Mini Brush Embroidery

This little cake is just 4 inches wide. It's another one I made for the auction.

I used a clean brush to "paint" food coloring directly onto the fondant covered cake. Once the food coloring dried, I piped white royal icing on and used a small brush to pull through the icing - creating the brush embroidery effect. I love how this one turned out!

STATS:

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

Brush Embroidery Video Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqbDTaauGO0

Baby Shoes and Pink Flowers

I made this cake for my wonderful friend, Kristi. She just had a beautiful baby girl.

Everything on the cake is edible, except for the pink ribbons around the bottom. The cake is covered in homemade fondant mixed with white modeling chocolate. Yum!

Here's a closeup of the flower, which is made out of fondant and sugar pearls.

And a closeup of the little baby shoes. I'll include a link to the template I used to make the shoes in the STATS section.

Congratulations, Josh and Kristi!

STATS:

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

Modeling Chocolate
http://sugarsweetcakesandtreats.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-modeling-chocolate.html

Baby Shoes Template
http://cakecentral.com/tutorial/gumpaste-baby-shoes

Flower Cookies

These are white cake mix cookies, covered in melted white chocolate and decorated with fondant flowers. To ruffle the edges of the flowers, I rolled a toothpick along the edges to thin them. Then, I used extra balls of fondant to prop up the frilled edges while the fondant dried.



For the blue flower, I wanted an ombre effect, so I colored three small pieces of fondant different shades of blue. Then I layered them, darkest to lightest. I used sugar pearls for the centers of the flowers. Here is the royal icing piping before adding adding luster dust.



Here it is after. I used a tiny paintbrush to paint the writing with gold luster dust mixed with a little water.



STATS:

Cake Mix Cookies
http://letsgetcaking.blogspot.com/2009/10/cake-mix-cookies-recipe.html

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

Happy Birthday, Nathaniel!

In my last post, remember how I said I wanted more filling because there wasn't much there?



Well, I think I went overboard because this is what they look like when you cut them open. It's hard to tell how much filling is going into the cupcake because you can't see it. Maybe next time I'll find a happy medium.



I decided to decorate a few with just white frosting and a fondant flower to take to my friend. I think they're kind of wintery looking, with the blue cake and white icing.



STATS:

White Cake Mix with blue food coloring added

Cream Filling
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-filled-cupcakes/

Frosting
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/vanilla-buttercream-frosting/39107a19-be94-4571-9031-f1fc5bd1d606

First Wedding Cake

I had so much fun this week decorating my first wedding cake! I loved it! A friend from church was making the cake, but had never worked with fondant. So, she asked me to help with the decorating. You know I accepted that offer in a heartbeat!

Would you like to see the finished cake? Here it is!



The fondant rose topper:



Closeup of the fondant quilting with sugar pearls:



Closeup of the tiny flowers:



Closeup of the fondant plaque:



Here are some things we did ahead of time:

I made the fondant plaque a couple weeks before we needed it. I printed off the couple's monogram in a font I liked in Microsoft Word. Then I free-handed the monogram onto the fondant plaque with royal icing. I shaped a mound of fondant into the curve of the cake pan we would be using for this tier. Then, I allowed the plaque to dry on the curved fondant, so it would fit well on the cake. Later, I used royal icing to attach sugar pearls along the edge of the oval.



Here are the fondant flowers, leaves, and monogrammed plaque. I made extra flowers and leaves just in case something broke, and to give us more options once we stacked the cake. I'm really glad we had extras because we ended up using almost all of the flowers for the cake topper. Initially, I thought we'd only use three, but we needed the topper to look fuller, so I'm glad we had the extra. (The blobs of fondant next to the roses are there to support the flowers until they can hold their own shape.)



This is just to show the difference it makes when you use luster dust. The flower on the right is plain fondant. The one on the left has been brushed with a tiny bit of shortening and some white luster dust. I love how it looks!




Assembling the cake:

Here is Holly, measuring and cutting the wooden dowels with clean pruning shears to support the cake tiers. Here's a great tutorial on how to do this:

http://www.bakedecoratecelebrate.com/techniques/dowelrodconstruction.cfm



You may be able to tell that some of the dowels stick up a from the fondant a bit more than others. This is okay, and you should not cut them down to meet the cake. The dowels need to be the same height, so that the next tier is level. Here are the dowels in the bottom tier, spaced about 2" apart.




Wedding Cake Tips:

1. Each time I make a cake, things seem to take longer than planned - allow yourself plenty of time.
2. Make everything ahead of time that you can (like the flowers and fondant plaque).
3. Use sturdy boxes to transport the tiers - you don't want your beautiful cake falling out of a flimsy box onto the ground. Holly custom made some boxes out of thick cardboard. They worked great!
4. Cut squares of non-slip rug padding (like this stuff at Walmart) to place under the cakes while you travel. This will prevent the cakes from sliding around while you drive.
5. Enjoy it. This was such a fun project!

