Keeping Up the School Themes

Both my dad and father-in-law have a birthday in November.  In fact my father-in-law's birthday is the day after my dad's.  So this past Thanksgiving I was busy making 2 cakes.  The OSU football cake I made my dad seen here and this Clemson cake I made for my father-in-law.  My father-in-law graduated from Clemson so I thought it was only fitting to make him a school-themed cake as well.

This was the first time I made a pound cake. I also iced it with buttercream and decorated it with fondant.

The Big 3-0

This past weekend the husband of one of our couple friends turned the big 3-0.  For his birthday his wife asked me to make his birthday cake for the party.  Our friend's birthday was on Sunday but his wife threw him a party the Saturday night before.  Since it was the night of the big State vs UNC game and our friend went to NC State, his wife asked me to make a NC State basketball cake.  I was very excited she had asked me to do this because I have had a ball pan that I was really wanting a reason to use.  She told me that it had to feed around 25 people and I knew the ball would not feed 25 people so I also made a NC State jersey.  The number on the jersey was suppose to represent his age.  His wife requested I ice the cake with buttercream but that I could accent it with fondant. So that is what I did.  I did use marshmallow fondant this time because the pieces I used to accent were flat pieces so the softer consistency of marshmallow fondant would work and taste better as well. Here is the cake as well as our friend who was turning 30.

O.H...I.O

For Thanksgiving this past year my dad and his wife brought my grandparents and came to visit us because we couldn't travel since we were so close to the end of the pregnancy.  My dad's birthday is also at the end of November so when we are home for Thanksgiving we usually celebrate his birthday.  This year since we were home it was easier for me to surprise him with a cake I made.  My dad is a graduate of Ohio State University and he loves watching football.  So I created him an OSU football cake.  The cake was iced in buttercream and the lines on the "field" were piped on.  The helmet, big O and the football were a combination of gum paste and fondant.  The helmet was the most challenging.  I couldn't get the face mask to work because it kept falling apart.  My husband had the great idea to make a kicker's helmet instead of a regular helmet because it had less bars on the face mask part.  That was such a good idea and made life a lot easier. My dad is older than 50 but this cake would have been good for someone turning 50 because of the 50 yard line.

First Tiered Cake

In my Life Class at church (also known as a Sunday School class) we had 4 girls pregnant at the same time, one being me.  Only one of the girls was having her first baby so as a class we wanted to throw her a shower. So for her shower I supplied the cake.  This was the first time I made a tiered cake.  It came out pretty good but I learned quite a bit for next time.  As always I iced it in buttercream and decorated it in fondant.  Another thing I learned from this cake is that pink colored fondant fades in the sun. As we were driving over to the shower half of the cake was in the sun.  When we got there half of the pink was faded.  This was a very important life lesson.

Two Cakes for One Special Lady

So last year for my mother-in-law's birthday I made her two cakes.  Some might say I am trying to win over my in-laws.  =)  The reason that might be closer to the truth would be that I got a text from my grandmother-in-law asking if we could throw a little birthday party for my mother-in-law the weekend before when more of the family would be together at the beach.  I said that would be great and that I would supply the cake.  So the first cake I made was a beach theme.  On the top I made a man and a woman to look like my in-laws and had them laying on the beach with their beach towels and umbrella. My big mistake that I later found out was I put her age on the cake.  So much for trying to "win them over". =)  The cake was iced in buttercream and decorated with fondant accents.  I also tried a new cake recipe, Mint Chocolate.  I actually am not a mint and chocolate fan but many said that the cake tasted good.

The second cake I made was for the actual day of her birthday.  Since they live in town we usually try to get together on each others' birthdays.  This time they came out to our house and I surprised her with another one.  My mother-in-law and I share a love for teaching but I am currently not teaching so I can stay home and care for our kids.  My mother-in-law teaches high school math so I had to make her cake about teaching and math.  On the top I made a chalkboard and on the sides I wrote math formulas that she might recognize.  One of the formulas I made up and she was able to spot the fake. 

