Vroom, Vroom!

I had the opportunity to let my imagination run wild (and it felt like a V-8) for this Cars cake. Combination of portion controlled cupcakes as well as an 8 inch cake made this the perfect combination for a birthday party! I knew I wanted to do something tall, but it had to transport well, as the family was traveling to NoVa for the party. So I wanted most of the cake to be on the base, and make it easy to stack.

I cut out the Cars Logo, the flags and the road sign from gum paste (made the tires that the flags are sticking in from gum paste too), then hand painted the sign and flags with food coloring.

Overall, this cake was SO much fun! I loved doing it and including little details like the traffic cones, and the trophy cupcake. I really had a blast making this cake!

80 Years Young

My Grandfather turned 80 years young this past weekend, and we had family from all over the country fly in to Richmond, VA to celebrate. While it was wonderful to all gather in Richmond, I forgot how bad the roads on 64 are, and needless to say traveling over 2 hours with a cake in the trunk - amounted to a very stressful ride :) I was afraid to look at the cake when we arrived, but it made it! We had family come from California, Wisconsin, Minnesota and all over Virginia to celebrate this special patriarch!

For the cake itself, I chose Orange Dreamsicle for the top tier, and Choclate Raspberry for the bottom tier - white icing on the outside. The '80' on top were hand piped chocolate that I then sprayed with edible food coloring to make them silver, and I used wire and a thick dowel rod to make the swirly things. The theme of the cake centered around my Grandfather's life. All the symbols were pictures that represented parts of his life. On the front I included an Air Force symbol - as my Grandfather served in the Korean War, and the symbol for the Mason's which my Grandfather has been an active part of for many decades.

On the top right you can see the shape of Wisconsin, which is where he was born and raised and where most of his family now resides. Below you see a motorhome trekking across the country, which he and my Grandmother did a few years ago.

Towards the back of the cake I drew a wrench - as my Grandfather was a mechanic for majority of his career, and a shamrock for his Irish roots - McDonough after all is undeniably Irish!

Lastly, I included a block of cheese - as he is a avid Green Bay Packer's fan, a fish to represent one of his favorite pass-times, and Virginia which is where he has spent the second half of his life and where he resides.

This cake was so much fun to do, and I had many more ideas of pictures to put on the cake which I forgot when I was actually decorating it. The cake was a huge hit and SO delicious!

Winter can still be yummy!

I few weeks ago I was contacted by a potential client who was throwing a birthday party for their mother-in law. She loves cardinals and wanted to have a wintery-themed cake with a cardinal and 'snow' on it's back. The inspiration for the design was based on a Christmas ornament photo that she sent me (included below). This was a chocolate cake with white icing. I searched online for pictures of a cardinal and then drew the bird on the cake with a toothpick. I was pretty excited about how it turned out, and the family seemed to really enjoy it as well!

What's all the Buzz about Megan's 1st Birthday?

This will go down as one of my favorite cakes of all time I think. I made this for my niece's 1st birthday party. I was planning the cake for quite some time and drew it out a few months ahead of time. I have to say it turned out just as I imagined, if not better. While Megan won't remember this whimsical cake, I will for sure. The bees, number 1, Winnie the Pooh and the Hunny Pot, are all made of colored and piped chocolate. I found this amazing technique on another blog and had to try it out. The bees are then attached to wire that I bet around dowel rods to give them the look as if they were buzzing and flying around.

I bought the cake stands off of Amazon, as they match the whimsical nature of the cake. As I was planning this cake I just kept picturing them on these stands, and I am so glad I bought them. The bottom of this cake was made from scratch organic red velvet cake with buttercream icing. The filling was a white chocolate buttercream filling which I also made. This was so moist and delicious. I was so thrilled with how it turned out!

The top tier was a yellow cake with a strawberry buttercream filling which I also made myself. It was the perfect combination of flavors as well! So moist and yummy! I have a serious affinity for strawberry anyways!

Here is the birthday girl herself who was thinking about eating her cupcake. It mostly just got messy as she removed all the icing from the cupcake. She didn't really eat any of it and her mommy had to feed her a little bit of the cake... Overall, this cake was a great success and definitely yummy!

With all the right tools...

So, while this cake is not totally original (recreated one of the first cakes I did), it was still really fun to do and recreate. Learned a few things since last time, which was over a year and a half ago! This was a chocolate half sheet cake with buttercream icing. The tools are not edible, but are actual toys that Kasey gets to keep. Happy Birthday Kasey!

Ready, Aim, Shoot!

