May 31, 2011

On the Road Again....

This cake was for a co-worker who was leaving the office here in Kansas and moving to Texas. Yes I have a day job that does not involve baking or decorating! While it was a sad time I was happy that I could give him one last sweet treat to make him smile!


This going away cake was a quarter sheet (9"x13") and was a vanilla almond cake with vanilla buttercream. Such a great combination if I do say so myself! NOTE: the cake in real life was a dark teal, not almost blackish color, but needless to say there were a lot of blue mouths around the office. It fed everyone it needed to feed with a few pieces left over for Dustin to bring home to his wife and daughter.


Dustin was relocating to the great state of Texas. The 'X' on Texas was not his exact destination but close enough. Both states were cut out of fondant as well as the road and the x that marked the spot!


The lettering was hand piped by yours truly but everyone in the office felt what the words said. He was a good guy and a great co-worker and he will be missed. Gosh, this post is starting to sound a little morbid!


The border of the cake was a multitude of hand rolled fondant logs and balls. I think it kind of mimics the trail that is leading the way from Kansas to Texas on the top of the cake. Right? Can you see it? Anyways, it was a quick easy cake for a co-worker and everyone loved it!

See ya Dustin! We will miss you but have a good life in Texas!

May 27, 2011

Who's Dr, Who? Dr. Who, That's Who!

Forgive me while, I've never seen this television show so I don't know much behind the basis of this cake, but I sure enjoyed making it!


This cake was modeled after the Tardis from the old television show on the BBC, Dr. Who. From what I'm told there is a new version of this show playing nowadays, but like I said I'm not an expert and could be completely wrong about that. It was a show about a guy who traveled through time and the tardis was what he used as his "time machine". Any more questions? Google it, because I can't be of any more help! :) Anyways... on to the cake!


This cake was for an intimate engagement party. The groom-to-be's sister ordered this for her brother and his new fiance because he is an avid Dr. Who lover! It was a carved cake but equaled out to be a 4" square cake that was 8" tall. Just enough for 14-16 people... the perfect amount for the party.


The cake was a light lemon cake with vanilla buttercream icing. I then covered the cake in blue fondant, added some details, and voila! ... a tardis cake! Now onto the details (which were very important to the sister-in-law-to-be!)


At the top of each side of the tardis was a Police Box sign. The lettering was hand piped by me. It is exactly what is shown on the Tardis in the TV show. Below that were little white windows cut out on each side.


The top of the cake donned a light. There has to be some source of light when traveling through time, right? I wish I could have had an actual light on top that lit up but not this time. But hey, there's always a next time!


The sign for the door was so tiny that I had to print if off from my computer. It was the only thing on the cake that was not edible. I was bummed about it but there was no way I was going to get all that writing on a tiny little square! The handles and lock on the doors were hand painted with edible silver paint made from vodka and gel food coloring. Don't worry... no one's getting drunk here, the vodka evaporates out to leave just the color!


I give full credit for this banner to the Jessica, the sister of the groom-to-be. She came up with the phrase which I think is not only super cute, but also 100% reflective of this cake. This was really the only distinguishing piece that says that this is an engagement cake. The banner itself is hand cut fondant written on with hand piped buttercream and I love it!


I dropped off this cake at the party and hit the road so I was unable to see any reactions but Jessica sent me an email letting me know it was well received and I was completely happy with it!

"The cake was absolutely amazing thank you thank you thank you! Everyone loved it. It was perfect and delicious." - Jessica S.

May 21, 2011

Fiesta de GraduaciĆ³n con Pastelitos!

This is just a short little post to show off some cupcakes that were for a graduation FIESTA!!!!

I forgot to take pictures of these cuppies but fortunately the grad's dad was a professional photographer and got this shot and sent it to me! This was for a friend's graduation party from high school. She was having a party that was Mexican themed through and through. She had a taco bar, a margarita machine (non-alcoholic for the kids), and my margarita cupcakes and chocolate jalapeno cupcakes.

Both cupcakes were topped with cream cheese icing. For the margarita cupcakes it was a tequila lime cream cheese icing, candy lime, and a green straw. Many guests asked, "Am I supposed to drink this?" Then they didn't wait for an answer and just bit right in! The chocolate jalapeno cupcakes were topped with a classic cream cheese icing and a candied jalapeno on top. Although these cupcakes are bite-sized, they seem to steal the show every time! And this time was no exception! All in all though, the party guests loved both cupcakes and they were all gone by the end of the night.

Congratulations on graduating Cassi! I know that you will do great in College! And thanks for allowing me to provide the dessert for your party!

My First is Someone Else's Forever


Why am I so proud of this fairly simple yet large cake? Because it was my very FIRST WEDDING CAKE and not only that but it turned out great! I was really happy with the end result but most importantly so were the bride and groom!


This cake was a 3 tiered beauty with different cake flavors in each tier. The bottom tier was a 12 inch round red velvet cake filled with vanilla buttercream. The middle tier was a 10 inch round marbled cake with white and rich fudge cakes. The top tier was a 6 inch round red velvet cake also filled with vanilla buttercream. This top tier was strictly for the newlyweds to enjoy on their 1 year anniversary. For those of you who do not know about this tradition, I know that it sounds crazy but the cake really does last in the freezer as long as it is well wrapped... and it still tastes good too!


