Kids and Birthdays

Children birthday cakes are the most fun cakes to do.  Parents are super excited and look forward to surprising their kids with a beautiful, custom-made cake.  The parent that ordered this cake is clearly vying for the "Most Awesome Mom" award because she ordered a custom cake for her daughter's birthday last year, too (see "Dora the Explorer" cake).  I think I'm going to post a tutorial about how to do the numerical cake topper (the #5 on this cake).

Love on the Beach

My client ordered a cake for her bff's bridal shower.  The bride is getting married on the beach, so the  inspiration for the cake is...the ocean!  I know, how unoriginal.  The "sand" is crushed graham crackers and all the sea shells/creatures are white chocolate brushed with luster dust.  The cake topper was specially ordered for this cake.

Dora went on vacation and got a tan...

A client ordered a Dora the Explorer cake for her daughter's 4th birthday.  She gave me full creative license, so I was really excited!  Yes, Dora is a bit darker than usual, but that's because she just finished vacationing in Panama ;)

Designer Purse Cake

A client ordered this cake for her good friend's birthday.  The cake is red velvet with cream cheese frosting.  It's nice to have friends that love you :)

Baby Shower Cravings Cake

A client of mine is expecting her first child very soon.  Instead of ordering the usual pretty, pink, frilly baby shower cake, she requested a cravings cake instead! I love how this cake is all about her and the foods she's craved since becoming preggers.  I was sooo excited because I love taking on new and unique projects!  I didn't have a whole lot of experience with 3-D food objects, but I did my best and this is what I came up with.  And yes, everything is edible :)

Summer Baby Shower Cake

I know I've been MIA for a while, but alot has been going on.  First, I moved from the east coast to Chicago.  Then I had to do a bunch of pre-MBA stuff.  So, I delivered my first cake of the summer just yesterday.   The cake was to celebrate the arrival of a baby girl.  I wanted the cake to have a very summery feel, so I picked colors and elements that reminded me of warm and sunny days.

Baby Shower Cake

Below are pics of my most recent cake. My roommate was hosting a baby shower and asked me to make a cake.  The cake was half chocolate and half yellow with vanilla buttercream and covered in fondant.  Everything is edible but the shoe laces.

Whomp! Whomp!

Soooo I just want to say that this cake was a DISASTER! I wanted to cover the entire cake in turquoise fondant, but it kept tearing so I had to change my design and switch to fondant panels. Since I had to take the fondant off twice, the buttercream got all lumpy and I couldn't get it super smooth again. I'm going to try, try again with the original design because I SWEAR it's gonna be cute!

25th Anniversary Cake

This is the first cake on which I used the diamond quilting technique.  The top tier was a bit testy, but I had the hang of it by the time I did the bottom tier.  The silver French dragees were much easier to apply that I had originally thought.  I used silver ribbon at the base of each tier for a finished look, but then I still wasn't satisfied.  I began searching through my expansive collection of cake supplies when I spotted my pearl mold.  Ha!  That was it!  The perfect way to "end" a cake.

Thanks for looking!

Black Lace = Sexy?

So I thought I'd try something different by adding lace to a cake.  I thought the lace would make the cake look "sexy", but the whimsical-ness of  the flowers won this battle. This cake was for a 25th birthday. So, so much more to learn!

Mario Karting

The bf loves Mario Kart.  The bf loves cake.  Logic might lead one to believe that the bf loves Mario Kart Cake.  Toad is a bit rough, but this is my first fondant figure.  I will get better. 

Lemon cake with raspberry filling and lemon buttercream.  Will pair nicely with vanilla ice cream...MMmmmm  :)  Happy (early) birthday, Jamarr!

BlackBerry Curve Cake

I made this cake for a client's and her grandmother's birthday.  The cake was red velvet with vanilla buttercream.  It's pretty good, right?

I took pictures of the process this time!


