Something's Coming!!

So October is just around the corner, which means so is my second favorite holiday...

HALLOWEEN!

I just love it! It also means some more treats will be headed this way soon!

the BIG dream

I want to do this...

Or this...

Or this.....

Or even this!

How do you even start to do this though?? You always hear about these people who quit their corporate jobs and took a chance on starting a dessert type shop. Seriously??? Is it just luck? I don't get it. All I know is that I want to do what Amy Atlas (these are photos of her work) does. It's the DREAM! So if someone wants to lend me some start up money.... : )

Someday......

Some Old Stuff

Just felt like moving some of my older cakes onto here. So that is all this is. Nothing new, but plenty cute!

Finally, The Third Wedding Cake....

This wedding cake was made for my friend Nola and her hubby James. She gave me free reign, which I loved because it gave me the opportunity to try something new. Gum paste flowers. That's right. I made every single flower on that cake by hand out of gum paste. It took some time, but I was incredibly happy with the end result.

Things seemed to be going so well with this cake. I had it covered and ready the night before the wedding, just needed to put the flowers on, which would be done once the cake was at the reception location. Sadly, it seems to be a trend for me that something is going to go wrong. I'm apparently not allowed to make an 'easy' cake. I woke up the day of the wedding to find the middle tier had leaked. That's right leaked. The lemon/lime filling between layers decided it didn't want to stay between the layers and the fondant at the bottom was all soggy. It just wasn't looking as good as it did when I went to bed the night before.

So, 2 hours before I was supposed to be at the ceremony, I was having a panic attack. Thankfully I still had some fondant left over. I cut off a strip of fondant at the bottom of the tier, to remove all of the soggy stuff. Then cut a new strip to put on in its' place. Hence the double ribbon. I had to cover the seam somehow!

Thankfully it all worked out, and I have to say, I am incredibly proud of this cake. I love it. I thought it looked elegant and I loved the flowers. They were definitely my favorite part. Plus they help hide little imperfections. They also cascaded down the back of the cake as well. The cake tasted good too, which was a relief, especially with the leaking incident. I guess I'll look at it this way, it helped the yummy lemon/lime flavor to be in every bite!

PRESENTS!!! GIMME GIMME GIMME!

Isn't that what everyone screams on their birthday? Or is it just me? : ) I was asked to make a birthday cake for a friends little sister to help celebrate her 15th birthday. Coming up with an idea wasn't the easiest thing. So I thought, who doesn't like presents? Incorporate her favorite color purple and this cake could be very cute! My original idea was to cover the entire cake in fondant and use an imprint mat that I have that says 'happy birthday' all over it. After getting the fondant on the cake however, I was not happy. Fondant decided to hate me while making this cake. So, I ripped it all off and tried a new technique: Faux Fondant.

Now, after doing a faux fondant cake, I may never go back to fondant. Basically it involves using a buttercream icing that will develop a crust after about 20 minutes. You have to put a fairly thick coat of the icing onto the cake but it ends up looking fabulous. Next step, take a paper towel (mine happened to have a pattern on it) and put it up against the icing. Gently rub the paper towel into the cake. The icing smooths out and the pattern imprints on the cake. FABULOUS!

This was also my first time making a fondant bow. I chose a 14 loop bow because I wanted it to basically cover the entire top of my 8x8 cake. After the bow was assembled and nice and hard, I applied an edible lustre dust to the bow to give it a fabulous glittery girlie feel. LOVE IT!

All in all, despite the original set backs I had when I started this cake, I am very happy with how it turned out. I learned new techniques and feel I did the cake justice. Let's just hope that the 15 year old likes it!

And of course, credit to Chelsea Belle Photography for some great photos. (I even added one with me because I was told I had too. That one is just for you Chels!)

Not Sweet.... but Sweet

Please say title with the correct inflection. So this post is not a typical post. In fact, it's not about cupcakes, cake pops, cheesecake, cake, cookies, or anything that begins with 'C'.

It's about grilled cheese sandwiches. To be more precise, mini grilled cheese sandwiches. Now I know I am probably not the first person to ever do this, but I thought they were so adorable that I had to share them. I made buns about 2 weeks ago and decided to see what would happen if I made a mini loaf out of the the bun dough. Pure Genius. I ended up with a cute little loaf that tasted like my Mom's famous bun recipe (and no I'm not sharing that, sorry....). Now I know what you're thinking, doesn't this just mean you made bread. No. I made a bun that looked like a loaf of bread. Trust me on this one. The taste is totally different.

I now have this mini 'bun loaf' and I have no idea what to do with it. It's definitely to small for sandwiches. I pictured myself going into work with this tiny little sandwich and my co-workers staring at me as though I were some sort of nut job on some crazy fanatical diet. Then an idea struck me. I love grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. But I hate that when I cut my grilled cheese, most of the cheese leaks out. What better than bite sized grilled cheese? No cutting necessary!

That's right. This post is about a mini grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Comfort food at it's best. So if you're ever having a bad day, feel free to look back on this post, smile a little, and take comfort in some adorable little sandwiches. I'm a nerd. I know. I'm seeking help. ; ) So again I say, not sweet.... but sweet. And might I point out, perfectly browned to perfection.

Boob Job

I made a boob cake. That's right. Boobs. Or breasts if you feel the need to be more formal about it. Bra included to keep it modest. My only complaint is that I didn't make the icing dark enough, so the boobs are very pasty and the same color as the fondant used for the bra, which was a little sad. But then again, maybe I was going for realism in the color aspect. (Anyone reading this feeling incredibly uncomfortable yet?) Oh well. They still look fabulous. Hee hee. Plus the straps aren't the greatest thing ever, but they were a last minute addition. Can I just say that having the opportunity to make a cake that looked like this was probably one of the highlights of my cake decorating career to date. SO FUNNY! I'd totally make this again. Just think of the creativity allowed when designing the bras. Maybe I've found a new past-time. Bra design.