Pretty in Pink!

I will have to start by saying that this is one of my favourite designs to date.  I actually got the inspiration from a cake I saw on the Cake Central website by a member by the name Cakesue.  Her version was black and white with a large bow on the side instead of flowers like I did on the top.  This is actually not a cake but a cake dummy.  I have done only a few wedding cakes so I thought that if I wanted to appeal to more brides then I would have to show them my talents as a wedding cake designer and not just  as someone who does lots of celebration cakes.  All of the decorations on this cake dummy are made of fondant with just a few spots of buttercream piping.  This was my first attempt at ribbon roses, once I got the hang of it they were very easy to do.  I learned to do them just by watching You Tube videos!  It is amazing what you can learn off the internet! When it was complete I airbrushed the entire cake with an edible shimmer paint.

 Last week I purchased a photo tent off of Ebay and I must say it was probably the best $100 I ever spent.  I am by no means a photographer but at least now I can take some pictures that I don't have to be totally embarrassed about! I am hoping to do many more cake dummies this fall so say tuned!

Shiver Me Timbers! It's a Pirate Cake!

This was so much fun to make!  This was a last minute order from a friend of mine who actually designed my logo for me. She lives in Victoria and was making a short notice trip to Kelowna to help her mom move.  It is her son's birthday next week and they are celebrating with a Pirate Party complete with a ride on a pirate ship!  I only had a couple of days notice so I didn't have time to do any gum paste decorations ahead of time.  That being said I am very happy with how it turned out.  I hope it survives her plane ride home!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I apologize for my inability to take decent pictures but here is what I decided to make myself for my birthday this year.  The bottom tier is a dummy covered in SMBC and the top tier is a pina colada cake which I can't wait to try!  It is covered in fondant and then covered in clear sugar sprinkles.  The flower is made of gum paste mixed with fondant, it is the largest flower I have made to date.  This didn't really turn out as I had planned and I can't say that I am very happy with it either.  Oh well, hopefully it will at least taste good!

Sail Away!

Sail away!  My friend is a "die hard" sailor, for his birthday this is what I came up with.  I got a ton of inspiration from fellow cake artists on Cake Central (thank you!).  Since the birthday boy didn't know I was making him a cake I really had no idea what flavour of cake he might like.  I was considering carrot cake until his wife told be that he thinks that vegetables and desserts just don't belong together!  I thought this was hilarious!  Good thing I asked!  So anyway I decided on a lemon cake filled with raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream.  Before putting on the fondant I iced the entire cake with vanilla buttercream.  The life saver, boats, wheel and anchor are all made with gum paste and the rope is made with fondant.  The waves on the side were air brushed on using 2 different colours of blue.  I hope you like it!  Here is the link for the raspberry filling that turned out really delicious, very easy to make too!
Raspberry Filling

Cupcake Gift Box

Here is a cute idea for a bright, summery gift!  Four beautiful cupcakes decorated as your favourite summer flowers, in this case I chose sunflowers and roses.

Cupcake Bouquet

I got an order for a cupcake bouquet for the customer's grandmother's birthday.  I usually put it in a terra cotta pot but I saw this really cute yellow and purple striped pot at Michael's and couldn't resist!  The cupcakes are chocolate and vanilla with vanilla buttercream.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

My dad and his wife gave me these 2 huge, beautiful fresh zucchinis from their garden.  The first thing I thought to use them for......zucchini cake!  I got over 6 cups of grated zucchini from just one of these giants so I made a double batch.  I made loaves and cupcakes with them and decided to top the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.  Give this recipe a try, it is delicious!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Happy Birthday Dad!

Tomorrow is my dad's birthday and I wanted to make him a cake that was representative of the things he loves.  He lives on a small farm and I know he loves his animals!  I did the best I could to replicate his barn (it is hard to see it in the picture due to the black roof and the black back drop) and some of the many animals he keeps.  I made chickens (with the help of my 7 year old daughter), a goose, dog, ducks, horse, turkey and a peacock.  They are all made form gum paste and were so much fun to create!  The house is all cake, chocolate cake (my dad's favourite) with mango buttercream filling and covered in vanilla Swiss Meringue buttercream.  This was my first time making the SMBC which was easy enough to do but I prefer the IMBC.  Tomorrow is his party and I hope he is surprised by the cake.  I will add the links for the chocolate cake and the SMBC in case you would like to give them a try.  Happy baking!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Lisa's Chocolate Cake

Anniversary Cake

I was honoured to be chosen to design and make a cake for my friend's parents 40th wedding anniversary.  My friend is throwing them a surprise party and wanted a cake that represented both her mom and dad.  They have VERY different interests!  Her dad loves hunting and fishing and her mom loves shopping, jewellery and going to the movies.  So.....this is what I came up with!  Ignore the toothpicks that you can see on the top, I am using those just for transport so that the figures don't do a back flip off the cake!  The cake itself is a 10 inch and 8 inch vanilla cake with fresh mango buttercream.  The entire cake is covered in fondant and most of the accessory pieces are made from gum paste.  The shoe is actually made from white chocolate that I tinted teal and the jewels are made with isomalt.  I hope you like it, it was a ton of fun for me to make!  Have a great weekend everyone and I will posting again later this weekend with a farm themed cake.  Bye for now!

My Next Project

I just wanted to share a few pieces from my latest cake project.   This cake was ordered by a friend of mine to celebrate her parents 40th wedding anniversary.  She decided that she wanted half of the cake to represent her mom and the other half to represent her dad.  What you see here is all for the mom, she loves jewellery, shopping and going to the movies.  The cake is due next week so I will be sure to post pictures as soon as I can.  These are all made from gum paste except for the shoe which is made from white chocolate.  I loved making all of these and I can't wait to finish the rest!