Remember me? I do the posting around here…

*blushes* So…it’s been, what, six months since I last updated?  I’m embarrassed as to how lazy I truly am…at least with the blogging…quite the opposite with the cake stuff.  This is going to be a long one, so , hang on…

Ok, so, if I remember correctly, the last time I wrote on here I was teasing about a cake I was working on for my job.  It was to commemorate the release of The Beatles Rock Band.  First thought: snare drum.  Being a big fan of the Fab Four,  I had to do justice to this guy, and so I did.  It went over very well, and to my surprise, many people actually took pictures of it.  It was a simple white cake with frosting I had on hand.  I dyed the fondant black and did the detail work with the extra icing.  Took me a hot minute to figure out how to stencil the lettering, but after some Pooh-thinking (“Think..think…think” Winnie the Pooh anyone?) I hand traced and cut out the lettering with my trusty exacto knife.  Just smear a little icing and voila!

"It's been a Hard Day's Night, and I've been baking like a dog"

Next, I made a birthday cake for my sister, Sa.  Since she and I are obsessed with anything Japanese, this one was easy.  She didn’t want a big one, so I took my time with the detail work.  I think it was chocolate with chocolate buttercream;  With her, it must always be chocolate.  Then, a cover with some white fondant and then the sculpting began.  The tree I did wasn’t the best looking, I’ll be the first to admit that.  But for a first attempt, not too bad.  I had just picked up the kit for making flowers, and I went nuts with it.  Made a whole bunch of cherry blossoms topped with some edible pearls for effect.  Next, I hand painted a Japanese birthday message for her on the side.  The reaction I got from my mom and her was priceless.

Happy Birthday Sa!

The next one I did was done at the last-minute, so it wasn’t on the most creative side, but it did look cool.  I made a cake for the launch of Halo 3, which to be honest with you, I hate that series.  An over-glorified first person shooter with the most mundane storyline.  I get more entertainment watching paint dry.  Anyways, that one was chocolate too with chocolate buttercream ‘cuz most of the people who showed up were guys, and guys love chocolate.  The fondant was fun on this one because I did a marbled effect, and it turned out just the colors I wanted.  The nameplate however, fought me till the end.  It took me FOREVER to stencil out and cut out that title, and when I went to paint over it with the food coloring, the damn thing kept moving, and it looked super sloppy.  Again, not by any means my best cake, but it sure tasted good.  Went over well with the customers tho…

Then came the BIG launch…Call of Duty: Modern warfare 2.  This one had to be good, because it was a huge, huge release, and I knew there would be a billion people at the store.  I was initially going to carve it to  look like the special edition XBOX 360 that came out for the game, so I used a chocolate pound cake recipe.  Everything went well in the baking process, but when I went to take the cake out of the pan….BAM!!! The top layer completely shattered all over the place.  I was freaking out.  So, I managed to get the other piece out, then layered it with chocolate buttercream, then with a layer of homemade fudge icing,  and began to piece the broken half on top of all that yummy gooeyness.  I managed to get it together long enough to put the fondant on, but it looked bumpy because of all the broken pieces.  Nothing I could do there…oh well.   Next, I used some edible spray paint to make the design on the top, then painted the black lines on it.  Pretty cool how they teach you how to do that…all you do is mix the food coloring you want with a little bit of vodka, not a lot, just enough to make it more liquidy..is that a word?  This was such a monster, and so heavy, and I mean heavy.  Everyone loved it, absolutely loved it, so I deem this one a success as well. Yay! Then I had a dual release, with Assassin’s Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2.  I made two little cakes, both completely different.  They were both white cakes, but the Left 4 Dead cake I dyed red and put cherry pie filling in the center so that it looked like it was bleeding when you cut into it.  Then I used the spray paint to make it look like it was tagged and a little messy to boot.  The Assassin’s Creed cake was an upside down heart smoothed out to look like the Assassin’s guild “A”.  Then I did a stencil of the “A” and colored it in with the new edible markers I got.  Very cool little tools indeed.  Both were a hit.  One of my co-workers took the whole Left 4 Dead cake home with him.  (Hope you liked it Martin, you pig   )

Next was my hubby’s birthday cake.  He wanted a German chocolate cake, which I’ve never made before.  Turned out pretty well.  He helped a lot with the icing on it.  It was a smaller cake, but wow, was it tasty.  Definitely wouldn’t mind making another one of those bad boys.