This camera cake was made for none other, than our very own Sabrena Deal of S. Carter Studios, my most faithful customer! :) This was however the first cake made specifically for her. This was a strawberry cake with whipped buttercream icing. The camera theme was picked by her husband, Josh, for obvious reasons!

I found this picture online of this old-school Canon camera, and attempted to recreate it on a cake. The lens is actually a cupcake, and I tried to match up the details as closely as I could.

I had a lot of fun doing this cake, as I learned photography on a camera similar to this one, and to this day only own Canon cameras. Not to mention, I LOVE strawberry cake! Win Win Situation for all involved! Happy Birthday Sabrena!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Have Made A Comeback!

So, I was super excited about doing this cake, as I was an avid fan of TMNT when I was growing up. I probably had 50 different turtle action figures, and several cartoon movies. Anyways, when my co-worker asked about making this cake for her son's 5th birthday, I was like, DEFINITELY! So, this is an 8 inch strawberry cake with buttercream icing and fondant decorations. This is the first strawberry cake that I have sold to a client, and did a test-run last week. It was fabulous if I may say so without sounding arrogant! :)

I made each of the heads individually, and had to tint and roll out each of the colored bandanas. I cut out the eye holes and then filled in the eyes with icing. The logo and manhole are also fondant.

It's Herbie... The Love Bug

This cake is an 8 inch square chocolate cake for a 18th birthday party a few weeks ago. I used buttercream icing tinted different colors to make the design. This actually has 9 different colros that I had to mix and bag separately to make this cake. The birthday girl is nicknamed 'love bug' and loves Herbie! I dropped it off the night before the birthday party but got a text message before I got back home saying they just couldn't wait and had already eaten part of the cake... :)

Trailer Park Tragedy

No, I am not making fun of anyone who lives in a mobile home, so let's just get that out there before I begin. :) This cake is for a birthday party, where the guests are participating in a murder mystery dinner. The theme of this murder mystery is... you guessed it... 'Trailer Park Tragedy'.

I have been imagining this cake in my head for weeks and I think it turned out pretty close to what I had in mind. The cake is funfetti cake (birthday boy's favorite) and all the icing is buttercream.

I bought the car at the dollar store, and then removed the wheels. Made little cinderblocks out of fondant, but wanted to include the tires too. This was originally a Jeff Gordon race car, so I had to remove a few stickers and the spoiler. Although when I dropped the cake off and saw the NASCAR posters everywhere, I was thinking I might have left them on the car.

The shutters were another little detail I thought might bring this trailer to life. Couldn't resist making it look a little run down...

I made the tv antenna out of paperclips and black thread. Thought it might add a nice touch, although I don't think they will get HD channels with this.

Overall, I was pretty happy with this one, and it was fun seeing it come together. Happy Birthday Peter!

Wahoo for Birthdays

This cake is a new one for jimmy cakes; it is a homemade lemon cake with homemade lemon icing (not too much lemon, but just enough). This 8 inch cake was ordered by a member of my church, who was hosting a birthday party. In my previous post, I discussed a contest that Sabrena Deal had on her blog, and this customer found out about my business through Sabrena's blog... hope you had a chance to check it out!

WAHOO!

Grenadenhaver...

This cake was a lot of fun to make. This HALO 2 inspired cake for a good friend attempts to capture the essence of his playing style. Without fail, before death each time, old Grenadenhaver never fails to launch a grenade, typically taking out his enemies... This was a chocolate cake with buttercream icing. I used a grater to make the cake crumbs and then dried them in the oven to make them appear more like dirt. The grenade is hand made out of fondant. I really love this cake! Also, I got a piece of this one, which doesn't happen too often!

Birthdays and Bulldogs

Today I made a birthday cake for a die hard University of Georgia fan. His wife contacted me about making a the UGA cake, and wanted something to do with the logo. I found a picture of the bulldog head, and I practiced drawing out the logo on a separate piece of paper. When it didn't look half bad, I decided to proceed with my plan.

The cake is my 'signature' chocolate cake (I love calling it that) with homemade icing. I made two 9 inch rounds and cut each in half, making four layers instead of just two (MORE ICING!!!).

I grabbed my drawing and the original and drew the image onto the cake with a sharpened dowel rod. I then filled in the markings with the icing I mixed up. I am really happy with this cake, and the birthday boy loved it too (thankfully!). :)

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I made this cake for a friend's birthday. It was a homemade mocha cake with tinted icing. I used two six inch cakes, a cupcake for the head, and mini cupcakes for the exterior of the shell. It was a lot of fun, especially since I found out I was making the cake the same day I made it. :)

When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter...

