March 27, 2011

Baby Blue and an Elephant Too!


This cake was made for a baby shower and it matched the invitations, well... except for the soccer ball. I'm assuming the parents-to-be are soccer fans. I think it's pretty darn cute for a sheet cake which are not my favorite shapes of cake to make.


Like I said this was a half sheet cake. It was a delicious white cake with chocolate mousse in the middle. It was then iced and decorated with vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream - it's hard to make a good color brown icing without it being chocolate. It went really well with the chocolate mousse so no harm no foul.


Here's that darling "little" elephant from the invitations. He was decorated with dots and stars. Yep, that's right, that's a little soccer ball on the tip of his trunk. I just love his roundness... makes me want to just eat him up! And the good part about that is that he IS edible!


The sides of the cake match the design on the elephant. Sooo cute! It just screams beautiful baby boy, doesn't it?!?! Look at those precious little stars!


I thought of this phrase to go on top of the cake to match the overall theme. It couldn't just say "Congratulations"! It needed something more, something that explained the soccer ball at least a little bit! This phrase fit perfectly! The letters were hand piped onto the cake in a nice arc around the elephant. Again, they were chocolate buttercream... and delicious!


And the baby's name...


The party host, also aunt-to-be, was the one who ordered this deliciously cute cake. When I delivered the cake the tables were covered in baby blues and elephants too! The cake match the party decor perfectly! She loved the cake and hopefully the mommy-to-be loved it too!

"I just wanted to say thanks again for the cake. It was a big hit! I thought it looked great and it tasted awesome also! Everyone loved it." - Heather S.



March 19, 2011

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND in me until INFINITY AND BEYOND!


This cake was for a little boy named Tyler who was turning 4 and his favorite movies are those ones from Dreamworks that feature toys. You know the one with the cowboy and the astronaut. Oh what was that called? There were even cute little aliens in the movie with 3 eyes. Toy Story! That's it! As you can tell Tyler's favorite characters from those cute little movies are Woody and Buzz Lightyear.


This cake was a 6 inch round white cake with chocolate mousse filling. It was iced with vanilla buttercream and decorated with fondant cut in familiar shapes from the movies. Except for one thing...


This was my own little twist on the cake. The birthday boy was named Tyler (as I stated earlier) but his family calls him Ty. So I incorporated his name and age into the oh-so-famous Toy Story logo. I'm not breaking any copyright laws with that one! And I do believe it's oh-so-creative... Ty's mom thought so too!

And here's an iconic toy that everyone (even those of you who have not seen one of the Toy Story movies) should recognize. The ETCH-A-SKETCH! This etch-a-sketch is a little free form than a real one but you get the idea. I mean what's a birthday cake with the words "Happy Birthday" on there somewhere?!?! This was a great way to incorporate those famous words.

Speaking of famous...

Woody says "Howdy" on the top of this cake next to his good old buddy Buzz Lightyear who shouts "To Infinity and Beyond"!


The light blue background on the cake which was spray colored was a perfect place for these puffy little cartoony looking clouds. They were hand piped made of delicious vanilla buttercream. Now that's the kind of clouds everyone wants to keep their heads in!

You can also see the two toned rope border around the base of the cake. A cowboy is nothing without his cowboy hat and rope lasso, whether they are a toy or not! This rope was edible made from fondant dyed brown and twisted together. Mmmm.... looks like chocolate!

Check out this sweet setup from the party. I cannot take any credit for this (besides the cake), not even the cupcakes! It was all decorated by Tyler's mom. I just wanted to show how well my cake went with her overall design. Her other baby was the recipient of the girly castle cake and let me tell you that she rocked those decorations as well!


This cake was enjoyed at a family party after the friend party and the birthday boy (and his mom) loved it! I also loved the way this cake turned out from the layered look of the sky to Buzz and Woody themselves!

