercream and edible pearls.

 I had stargazer lilies in my wedding bouquet - I forgot how they pretty they are.  The whole cake was designed around the awesome pinks that just pour out of those lilies.

The tiny dot piping (#1 tip! So small!) was pretty easy; start with the top row, and eyeball about 1-1/2 inch spacing apart. Then pipe the bottom and middle rows, both lined up with the top row, then pipe the second and fourth rows where the gaps are.   Not terrifying at all.  OK, maybe a little bit.

 Congratulations Matt & AJ!!

Erica's Baby Shower

It's a girl for Erica! For her baby shower, we had a two tiers of white almond sour cream cake draped with pale pink marshmallow fondant and filled with pink Swiss meringue buttercream as well as strawberry and vanilla cupcakes to boot.  Harper Quinn is due to arrive in December.

Fresh mini carnations topped the cake, surrounding the gumpaste name badge. I also used sugar gems on this cake for the first time.  They were placed at the intersections of the white diamond shapes on the bottom tier.  They looked exactly like real diamonds and were a delicate touch. This was also the the first time I got to play with my new fondant extruder to make the stripes and thin ropes - love it. My new favorite toy.

Strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream frosting.  Marshmallow fondant flowers.

 

 

White cupcakes with pink Swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  White chocolate topper embossed with an "H" for Harper. 

Congratulations Erica!!

Leta's Monster Cake (and spooky Monster cupcake friends)

My niece Leta turns 4 this year! Her party had a "monster" theme - perfect for a birthday near Halloween. The orange cake monster is 2 tiers of white almond sour cream cake, with orange Swiss meringue buttercream filling.  White base is the same.

This pink guy has a mini-cupcake inverted on top of the regular-sized cupcake base to make him taller.  Piped with buttercream. Eyes are Dum-Dum suckers with Gummi-rings around them. 

This one is Karl's favorite - he says it looks similar to a monster from The Simpson's so it's automatically his totes fave. Buttercream frosting, black jimmie sprinkles and marshmallow fondant arms (pretzels are helping them protrude from the cake).

Lil' orange guy is frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream.  Blue buttercream horns and marshmallow fondant hands.

MONSTER CAKE TIME!!  Happy birthday, Leta!!!

Lincoln's Mickey Mouse cake

This  cake was made for a close friend's nephew, Lincoln, who was celebrating his 2nd birthday in August.  The cake was chocolate with chocolate Swiss meringue filling covered with marshmallow fondant.  All details made with MMF, with the exception of the stars, Mickey ears, Pluto and Mickey figures which were sculpted gum paste.  Some minor last-minute surgery was performed on Pluto as his tongue and right arm broke off at assembly...but a little sugar water got him back in business.