Birch Bark Autumn Wedding Cake

This week's wedding cake is a delicious vanilla bean cake, hand painted to look like birch tree bark, and decorated with hand sculpted fall sugar paste flowers.

To create the birch bark look, I spattered black food dye onto the cake with a paint brush. Then I used a bench scraper to streak the spots around the cake.

Each tier has three layers of moist, fluffy vanilla bean cake, and is frosted with vanilla bean whipped American buttercream.

Congratulations, Melissa and Shawn!

Butterfinger Cake

It's my father-in-law's birthday this week, so of course, I made him a cake!

For this cake, I made some chocolate French buttercream and folded in crushed up butterfinger candy bars. The frosting is so delicious and rich, so I paired it with light and fluffy vanilla cake layers. Then I added a milk chocolate ganache glaze and more crushed butterfingers on top. 

Monster Truck Cake

I have been having a week of such fun orders! I got to make a birthday cake for a boy turning 10 who loves monster trucks. Specifically, "Mohawk Warrior." 

 this cake was chocolate with chocolate whipped American buttercream. I covered it in black fondant, textured to look like monster truck tire tread. I added a grey modeling chocolate hubcap, which I airbrushed with silver food color. I also added the Mohawk Warrior logo on the front, hand painted on a silver modeling chocolate plaque.  On top, I added some chocolate frosting mud, and then the truck. The truck is sculpted out of rice crispy treats, covered in fondant, and hand painted with gel food colors. The mohawk is made of modeling chocolate.  Happy 10th birthday, Tyler!

Dragon Ball Z

 I got an order this week for a groom's cake, a surprise for her fiancee, and she wanted "Dragon Ball Z," a Japanese anime cartoon. This brought back memories of college, when my roommate's boyfriend was into that show! The client sent me pictures of her fiancee's two favorite characters and the logo to recreate on a sheet cake for him,

I cut out templates in white sugar paste and then used gel food colors to paint the characters and logo on. It was so fun to do! These guys are do awesome!

  The cake is chocolate woth cherry filling and vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. I airbrushed the border of the cake with yellow food dye and pioed borders with yellow and red buttercream mixed together to create a bit of a flame effect.

Too bad my roommate's boyfriend (who is now her husband!) couldn't have had this at their wedding!

The Cake is NOT a lie!

this week is very important: it's my husband's 35th birthday! For months I've known what I was going to make for his birthday cake. 

He loves computer games, and one of the games he plays is Portal, a maze-like game where you have to use a special gun that creates portals to find your way through. A female computer voice guides you, and promises you cake if you succeed. Along the way, you find graffiti left by others reading, "The Cake is a Lie!" 

At the end of the game, you walk into the final room and see the cake at last:

Then the game credits run, and a song plays, sung by the female computer voice. The song mentions the cake several times. I took the song and rewrote the lyrics, brought the cake to my husband's work, 

and sang my version for him. If you are interested, just search for "portal still alive song" to hear rhe original. Trust me - it's hilarious! Here's my version:

This is your birthday.

I'm making a note here: YOU ARE OLD.

It's hard to overlook your graying hair now.

Gerontology.

You do what you must

while you still can.

For the good of all of us

You have to work till you're dead.

But there's no sense crying over every grey streak.

You just keep on eating till you run out of cake.

And the aging gets done.

And you pretend to have fun

Even though you are now 35.

I'm not even angry.

I'm being so sincere right now.

Even though you wouldn't party with me.

And didn't want presents.

Didn't want to go out to eat with me.

But it's your most special day, so I'm so happy for you!

Now these hairs of grey make a beautiful line.

And you need some joint cream

For your knees and your spine.

But although you are old,

You're still sexy and bold,

Even though you are now 35.

Eat cake without me.

Although you'd prefer to eat some pie.

Maybe you'll find someone else to bake one.

Maybe Zack Nilson

THAT WAS A JOKE.

HAHA. FAT CHANCE.

Anyway, this cake is great.

It's so delicious and moist.

Look at me still talking

When there's aging to do.

When I look out there, it makes me GLaD I'm not you.

I've errands to run.

There is baking to be done.

For the people who aren't 35.

And believe me you are 35.

You're getting older but you're 35.

You feel FANTASTIC and you're 35.

You're not dying, you are 35.

You're not dead, you are just 35.

35

Salted caramel Ruffle Cake

One of my best friends had her birthday this week, so i wanted to make her a special cake. The cake is chocolate, with caramel French buttercream, drizzled with more caramel and sprinkled with sea salt. i placed edible silver dragées around the edge, and made a fun, ruffly fantasy flower out of modeling chocolate.