First, I made the keys:

Then, I baked, assembled and carved the cake:

Next, I iced it in buttercream and covered it in fondant:

And finally, I decorated it!

Happy Kappa-versary!

Today is my dear bf's five-year Kappa-versary.  To celebrate, I made him this custom red velvet cake.  He absolutely loved it!

Faux-Professional Pictures, Anyone?

I recently came to the conclusion that I needed better pictures of my cakes.  There's nothing like a crumb-covered counter top to lend to the authenticity of my cakes; however, I think clients will respond better to great photos.  So what did your girl do??  I created a homemade light box, or "photo stage", for my work.

 

This is just a cardboard box with the sides cut out and replaced with wrapping tissue.  The tissue-covered "windows" allow for the light coming from the two lamps flanking the box to be diffused into the box.  The baby shoes are sitting on a white poster board, or the "stage".   See the before and after pictures of the gum paste baby shoes below.

Without the Light Box

 

With the Light Box

After a bit of photo editing

Ahh, I impress myself sometimes :-D

Whimsical February Wedding

This cake is for a friend/client who is getting married today (congratulations, Thoko!).  It's a 12"-9"-6" three-tier cake frosted in buttercream.  The top and bottom tiers are yellow cake with strawberry buttercream filling, and the middle tier is chocolate with vanilla buttercream.  The bride didn't want a super-traditional cake, so we decided that the whimsical rope design was the way to go.  I really hated that I could not get the edges of the cake smoother, but I will definitely figure that out before the next buttercream-finished cake comes around.  Now, wish me luck with delivering this cake as I have to drive it over an hour away!

Tiffany Box Cake SANS Shoe

A client ordered a Tiffany box cake plus gum paste shoe for her friend's surprise birthday.  Remember the shoe?  Good.  So how come it BROKE as I was putting the cake in the car!!!!  I was mortified!  Below are two pictures: I took the first one at home and the second one at the party venue.  It took me soooo long to  make that stupid shoe!  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

Before the shoe debacle 

 

After the shoe debacle

 

A Diva Wears Prada

Well,  this shoe isn't a Prada design.  It's actually a Cake Princess original.  A client wanted a stiletto shoe made for her friend's birthday cake.  Apparently, the friend is a shoe wh*ore, so the shoe was a must.  Yes, those are rhinestones on the ankle strap!  All the design inspiration came from within :)  I hope she likes it!  (This is a 100% edible shoe, fyi.)

 

Baby Shoes

I'm making a cake for a baby shower next weekend, so I made the baby shoes in advance (sans shoestrings) and thought I'd share.

First Tasting

Sooooo, I had my first tasting / consultation on Saturday and it went very well!  I made three flavors of cake for the potential client (she brought her mom - awww) and colored the frosting to reflect her wedding colors.  I took a bunch of notes on what she wants for her wedding (in May) so that  I could get everything right in the order form.  I then sent the bride-to-be on her way with a box of goodies so she and her fiancee could make a final decision.

The very next morning, the client wrote this email to me:

"Thanks so much for all the effort that you put into yesterday!  We really loved meeting with you and your CAKE!!  You are extremely talented and I feel extremely fortunate to have found/met you!  My dad & finance, Ken, both enjoyed the cupcakes as well. :) Needless to say, we would love to move forward and get you a deposit to be able to secure the date!"

I

I'd say I'm making progress :)

My New Logo (As if I had an old one)

I figured if I am going to start marketing myself and selling my cakes, I needed a logo.  Some advanced Powerpoint skills and a lack of design experience yielded me this logo:

Spring Wedding Cupcakes

I have my very first tasting scheduled for next Saturday.  The potential client wants 150 cupcakes and an 8" round cake for her wedding.  I've never made more than 2 dozen cupcakes at a time, so that will be a challenge.  But I have to win the business first!  The client's wedding colors are Tiffany blue and green. Practice cupcakes below.

(I especially like to two-toned one on the bottom right!)