Lots of Cake!!!

After the July wedding cake, I was starting to think my cake days were ending when suddenly there were so many calls for birthday cakes! At first I was thrilled, then I realized that I had overbooked myself and completely forgotten that I was going back to school in the mix! Oops! I had to cut out about five cakes, and I felt horrible! But, my sanity is important, too, though I usually forget about this. Thanks to a husband and friend who keep me on track! Here are the ones I was able to do in between a San Diego wedding and school starting!

This cake was for Brooklyn's first birthday. We used the same cake I made for Simon's first birthday last year. This time around I made the trees ahead of time, so they stood up a little better. They chose white cake with raspberry filling. I got to eat some and it was pretty yum. :) I must say, this is one of my favorite cakes to make, I just love the animal patterns!

This was the cake I came up with for Steve's Hawaii 5-0 birthday party. Donna threw an amazing party, and I got to go and eat some cake! It was grandma's chocolate cake with buttercream filling and frosting. Pretty yummy if I do say so myself!

This cake was for a little boy in my neighborhood who loves Yo Gabba Gabba. I wasn't familiar with the show, but his mom sent me some pics and cake ideas and we combined two of them to create this cake. It's three layers of chocolate and vanilla with buttercream icing and fondant. I was very nervous as I made this trying to get the right intensity on the colors, but I loved the finished product.

This final cake was for my friend's little girl who turned one this year. She bought the Wilton daisy pan and matching mini daisy pan. It was a super fun cake to make and I thought it turned out pretty darn cute! I would LOVE to make this cake again.

Grandma's Cake

My Grandma turned 80 this year and I volunteered to make the cake. I had to transport it to Idaho Falls. It made it there with few casualties thank goodness, but I need to invest in a heavy board for these large cakes. Each time I picked it up the frosting cracked. Oh well. It was very yummy!!! I love it when I get to eat my cakes. :) I was very worried about the color combinations on this cake, but I really like the way it turned out....especially the effect of the bright pink against the yellow tablecloth.

It's hard to see, but the roses are white with pink highlights. I tried to do the "fire and ice" look. It turned out fairly well.

BIG Birthday Cakes

Just last spring I had a request for a sheet cake. It was my first attempt, and I think it went well. There were a few snags and some moments of sheer panic, but where would we be without that, right? I learned some things and was excited to try again. My friend provided me with two more opportunities. Her mother's birthday cake and her grandmother. The first was in April, hence the springy pastel colors. The second was last weekend, so I chose some fall/winter colors. I experimented a bit with the design on the most recent cake and I really had fun.





My first sheet cake. Not bad for a first try. I used Grandma Mary's chocolate cake recipe. If you look close you can see some crumbs in the icing. Grrr.

The second attempt.... I think this was Grandma's chocolate with German Chocolate Filling... I should write these things down somewhere where I'll be able to find it again!

I learned not to level the cake. It is huge, but it works the best! No crumbs, no uneveness. Just a nice, smooth, HUGE, cake! Can you tell the difference in height? It was much more drastic in real life, believe me!This actually went pretty quickly, considering all the lacework. This cake was white cake. The filling was good old frosting.

(Wilton says these cakes feed 108)