Chocolate Fondant

This cake was my first experiment with chocolate fondant. I was quite pleased with the taste of it - it was a lot like fudge. I have mixed feelings about fondant. A lot of people don't like it because of its chewy texture and over-sweet taste. On the other hand, it looks phenomenal on a cake - a smooth, finished look. I think the taste of a cake is equally important to its looks. So I'm not opposed to using fondant when a customer requests it- but it's not my preference for taste. This particular cake was just for fun - three of my family members have birthdays in August so we knocked them all out with one big cake. It was a fun one to make. The next two weeks I will be doing prep work for upcoming projects including royal icing flowers.

Raspberry cake

Here's a cake that I tested on my church for a potluck. It was very much a test-cake because both the cheesecake whipped frosting and the inside raspberry cake were brand new recipes. I was pretty pleased with how it tasted, though it may need some tweeking. I have an order coming up this weekend for a 4 year old's birthday party. He wanted a starfish cake - so I'll be designing this one off the top of my head. At first the mom said she wanted a "Patrick the starfish" cake from the character on "Spongebob Squarepants" except she said she wanted him without the pants. Ok - so a naked cartoon starfish - that's a first. Then she drew up a sketch of what the cake should look like, which is basically just a star cake with eyes and a mouth. So that's what I'll be doing this weekend.

Pirate Ship

My son Andrew looked at this cake and said "Boat, boat!" It was for a pirate - themed birthday. It was a fun one to make. The sails and cannons are fondant and the cake is yellow with chocolate buttercream. This will be my last cake for a couple of weeks cause we're heading out of town. But I have two new projects each month from now through October, including one wedding cake. I'm excited for the chance to try new things. Check back soon!

First Wedding Cake

The first wedding cake came off without a hitch. I tried to offset the pressure with preparation as much as possible. But the morning of the wedding my hands were shaking... and I was only the cake baker, not the bride. It's different when people are depending on me for the most memorable cake of their lives together. My dear husband Thomas was patient with me and he even helped me set up at the reception site. That greenery garland around the bottom of the cake was all due to him. The bride and groom were very satisfied and so was I. So as one project ends another begins. You can look forward to a pirate-ship cake picture in my next post. Thanks for reading!