Cake Endeavours

Yesterday I made this cake for a family friend's parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration. This was a three tiered cake with a 10" chocolate cake, 8" vanilla cake and a 6" lemon cake.  All had butter cream filling.  I've never used ribbon before and let me tell you, it was embarrassingly easy.  For the first two tiers I joined the ends where the silk flowers are to hide the seam.  On the top tier I used two white push pins to finish off the join.  The ribbon works really well to hide any spacing between the tiers. The silk flowers I added some gold shimmer to.  It's hard to seen in the pictures though.  The lettering I added edible gold shimmer.  I was worried that it was a different shade.  But at the hall they had yellow flowers on the table so it didn't look out of place. Originally for the 5 and the 0 I had made them out of a fondant/gumpaste mix.  But it didn't work out.  So, half an hour before I was to delive...

This week's installment: Coconut Lime.  I haven't made these is a long time but when a few people at work asked when I was going to make these again I thought, "How about next week?".  So that's what I did. I put in some pink food colouring to the coconut in a Ziploc bag and shook it about.  Then sprinkled over the cupcakes. All 6 dozen of them. Next week's will be the 3rd installation for our fundraising.

My last cake this weekend.  It has been a crazy weekend of birthday parties.  Miss E went right to bed and was asleep within a few minutes.  Swiming, Laser Quest and Zero Gravity Circus in one day will do that to a girl. Keaton's request this year was for the Incredible Hulk.  When I saw a cake with orange background, I had my inspiration.  Keaton's favourite colour is orange. This was a 10" 2 layer Perfect Chocolate Cake with buttercream filling. I really have the best friends.  They pick a flavour and a theme and have me run with it.  As a kid I always loved getting a card with my age on it.  I felt so old and grown up moving into the next digit.  Having what was once an unusual spelling for my name, it was even more exciting to see my name on anything with the correct spelling.  For a kid's cake I always try and get their name and age on it for this reason.  

Angry Birds is definitely in this year for me.  This is my third one.  I have to say it's kind of nice to do a repeat cake.  Taking away the planning and scouring the web for the perfect picture for inspiration saves a lot of time. When Noah requested this cake I was more than happy to oblige. This was an 8" two layer French vanilla cake with sprinkles throughout.  I just can't to a plain vanilla cake.  :) I really love making cakes for kids.  I getting to see their faces when they see their cake for the first time.  Noah had a big grin on his face.

Owen is probably one of the most awesome kids I know.  So, I had to make sure he had a really awesome cake.  I admit that I had a vague idea of the Avengers but never really thought about who they were.  Of course I Googled "Avengers cake" to see what was out there. Starting at the top we have Captain America.  I added the 7 for Owen's lucky number seven birthday.  Next going clock wise is the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Thor.  I love the club that represents Thor.  That was a big hit with the boys at the party.  Many were vying for the club with their piece of cake but it went to the birthday boy. This was a 10" two layer Perfect Chocolate cake with buttercream filling.  Around the sides of the cake I did a cityscape. Happy Birthday Owen!

At work it is Think Pink Week, the kick off for fundraising for the CIBC Run For the Cure.  This is year I joined the committee for our department.  So of course we're selling cupcakes to raise funds.  For the first week I made these awesomely pink chocolate cupcakes. On the weekend I bought the awareness ribbon mold and made the pink ribbon toppers with it.  It was super easy.  They went over really well and sold out. Stay tuned for next week for part #2 of 3 in my series for fundraising.

I am becoming an expert in working with Tiffany Blue.  It certainly seems to be the colour of the month for me right now.  It really is a gorgeous colour. A few weeks ago I was asked to do a small cake for cutting and cupcakes for a wedding.  I was very happy that I was free to do this.  This is my 2nd wedding that I've done where I've been recommended on word of mouth without having sampled my baking.  I am quite honoured to say the least. The cake is a 6" two layer chocolate cake with the Perfect Chocolate Cake icing as the filling, covered in fondant.  Along with the cake I made 4 dozen chocolate cupcakes and 3 dozen vanilla.  Both with buttercream icing.  I tend to do more chocolate as they seem to be more popular.  The fact that my PCC recipe makes a lot out of one batch is the bonus.  When I went to make the icing this morning I had a little panic attack wondering how I was going to accomplish Tiffany Blue.  Th...

Yesterday we had a celebration for one of my coworkers and pod mates who retired this month.  *sob*  We were all very sad and envious to see her go.  For her celebration I knew that I had to make a chocolate cake.  Marianne can never resist chocolate.   For her cake I made the Perfect Chocolate Cake (three 9" layers) with salted caramel filling, another favourite of Marianne's.  I had intended to put the roses all around the cake, but I continually underestimate how much icing you need in order to cover a cake this way.  You can't just whip up another batch of this icing either.  Since you have to melt the butter and semi sweet chocolate before you combine it with the cream and icing sugar it will take two hours to cool in the fridge to the consistency you need for icing. We had a really nice lunch with the team at Mercatto for Marianne finished off with the cake being served.

A few weeks ago Clover hands me a sketch of the cupcakes she'd like to order for her birthday.  She wanted half chocolate and half pumpkin.  Given that it was her birthday she also wanted the whipped cream filling in the chocolate cupcakes.  Not to mention the Tiffany Blue flowers and quilted decorations.  Geesh! However, I do think for your own birthday you should be able to get exactly what you want, at least cake wise. I had leftover cupcakes that Mr. T and Miss E got to enjoy.  They both LOVED the filling in the cupcakes.  I warned them both not to expect that every time I made chocolate cupcakes!  Mr. T called them homemade Hostess cupcakes.