Pretty Ladies!

 

A make-up kit cake for the beautiful ladies!  This cake was requested by a friend for her sister's 25th birthday.  Her sister was a hair and make-up artist, making this make-up kit cake perfect for her.  It was a chocolate cake with chocolate icing covered with fondant.  All the decorations, make-up, bracelet and name were made from fondant.  This design is based on this cake.

The cake was made using two 9-inch round cakes.  A little portion of the cake was cut off for the bottom of the purse.  For every cake that I make, I seem to always learn a lesson.  For this one, I think using two square cakes, cutting them in half, stacking them and then carving the sides to form the shape would have held up better.  Using the round cake made the cake tilt a bit.  Not too obvious in the picture since it was tilting backwards.  Thankfully, they still loved the cake!  I've been told that I am too harsh on myself when it comes to the cakes I make.  I say there's always room for improvement!

Happy Birthday Heather!

Shoe Cake

 

 A friend requested this cake for her husband.  She had a basketball theme for his birthday and said that he's always wanted a pair or Jordans.

At first, I didn't think I'd be able to make this cake.  It seemed like too many details that I've never done before.  But as my husband always say: "do it one step at a time, easy ones first" and surprisingly, I did it!  I wanted to take step by step photos but I was a bit nervous that I won't enough have time to finish all the details this shoe needed.

Here are the steps I followed in making this cake:

1. Bake two 9-inch square cakes.
2. Cut the cakes in half and stack.  One of the pieces I cut a third off.  This give mes 5 layers total.
3. Fill and ice the cake with chocolate buttercream.
4. Smooth the buttercream using the Viva paper towel method.
5. Cover the cake with fondant (I could have skipped this step if plain/white buttercream was used).
6. Here's the order I placed the details on the shoe:
• black fondant on the base of the shoe
• white over the black fondant on the base of the shoe
• gray over the white fondant on the base of the shoe then used the back of a knife to put lines
• white fondant at the back of the shoe (area with the Jordan image)
• white fondant for the sides of the shoe
• rolled black fondant into a string and placed it on top of the cake towards the back of the shoe
• rolled white fondant for the shoe lace and placed it on top of the shoe
• cut white fondant strips for the sides of the shoe
• place the white fondant strips on the side and tucked the shoe lace under the strip
• cut a small strip of black fondant and embed the celebrant's name
• used the pin prick method to place the Jordan image

I wished I carved it some more after seeing the finished cake but I was still happy with the overall outcome of the cake.  This was the first carved cake I made without using any templates after all :)

Happy Birthday Hansel!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Chocolate cupcakes with heart fondant toppers for Valentine's Day.  These were for Matthew's Sunday school class.  I always love to bake for kids because they are the most appreciative crowd.  They're always happy to get baked goodies especially when they're topped with sugar! :)

Happy belated Valentine's Day!

Hello Kitty

 

Growing up, my ultimate favorite character was Hello Kitty so this cake was really lots of fun for me to make.  Hello Kitty was carved out of a 9-inch round cake, covered and decorated with fondant.

Happy Birthday Jo!

Bear Cupcake

I still can't believe how fast time flies.  It's been 20 months since the day we were blessed with our baby boy, Matthew!  He has brought so much joy in our lives and we are very thankful that God gave us a wonderful son.  We continue to praise God for our baby boy's growth, development and health. 

For his 20th month, I made chocolate cupcakes and topped his cupcake with a teddy bear made out of fondant :)

 

Happy 20th Month Matthew! We love you very much!

Charlie Brown & Snoopy

 

Another cake for Evan's 3rd birthday.  This time it's for his birthday party at church :)  The Charlie Brown and Snoopy cake was a 9-inch chocolate cake covered and decorated in fondant.  Making fondant decorations is so much like playing with play-doh!  So much fun!  This design is based on this cake.

Ice Cream Birthday!

This cake was made for a combined event - 1st birthday and dedication.  It's a 9-inch chocolate cake covered and decorated in fondant.  The ice cream was made by using a round cutter and modifying the bottom part to look like a scoop of ice cream.  The cone was molded by hand and then decorated with lines using the back of a knife.  The letters were covered with pearl dust for shimmer.

Happy Birthday & Dedication Lenorah Ruth!

For the TMNT fan...

This Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cake made of a 6-inch chocolate cake covered and decorated with fondant. This design is based on this cake.

As a child, I was never good at playing with clay so I wasn't sure if I will be able to make the turtles' faces.  As it turns out, the colors helps a lot to make the decorations identifiable.  Here's how I made the turtle faces:

1. Start out with a ball of fondant
2. Shape the face a bit by pressing a finger a bit where the eyes will be to give it somewhat of a face shape
3. Roll little fondant ropes in the colors of the masks for each turtle.  After rolling, flatten the part that will cover the eyes then attach to the turtle heads.
4. Make white small fondant balls for the eyes and smaller black fondant balls for the pupil of the eyes.  Shape and flatten the fondant as needed and attached on top of the masks.
5. Use a sharp tool to mark the smile for each turle.

I don't think I got the exact colors for the masks but the birthday celebrant didn't seem to notice :)  Overall, the cake made for a fun surprise.

  
Happy Birthday Erwin!

Mario Cake (and how to make mario's face)

 

This Mario cake was made for my Godson's birthday.  It was a 6-inch chocolate cake covered and decorated with fondant.  At 3 years old, he loves to play video games and Mario is his favorite character.

When I first decided to make this cake, I was a bit worried because I can't draw to save my life.  Thank God for wax paper!  I used the wax paper to trace the image.  Here are the steps I followed in constructing Mario's face:

1. Print the face in the size needed for the decoration
2. Use wax paper to trace the image.  Put the wax paper on the printed image and trace away.
3. Roll out the fondant in the colors that are needed for the image.
4. Place the wax paper on top of the rolled fondant and using something sharp (I used a toothpick), trace the image to leave marks on the fondant.
5. Lift the wax paper and cut the fondant pieces.
6. After cutting all the fondant pieces needed, now it's time to do a puzzle!
7. Go back to the original printed image and put the fondant pieces together to match the image.

Making cakes is so much fun for me.  But still, the best part of making cakes is seeing the happy face of the birthday celebrant.

Happy Birthday Evan Jacob!

Princess Birthday

 

Being new to cake-making, I am always excited to have cake projects.  I volunteered to make these cakes for Shiloh and Mimi's birthday. No, they're not twins.  They are babies of good friends who were born only five days apart so they celebrate their birthdays together.

The most exciting part of this cake project making the tiara from scratch using fondant.  It was the first time I made something 3-D from fondant.  I made the tiara a day in advance and let it dry for it to stand on its own on the cake.  All the decorations on the cake were made out of fondant and for the finishing touch, I used Pearl Dust on the tiara and the name.

Happy Birthday Shiloh and Mimi!