Then there was Thanksgiving.  No cakes here, just cheesecake and apple pie.  My first attempt at apple pie, may I remind you…and it was great!  I used this recipe called Apple crunch, oh man, it was so good, and juicy too.  Wow.  The apples I used gave a 150%.  The cheesecake turned out well too, but I guess I put too much nutmeg in it.  It was a maple pumpkin cheesecake.  Really big, quite the holiday monster if you ask me.

Now, we come to my most recent creation, and my first official cake order!!!  A good customer of mine wanted me to do a cake for her daughter, who is obsessed with Pokemon.  I said sure, no problem.  It wasn’t, but she likes red velvet, which is a pain in the ass to make, and the grocery store was out of the big bottles of food coloring.  I had to buy eight of those little four packs to get enough for the measly 2 ounces it calls for.  Goodnight.  This was by far, the best cake I have baked to date.  It was super spongy, soft, moist, and it was the perfect thickness.   The fondant wasn’t a problem, but when I put the tape down for the spray, I didn’t realize that the mist would carry over to the bottom part.  My hubby helped me wipe that part off, and for the most part, we got it cleaned.  Then I painted the black lines with my magic vodka paint mixture, and proceeded to stencil out her name in the  same Pokemon font.  I used a trick from these awesome books my in-laws got me for Christmas ( thanks Pat & Tim!!!) to transfer her name.  I had done the sketch the night before, and it looked great.  Then I had an extra piece of fondant that I put under the wax paper with the lettering already on it.  Take toothpick and poke holes around the lettering, using the holes as guidelines for the lettering.  My fondant was starting to tear on one side, so I used some plastic Pokemon rings I bought for it to cover it up, and it make it look so much cooler.  Aside from being able to see the holes close up, the cake came out wonderful!!  Her mom loved it, and her daughter was so happy, she made her mom drive back to my store to give me a hug.  That was payment enough.

And here we are.  Today is my birthday, but my family celebrated it on New Year’s Eve, like we always do.  What type of cake does the cakemaker like?  Believe it or not, my favorite cake is in fact, a boxed cake (gasp), and to add insult to injury, it’s the Funfetti one.  I can’t help it.  I love it so much.  One of my favorite guilty pleasures.  (Thanks Sa!).   I have to say, over the last year, with much aggravation, back aches and complaining, I am honestly happy with all the work I’ve done.  Can’t wait to see what comes up this year…Bioshock anyone?  Stay tuned…and Happy New Year!!!

Once in a Blue Moon

So, here I go again, updating the ‘ol blogarooney.  Lemme think of where to start…

My hubby bought me a new baking cookbook to help me broaden my horizons to the pastry world.  He suggested that I try a few recipes to see if I can do more than cakes.  My first attempt was at the Key Lime bars.  They came out pretty cool looking, and he said they were good.  I don’t like lime, so I never sampled them.  However, while I was at work one night, he gave some to the Moose & co; the co. thought they were ok, but the Moose thought otherwise, and pro-ceded to throw them up.  Note to self: Moose doesn’t like limes either.

The inFamous Key Lime bars that have the power to nauseate Moose around the globe

After feeling terrible about making the little guy sick, I stayed away from that book for a bit and made a few birthday cakes for my peeps.  Actually, no birds were harmed in the baking of the following cakes.  Instead, they were made and delivered with love   The first one is a chocolate/vanilla marble cake with homemade chocolate butter-cream icing.  I tried to put fondant on it without having taken that class yet, and it came out pretty good…until I tried to get fancy and paint on it.  I rolled out this awesome ivy pattern onto the fondant and was going to highlight it with gold and silver, since Lady works with jewelry.  Yea, instead of highlights, it looked more like ash and soot.  Thoroughly disappointed and angry, I tore off the fondant, salvaged the icing, and bore several little flowers instead.  She loved the cake, and has agreed to be my guinea pig as necessary. Score!

Made from scratch, with lots of love...and chocolate

Next, I had made plans with my mom to make one of those flag cakes for 4th of July.  You know, the big rectangular ones with fresh fruit on top to look like the American flag?  *Sighs*  This one was evil, and I vow to never make one again.  So I decided to get fancy and make the cake, from scratch (just for you Bill, you hear me?) a red velvet.  Never made one before, but it tasted yummy and dyed my hands pink for a few days.  K, so I take the cake out of the oven to cool, and IT FALLS.  Yea, my cake fell from beautiful thick fluffiness to two paper thin sheets of red stuff.  Grrr…so I calmed down, vowing to save it.  I also made the icing from scratch, but used an unfamiliar recipe.  Result: my frosting broke and looked like clear gunk with white flecks.  I urgently added more fat content, as my loving and at the time super sleepy hubby suggested, and it came together long enough for me to ice the darn thing.  I soon realized that this would melt, fast, so I quickly added the raspberries and blueberries, but I added them so fast, I didn’t realize how freakin’ crooked the lines came out.  *Sad panda*  Everyone was nice and said it didn’t matter what it looked like, and I was like, “shuhh”, kinda what I’m going for here.  Aside from a dense cake, it went over well, surprisingly.