"As always, the cake rocked! Thank you so much. Everyone loved it....and of course it was super yummy (everyone commented on how moist it was!)" -Kati B.

March 12, 2011

Simple Surprise Cake

This cake was a simple 30th birthday cake. Nothing fancy. Nothing spectacular. But it's still cute, as cute as a 30th birthday cake for a man can be. It was for a surprise party and the recipients wife wasn't 100% sure as to the design she wanted. This is what I came up with - a simple, manly, delicious cake. The only thing not simple about the cake was the party planning since it was a surprise party (thank gosh I wasn't the one planning it!). It turned out well though and the birthday boy was definitely surprised.


The cake was an 8" square cake. Carrot cake was a favorite flavor of cake for the birthday boy so carrot cake it was. And what's carrot cake without a delicious cream cheese icing... mmmm mmmm good!


All the decorations on the cake were cut fondant. I wanted to make it manly while still keeping it simple and not too over the top! It feels a little weird doing such a simple cake in comparison to making a a 3D Margarita, Cookie Monster, or even Converse Shoes.


The rope border on the top of the cake makes a nice little border for the text and polka dots. And don't forget, this was a 30th birthday party, so the 3's and the 0's HAD to be on the cake, and in multiple quantities. It pairs nicely with the ball border around the base of the cake. And in between? Fondant stripes in a manly blue and black sized differently to give the cake dimension. Yes, I'm getting all artsy fartsy on you. :) The last little bit of icing decoration was on the corners. I'm not really sure what to call them (wave line things) but they work for this cake.



I was able to deliver this cake to the party since I am a friend of the recipient. He was definitely surprised and everyone loved the cake (including him)! This cake has got me itching to do a wild and crazy cake now... I wonder what's in store for future orders?!?!

"The cake was delicious. Must have recipe." - Jason B.

March 11, 2011

Double Engagement... Double the Fun!

This cake was for 4 individuals who shared a common celebration... an engagement! Alyssa and Cole and Jade and Dallas were having a joint engagement party that needed a fancy cake. Buttercream Dreams to the rescue. Alyssa's sister purchased this for the party and after the future mother of the groom and bride (Cole and Jade are siblings) asked for a sheet cake so it would be easy to cut she made it a point to make sure this cake did not look like a grocery store sheet cake. Well, I think I succeeded in that.


This cake was a half sheet cake measuring 11" x 15". It was a decadent chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. All of the decorations are edible made from fondant. The writing on the cake was handpiped including the writing on the hearts. All of the recipients are fans of Kansas State and if you are a fan of the Wildcats you know that their main color is purple. Stephanie requested that the color purple was incorporated so I obliged. Purple can get real cheesy real fast but I think I strayed away from the cheese factor quite well.


The writing on the cake says it all. A little ditty I came up with on a whim when Stephanie (Alyssa's sister) and I were trying to come up with something for Alyssa's first engagement cake. It was too much writing for that cake but it fits great here!


The happy couples had a champagne and rings theme for this cake. Each couple had their own toasting champagne flutes and a heart that says it all.

A little bubbles for your bubbly? I think so! It's so amazing how little balls of fondant placed in strategic spots can look like the little bubbles that tickle your nose when your sipping on some champagne.

A little banner graced the front of this cake making the statement that everyone at the party wanted to say to the two happy couples.


And how about the sides of this cake. Dots and rings... DIAMOND rings! I like how all of the dots are a little random. And that little ribbon on the side, yup it's fondant and 100% edible. It matches the purple "ribbon" on top of the cake that lays out the frame for the main design. I know who will be claiming that at the party (Ahem Stephanie)!


Here's a close up of one of those fancy rings. How's the cut, clarity, color, and carat? Ok, that's a little dramatic since it is just a cake! Either way they turned out great!


Although I was not able to attend the party I'm sure the party guests and guests of honor loved it. Here's the fabulous foursome with their cake. Congratulations Alyssa and Cole! Congratulations Jade and Dallas!