2nd Birthday Cake: Sesame Street Cake

A very popular theme for 2nd birthday cakes: Sesame Street!  I can see why, as my daughter is almost 18 months old and just discovered Elmo!

At first, I wasn't sure how to blend a pink cake with the bold colors of Sesame, but I think it worked!  I love how it turned out and my daughter really took notice to my handmade sugarpaste decorations this time.  

Hope everyone has a wonderful and happy week as we approach the holidays!  I will post again before that with some holiday sweetness!

Tinkerbell Cake

Many people ask me how long it takes to make a cake.  I never have a good answer as it really depends on the design, the size and the details.  I usually say that it takes a minimum of 5 hours, not including baking.  Sometimes it takes much much longer because of the size, sometimes there are so many time consuming details and sometimes there is just a stubborn element that I just can't get right.

For this cake, there was definitely a very stubborn element: Tinkerbell.  It took forever, I must've made Tinkerbell 3 times until I got her just right.  I just couldn't figure it out in the right proportions.  Then finally, in the wee hours of the morning - I was happy with her.  Do I know how long this cake actually took?  Nope, I'd rather not count :-)   I loved how it turned out, so it was worth every minute!

And a view from the top!

50th Birthday Airplane Cake

I was lucky enough to be asked to make another airplane cake.  This time, the model was a Piper Lance and it was for a 50th birthday celebration.

Here's the top view of the cake.  Isn't that a cute quote to add to the cake!

3rd Birthday Cake: Pink Castle Cake

The last princess castle cake I made was gold and blue. This time around, the color theme was pink! 

It was 2-tiers of chocolate sour cream cake with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.  The turrets were made out of rice krispie squares.

I love how it turned out!  And yes, the cake board did take me a long time - but it was worth it!  :-)

4-tier Wedding Cake and a Set-up Tip!

I had the pleasure of making this elegant 4-tier wedding cake with handmade sugarpaste orchids (my favourite!!) and gold accents.  The cake was chocolate sour cream cake and strawberry vanilla cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream.

Here's another photo of the cake with flash.  Make sure you check out my facebook page to see the gorgeous photo that the bride posted.

Cake Decorators Tip:  Always bring a level tool!  Actually in this case, I didn't need a level because the cake table was ridiculously wobbly.  You spend so much time levelling each tier and stacking the cake perfectly, so it really sucks when the table is not level.

I will not mention the venue because they were very nice, as helpful as they could be and vowed to get a new table for cakes.  I'm not sure if you can see, but the table is a little "battered", on an elevated platform that also wasn't too steady and the resolution was actually a pad of paper tucked in all corners of the stand to keep it level.  However, in the end, I was satisfied with what they could do and they also allowed me to take photos of the paper-tucked table.

So, my tip is to have the venue help resolve the issue to your satisfaction and document it somehow.  If you are still uncomfortable, make sure you have the table moved to a different lower traffic area or set up the table somewhere else. 

Hot Air Balloon Cake

I had the pleasure of creating this fun hot-air balloon themed 1st birthday cake. 

Here's the lovely inspiration that I was given - isn't that fabulous?

Another view of the cake.  I should also mention that this design was originally done by Jessicakes.  Make sure you check out her awesome blog full of gorgeous cakes and very helpful tutorials.

Fall Inspired Cake

I had the pleasure of participating in a fun Fall Cake Challenge project of bloggers brought together by Kathia at Pink Little Cake and Melissa at The Baked Equation.  We were tasked of creating at fall inspired dessert:  creative cake, sugar topper, cupcake or recipe.

I came up with this cake that reminds me of fall in Toronto:  Raking leaves!  All the leaves and the rakes are handmade out of sugarpaste.

It was just a small 4" chocolate sour cream cake - so fun to make!

Make sure you pop over to the other blogs via the links below to see their fall inspired desserts!

#1 - Cup of hot cocoa cake by Munchkin Munchies

#2 - Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting by D & P Celebrations

#3 - Caramel Apple Cake by The Baked Equation

#4 - Maple Leaf Chocolate Cake by Butter Yum

#5 - Boo Shoe SugarTopper by Trilogy Edibles

#6 - Goodbye Fall by Pink Little Cake

#7 - Turning Leaves by Simply Sweet by Honeybee

#8 - Fall Teddy Bears by Karma's Cakes

#9 - Thanksgiving Head Dress by Sweetology

#10 - Fall Flower Pot Cupcakes by Butter Hearts Sugar

#11 - End of Fall Cupcakes by Not your momma's Cookie

#12 - Thanksgiving in a Cupcake by Savor the Baking

#13 - Turkey Cake by The Baking Sheet

Ruffled Wedding Cake

On a gorgeous fall Sunday, I delivered this wedding cake to the beautiful McLean House at the Estates of Sunnybrook.  I would say it was the most perfect day!

I loved where the cake table was set up by the staircase.  It was perfect for this 3-tiered large ruffled wedding cake with a matching ruffled pedestal that the bride provided.

I love how this cake design came together - I felt like I was putting delicate large petals on this cake.  I was also able to surprise the bride by creating a sugar flower that matched the flower design on her wedding dress.

Isn't this a lovely view from the top of the staircase?

Coolest Homemade Cake

I love making cakes shaped like other food items, like this giant hot dog cake.  I had this great opportunity to be featured on the Ontario Premier's Blog and make a video.  I came up with this cool homemade cake idea to share with everyone.

Everyone cake make this fun and fabulous cake that looks like a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.  It doesn't require any fondant covering skills and its fast, easy and look fabulous!  It's great for birthdays, an anniversary or any type of event.  And for those who are allergic, it doesn't contain any peanuts!

Here's what you'll need:

• Two 8-inch square vanilla cakes
• Vanilla buttercream, Chocolate Buttercream, Chocolate buttercream (with some yellow food coloring) to look like peanut butter.
• Strawberry jam
• Make your own template of the "bread" out of parchment paper and cake board of the same shape
• Large and small palette knife
• Bread knife and smaller knife for carving
• Larger cake board or plate
• turntable (optional)

 Hope you enjoyed the video!  I had so much fun making it!

Retro Halloween

What an eerie night of howling winds and sideways rain in Toronto.  I hope everyone is safe and warm out there.  This weather definitely sets the mood for Halloween tomorrow.

This past weekend, we went to a Retro Halloween party and I just love retro!!  So, I made some fun chocolate and strawberry cupcakes with that theme in mind. 

And always fun to match costumes with the sweets!  Here's our Instagram pic with our costumes.  My husband was the yellow spindle insert that you put in 45's (the funny glasses just seemed to work with it) and I was a mixed tape.  A couple people said that it would have been funny if my husband dressed up as a pencil - remember when the tape went loose and you hand to manually wind it up!  Ahhh memories!

Have a Happy Halloween!  I have a fun post coming this Friday.... see you then!