Tiara

Just before I got the order for this cake, I was sent a pin by a friend who often sends me cool cake pictures as inspiration. The picture was of a princess tiara cake, so I adapted it for this cake.

I got a call from someone who's best friend was going through a tough time, and they were throwing her a "pick me up" party on the day her ex-husband remarried.  They spent all day shopping, going to the spa, and eating out, and as the day progressed, different friends surprised her by joining them.  Once the day was over, and all the friends were there, they took her back to the house, and had a party.  

I was given free reign on this cake, and my first thought was that it had to be fabulous!  What's more fabulous than a tiara??!  And a tiara with hot pink and black? Even better!  My only afterthought was that a boa would have made an even more fabulous bottom border.  

The tiara is gum paste, formed by drawing the design, and wrapping it around a #10 can.  After it dried, I sprayed it with pearlescent luster dust.  The jewels are Isomalt.  It was my first time using Isomalt, but it was SO easy!  I had tons of extra jewels, and they last forever.

Marissa and Joe

Another Albrechtsen wedding, so, of course, I HAD to go over the top!  And a groom's cake to boot!

Marissa is the daughter who is the same age as Courtney, and they are best friends.  Courtney was one of the bridesmaids.

Marissa's theme was peacock.  What gorgeous, rich colors, purple and teal!  I wanted to learn peonies, so I used a Craftsy course to learn how to make them, and then used them on the cake, along with feathers.  

Here is the inspiration picture that Marissa selected (along with Courtney).  But four tiers is never enough for one of "my" girls!

http://weheartit.com/entry/99587799

I still would like to improve my piping skills, but practice makes perfect!

I found the perfect "F" for Fryer, for the topper in a clearance bin at the cake decorating store.  Serendipity!

The groom is in nursing school, so I had the funnest groom's cake in mind.  The groom's parents are both nurses as well, and his mom wanted to know if I could ship one of these to Washington State.  Lol

I have no idea how many "pills" I cut out, but it was a ton.

It took several "bottles" to get one that didn't collapse.

Frozen

Something I have learned the hard way, is that offering a custom cake for auction is NOT a good idea, even if it is for a good cause.  From now on, I would offer an already made cake, if I offer anything.  Every year, I thought I had set clear guidelines for what I was offering, and every time, the winner of the auction wanted something different.  Because the auction was for an 8" round, and this family wanted a two tier, they did pay the difference in price, which was better, I guess.  

Maybe one day, my business will grow big enough that I can absorb this type of thing, but not for now.

Well, that's a fairly negative way to start a post of a fun cake.  This actually turned out to be a lot of fun!

Frozen was HUGELY popular at the time (Based on this past Halloween, I think it still is!), and this design was relatively easy.  Again, the mother had a figurine to add after pickup.  

Somehow, I did not have a number five cutter (I don't know how that happened), so I used a number two, and flipped it upside down.  You can kind of tell, but I don't know that anyone else noticed. This picture makes it look like the snowflakes are different colors, but they were all white, and some had glitter on them.

Before pickup.  

Missouri State

These cupcakes were for one of Courtney's friend's little brother.  You know that my favorites are the cakes I do for kids I have seen grow up since childhood!

After graduation, he was headed to Missouri State University.  Their colors are Maroon and White.  I learned from the Americana Baby Bum cake, that maroon isn't necessarily what I thought it is.  I sent the mom of the grad several shade options before we got the one we wanted.

One of the first trials, with the final shade.

Unfortunately, the amount of dye needed for that deep of a color can stain fingers, tongues, clothes... I was really nervous that they might have issues with that, but she never said anything.

The bearcats were cut on my Cricut.  By the time we got what we wanted, I had cut so many of them, I was dreaming Bearcats!  Every time I see one on a bumper sticker to this day, I groan.

Each Bearcat was mounted on a white disc, that was set on top of a cupcake swirl.

This was also the first time I delivered them in a cupcake crate, which I will ALWAYS do, from now on.

One dozen in white, and one dozen in Maroon.

Choo Choo Train

My neighbor ordered this one.  She just asked for a train theme for he grandson's birthday.  She needed more servings than the Wilton train pan would serve, and didn't want to pay as much as the train would cost.  

This design turned out to be pretty easy; just squares and circles, but with the color scheme, I think it turned out cute!

Rock 'n' Roll

My baby boy was turning 18, and he loves for his cakes to be a clue as to what he is getting for his birthday.  Well, we got him a new electric guitar!  Since he already had a "cheaper" guitar, and a drum set, he had to decide which one it was.

He also does not like to have birthday parties, so his girlfriend and I conspired to get a few friends together for cake and ice cream.  They were mostly all musicians as well, and loved the cake!

I love the technique of cutting the fondant, and making it look like an object is "bursting" out of the cake.  The guitar was gum paste.  I bought a large guitar shaped cookie cutter, and then added the accents.

Bad lighting, but this is a close up of the guitar

I had done a tiny 4" drum cake for his drum teacher as a gift one time, so this was not my first drum cake.

Amber's Quinceanera

I have known this beauty since she was about 8 years old.  This was her quinceanera, which is, of course, her fifteenth birthday.  I was happy to participate in her celebration.  

There were some language barriers, as her mom was the one to order the cake, but with Scott translating, I think I got what they were going for.

I wanted it to be slightly different from a traditional wedding cake, since it was not a wedding, but it also needed to be girly, and over the top!  So, I used the hexagon on the bottom tier, for interest.  The cake was strawberry cake.

On delivery, my son accidentally stuck his finger in to one of the corners of the bottom tier, as we set it on the table.  Fortunately, I was able to use paper towels to smooth the area out, and you couldn't even tell.

The cake looks so small next to that dress, but it was 16" tall!

As you can see from her gown, and the cloth on the table, lime green was the color of the evening!  I liked how the different shades of green played on the cake, without making it look like overkill.