Sad little cake with the flat insides and the broken outsides. I am so sorry mr. cake.

Next comes some of the cakes from my most recent class, gum paste and fondant. The first cake, the one with the yellow and green business, turned out well, and I learned how to quickly improvise when your material turns on you.  While we’re in class rolling out our colored fondant, chatting up a storm, I realize that I had rolled my fondant too thin, and a two inch hole tears up the side of my fondant, which at this point was already on the cake.  We were supposed to go with one of the pictures in the book for a design, but I panicked, having no extra fondant to redo the entire cake.  I quickly thought of making some funky circles to cover the hole, and perhaps cheat and make a pseudo-contempory design.  It worked, and I proclaim myself awesome, especially for a beginner.

Aside from the bottom piece being too big, I think this little guy came out very well.

Between classes, I tried the pastry book again, this time making something I wanted very much badly.  Oreo cupcakes.  Let me repeat that, Oreo cupcakes.  Only thing I didn’t like was that the little cakes of cup had flat tops instead of little rounded domes that I prefer.  Other than that, they were a hit.  I passed them out at work to my buddies, and everyone loved them.  I used my own icing, which was homemade vanilla buttercream, which ended up being awesome as well.  A lot of people thought I had scraped out the icing from the Oreo’s for the top, but alas, it was all me.  Hoorah!  One person said it tasted like a muffin that was made out of a cookie.  Lots of people like cookies, so I’m taking that one as a compliment.

Delicious and nutricious...I swear!!!

Then came my finale cake for the last class.  This came out way better than I expected, and my hubby ate a piece with the fondant still on it.  I’m so happy he liked it, kit and caboodle.   For the most part, I followed the picture in the book, but again, I improvised.  I can’t help it, I’ve never been able to follow directions through and through without adding a bit of myself.  I guess that’s what makes someone unique   Anywho, my teacher was real proud of me, and invited me to hang out with her and goof off to look at cool cake/pastry stores.   Very cool.  Hasn’t happened yet, but I will make time for our escapade.

I dub this cake, Savannah...just cuz. It's cute!

I had made a lot of extra daisies, so I plastered them onto the cake I made for my friend, Jessica.  This was her birthday cake, and she requested Devil’s food cake and chocolate buttercream.  Done, and done.  The batter I made was enormous in proportion, so I made my Dad’s birthday cake with it too.  Turns out both of their birthdays are in July, and only a couple days apart.  And they both have chocolate on the brain.  LOL.  At the last minute, for my Dad’s cake, my Mom came out of nowhere with these cute little fish decorations (cuz he likes to fish) and smooshes them ever so onto the cake.  It was worth it to hear him laugh at the bass swimming around in chocolate. Happily, both Jessica and Daddy enjoyed their cakes, so my mission was a success!

It was cute and tasty! I heart her! (get it!!! oh, nevermind...)

Pretty good for freehand if I do say so myself.

So, here we are.  Several cakes and treats under my belt, mostly in other peoples tummies.  I’m thinking of making an iced lemon pound cake and some s’mores cookies.  Mmmmm…..s’mores.  Next cake on the horizon…well, it’s a surprise.  Hopefully it goes well and tastes just as amazing as I hope it’ll look.  Until then, TTFN.

Joy and frustration

OK, so, I know it’s been a while, AGAIN, since I did the whole blog thing.  Work has kept me pretty pre-occupied, and I got sucked into a book series that has pathetically taken over my recent two week life. Don’t laugh, but it’s the Twilight series.  I know, I know.  How lame am I? But with all seriousness, they’re REALLY good! They’re not emo, not teeny-bopper-ish, and, added bonus, I don’t want to cut myself.  (Joke people…joke).  It’s scary when I get obsessed about certain book series…Harry Potter anyone? It only took me a week to read my newly adorned vampire novels, watch the movie several times, and to start up the first book again.  I know…lame.  But, moving on…

I’ve also been trying to get my next class scheduled for cake decorating, but the people at the store have been meh, but to be fair, so have I.  It’s been a partnership in lazy.  I’ve called over there at least three times in the last four days asking when the class director will be in.  They happily tell me, but then when the time comes for me to call…yeah, not so much.  It’s silly, really.  I’ve been waiting for my teacher to get back from her hiatus, and here I am playing cat and mouse with the phone like my Fat does…not, ‘cuz she’s…fat.

