Polka Dot Anniversary Cake

I know it's been a long time since I've posted about a cake order. Turns out my computer has run out of memory. So I haven't been able to down load pictures. I personally don't think 15,000+ pictures is a lot. Is it? Anyway, I received this order from Sara and she's celebrating her 10 year anniversary. Wow, ten years! I thought that was great news! Totally worth throwing a party! She knew exactly what she wanted. She found the picture on-line and asked me to duplicate it.

I didn't have too much trouble making this cake. My only concern was to get all the dots line up. So I looked on-line and couldn't find any tutorial. I figured out that I could get even spacing by using a ruler (like the bendable one for sewing) and a making a small pinhole using a toothpick. That way when it was time to add my pre-made black dots it went a lot faster. Besides it took all the guess work out of where they should go. Even though I learned how to space the dots evenly it still took some time, but the end result was beautiful. Enjoy!

Ok so those of you who now me best knows I'm a stay at home mom that's always on a budget. But today I had the most pleasant surprise. My aunt Martha called me this morning and said, "Jen get dressed I'm going to take you to the store.... (pause) to buy you a Kitchen Aid mixer!" I was absolutely shocked! I was thrilled! No words could describe what I was thinking. So the entire drive to the store I could not take my smile off. We would start talking about something and I would still be smiling. I think even the sales clerk was thinking, "What's up with this chick?" He didn't say it, but I' sure he was thinking it. After spending around thirty minutes standing around the mixers and asking the clerk a ton of questions we decide on the Kitchen Aid Pro mixer.

This thing looks and works amazing! The second we got home I washed it and got straight to work on red velvet cupcakes (recipe @ I Am Baker By Amanda). They came out delicious! On a side note: My sister is 7 months pregnant and she got upset when I threw out a spoon full of the cream cheese frosting, hehehe. I know what your thinking waist not, but by this time of night I was on my _ # of red velvet cupcake. (P.s. better pic's coming soon. I can't seem to find the cord to download, so the camera on my computer will have to do for now.)

So again, a BIG THANK YOU to my Aunt Martha. She rocks!

Trying Something New

Like many people today I'm always on the go! But I finally convinced myself to slow down and learn how to bake from scratch. Don't get me wrong I love boxed cake, but I wanted to challenge myself to go beyond to normal day to day. I didn't go crazy, but instead I wanted to start off with classic white. You could find the recipe I used at I am Baker @ blogspot. For those of you who don't know Amanda is wonderful. She shares all her wonderful finds and responds to your questions and comments in a timely manner.

I was so please on how it came out. My daughter, Bella, even got in on the action. I decided to share my cake with my neighbor. She ate that cake up in about a minute. I swear we were talking and then it was gone! That would have been fine, but she was supposed to share with her husband. Ooops I owe him a slice. For those of you who don't think you could do it just believe in yourself. it really was not that much different from the box. Besides you get bragging rights to tell everyone, "I made this cake from scratch!" I think I'll try chocolate cake next. Wish me luck!

Booze Cakes... Review and a Giveaway

Booze Cakes... Review and a Giveaway

Are giving away a copy of "Booze Cakes: Confections Spiked with Spirits, Wine and Beer." You can go to

http://www.confessionsofapagansoccermom.com for chances to win. Sounds like a great idea. Who doesn't love booze in their dessert, sounds tasty. Good luck! (Thanks K)

Lets Go Fishing

My latest creations was for a groom. A friend from college gave me a call to make a cake for her fiance. All she told me was that he likes fishing and soccer. I looked on line to see if there had been any cakes bringing the two together. I had no luck finding anything. So I had to come up with something on my own. I showed her the sketch and she loved it. I had never created something so detailed. I just hoped I could pull it off. I started on Tuesday with the man and finished Friday. I even woke up at 5am to work on it for fear I would run out of time. It was nice to be finished with the project hours before pick up. But I did have one problem. The leg fell off. I was babysitting my cousin and he said it was a zombie cake. That wasn't going to be good enough so I went into repair mode and fixed it. It was a sigh of relief that it did come off again. The bride loved it and so did I.