Since I started doing cakes. I have been dreaming about a fire-truck cake. I know that may sound a little strange, but I have really wanted to do one. I got the chance this week. Although this makes the fourth cake I made in three days (CRAZY)!!! I survived to tell the tale however! I had a great time doing this cake. I used two quarter-sheet cakes and then made a batch of gum-paste for some details (lights, windows, wheels, water, fire hydrant, ladder, hose). The cake is a home-made yellow cake and I used home-made tinted icing. Thanks Jenny for letting me do this awesome cake for you!

Harry Potter + Power Puff Girls = Potter Puff

One of my friends contacted me about a birthday cake for her sister, who used to cover her textbooks with little drawings of puff-esque characters. One such example was Potter Puff.

Originally she wanted to see if I could put Harry's head on the cupcakes, and I suggested we just do a cupcake cake with the whole image. She loved it and the rest is history.

I used Funfetti cupcakes with home-made white icing. I mixed each color from the original white icing, drew the image on the iced cupcakes, then filled in the drawing with the various colors.

an elephant never forgets...

So, I got to make the elephant cake last night... It was a difficult cake for sure! I started with two six inch and two eight inch cakes. I cut three of the cakes in half to make the cake taller (making the three cakes - six layers). I trimmed each as I stacked them, shaping them for the main body (kind of a half football shape). I then took the trimmings and set them back on the cake board to make the hind legs. I used additional trimmings for the front two legs. I iced the cake as I went.

The head was difficult to say the least. I used the remaining six inch cake for the head. I cut out a head-shape and tried to sit it on a very small board supported by dowel rods. This was working until the entire thing started to fall off after I iced it. I removed the head and came up with plan B. I re-attached the head with additional supports, then made the ears and trunk out of fondant. After attaching these pieces, I had to let the cake dry for a few minutes. I then proceeded to air brush the entire thing (Thank you Christine!). I was happy with the outcome, and apparently the recipient loved the cake as well. It was delivered this morning and I was told it was a big hit.

ooo-ooo-aa-aa

Monkey Cake Anyone? I teamed up with a great friend of mine to do a very special cake for a very special one year old named Brinley. His mom always calls him her little monkey, and the invitations to the party gave us the inspiration for this cake. Sara, my friend, made the two quarter sheet carrot cakes from scratch with all-natural ingredients, and also made cream cheese icing from scratch as well.

We met to discuss the cake, and came up with a design that really combined both of our ideas. We decided to take the two cakes, and cut three or four inches off of both of them, and then stack the four pieces to make a 3-D cake. We then took fondant and colored it green for the palm tree leaves. We used Pirouette wafers from Pepperidge Farm for the tree trunks around the outside of the cake, and mini cupcakes (also carrot cake) for the two main trees in front. We colored additional fondant and made all the pieces of a monkey which we assembled later. Sara cut out all the leaves and then proceeded to put lines in each leaf to give it texture. Meanwhile, I tackled the icing of the cake itself. The weight of the cake caused some serious issues, and even the dowels I was using to support the top section were leaning and causing problems. I got it to work, and then finished icing the cake. We attached the Pirouette's and then started attaching the leaves. Sara rolled out little vines while I started putting our monkey together. We got everything done just as the party started, and from start to finish put about four and a half hours into the cake.

The Big Five - O

So several months ago, I started thinking about this amazing cake I wanted to make for my dad's 50th birthday. I drew it out, and started thinking about how exactly I was going to do this cake. I started doing some research about fondant icing, because I had never worked with fondant before, but thought that it would really add so much to the design. I decided that I would go ahead with the fondant, and started buying the supplies that I needed (thank heavens for Michael's 40% off coupons!).

I drew out the cake again and again, and was falling in love with it more each time I did so. I had it all in my mind - three tiers: bottom tier would be Nascar, middle tier would be Harley, and top tier would be golf.

Total time in this cake was about 12 hours from start to finish, but I was so excited about how it came out. Can't wait to do more Fondant Cakes!

My Birthday

So, still looking for golden opportunities to do some cakes, I decided to do a birthday cake (for myself). I was going camping with a lot of my family, and so I really wanted to do something in that realm. I was inspired by a kit that our bakery sold, and the ideas kept coming. I made a quarter sheet cake (9x13 inch) and turned it upside down on a covered board. I whipped up some homemade vanilla icing, then mixed in some colors for the majority of my cake. I mixed some blue, green, and brown and started icing the cake. I had a great time doing this cake, and it tasted soooo good!

Groovy Cupcake Cake

This was a lot of fun to make! This is a cupcake cake I made for a joint birthday party. These two girls were both turning 13, and wanted something fun! I have never made one like this before, and will definitely do it again!