Purple Bridal Shower

I made this cake for a friend's bridal shower. Her favorite color is purple and she loves dogs, so this is the design I came up with. This cake was huge - three 9x13" sheet cakes stacked and iced!



After the above photo was taken, I outlined the dog's bow tie in purple.



Here is the sketch I made of the dogs, if you'd like to use the pattern:



I decorated the side of the cake with Jessica and Andy's initials. I thought it looked okay, but felt like it didn't look finished - or something was missing.



I decided to pipe trios of dots around the heart. It's a small detail that I think made a huge difference. It looks kind of lacy, don't you think?



I also made cake pops using the scraps left from leveling the cake. It was carrot cake and very moist, so I only used a Tbsp. or two of frosting in the cake pop mixture. I dipped them in white candy melts and sprinkled them with white edible glitter.



STATS:

Royal Icing Transfer to make dogs
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=648450&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=15
(Once you click the link, scroll down for the tutorial.)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting for the cake filling
http://deborah-harding.suite101.com/pumpkin-cut-out-cookies-a160005
(Once you click the link, scroll down for the recipe.)
This is the most delicious cream cheese frosting you will ever eat!

Crusting Cream Cheese Icing for the outer layer of cake
http://www.food.com/recipe/crusting-cream-cheese-icing-frosting-297863

Basic Cake Pop tutorial by Bakerella
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/back-to-the-sweets-bakerellas-signature-cupcake-pops/

Happy 8th Birthday, Addie!

This cake was for a sweet girl turning eight years old. A child's 8th birthday is special in our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) because that is when he or she can choose to be baptized. She wanted the cake to be purple and sparkly.

The tiara is made from royal icing piped onto an oatmeal container. Here is a link to a great tutorial if you want to give it a go:

http://cakecentral.com/articles/129/how-to-make-a-royal-icing-tiara

Here is a free pattern for a tiara I found online. http://cakecentral.com/gallery/40748 It is the same pattern I used, except I replaced the top section with a CTR shield (a symbol in our church that stands for "Choose the Right").

The cake is covered in homemade fondant and decorated with royal icing. Here it is before the tiara.

I was really worried that the fragile tiara would break on the drive to deliver the cake. So, I quickly made some fondant flowers to bring along as a backup.

Luckily, the tiara arrived safely, and I only had to reattach a sugar pearl that fell off.

The finished cake!

Happy birthday, Addie!

Happy Birthday, Haley!

This cake was for the cutest 5-year-old girl! Her favorite color is yellow, and she wanted a dog cake. So, this was the result:



I came up with the idea of making a dog collar out of fondant and used it as the top border. I really like how it turned out. Although, I was a little disappointed to discover I wasn't the first decorator to think of this design. :o)



The little puppy and her toys were really fun to make! Here's my lesson learned, though:

Measure first, THEN start making your fondant figures. I made the puppy on the left without using the cake pans or finished cake for size guidelines. I realized after it was finished that it was WAY too big for the size cake I made. I wouldn't be able to fit any words on the cake along with the puppy. So, I made the smaller puppy on the right, which fit just the way I wanted. It worked out because I ended up liking the second one better. She looks more playful I think.



The cake was chocolate (Haley's request). There was a chocolate cake layer, then a brownie layer, then another chocolate layer. In between those I spread chocolate chip cookie dough frosting for the filling. Yum!

STATS:

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

Mom's Amazing Frosting Recipe
http://letsgetcaking.blogspot.com/2009/08/moms-amazing-frosting-recipe.html

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Filling
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7600/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-icingfilling

Yellow Cake Mix Cookies

I always like to keep a box of cake mix in the cupboard. Not only for a quick cake, but quick cookies, too!


I used a yellow cake mix for the cookies. They are outlined and filled with glace icing. The flowers are made from fondant and sugar pearls.

STATS:

Cake Mix Cookies
http://letsgetcaking.blogspot.com/2009/10/cake-mix-cookies-recipe.html

Glacé Icing
1 cup confectioner's sugar : 1 Tbsp. light corn syrup : 1 Tbsp. milk (Adjust amount of milk to achieve desired consistency in icing. I usually end up adding 3 or 4 extra Tbsp. of milk to get a thinner flooding consistency.)

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

Blue Mini Cake

I made this mini cake for a wonderful lady from my church. She always takes time to listen to others and goes out of her way to serve them. I wanted to do something nice for her, so I made this!



The cake is covered in homemade fondant and decorated with blue royal icing. I decided to decorate the top of the cake with her first initial: J.



The cake ended up being about 4 inches in diameter. I baked a lemon cake in a 9x13" pan, then I used a cup as a template for the little circles for the layers of the cake. I just turned the cup upside down on the leveled cake and cut out the circles using a sharp knife.

