Frozen Birthday Cake

Puppy Birthday

What a very fun 3D cake to work on! This puppy was so cute I almost didn't want to see it go.

I used 2 8x3" rounds and 3 cupcakes following this guide I found online. I did one round and one cupcake vanilla, and one round and 2 cupcakes chocolate. I cut the vanilla round in half and stood the halves upright against each other for the body. From the chocolate round, I followed a template I drew to make the head, snout, ears, hind legs. I cut both of the chocolate cupcakes in half for paws and cut the vanilla cupcake in half to go on the end of the snout.

Puppy shaped, piped 233 tip fur in ivory and brown, orange collar, orange bow on head, black fondant eyes and nose. Black toes and mouth piped on.

Beer Can Cake

I made this for extended family as a surprise "beer"thday cake! The cake is a Swiss Roll Cake, Chocolate sponge cake in a jelly roll pan with marshmallow buttercream filling and covered with marshmallow flavored ganache using limited edition marshamallow candy melts. I had to pour the ganache onto a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie tray, in a rectangle 9x8", move it into the freezer for about 15 minutes, then flip the sheet of ganache onto the cake and cut off the excess. I used the back of a knife to press it under the cake.

 I made "ice cubes" out of corn syrup and sugar molded in a mini ice cube tray. I used the brush embroidery technique to do the mountains in the logo.

 The beer foam or bubbles are white fondant rolled into different size balls and coated with gold luster dust. I attached them by piping a stream of buttercream then randomly pressing them into place.

 The top and bottom of the can are white fondant, sculpted and I even made the pop tab open. Sprayed the cake with silver color mist. I hand painted the logo and blue stripe on with color gel mixed with cake flavored vodka.

Marvin the Martian

Chocolate Cake 

3 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
8 eggs
5 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups milk
15 ounces chocolate

In stand mixer, cream together sugar, butter and vanilla. Add eggs and beat for 1 minute. Add melted chocolate. Add flour, baking soda and salt mixture. Gradually add milk. In 11x15" sheet pan spray with oil, coat sides with cocoa powder and line with parchment paper. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 325 degrees. I rotate my pan after 20 minutes to ensure even baking. Cool to room temp on wire rack then move to fridge to chill before frosting.

Having a cake frosted and ready to decorate is like a blank canvas for an artist; it gets me pretty excited!

Sweet Buttercream
2 cups shortening
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
1/2 tsp butter flavor
1/2 tsp sweet almond flavor
24-26 tsp water
2 lb. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp meringue powder
pinch of salt

Cream shortening flavors and water. Add powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt. Beat on low until ingredients are combined then beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.

For the buttercream transfer, I used a reverse image taped to a clipboard and taped waxed paper over that. The I piped in the main colors: white, black, red, green blue, light and dark yellow. Then outlined the whole image in white and filled in the back so it was level. I put the clipboard in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once the buttercream was somewhat hardened, I untaped the waxed paper, positioned it where I wanted it on the cake and flipped the buttercream over. Pressing down firmly to get the transfer to stick to the cake, I peeled back the waxed paper. Then I took black icing and a tip 1 and did the fine details and outlines. The hand, glove, brush, helmet, etc. were all outlined in black.

I love being able to do buttercream transfers so that the cake can match party decorations exactly. Any image can be replicated.

Cherry Coke Cake

A Cherry Coke cake with Vanilla Coke buttercream and maraschino cherries. The cake is two layers, 8" round filled with more cherries. I followed this recipe  except that I used less coke and added vanilla to the buttercream.

Cherry Coke Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 cup Coca-Cola
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8" pans. Combine all ingredients in bowl of mixer. Pour into cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Move to wire rack to cool.

Vanilla Coke Frosting
1/2 cup butter, room temp
3 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp Coca-Cola
1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract

Cream together butter and sugar. Add coke and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Halloween Cupcakes

I made Halloween cupcakes! The designs are a green eyeball, witch's hats, witch's broom, spider webs, vampires, candy corn (which I have since learned that they are yellow-orange-white not orange-yellow-white. How was I to know? I don't like them!), mummies, trick or treats, boo's, and pumpkins.

Halloween Cake

Boo! I made a Halloween cake! Chocolate cake, raspberry filling, vanilla whipped cream frosting and sweet buttercream borders. The black piping is black sparkle gel, which is like piping gel. For the spider webs, just make circles small to large, then drag a toothpick from the center out.

