"Nichole"

A hobby I recently got into after making my first cake for my friend's wedding: cake baking and decorating! I somewhat served as her wedding planner/coordinator and cake baker. Since then requests have been coming in from her friends and family for birthday cakes and such. A few friends back home in KC are considering using me for their weddings next year. I even had another coworker ask me to make hers for her wedding. And so I did.

This is titled "Nichole" after the bride. Both cakes are marbled Classic White and Dark Chocolate Fudge with Creamy White/Vanilla Frosting by Duncan Hines. The ribbons were purchased by the bride, cut and hem-glued together by me. The sugar flowers were also purchased by the bride, from a company called fancyflours. I spray painted them with Wilton edible food coloring spray. The large cake measured 12" tall before the cake topper (also found by bride and ordered online). The pans used were Wilton 12", 10", 8", and 6" rounds. The smaller cake measured 6" tall and used Wilton pans 8" and 6". Each layer sits on a cardboard base and there are 2 skewers in the large and 1 skewer in the small cakes for support. The top layer of the large cake's cardboard base is wrapped in foil for preserving and I left a note with the instructions on how to cut the cake for serving and how to store the top layer for the 1st anniversary. The bride called just after her ceremony once she saw the cakes and said they were better than she had expected and more than perfect. I'm just so happy I could add this to my portfolio and possibly get a little side business started from it.

"Turtle"

"Turtle" was made for my friend Cleo's sis-in-law's 17th birthday, since they say she looks like a turtle and they call her that sometimes we thought it would be fun to surprise her. The cake is Dark Chocolate Fudge and Devil's Food with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Duncan Hines. There is a Smuckers caramel filling with crushed pecans between the layers. Sand is made from brown sugar and crushed pecans. The turtle hump is formed with hand-molded Rice Crispies Treats and covered with Wilton precolored fondant. The sugar flowers and leaves were Wilton. This was a really cute and fun cake to make. It tasted great and if I were to make another turtle flavored cake, I would mix the pecans into the batter before baking and instead of using the caramel as a filling I would inject it into the baked cake.

"Cleo"

Mmm...wedding cake.

"Cleo" was made for my friend Cleopatra's wedding. This was the first cake I've ever made. Pans used were Wilton 10", 8" and 6". Duncan Hines Vanilla cake mix with Vanilla Frosting. The cake measured 10" tall. The cake topper was from WM by Wilton. Stairs were purchased from the bakery department at a local grocery store for $10. Faux flowers on the stairs and the cake from WM floral department. Ribbons and pearl strands from WM. There are also sugar pearls and silver sprinkles on each layer. I served as wedding planner/coordinator and cake baker for this wedding. It was fun and worth it. We priced different things throughout the week for a Saturday wedding and all of the planning started on a Monday. Since it was a DIY wedding with a very tight budget, I knew there was no way she could afford to spend $300 on a cake from Dillon's, nor did we have the time with a 3 week order notice. So I volunteered to bake it since I watch so many cake baking and decorating shows on TV. Who says it wastes your brain? I think I did a pretty darn good job.