I’ve wondered if I could pawn off the blame on the associates that have given me the time frame to call her by arguing they never asked for a message or for her to call me back.  Yeah, my fault too.  My father always tells me, “It never hurts to ask”, and I feel that I have perfected that action more than anyone would admit to appreciate.   Not so much here.

For Easter, I went over to my mom’s house along with a pre-school portion of mini-lemon cupcakes.  It was hard to decided if they were cuter than tastier. I had also added regular sugar cookie icing to those little babies, with a bright pink blush.  Dangerous times come with tasty treats.  My other nephew, my sister’s son, Ethan, who’s just recently turned 7, tearfully told my sister, Melissa (aka Sa), that Easter was ruined.  This turned out to be my fault because I had made a small, idle threat to ban Ethan from the cupcakes if he wouldn’t stop punching me.  Fair exchange, to me, I guess.  Got in trouble later when I told him he could have another one…Sa was NOT happy with either of us   Totally worth it.

Well, that’s it for right now.  I think I’ll go on-line and see if they’ve posted anything new for my classes…really, I will!! TTFN

Blog…what’s that?

So, obviously, I need to get a hang of this whole “blog” idea. This was WAAAY too long to add another entry. Making time to blog and retaining that schedule will take some discipline, perhaps if I punish myself with no cake, I’ll learn eventually Moving on…
I worked on a cake and some cupcakes for my SIL (hi Heidi!) who was hosting a little shindig for one of her friends. Made it all carrot cake with some home made cream cheese icing (can we say yum-o?) and some flowers for the tops. The only thing I was grumpy about was that the frosting was so ooey-gooey, it would be thin on the cake. That’s my biggest peev, having icing so thin that the cake shows through. Grrrrrrr…..
But, that’s where practice comes in. And speaking of practice, those cupcakes were a perfect lot of mini canvases for my little flowers. I must’ve pumped out those Apple Blossom’s at the speed of light; the Moose (my little nephew) thought very highly of them I’ve attached some photos of the cake and cupcakes, and the aftermath of a Moose attack.
I’ll try my best to get into a groove to update this bad-boy, but first I’ve got to get a handle on the beast that’s been controlling me for the last month…my REAL job (enter dramatic music…duh-duh-DUUUUUUH). Until then, I’ve got another cake to work on, so, enjoy the photo’s, and I’ll TTYL!

I was going to do some basket weave on this, but the icing said "NO", so I added some vines to cover the bald spots

Bouquet of Yum

Isn't he cute?! Although his fate has been sealed, I've named him Francois. Is that a Moose on the horizon?

Francois! Oh No! The horror! The carnage!

Few things in this world make me deliriously happy: spending quality time with my handsome husband, hanging out with the fam, or spending a lazy day zoning out with my favorite video game with my cat ( a.k.a. “the fat”) comatose on my lap.  Never once did I think there could be more…or so I thought.

My husband is a chef, and is very good at it; I suck at cooking.  So, the easiest way I found to become more adept with the culinary world, I became obsessed with Food Network.  First it started out simply with Iron Chef, then moved on to anything that didn’t have Bobby Flay in it.  I focused in on the Extreme Challenges that they would show, usually with some fabulous cakes made by culinary artists.  ( My favorite one is the Disney villains where some dude made the crocodile and Captain Hook from Peter Pan.  It was awesome!) Then Ace of Cakes came on the air.  “This guy is awesome,” I thought, “and he’s having so much fun making other people happy.” Although Duff’s craft looks difficult, I wondered if I could ever do something like that.

Normally when I get ideas like that, it goes poof almost immediately, and the idea is lost.  But this one stuck.  I got off my butt, did some research, and enrolled in some simple beginners cake decorating classes.  First two down, two to go.  And may I say, it’s not really that hard.  You have to have patience,  lots and lots of patience.  Not to mention an obscene passion for washing A LOT of small accessories.

Well, that’s all for now; There’s more cake lying around here for me to dribble icing on.

Here’s a few of my first trials :