Let's Get Caking!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Happy Birthday, Aubree!

Aubree's mom, Lindsay, requested a candy themed cake for Aubree's first birthday party. Lindsay had so many great ideas, and I really had fun going over cake designs with her.

The (nearly) completed cake.

Here it is with the little smash cake...

...and here they are at the party. I waited until I set up the cakes at the venue before I added the fondant lollipops. I didn't want to risk travelling with them attached to the cake.

I LOVE how Lindsay decorated this table - that sign is seriously cool!

The party was held in an indoor bounce area. I was really worried that the weight of the lollipops - along with the expected bounce turbulence - would cause the lollipop sticks to pull through the cake. I asked for advice on how to prevent this problem on a cake forum, and (thankfully!) a talented cake decorator came to my rescue. Her name is Kara Buntin (owner of A Cake to Remember in Richmond, VA). She even made a video that was a great help to me.

Brilliant, right? Thank you, Ms. Buntin!

You can check out her amazing work here: http://www.acaketoremember.com/.

I ended up using cardboard covered with foil, and it worked beautifully. Once the fondant ball border was in place, you couldn't see the support at all.

I used gold luster dust mixed with a little water to "paint" Aubree's name (piped with royal icing).

A closeup of the large bow:

The small bow:

The cake board:

We took extra care designing the inside of the cakes, too. The smash cake had pink layers inside, and the large cake had colorful polka dots baked into it. I don't have pictures of the cakes once they were cut, but I promise they were cute. :)

STATS:

How to Make a Striped Fondant Bow

http://bronniebakes.com/2011/09/21/how-to-make-a-striped-fondant-bow/

How to Make a Polka Dot Cake

http://once-upon-a-pedestal.blogspot.com/2012/05/polka-dot-cake-from-bake-pop-pan.html

How to Cover a Cake Board with Fondant

http://cakejournal.com/tutorials/how-to-cover-a-cake-board-with-rolled-fondant/

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Corsage Boxes Perfect for Fondant Toppers

I recently participated in a service exchange with the ladies in my church. I decided to give away fondant baby cowboy boots.

I made a denim colored flower to go along with the boots. I used small pieces of extra fondant to hold the ruffles in place while the flower dried.

Once the fondant was dry, I could remove the supports and the flower was ready to go.

To help speed the drying process along, I put the fondant decorations into my food dehydrator. If you would like to try this, make sure the temperature is set to off. You don't want any heat to melt all of your hard work.

I love trying to find new ways to package treats and decorations. I found a corsage box at a craft store, and these fondant toppers fit in perfectly.

See?

I really enjoyed spending time with my friends from church and participating in the service auction.

What are some creative ways you like to package your sweet creations? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Caking with Kids

I was asked to help teach a cupcake decorating class with the Activity Day girls from church. The Activity Day program is designed to help girls (ages 8-11) develop their testimonies, serve others, build friendships, and develop their talents.

Primary Activity Days

The girls learned how to mix food coloring into fondant, how to create shapes out of fondant, and how to pipe a two-tone swirl on top of a cupcake. The girls learned quickly and were so creative!

I love this blue swirl cupcake that one of the girls designed!

The Activity Day leader invited my children to join the activity last week, even though they're not eight yet. My five-year-old really enjoyed herself and cut this star out of fondant using just a butter knife.

I had a wonderful time with the girls, and I think they enjoyed creating their own designs. One of the girls who normally attends their meetings was sick that night, and the girls decided to deliver a cupcake to her house to cheer her up. They are sweet girls, and they really care about each other.

STATS:

How to pipe a two-tone swirl

http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=8&threadid=152756&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant

http://cakecentral.com/recipe/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Robbie's CTR Cookies

In December, I made some CTR cookies for a wonderful boy at church who was getting baptized. CTR stands for "Choose The Right." Members of our church will often wear a CTR ring as a reminder to always try to do good.

These cookies are decorated with glace icing. I first outlined the shape of the cookie using a #3 writing tip, then flooded the center with blue icing. Then, using the "wet on wet" technique, I piped the CTR letters.

Here they are in my favorite drying area. It's a large picture frame box with a lid that opens and closes, similar to a pizza box. I like it because it doesn't take up much space and I can keep the cookies clean and covered with the lid, which still allows the icing to continue drying.

I try to be careful when flooding a cookie, but sometimes I go overboard with the amount of flood icing. You can see a "spillage" incident here. There are two ways to deal with this:

1. Allow the icing to dry, scrape it off with a knife and redecorate the cookie - it'll be good as new!

2. Eat it.

Glace icing is great because it dries smooth and shiny, and you can stack the cookies once the icing is dry without ruining the decoration. I prefer it over royal icing because it doesn't get rock hard. It's nice to bite into it - I prefer soft icing on my cookies, not crunchy.

Not having a shield cookie cutter, I cut a shield shape out of a piece of paper. Using that as a template, I cut the shapes out of the cookie dough with a sharp paring knife.