9/11 Patriot Day Cake

This cake was made for a program on September 11 honoring veterans from WWII on. 

Grand Piano Cake

Scripture Baptism Cake

Dress Form Cake with Roses

Our city does a cake decorating contest.  There is some pretty intense competition.  Last year I took second, this year I took first place and the buttercream award (people's choice).  Here's my entry:

 

I've done this dress before, but this time I used larger flowers and placed them more concentrated towards the bottom.  I actually didn't even use all of the flowers I had on hand. 

 

One of the things we were being judged on was how many different techniques we used.  So there are a lot of little details everywhere.  The piped doiley (which broke in about a thousand places) The chocolate table.  The boquet with a variety of flowers.  Draped and quilted fondant on the purse.  The string of beads around the neck are sugar.

 

The shoes were everyone's favorite.  In fact I think I've discovered a secret.  Every year the entry that wins the buttercream award has a shoe.  I'll keep this in mind for next year.  People don't know this, but shoes are not too hard, just time consuming.

 

Here's the floorboards made of fondant.  The marbling technique I used for the wood is different than the marbling technique I used for the manequin top.  The floor has long marbled lines, the manequin has more of a curvy marble look.

 

The next day we served this cake at a young womens fundraiser for our church.  Because it was for the young women, I thought I would make it a little more modest and add sleves.  I actually really like the look with sleves.  If I had known this, I would have added them the night before, but when competing, I try not to do too much that is unknown.

 

And here's the back

 

Here I am with my 2 diligent (twin) assistants.

 

And here's all my booty.  A Bosch mixer, a beautiful cake stand, and a large cupcake pan

 

The awards.

And, in case you need more pictures, here is the bow side of the dress.

 

And the non-bow side of the dress.

Butterfly First Birthday Cake

This was done for my niece who just turned 1. There's a reason that little cake is called a smash cake. It was everywhere.

 

Eagle Scout Cupcake Tower

Skate Park Graffiti Cake

Making this cake gave me a whole new appreciation for graffiti.  It truely is an art form.  Sometimes misplaced, but art nonetheless. Usually I pipe things like hair out of royal icing.  This time I thought it would be quicker to just sculpt the hair out of fondant rather than making a batch of icing just for this little bit.  I'm still debating whether or not it was faster to use fondant or if I should have made icing.

UNC Blue Zebra Stripe Birthday Cake

Manchester United Cake

 

Until now, I had no idea what Manchester United was.  Apparently it is a soccer club in England and is pretty popular.  Well, now I know.  I thought about marbling red velvet and yellow cake for this one, but I resisted.  It is just red velvet.

Blue and yellow flower birthday cake

This is a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I think buttercream is starting to take charge.  I'm getting more and more requests for buttercream with that beautiful Betty Crocker swirl and less and less for fondant.  Especially on birthday cakes that are to be eaten.  Just so you know, that Betty Crocker swirl is not as easy as it looks.

Quilt Birthday Cake

I'm not sure what the name of the quilt patterns are.  I think it might be morning star or eight point star on the side, but the flower pattern on top, I have no idea.  Stitching the words was kind of fun.

Sweet 16 Party Dress Cake

Ok, I didn't like the picture I took with the blue background, so I painted the background black.  Not the best photoshop job (because I don't have real photoshop) but I think better than the blue.

 

 

 

Here's the one in blue

 

I was asked to do a Sweet 16 birthday cake but already had a wedding cake scheduled for this weekend.  But, when I saw the amazing cake she wanted me to do how could I resist.  I love a challenge and better yet, I love an amazing cake.  Click here to see the original cake I copied.

This is a vanilla cake with a whipped cream cheese filling and measures about 3 feet tall.

Here's how I started: The base is actually an upside down wooden cake pedestal.

 

Lots and lots of gumpaste roses.  Gumpaste is easier to work with than fondant for roses.

Here's the cake at the actual party.  It was so stressful to deliver.  The whole way I thought it was going to fall over or the pedestal was going to break.

Sports Baby Boy Shower Cake

I was asked to make a baby shower cake for someone having a baby boy.  There was a sports theme so I put a football, basketball, soccer ball and baseball on it.  Here's what it turned out to be:

And Here's the back.  (I like to see the backs of cakes when they are different.  Especially if I am trying to copy it.

And here's close ups of some of the details:

I found a pattern on how to make these shoes.  They took some time and I let them dry for a week, but they weren't impossible.

My son asked me how I got the metal in the fondant keys.  Well, that keyring is actually fondant too.  Everything is edible.