Cake Endeavours

 I’ve fallen hilariously behind on updating this poor, neglected blog. Meanwhile, my Instagram account (@klcoles14) is alive and well. Wander over there to catch my latest creations strategically sprinkled between glamour shots of my cats and the occasional appearance from the humans I claim as family.

 To decorate this cake I covered it in vanilla buttercream.  The sides I covered in black fondant. To hide the uneven edge of the fondant I added a red border around the top.  For the corners of the ring I used red bubble tea straws I had on hand wrapper with some DMC black floss and topped with black fondant.  Happy Birthday I cut out with fondant.  The WWE logo I printed off and backed it with a laminated piece of red card stock.  Tommy was cut out using my Cricut machine. Cake: 10" chocolate layer and vanilla layer with vanilla pudding filling.

I had a lot of fun making this cupcake cake.  Three dozen cupcakes fit perfectly to make up the 7.  I realized too late that I had forgotten to get red and blue food colouring for the icing and was trying to figure out what I was going to but then I surprised myself and had just enough red and blue food colouring that didn't end up using taking me very long to get the vibrancy I wanted.  I was so happy that I was able to do what I had originally envisioned. Three dozen vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles decorated with vanilla buttercream.  Added some mini M&Ms, sprinkles and some gold dust. I dabbed a little icing on the bottom of each cupcake as glue to "stick" them on the cake board. Happy Birthday Adam I cut out using my Cricut machine.  All the Super Mario Characters I printed off and fussy cut each out leaving a white border.  Then I had Miss E laminate them and fussy cut them out.  She saved me so much time! Laminating them makes it really easy ...

For Azrael's 17th birthday, his mom asked me to make this cake for a celebration with some friends.  He's really into horses and I made him this cake topper with my Cricut which he really liked. 6" 2-layer cookies and cream cake with ermine vanilla icing with crushed Oreo cookies. 

 This was a big one!  Delivered to Orono Town Hall on a very snowy day.  The horseshoes and JAMES I cut out of some gold stock paper on my Cricut machine.  James's wife Vicki had already purchased the other cake toppers, so I added them when I got to the hall.  I dyed chocolate icing black to add the border and some decoration to go with the theme of black and gold.  I finally learned that it was much easier to dye chocolate icing black than vanilla buttercream!   The cake was made up of 2 9 x 13 cakes.  One vanilla with chocolate ganache filling and one chocolate with vanilla pudding filling.  Covered in vanilla buttercream. In addition to the cake I made two dozen vegan chocolate cupcakes, half with vanilla icing and half with chocolate.  Both vegan icings. Dessert table all ready! 

 My first Dungeons & Dragon cake.  The cake was the easy part for this one!  Though when I went to put on the edible gold dust I forgot that a little goes a LONG way.  It kept getting on the black cake board and when I went to wipe it away what you see is the result of that.  It keeps spreading!  So, I embraced that.  Originally Happy Birthday Allan was supposed to go around the base of the board but nothing was going to stick to "golden" base.  I switched gears and took out my Cricut machine again to do up a silhouette of a dragon and the lettering in vinyl. The D20 die was a fun challenge I gave myself.  I downloaded several templates before I found one that made sense to me.  Even then, I could figure out how to get my Cricut machine to add in the score lines.  I was pleasantly surprised that it came out as good as it did.  The template came the numbers showing in a certain order so that is how I added them on but then I...

 For the first time in several years we had a big family Christmas dinner and it was amazing.  I found this recipe for  Peppermint Fudge Cake  and thought it would be a great addition to the dinner. In between the layers of chocolate cake is a delicious chocolate peppermint ganache.  The cake is covered in a peppermint cream cheese icing.  This cake was so decadent! Peppermint Hershey's kisses, crushed candy cane,and holly/berry candies I picked up at Picard Peanuts to finish off decorations. Cake: 8" 3-layer chocolate cake with peppermint fudge ganache filling and peppermint cream cheese icing.

 This year's Christmas baking round-up. I haven't made these Peppermint chocolate cookies in years.  I forgot how much I love them.  I had extra peppermint icing left over from the Christmas cake I made and knew I could use it for these cookies.  As Miss E described them, they are more like a muffin consistency and the muffin top consistency to be exact!  I made the Newfoundland 5 star bars to bring to a Tbb's Eve party and added Christmas sprinkles to make them festive. Chocolate chip cookies, always a classic no matter what time of year. Peppermint crinkle cookies are messy with the icing sugar but are yummy. My all time favourite, Millionaire shortbread that I try to limit to only making at Christmas time.  

