B & B

I made the baby shower cake. It was a marble cake with buttercream frosting.  The accents are all made from fondant.  These are the colors of the nursery.

I prepped everything for making the cake pops.  Paul and I even found a design to make for them.  I never made them :(  I started to and then lost interest.  I have a 30th birthday cake coming up for a friend of Paul's.  And I will be making him a beer bottle cake.  So I made the sugar bottles today instead :)  Paul helped with the pouring process.  It is so much easier with 2 people doing it.  I made a total of three bottles.  I made the mold last fall out of rubber latex.  I can keep reusing the mold.  It took about 4 days and 15 coats of the latex, but the mold works great.  The bottles are corn syrup and granulated sugar heated up and then poured into the mold.  Since I do not have a dishwasher I had to boil the measuring cup to get the hardened sugar off the cup.  It is a process but they look real. Plus you can smash them just like glass.  Here is a finished bottle.  I cooked it a little longer to give it the dark beer effect.

The plastic and saran wrap is there so there won't be any fingerprints.  The bottle is a little sticky and will pick up prints very easy.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and have a great holiday weekend coming up :)

I'm Back :)

Well, I am back!  I got burnt out this spring with all the cakes I was doing.  I took a much needed month off from baking.  I have a cake due this weekend.  I needed to go to the cake store for a couple items for it.  I walked to the back of the store and inhaled.  That works every time!  The smell of all the candy melts and chocolates back there is so comforting.  It pulled me back in.  I have some leftover cake and am looking forward to making some cake pops for fun this weekend.  It has been a while for that. 

I do have a few cakes coming up in the next few weeks.  My best friend is getting married in 2 weeks and I am honored to make her cake.  I also have a cake due for my great grandma in 3 weeks.  It will be a busy July for me.  I will keep you all posted.

I just got my nephew Jake's first birthday photos and have to share them with you.  It turned out that he really liked the cake and you can see it in the photos.  He is so darn cute :)

How adorable!  I will show you the cake that I am doing when it is all done.  It is for a girl baby shower.  And, hopefully I will have cake pops also to show off :) 
Until then have a wonderful day!

Blocks away!

Well, I finished the cake for my work.  I started baking Wednesday night and finished Thursday morning.  I was able to finish the whole cake by 1pm on Thursday.  This was the first time I have ever crumb coated.  What that means is I put a thin layer of frosting down to get all the crumbs.  Then after a half hour went back and put a top coat of frosting.  That way I didn't have to worry about crumbs showing. It turned out real well.  I did that because I was not able to get the cake in the fridge to cool down before frosting like I normally do.  Too big.  I also could not get the cake in my backseat either due to being too big.  I had to put it in my trunk which had me on edge.  I like to be able to look at my cake if needed.  The whole morning was an anxiety attack for me!  I was sooo nervous.  These are the people I see everyday.  I had to get it right or I would feel horrible.  Needless to say, I was shaking putting the blocks on.  I think it turned out real well.  Everyone seemed to like it and thought it tasted better than the sheet cakes they had made :)

And so you can get an idea how big it was, here is one with me standing by it.

I am very glad to have that done and over with.  I have a cake due in June and then a wedding cake to do the beginning of July.  I think after doing this cake, that one will be a breeze :)

Hope you all had a great weekend!

1st Birthday

This week I made a cake for my nephew Jake's first birthday.  My sister was doing the Sesame Street theme.  I made a cake with Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster.  I made the feathers out of fondant.  The beak is made out of rice krispie treats with fondant covering it.

Jake seemed to really like the cake. He was all smiles and at one point went face first into the cake, didn't bother using hands.  It was adorable!

This week I have a cake due for my work.  H.R. approached me for a cake for a company event.  I am honored that they asked, but can not produce the size that they wanted.  They wanted it to feed 300 people.  Living in an apartment and baking that much is impossible. I will just make the display cake and they will get sheet cakes for everyone.  I started it today and have to buy more fondant to finish the blocks tomorrow.  I am super nervous for this cake.  The whole building will see it.  Talk about pressure!

I will let you know how it goes.  Until then, have a great week!

Birthday wishes

This week I had a birthday cake to do for a girl at my work.  Her girlfriend was turning 28.  We decided on the stars idea.  She likes purple so that is the color we went with.  She wanted a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  I only have one recipe for chocolate frosting and I am not all that impressed with it.  Paul's aunt Suzanne used to own her own catering business. She now does cooking classes in Stillwater and has been on Kare 11 during the 11 hour for cooking also.  I dropped her a email asking for help.  She shared with me her recipe and I was delighted!  I made it and fell in love with the taste.  It is nice and creamy.  It will now be my go to recipe.  I used fondant for the stars. 