I filled and frosted the cake just like I would have a regular-sized cake. The only difference was I had to be a lot more careful when I smoothed the fondant over the cake. It is easy to accidentally pleat the fondant due to the size of the cake. This was really fun to make!

STATS:

White Almond Sour Cream Cake (I used lemon flavor)
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7445/the-original-wasc-cake-recipe

Buttercream
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/vanilla-buttercream-frosting/39107a19-be94-4571-9031-f1fc5bd1d606

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf/comment-page-1#comment-11

Black Cherry Filling

-10 oz. Polaner Black Cherry jam
-4 oz. box of cherry gelatin

Scoop jam into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 30-60 seconds until it's melted slightly and easy to stir. It should be the consistency of a pie filling and nice and smooth. Add the box of strawberry gelatin straight into the jelly and stir until the gelatin powder is dissolved. This is enough filling for an 8" torted cake (filling three layers).

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

For Hannah's cake this year, I first cut out a bunch of small flowers from fondant. Then, I attached sugar pearls to their centers using royal icing.



Hannah said she wanted brownies in her cake. So I stacked the cake using a brownie layer, a cake layer, brownie and cake. I spread a little buttercream between each layer. I've never used brownies in a cake before, but we all really liked it! I covered the cake with white fondant and piped the border using buttercream. I attached the flowers to the cake with royal icing.



I bought a Tinkerbell toy for Hannah's birthday and decided to use it on the cake. We could use it as a decoration, and then she could play with it later. The only problem was that Tinkerbell's tiny feet wouldn't hold her up. Even after building up a little mound of fondant around her legs, she wouldn't stay up. So, I tried "gluing" her in using royal icing. The icing was taking a long time to dry, and it was getting late. I propped her up against a corn starch container and hoped the icing would dry over night and Tinkerbell would stay up. Luckily, it worked.



In the morning, I just added a few more leaves and flowers to the mound, and attached the decoration to the cake with royal icing. Voila!



STATS:

Royal Icing
http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing

Betty Crocker Buttercream
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/vanilla-buttercream-frosting/39107a19-be94-4571-9031-f1fc5bd1d606

Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/3183/rhondas-ultimate-mmf

Chocolate Dipped Cupcakes

This chic little cupcake is surprisingly easy to make...using a cake mix and a can of frosting!



Follow the package directions to bake 24 cupcakes in cupcake liners. (The cupcake liners will stabilize the cupcake during the dipping process.) Allow to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, start kneading some modelling chocolate to make it pliable enough to roll. Then roll the chocolate out to about 1/8" and use a small flower cutter to make the tiny flower decorations. Quickly remove the flower cutouts from the board or counter you are using before they harden. Attach a sugar pearl to the center of each one using royal icing.



Get ready to dip! Scoop the canned frosting into a microwave save bowl. The frosting will need to be heated to a thin consistency for easy dipping. Start by heating in the microwave for 10 seconds, then stir. If it's still too thick, heat for another ten seconds and stir. Continue until you achieve the right consistency.



Hold a cupcake upside down by the liner, and dip it straight into the frosting. Pivot the cupcake a little to make sure the frosting covers the edges. Slowly remove the cupcake and twist it to keep any frosting from dripping over the edges. Place cupcake right-side up on the counter and arrange one of the tiny chocolate flowers in the center of the chocolate while still the chocolate is still wet. The chocolate will set up as it dries.



These cupcakes are going to a local food pantry that asked for cupcake donations. The reason I chose this frosting and design is because they asked that each cupcake be individually wrapped in a plastic sandwich bag. I thought these would be perfect because they're not too tall and the frosting wouldn't be easily smashed. They were very easy to bag up and still looked pretty.



I'll definitely be using this method again. It was quick and a lot of fun! Give them a try!



STATS:

Modeling Chocolate
Melt 10 ounces of chocolate chips in a microwave or in a double boiler. Stir in 2 ounces of light corn syrup. Stir for about a minute until well combined. Spread on waxed paper and allow to cool at room temperature for 2 hours. When cool, break large chunks off and knead until soft. Store in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag for up to a month. Break off small pieces and knead when you are ready to make something with your modeling chocolate. Return to refrigerator for 10-15 minutes if it starts to get too warm and sticky from the heat of your hands.

Royal Icing
http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing

Dress "Cookies"

The theme for this month's cookie club on Cake Central is "dresses." Here's a link to the cookie club forum for this month. http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-708322-.html Check out the other entries. They're really cool! I didn't have time to make cookies, but I had some leftover fondant and decided to play with it this morning. I made the "cookie" about 3 inches high. Here is what I ended up with.



I didn't like how the dress looked with the ruffle around the neck, so I took that off. Then I added some tiny roses at the bottom.



I also decided to carve some of the fondant away from the neck area to make the hole bigger. Then I added a drape of fondant to the side and a sugar pearl.