A Cake to Remember

I can't begin to express how thrilled I was to get an e-mail from an employee of Centra Health asking me about doing the cake for their annual 'Walk to Remember'. This event is held in conjunction with RTS Bereavement Services and is held in memory of those who have lost a child either pre- or post- birth. Some of you may know that I volunteer with a local grief counselor organization helping kids who are grieving the loss of a family member or friend. Needless to say this holds a special place in my heart. On top of the cause, the employee listed off a few of the decorators they have had in years past, including Coffey Cakes, Gypsy Baker, and What a Blessing Bakery in Amherst. I am ecstatic to join the ranks of these amazing cake decorators in my area.

I did two cakes that looked virtually identical. I only took a picture of one, but am hoping someone at the event took a picture, in which case I will add it to my blog at a later date. One half sheet was a chocolate cake with an Andes mint filling, and the second was a vanilla cake with lemon buttercream filling. Both were iced with buttercream icing.

An Officer and a Gentleman

My friend James was graduating from Liberty University's Seminary and will be a Chaplain in the Army. His wife enlisted my help in making a special cake for his graduation celebration. She sent me pictures of James' dress uniform and I went to work replicating it.

The name tag, buttons, bar and sleeve/shoulder epletts are all made of gum paste, and they are as close to the original as I could make it!

This is one of my favorite cakes and I was so glad to be able to do it! Thanks and Congrats James!

Keeping Up with the Jones'

I was able to do this joint graduation cake for Jordan and Rachel Jones. Jordan was graduating with his Masters in Religious Education with a concentration in Old Testament and Hebrew, and Rachel was graduation with his Bachelors in Family and Consumer Sciences.

This is a half sheet cake and half of it is chocolate, the other half vanilla. Buttercream Icing! The Bible, artist palette and tape measure are made of fondant. Had a lot of fun doing this cake for this very special couple! Congratulations guys!

Pioneers Club End Of The Year Party

The children's ministry at Redeemer Presbyterian Church here in Lynchburg, VA uses the curriculum of a program called Pioneer Clubs. Tonight was their last meeting for the summer, the big bash, and I was able to be part of that special night! This was a big order - a cake to feed about 50 AND 50 cupcakes.

The cake was half vanilla and half chocolate, and all the icing was buttercream. For the logo, I looked up the original online and then freehanded the logo onto the cake!

Here are both halves of the order. 50 cupcakes and a half sheet cake. This was a big order, and I obtained the assistance of my wife for this! She helped with the baking and cleanup! I will admit it was a lot easier having someone help me measure out the ingredients and help wash the dishes afterwards (ridiculous amounts of dishes - believe me!). Thanks honey!

Lets Celebrate Fall!

"Don't you just love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies... if I knew your name and address I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils..."

Every time I think about fall, I think about curling up with a blanket and watching You've Got Mail! My wife and I wait all year for fall, and we decided we wanted to throw a party to celebrate this wonderful time of year. We had a lot of treats at our party including caramel apples, mulled cider, homemade apple pies, cheese and crackers, onion torte, pumpkin cheese ball, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and spice cake treats shaped like pumpkins.

I got the idea for the pumpkin shaped spice cake treats from a Southern Living magazine, but didn't want to spend the money for the special Wilton's pan they used. I ended up using a mini-bunt pan and made icing instead of glaze. the stem and leaves are made from individual caramels that I softened and then shaped how I wanted. I used a paring knife to get the lines and detail on them. I think they turned out well, at least for my first attempt. I will definitely be making these a tradition!

Fall Photography Forum

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine contacted me about a special project she was working on. She has been doing photography for about three years now, and her business is booming; she decided to host a photography forum. The forum focused on how she has been able to develop her business. She recruited me to help provide some of the refreshments for the occasion. I was very happy to oblige, and began working on what I would bring.

Being an amateur photographer myself, I attended the forum as well. I was excited to be in attendance, and walked away with a lot of good information, not only about photography, but about small business ownership too. As a shameless plug, my friend's name is Sabrena Deal, and you can check out her website at www.scarterstudios.com Please don't miss the opportunity to check out her work.

For the forum, I made several specialty treats. There was going to be about 12 individuals in attendance, and I decided to make a two tiered cake. The top tier was a 7 inch chocolate cake (my personal favorite), and the bottom layer was a 9 inch Red Velvet cake (as requested by Sabrena.) Both came out really well, and since the theme of the forum was "Fall", I decided to decorate the cake in similar fashion.

In addition to the cake, I also made five dozen Orange Blossoms (another personal favorite). These are made in a mini muffin pan, and then I made some fresh orange glaze and drizzled the glaze over the blossoms with a spoon. (mouth watering...)

These are Creme De Menthe brownie bites with melted chocolate and a little powdered sugar on top. I hadn't really made these for someone before, and so I am glad they came out well. Overall, I feel these treats were a big hit, and I was thankful for the opportunity to expand my portfolio and get additional experience. Thanks Sabrena!

Again, don't forget to check out Sabrena's website: www.scarterstudios.com

Jack Bauer is my Hero

I made a special cake for a special event - the season finale of Fox's Hit TV series, 24. I have followed this show for years, and have seen every episode of every season. Why shouldn't I honor this, the last episode, with a specialty cake??

Graduation

So, I know that it may be a little strange to make cakes for yourself, but why pay someone to do something you can do yourself? Plus, I needed the practice. So, I decided to make my own graduation cake. My favorite type of cake is strawberry cake, so I decided to do a three tier, nine inch strawberry cake with homemade buttercream icing (with real butter).

I wanted to decorate the cake with black icing, hoping it would match the buttercream, and I wanted to do those fancy squiggles on the side. I practiced ahead of time, and they came out great, so I was excited to do them on my cake. Before decorating the cake, I took a sharpened dowel rod and drew on my designs. Something looked a little different, but I still thought it looked cool, so I went with it. Overall, the cake came out fairly well, and it tasted heavenly.

How it all began...

Welcome friends! Let me begin by telling the tale of how this whole thing got started. I work at a local bakery and was recruited to decorate cookies shaped like gingerbread men. I had a blast doing this, and found that I wasn't half bad either. The cake decorator spotted my work, and was excited for me to try cake decorating. She began showing me basics after work (with permission of course) and I picked it up very quickly. I began helping to do cupcakes and a few cakes, and when our cake decorator was unexpectedly hospitalized, I was called in as the back-up cake decorator. I had so much fun, and did a lot of different cakes. I did a monster truck cake, a High School Musical cake, a cake with a dirt bike track around it, birthday cakes, a football cake, and the list goes on. I have put a few pictures of these first cakes online. When our cake decorator returned, so did my normal non-cake related duties. I was a little sad, and decided to make them for friends and still help out whenever our bakery needed me. I have been blessed to do a variety of cakes thus far, and am excited to see where this will go!