Cakes for a Cause

I had the opportunity to donate some cupcakes to a bake sale fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I baked 24 chocolate with raspberry filling and sweet frosting and 24 vanilla with strawberry and sweet frosting. I look forward to donating to their next event to help out their cause.

Corbin's First Birthday

My best friend's son's first birthday was a blast! With a smash cake for the birthday boy, cupcakes and a sheet cake.

The sheet cake was an 11x15" sheet, chocolate cake with strawberry jam filling, frosted with sweet frosting.
The smash cake was a 6" round, same cake, filling and frosting. The cupcakes were extra chocolate batter, no filling. The theme was dots, so I did a dot border around the cakes and sequin sprinkles on the cupcakes.

Superman

Chocolate cake with strawberry glaze filling, whipped cream frosting and sweet frosting designs.

Mermaid

My cousin Jaiden turned 4 and wanted a Little Mermaid/under the sea themed party.

I used this under the sea mold for fondant using this idea and then this idea. Dusting the mold with cornstarch/powdered sugar mix, pressing the fondant into the mold, cutting off the extra fondant, repressing it, then flipping it out. I laid each piece on wax paper dusted with more cornstarch and powdered sugar, and let dry for 2 days to harden.

I had extra fondant and Jaiden told me that the cake needed a trident for the king when we were discussing her cake a few days before. I made a trident by rolling yellow fondant into a thin short rope. Then using a rolling pin, I rolled a small amount flat and used a sharp knife cut out the shape of the speared end. Laid the shape over the rope and used the rolling pin to roll everything flat and fuse the 2 pieces together. Then I cut out the king's crown shape and laid it on a curved bottle dusted with corn starch so it would have a rounded shape as it hardened. I dusted everything with pearl dust. White on the yellow, pink, and ivory fondant, green on the teal fondant, purple on the purple, and red on the coral fondant.

See that Flounder? I rolled out another thin sheet of fondant and using food writers, drew out the shape of Flounder by hand. Then I used a small paint brush and dipped it into a small amount of food gel into my palette, added a drop of color and used it to "paint" his light and dark blue stripes on. I could have (should have) used vodka instead of water, since the alcohol evaporates faster; it took a long time to dry. I also made a Sebastian and then Dory and Nemo. Under the sea right?

Detail. The king's trident and crown. Purple shells and a little piping makes Ariel's top. Sebastian and Flounder.

Top tier is chocolate cake. I used the wonder mold pan. I frosted it with a large piping bag and the frosting tip. After it crusted I used a viva paper towel and my hand to smooth out any bumps.

Bottom tier is yellow cake dyed sea green. Its a 12x3 inch round with the heating core.

I used a new frosting recipe that I learned in the Wilton class I'm taking, its too good to share!

Make sure to cut dowels to fit under your top tier. It supports your cake from collapsing and keeps it level. 

I piped on the dark blue water border instead of using the mold just because I was becoming impatient with the process. Used a dot of frosting to adhere the fondant to the cake after it has crusted.

A problem I ran into with using this Ariel doll I found for cheap at walmart, was that from her hips to the bottom of her feet was about 6 inches. The wonder mold pan yields cake that is only 5 inches tall. I had to cut a 2" hole in the bottom of the 8" cake board and thread her feet through the bottom. No biggie. After she was in, I piped her tail using tip 104, let down her hair and positioned her arms.

Disney/Pixar movies always have "Easter Eggs" in them so I thought it would be cute to sneak in Nemo and Dory on the back of the cake.

My sea creatures came out great! The cake was a hit at the party and Jaiden couldn't get over her Mermaid cake!

Hard to believe something that started this sketch came into reality.

Logan's Graduation

Chocolate Cake 

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups butter, room temp

2 tsp vanilla

6 eggs

4 cups cake flour, sifted

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cup milk

12 oz semi sweet chocolate baking bars, melted and cooled

In mixing bowl combine sugar, butter and vanilla. Add eggs and beat for 1 minute. Add melted chocolate. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add milk. Prep 11x15" sheet pan with Wilton cake release. Bake for 55-60 minutes at 325 degrees. I rotate my pan after 20 minutes to ensure even baking. Cool to room temp on wire rack then move to fridge to chill before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting
6 cups powdered sugar
4 sticks (2 cups) room temperature butter
2 tsp clear vanilla extract
2-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
food coloring as needed

Mix together butter and sugar in stand mixer for 3 minutes on medium. Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. Divide and color. I used Delphinium Blue and Royal Blue mixed and Orange and Copper mixed to get the shades I used.

Buttercream transfer for the high school mascot.