Sugar and Olive Oil Body Scrub

Sugar and olive oil aren't just for cooking! They both have natural properties that make them excellent beauty products. Try this luxurious scrub today!

Sugar and Olive Oil Body Scrub

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Mix together to form a paste. Soak in warm water, then apply using a washcloth, scrubbing gently, especially into rough, dry areas, such as feet, elbows, and knees. Rinse and pat dry.

One of the main benefits of sugar (when used on the skin) is that it contains glycolic acid (Alpha hydroxy acid). Glycolic acid penetrates the skin easily, and is said to reduce wrinkles and remedy hyper-pigmentation (along with many other skin conditions). With its ability to “peel away” dead skin cells, it is a natural exfoliant, revealing the healthy, live cells beneath which gives our skin that vibrancy and glow we all yearn for. The sugar granules themselves are also an exfoliant and are a great way to bind other skin-saving oils (eg. olive oil) to create the ultimate natural skin product. (It’s also handy that sugar acts as a natural preservative, giving our homemade beauty products a longer shelf life.)

With large amounts of vitamin A, D, and, as well as vitamin E (a powerful antioxidant–antioxidants kill free radicals which cause our skin to show the signs of aging), olive oil is another miracle oil of sorts–its uses and benefits are seemingly endless, for both health and beauty.  

Coconut Cake

OK, so I'm on a bit of a "curl" kick this week, but hey, they're so pretty and fun to make!

This is a coconut cake with coconut Swiss meringue buttercream, coated in sweetened shredded coconut and topped with Lindt white chocolate coconut curls. This cake is so light and fluffy, with a delicious coconut flavor throughout, thanks to cream of coconut in both the cake and the buttercream. It's definitely one of my favorite cakes! 

Chocolate Mousse Cake

This amazing cake has a layer of rich, dark flourless chocolate cake, topped with rich and decadent dark chocolate mousse, and then a layer of light and creamy white chocolate mousse. I topped it all off with dark chocolate curls. A nice bonus - this cake is naturally gluten free!

Carrot Cake with Candied Carrot Curls

If you do a search for "carrot cake images," you will get a page full of cakes with piped frosting carrots for the decoration. I wanted to create a more high class decoration. Carrot cake has a somewhat humble reputation, but with the added spices in mine, plus the vanilla bean cream cheese frosting, I've been able to lift it into the category of fancy desserts.

This cake has 3 layers of moist, spicy carrot cake, with tangy, not too sweet vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. On top are the candied carrot curls.

Candied Carrot Curls

1 large carrot, peeled

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Heat the oven to 225 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. With your vegetable peeler, peel long strips down the carrot. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium, heavy duty saucepan over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the carrot strips and reduce heat to medium. Simmer 15 minutes, then drain the liquid into a heat proof bowl. Allow the liquid to cool before discarding. Let the carrot strips cool 5 minutes in the strainer, then lay them out flat on the parchment lined sheet. Bake 30 minutes. 

Working quickly, spray a large plastic straw with cooking spray and carefully wrap the carrot strips around it, then slide the curls off onto the parchment. The curls will loosen a bit, so wrap them tighter than you want them to end up. If they get too cool and start stiffening up before you can get them all curled, pop them back in the oven 5 minutes. Let the curls cool completely on the baking sheet, 20-30 minutes.

  

Hobbit House Cake

One of my friend's daughter really loves Hobbits and all things geeky (she has a special place in my heart) and for her birthday, her mom sewed her a Hobbit costume and took her to ComiCon to geek out with all the other superfans. So, naturally, I knew she would need a Hobbit cake.

It is four layers of vanilla cake, with whipped American buttercream, piped on with a grass tip. Then I added little modeling chocolate blossoms and a modeling chocolate door. 

Happy birthday, Emma!

Fashion Inspired Sugar Cookies

I had a fun idea for sugar cookies this week, and had to try it out.

I cut 3-inch square sugar cookies, soft, flaky, and thick, with a hint of almond flavor. Then I made my favorite whipped American buttercream and colored it a beautiful shade of blue. I used a rose tip to pipe the rows of ruffles on, with the top two rows facing the opposite direction, and a piped row of beads separating the two directions of ruffles. Then I added simple sugar paste blossoms with yellow nonpareil centers.

I was so happy with how these came out, and they taste just as delicious as they look! 

Superhero Cake

I got to make a really fun superhero cake this weekend for a sweet little boy's 5th birthday.

The cake inside is vanilla, dyed red and blue in four alternating layers, sandwiched with vanilla buttercream, to create a fun red, white, and blue interior.

I used fondant to create the outside decorations. Seeing Joey's excited reaction to his cake was so special to me! I love making people happy with my creations!