The colors on this cake SCREEEEEAAAAMMMM summer which is only fitting because it was a May 21st wedding and not only did the wedding setup look beautiful, but the weather was beautiful as well! The cake was iced in a simple delicious vanilla buttercream dyed yellow of course. The ribbons around the cake were not edible but they really added that extra pizazz that this cake needed to be absolutely perfect for the biggest day of Karly (bride) and Ben's (groom) lives!

This cake was adorned with flowers to make the whole wedding cake complete but alas I do not have a picture of that since I arrived at the reception hall before the florist did. I was promised pictures though so as soon as I get them I will post them here! I cannot wait! But for now... on to the groom's cake!

It's Michelangelo! No, not the famous painter who painted the ceiling of the the sistine chapel! This cake is one of the famous four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! If you don't recognize him I suggest you take a trip back to the 80's and 90's when these little green creatures were super popular! They fought crime from the sewers of New York and they LOVED pizza!


This cake was a delicious vanilla almond cake with vanilla buttercream. It was hand carved from a 12 inch round cake with an additional 8 inch round used for scraps. He originally was meant to be looking straight up but after discussing it with my husband (#1 cake tester and #1 fan!) we decided that this was the best layout for this turtle.

Everything was buttercream on this cake except for Michelangelo's bandana and eyes. The bandana was super easy to do because it didn't need to be flat and neat. It wouldn't have looked right if it was! His eyes were eyes were really easy too... almond shapes and circles!


Since this cake was sure to be a hit at the wedding I had to make it appealing from every angle. So even the back of his bandana was complete with a knot and tails!

I am so happy with the way that these two cakes turned out. Upon returning the cake stand the next morning the mother-of-the-bride gushed over how much everyone loved the look of the cakes as well as the taste! There was also a kitchen cake (12"x18" sheet cake) that accompanied these two cakes for extra servings but it turns out they did not need it and had lots of leftovers... and they liked that... more cake for them during the "recovering from a wedding days"!

Congratulations Ben and Karly! May my first wedding cake be the beginning to your long happy lives together!

Here's the final product with flowers and all.... So beautiful!



"Alicia, Just wanted to email you and let you know how happy we were with Karly and Bens wedding and grooms cake. Again, thank you so much, it was just great." - Kim R. (Mother of the Bride)






May 15, 2011

Yo Adrian! It's me, Rocky!


Ok so it's not the Slyvester Stallone version of Rocky but I think I did a pretty good job capturing Rocky the Raven, the mascot of Benedictine College in Atchinson, Kansas. Here's an upclose picture of the "real" Rocky.


This cake was for Lindsey who had just graduated from College and was throwing a graduation bash. She wanted not only a cake, that was fun and cute that sported her school colors, but also a sculpted figure of Rocky the Raven. It was an 8 inch square cake iced and filled with vanilla buttercream. The cake itself was strawberry. What a classic combination! The cake was decorated with fondant decorations that matched the invitations to Lindsey's graduation party. The only difference was, these decorations were edible!


The little balls of fondant around the cake were painstakingly hand rolled but they turned out to be the perfect addition to this cake. The black "ribbon" was decorated with buttercream dots and wrapped around red fondant diamonds. And that banner on the top congratulating the graduate? Yep, that's fondant too with hand piped text!


And HEEERRRREEE's Rocky......!!!!!!


Rocky was 100% modeling chocolate minus the pole that he sat on to make himself stand up on the cake. It was my very first time working with modeling chocolate and I CANNOT WAIT to work with it again! I loved the consistency and the ease of modeling things!


There were a few items that were not modeling chocolate but fondant on Rocky including his tassel on his graduation cap...


His toenails...


His sweater and college logo...


And that oh-so-important Degree...!

Overall, this cake went over REALLY well and I loved the way it turned out as well! As I was walking in the door, Lindsey's mom exclaimed, "Oh, Rocky is so cute!" Well, I think so too! Just so you can get an idea of what I had to model after, here's a "to scale" picture of Rocky next to my version. Yeah, I think I can pat myself on the back for that one!


Congratulations Lindsey on graduating!

May 5, 2011

Frozen or on the rocks?

How do you like your margarita...


CUPCAKE?!?!?!?!


These were just a fun little project I did on that fabulous Mexican Holiday Cinco de Mayo where margaritas, salsa, and tacos steal the show every year! I made these margarita flavored cupcakes with tequila lime cream cheese icing for my office. Let me tell you that everyone LOVED them!


These mini margaritas were complete with "salt" around the rim (it was actually sugar), a candy lime, and straw! Although they were not drinkable a friend suggest I fill the straws with tequila just before serving. I may try that next time... when I'm not bringing them to work ;)



These cupcakes were a huge hit and have since been requested for future Mexican themed parties and holidays! Next time they will have green icing to make them look more like margaritas and perhaps colorful straws! Yeah... that will look super cute!