Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Sweet Things for Foodies: Hamburger Cake and Cooking-themed Cupcakes

Who wants a Hamburger.... cake, that is....?  I have only made one small hamburger cake in the past, so I was very excited to tackle this cake and all its fixin's.  This cake was for a surprise 60th birthday party for someone who loves to bbq and eat hamburgers.
This was a 4 layer cake which fed 20 people.  The top and bottom bun were Strawberry Vanilla cake with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream covered with fondant.  The 2 meat patties were actually triple chocolate brownie which I didn't have to cover because it looked like meat.  The tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and sesame seeds were made out of sugarpaste.  The ketchup and mayo were buttercream.
For other foodies, I also made this Two-Four of cupcakes for the Calphalon Culinary Center in Toronto.  These cupcakes were Chocolate Sour Cream and Strawberry Vanilla.   I loved making those tiny potholders and oven mitts.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

2nd Birthday: Toy Story Cake

This past weekend, I made a wonderful and fun 2nd birthday cake based off of Disney's Toy Story movies.  The client was very flexible and said I could do whatever I wanted.

I really wanted to put my sugarpaste modelling skills to the test with these characters.  I'm so happy with the result and I had so much fun doing it!  I think my favorite is Mrs. Potato Head.






Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Topsy Turvy Wedding Cake

This past weekend, I made a wonderful cake for a fabulous couple.  This wedding cake was a Topsy Turvy Cake, also known as Whimsical or Mad Hatter cake.  A friend of mine had described it as "sophisticated and fun" - I love that description!



What I loved most about their cake was the color palette that they provided me - you just can't go wrong with the colors strawberry ice cream, pistachio green, lemon yellow and deep burgundy.  The orchids were handmade out of gumpaste to match their room decor.



They also picked some fabulous flavors:  bottom tier was Vanilla Butter Cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream, middle tier was Zesty Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttercream and the top tier was Strawberry Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream.

And here is a view from the top.


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Lotsa C's: Coach Purse Cake

Coach Purses are so popular this year!  Which make it very challenging for a cake decorator as there are a lot of "C's" to add to the design :-)

This special occasion was a surprise 70th birthday party.  I was asked to recreate her coach purse and tote bag with all the things she might have spilling out if it.  Surprises are always so fun - I enjoyed listening to the son trying to think of what is in his mom's purse and then call his dad to ask the same.  It was handy that the dad was able to take a few pictures - see below.
Here are the final cakes personalized with a plane ticket, knitting needles and yarn, kleenex, candies, a wallet and US credit cards.  All the items were handmade out of gumpaste - absolutely everything was edible - not even a dowel to support the cake.

A view from the top - I should mention that the tote bag was Chocolate Sour Cream cake with Chocolate buttercream.  The coach purse was Vanilla Butter cake with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
The back of the purse... more "C's"....

Friday, October 2, 2009

Handmade Sugar Baby Shoes

What is cuter than a pair of handmade sugarpaste baby shoes?
How about 2 pairs of sugar baby shoes?

What I love about being a cake designer is being part of my clients wonderful occasions.  I love to hear them talk about the special person that cake is for, about the event and all about the things that they celebrate in life.

For his occasion, it was actually a birthday cake for my clients' mother who was visiting from out of town.  The cake was also to surprise her that she will be a grandmother for the first time... and also to twins!    How wonderful is that?  And what a sweet way to let her know that!