Again this cake was iced in buttercream and decorated with fondant.  

First Time Travelling With Cakes

This past August I was planning a trip home to see the family.  Since I moved to North Carolina I have been baking and decorating more cakes so I hadn't gotten the chance to make very many cakes for my family back in Ohio. I had planned to go home the first part of August because that is when the county fair near my dad was going on.  Also around that time my mom and sister were celebrating their birthdays.

So I decided to make three 6" cakes, one for my mom, one for my sister, and another one to take to the fair for my family camping there.  All the cakes were iced with buttercream and I made all the fondant accent pieces at home and transported the cake and accent pieces separate.  When I got there I put all of them together.  This meant I had to bring many of my supplies along for the ride. 

For my mom's birthday cake I decided to make her a cake that represented her, our mom.  Around the top of the cake I made the faces of each one of my sister's and me. As a topper I made the letters to spell out "Mom".  She was currently in the middle of decorating her house with brown and teal so I used those colors on the cake.

For my sister's birthday cake, I made it a cat and dog themed cake.  My sister just recently graduated with her Vet Tech degree and she loves animals so I thought this cake was fitting.

For the fair cake, I made a barn themed cake.  I added small fondant animals that you would see at the fair as well as a barn made out of Rice Krispie treats and then covered with fondant.  This was the first time I had made a figurine out of Rice Krisipes. 

The Doctor Will See You Now

My sister-in-law graduated from medical school this past May and after her graduation we all went out to eat to celebrate.  Beforehand her sister (my other sister-in-law) asked me if I would make the cake for this small graduation get together with family.  I agreed and she sent me several examples of cakes she was looking at.  With those examples I came up with this:

The cake was iced in buttercream and then I accented it with fondant pieces.  This is how I generally will decorate a cake unless otherwise stated.  Instead of covering the whole thing in fondant, because let's admit it even the best tasting fondant isn't as good as buttercream, I ice the whole cake with just buttercream.  I then like to decorate it with fondant accent pieces.

Finding Any Occasion to Make a Cake

I was really starting to enjoy decorating cakes and was trying to find every opportunity to practice.  So when our dog, Kimber turned one we threw her a first birthday party and invited some of her dog friends.  Of course what would a birthday party be without a birthday cake.  Since it was a dog's party it had to fit the theme, so I made a dog bowl cake. Unfortunately for Kimber it was not a dog friendly cake, but the owners sure enjoyed it. =)

The cake was iced in dark gray and then I piped pink decorations around the "dog bowl".  The "dog food" was Reese's Peanut Butter Cereal. 

Back Into the Cake Business

Once I went off to college I stepped away from making and decorating cakes.  It wasn't until I graduated and moved to Raleigh, NC for a job opportunity in teaching that my desire for baking and decorating cakes came back. 

For my niece's first birthday I volunteered to make her cupcakes. She loved Elmo and Sesame Street so I wanted to do something along those lines.  These are the cupcakes I came up with:

I also made Big Bird but they are not shown here.  I piped the appropriate color icing on each cupcake, used an Oreo cookie for the mouth, a marshmallow cut in half for the eyes, and a M&M for Elmo's nose (This picture was taken before all the Elmos were finished.  Can you find which one is not like the others?)  For Big Bird, I used white chocolate tinted yellow to make his beak and a few feathers.  This was the first time I had any experience with chocolate.  It was fun!

Even From A Young Age

As a child I would watch my mom decorate cakes and think I would enjoy doing that.  It wasn't until I was in 4-H that I got the opportunity to explore that creative side of me.  With the help from my mom I learned how to pipe many different designs and a few beginner techniques using my cake decorating 4-H handbook.  That year I entered a cake shaped like a Pepsi can and I received first place in my division as well as first place over all. 

Here is the cake that I entered that year when I was only 15 years old.  I used a V-8 can to bake the cake in and then piped on the icing using a star tip.  For an added touch, I placed a straw coming out of the top. (not shown here)