Congrats Melissa! Pregnant momma topper shower cake.

This cake was made for a very dear friend of mine.  Melissa and I were pregnant at the same time in 2009 and our toddlers are now about 3 months apart.  Melissa is now pregnant with baby #2 and due in just a few weeks.  I wanted to make her a special baby cake to celebrate and surprised her last week with one.

Now, before I get to any pics of this cake, a quick (and necessary, I must add) background story.....    I wanted to do something different for Melissa's cake.  My signature baby cake is a sleeping little baby with its little butt up in the air...she's seen this one before.  So, I decided to try to re-create one of the Pink Cake Box cakes that are so fantastically adorable.  I started the topper for this cake after a work party at about 9:30pm.  I made the torso (chest and pregnant belly) and then wrapped a different color gumpaste around it for a cute little maternity shirt.  Well.....when I wrapped the shirt around, the belly somehow got a bit smushed and the chest ended up sticking out.  Now, since it was about 11:30pm when I put this little figure up in the cabinet to dry, I somehow (!?!?!) failed to notice this. 

In the AM, my hubby opened the cabinet to get some cereal and started laughing hysterically. Realizing he was looking strait at the pregnant lady cake topper I'd made the night before, I panicked and  cornered him, demanding to know what was so funny.  His response "I just didn't expect to see a pregnant gumpaste lady when I was getting my Cheerios."  I looked at the figure at that moment and all of a sudden thought - HOLY MOLY, her chest quadrupled overnight! 

Realizing that he might have been laughing about the gigantic chest on the Melissa look-a-like pregnant gumpaste woman in the cabinet, I grilled him about whether they were too big.  "Too big?"  he said, "well, they are a bit large, but who says that's too big."  "Even if they are a bit big, she'll find it hilarious and she could probably use a good laugh."  Knowing I didn't have time to re-create the gum paste woman and knowing he was probably right and she'd probably get quite a laugh out of this, I decided to give the it a go...Melissa was getting a cute, though busty, topper on her cake.  I crossed my fingers and hoped she'd find it as amusing as we'd started to....

Well, Melissa did get a good laugh out of this cake (as did everyone).  More importantly, the flavor combination turned out wonderfully and the cake was absolutely delish!  AND most importantly - she loved it!

With the background story and explanation out of the way, here are the pics:

The bow was made from fondant, as were the dots.   I made the dots pink and blue and yellow, as Melissa and her hubby decided to have the sex of this baby be a surprise. 

(Though I'm convinced that she's carrying a baby boy.)

Here is a close-up:

This cake was my signature white cake layered with lemon curd, buttercream and raspberry fillings.  The frosting was vanilla buttercream. 

And of course, one last picture.  Here is Melissa with her cake.  Isn't she adorable!?!

CUPCAKES!

No real reason for these colorful cupcakes.  I had some leftover ingredients after a weekend of cake-ing, and decided to make these for my hubby and CW.

YUM!

Congratulations Future Soldier!

This red, white and blue cake was ordered for a high school graduation party.  The young man who will be graduating in a few weeks has plans to join the United States Army.  After some discussion on what would be an appropriate cake, his mother and I decided on this stars & stripes cake.

The writing on this cake is black food coloring.... 

The bottom tier is Chocolate Fudge and the top tier is White Almond Sour Cream.  Both layers are filled with vanilla buttercream.  The stripes and stars are made from fondant.

Congratulations Future Soldier & Thank You for serving our country!!

A sophisticated cake for a special birthday celebration

Joanne left the design of her birthday cake up to me - anything was okay as long as it said "Happy Birthday".  She requested a chocolate cake with cannoli filling  and vanilla buttercream.  I've been waiting for an occasion to try making Cornelli Lace and figured this would be the perfect opportunity.

All the designs on this cake are hand pipped buttercream.  I used pastel green sugar pearls to match the writing to add a sophisticated touch.  Take a look:

Here is a close up photo of the hand pipped cornelli lace and pastel green sugar pearls...

Chooo Chooooooo Choooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

ALL ABOARD!!!!!  Chooooo Choooooooo  Choooooooooooooo!

Happy Birthday Ramon!

Ramon just turned 5 and much like other little boys his age, he's a fan of Thomas the Train.   We're just getting into the Thomas Stage at my house and when my little guy spotted the train for Ramon's cake, he immediately decided he needed to have it, now.  So, the train went into hiding in an unreachable cabinet with a promise that we'd get another one before the end of the weekend. Crisis averted - phew!

I was SO excited to make this cake and I just love how it turned out!  I hope it brings a big smile and much joy to this special little birthday boy!  

Here are the pics:

Ramon's cake is mostly buttercream, with a few fondant decorations. 

The train tunnel and railroad crossing signs are made from fondant, as are the rolling hills.....

Top view..... clouds.

The apple tree, clouds and grass are all buttercream.

Fondant tunnel, chocolate rocks..... 

Train tracks are drawn onto the cake board....

The cake was decorated all the way around...no real front or back.  Perfect if the birthday boy wants to drive the train around on the tracks for a bit :)

I'm hoping this cake brought a smile to this 5 year old's face on his birthday!  If he loved it as much as I did, I know it certainly did!!

Thomas the Train cake details:  Chocolate cake, cookie-cream filling, vanilla buttercream frosting.

SMACK DOWN! Hayden turns Seven!

Hayden is celebrating his 7th birthday tomorrow.  His mom tells me that both he and his younger brother love to watch (and mimic) wrestling.  Admittedly, this isn't an area I know anything about.  When Hayden's mom ordered a wrestling cake, I had some serious research to do.....from the proper colors, to the proper terms, to the difference between WWE and WWF. 

I'm pretty sure I learned enough to make a sweet cake for this seven year old little man.  Hopefully, he loves it and hopefully, nobody gets body slammed into the cake (at least not before the party!).

Side view....."RAW".

Here is a view from of the top.  The white floor of the ring, along with the Happy Birthday Hayden belt and Round 7 sign are all made from gumpaste.

 

And, some close up shots of the details....

Hayden's cake details:  Marble cake, vanilla buttercream frosting.  The poles are wooden cake dowels painted with black gel food coloring.  Ribbon is tied around the poles to make the ropes.  RAW is made from a sugarsheet, and the cake top is removable and made from gumpaste.