Delivered this cake today for Ashlyn and Cam's Papa.  Finally learned for black icing it is much easier to make chocolate icing and dye it then to try and dye white vanilla buttercream.  I also tried a new icing recipe which came out with an amazing fudge consistency and the black is perfect!   I cut the cake topper out using my cake topper and used some distress ink to colour the moon.  Added lots of white and gold dragees to look like stars. Cake: 6" 3-layer vanilla cake with chocolate fudge icing

 It's very easy to decide what cake to make for my father-in-law's birthday.  He loves anything chocolate. I know this cake never disappoints.  For some extra flare I added some silver sugar crystals. Cake: 6" 3-layer chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing

 Originally I had planned out this cake with it being red wine as part of the decoration but realized after I had grapes that the birthday girl is a white wine drinker.  I sent Mr T back to Michael's to exchange the grapes for green ones.  Then set out to figure out how to do the look for white wine spilling out of the wine glass.  The look turned pretty good after lots of edible gold dust mixed in with the white chocolate ganache.  I bought the wine glass from Dollarama and added some fall silk flowers to finish it off. Cake: 8" 3-layer carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

 Today was anniversary Sunday at St. Paul's and I was asked to make cupcakes for the reception afterward.  We were also celebrating the Kemp family for their generous donation in honour of their amazing mom, Billie.  The theme of the cupcakes was apples as the Kemp family in well known for their apple orchards.   Apple pie cupcakes with whipped cream icing and dried apples on top sprinkled with some cinnamon.   Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing.

 Miss E and I watched Elemental a few weeks ago and loved it.  When I was asked to this cake and heard that they loved this movie too I knew I had to incorporate it into the cake.  They wanted a more mature fall themed cake but then mentioned Elemental as well.  You're never too old for any type of cake is my theory. I coloured the Happy Birthday as close to the Elemental logo as possible.  Then added some fall silk flowers and picks.  I love how this cake turned out. Cake: 8" 3-layer chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream 

Today was my baby cousin's wedding.  Alexa was my junior bridesmaid 22 years ago.  I was so happy to be asked to do their cake and mini cupcakes for their special day. When I went to do the cake, I realised too late that I didn't have a black cake board which was what I was planning on using.  Fortunately, I had a thin silver one but it didn't match the vibe of the fall theme.  I was able to dive into my vinyl stash and covered the board in gold vinyl.   The cake topper I made using my Cricut.  Silk flowers and fall-themed picks were added to the top Caught the bride and groom in the background checking out the reception room while I was setting up the cake. Cake: 6" 3-layer chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream icing We moved to another room after the dinner for dancing and to my surprise the venue had already set up the mini cupcakes.  The vanilla cupcakes had rainbow sprinkles mixed in.  The plan was to add sprinkles on top when they wer...

 After the success of the Mocha Crunch cake for Thanksgiving dinner I made a pumpkin spice version that turned out amazing.  You can't go wrong with a cream cheese icing.  It's a family favourite. I never used to like having any kind of nuts in my cake.  I still don't but having them as an accent works for me.  Ha!   Inside view of the cake in its glory.  When I can, if I remember, I like to get a shot of a piece of the cake or a view with several pieces cut out. Cake: 6" 3-layer pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese icing

I had a team lunch today and volunteered to bring a dessert.  I found the recipe for  Mocha Toffee Crunch Cake  and thought it would make for a great dessert.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!  It is delicious! I was able to snag a piece to take home to Mr T to try. Cake: 8" 3-layer chocolate cake with mocha buttercream 

 I've known Abigail's mom since she was very little.  I was so honoured to be asked to do her birthday cake.  The family is thrilled to be able to celebrate with her in Ontario as they are here for a few months from overseas.   For the decorations I printed out the characters and creature power discs, cut them out laminated them.  The Wild Kratts logo I cut out on my Cricut along with the cake topper and the 5.  For the figureines, Abigail's mom dropped them off  and I added them on top of the "grass". Cake: 3-layer 8" chocolate cake with buttercream icing

 Keaton never fails to pick a fun theme for his birthday cake.  This year was no exception.  His request was to have an iPhone themed cake and Miss E was to pick out all the apps to go on it.   The app icons were fun to make.  I laminated them to make it easy to stick into the cake. Originally I had "Happy Birthday Keaton!" with a blue background but Miss E pointed out to me that he wouldn't be sending himself the greeting so I changed it to grey.  Thank you E :)  Cake: 6" 3 layer vanilla cake with buttercream icing

I was very excited to be asked to make a TMNT cake.  My first one!  I love doing cake toppers these days!  This one was one of the more tedious ones I've made but I am so happy with how it turned out.  Using vinyl instead of cardstock does make it so much more manageable though.  I swear I've seen the gummy pizza slices in the Bulk Barn or a dollar store, but when I needed them, they were hard to find.  Thankfully I only had to go to three stores to find these.  I'm sure they taste awful but they did the trick and Nick was very excited when he saw them on the cake. Cake: 8" 4-layer chocolate cake with mocha filling, buttercream icing, and chocolate ganache drippings.

For this sweet cake I pulled out piping tips that I don't use very often to make the very large sunflower on the top.  There was a lot of icing on the top of this cake; at least an inch thick, probably more.   The ombre effect on the sides of the cake turned out nicely!  For the centre of the sunflower I used chocolate icing for some extra flavour. Cake: 8" 2-layer vanilla with rainbow sprinkles and buttercream icing, lots of it!