Today I started making a smash cake for my nephew/godson Jacob.  He is one today!!  Happy Happy Birthday to him :)  My sister is having his 1st birthday photo shoot this Tuesday, so I am making him a smash cake for that.  It will be blue.  I will also be making his 1st birthday cake for the party we are having for him this coming Friday night.  I am super excited to make that one!  I think it will be great. 

On a side note, I had my starter show for lia sophia last night.  It went very well!  I was nervous last week about not having enough orders and not meeting $600 in sales to get the good discount for me.  I went beyond both in sales and orders and am very grateful for everyone who helped me reach that goal.  I was able to buy 16 more pieces of jewelry for a low price of $158!!  Talk about a great hostess program!  I will now have a decent showcase to share at my future parties.  I have two bookings already for May and am super excited.  I am hoping to maybe get a couple more before the month is out.  I am surprised at myself with how well I am trying and putting an effort into this.  I have had so many people tell me No or don't even resopnd to my email.  But I am still moving along hoping for the Yes.  I will keep you all updated on that progress and how my business is going.  If you would like to learn how you too can earn that much in jewelry for that little cost, let me know and we can discuss hosting a show.

I hope you all have a great week and don't forget to check in next week to see the 1st birthday cakes for Lil Jake!

Cake-Tastic!

I had an order for the ice cream cone cake pops that are the background pic on here.  A lady at work wanted them for Easter.  I made 24 yellow cake ones.  I thought since I get asked all the time to make them, I would just post it.  I took pics throughout the process for you to see.  Have fun making them!  You will see how easy they really are to make, just a little time consuming.

First bake and cool completely 9x13 cake.  I use Duncan Hines.  I normally let cool over night.  Then crumble cake in large bowl.  I just cut in 4ths and break apart in bowl with hands.  Then add frosting.  I found the cake is pretty moist, especially the top so I only use about 1/2 can of frosting.  Do not use whipped frosting for this.  I was trying to think of a way to describe how it should be, I came up with resembles cookie dough a little bit.  You don't want it too moist with frosting, or it will fall off your stick.

I put saran on top and throw in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm a bit.   While that is cooling, I will cut my cones.  I buy the generic ones, works the same and costs half the price.  Use a serrated knife to cut off about an inch or so from the top.

Then roll the cake into balls.  I use a tablespoon to dish out. Helps keep around the same size.  For these, I normally do about 1 1/2 inch balls or so.  Always test the first one against your cut cone to see if it is the right size.  Wouldn't want too small a ball so it doesn't sit on top :)  Just roll in hands and set on cookie sheet.  For the bigger balls, you will get around 25 out of 1 cake.  Once all rolled, put saran on top and put in freezer for 20 minutes. Then take out and set in fridge.

Get all your other supplies ready for you will need it all portioned and ready to go.  Here is everything that I used.  Candy melts, you can buy at Michaels, JoAnns or even Walmart.  1 bag will do a batch of cones.  I used chocolate that I bought at Lynn's Cake and Candy store.  You can use brown candy melts, chocolate almond bark etc for the topping.  I have red gumballs and sprinkles.  You will also need something to hold the cones upright.  I have Styrofoam with the holes already made.  You also need a couple sticks for dipping.

Melt the candy melts first time at 50% power for a minute. Stir and melt in 30 second intervals at 50% power till fully melted.  I like to let it cool for a minute or two before dipping.  Take 4 balls out at a time.  Put ball on stick and dip straight down in melts.  Do not swirl around, that will cause crumbs.  If you need a little more coverage, use a spoon at that point, pull straight up.  Hold in one hand and tap your wrist with the other hand to get excess melts off.  Place on cone, and add sprinkles. Put in Styrofoam to dry.  Repeat till all balls are on cones. 

Melt the chocolate and drizzle on top with a spoon.  Put gumball on top.  Let them dry completely. That is it!

I cover mine with a baggie and twist tie for transport. 

Hope you have fun making them! 

Have a great Easter everyone :)

Beginings

This week I had a baby shower cake to do for a girl at my work.  It is for a baby boy.  I did a stary night theme.  It was buttercream frosting with fondant accents.  I made my first baby, turned out very well.  Hope you enjoy!

I have decided to start selling lia sophia jewelry.  My goal with doing this is to make extra money to put away for a down payment for a house in a year.  I am really excited and nervous all at once.  I am really hoping it goes well for me.  Let me know if you want to book a show :)  It does mean that I will have to scale down on cakes a little.  I will have to start using the word "No" to people if I already have a show to do.  I am hoping to have 5 parties done by the time we go on vacation in June.  Let's see if I can do it!!!

I have ice cream cones to do this week for someone's Easter and a wedding this Saturday which will keep me busy.  Hope you all have a great and wonderful Easter!!