Hello Kitty

This was my official first order. It came from an old friend from high school. It was for her brothers girlfriend. It was so funny because I spoke to him on the phone and all I remember is him saying, "Just as long as it looks like Hello Kitty." I promised him if it didn't come out right I would do it again. It had to come out perfect! Lets just say thank goodness I had a babysitter! I don't know what I would have done. It took me almost three hours more than I thought. I was so exhausted that my hands were shaking. The face didn't come out right so the perfectionist that I am I ripped it off and started again. It came out wonderful! When he came to pick it up he said it looks way better than he ever thought. I was so proud of myself. I hope you enjoy.

Music Cake

My second order came from a friend of my sister. She was purchasing it for her nephew who loves music. So when we talked I thought I do an Ipod cake, but turns out he like to play musical instruments and not just listen. So she emailed me a pic she saw online. I took it as inspiration to make a cake that would be for a 16 year old boy. I had some trouble keeping the fondant looking dark black. I painted it with the gel, but after some time they began to bleed onto the ribbon. To make my life a lot easier I changed out the ribbon right before they came to pick it up. Not only did I get a $10 tip, but later that day she sent me a text. The text said that her nephew thought it looked like Cake Boss. I was so happy they enjoyed it. That was the best complement I could ever ask for.

Fun in the Sun

Aloha!!! When making this cake I had extra pressure because it was for my parents 30th Anniversary. My parents went all out for this special occasion. It had to be perfect!

Who loves you more than grandma?

So this was a challenge. My grandmothers birthday was in just two day and I've been dreaming about making her a cake in the shape of a flower pot. I had to work fast. I saw a pic online and went from there. I was just trying different things and it came out great. First I cut the bottom portion of the cake. Place a smaller circle on the bottom and a larger circle on the top. Use this as a guide for your carving. Then place your top layer and carve the edges round so it looks like a pot. Crumb coat your cake a place in fridge. Be very careful when you cover it in fondant because it will rip. I suggest maybe covering the top then the bottom separate. buy beautiful flowers and place as desired. Oh yeah before I forget make sure you save some of the leftover cake. it could be used a dirt. Who knew dirt could taste so good.

Lets just say when I was done I fell in love. My grandmother loved it so much that she didn't want to cut it. That's how you know you have a winner. Enjoy

My 1st Topsy Turvy Cake

You Tube is amazing! I watched a couple of videos on how to make a topsy turvy cake and they were so simple. I did my drawing of what I wanted it to look like and dived in. To anyone who is trying this for the first time I warn you. You need to have patience and a lot of cake. I ended up carving a lot off the cake. But life is like trial and error. Sometimes we make more errors, giggle:) Enjoy!

Special Delivery

Let me start off by saying my husband has a BIG family. One day he got home and casually said, "I volunteered you to make a baby shower cake for my cousin." I was shocked! Not because he volunteered me, but it would be the first time other people would be seeing and eating my cake. So I was nervous to say the least. I worked with his cousin Sara, who is adorable and very understanding. She made me feel totally comfortable. After reviewing some pic's this is what i came up with. It was too cute! Look at the little feet. I did each little toe. It wasn't very had, but it was time consuming. Everybody loved it. My older sister is pregnant and I can't wait to make her cake. I'm going to go all out!

Life is for the Birds

Since I was on an adventure what else does one do, but challenge themselves. Every opportunity I was able to make cake I did it. Birthday parties were my outlet into trying new things. I wanted to take my new hobby into something magical. I wanted to practice, practice, and practice! All I did was think about what can I do and can I get better at it. My grandmothers birthday was coming and she is in love with bird houses, so what to do? I made her her a cake for the birds. It was so funny because a friend that was at the party wanted to know if I would give classes. Lol! me give classes... that's too funny! I don't think I'm at that stage, but who knows what the future holds.

Jump In!!!

Where to start? I was never a baker, yet alone a blogger before today. I have one daughter who just turned 1. As many of you know the the first birthday is a BIG one! I went to a few different bakeries and each one told me for a cake of the theme I wanted would be at least $200! So stressed out I asked my loving husband if that was okay. Little to say he said, "What!!!" "I don't think so!" But the he gave me the best idea. He told me, "You could so do that on your own!" And in that very moment I got this burst of excitment that I could make my daughters cake. If it came out horrible I could always say, "I tried my very best." Not wanting for it to be a total dissater I did a practice test cake. After that the sky was the limit!

My first cake was a challange. It took me a lot longer to complete it, but it was all worth it. All the guest LOVED it! They couldn't believe I had made it. So then my adventure started. Stay tuned to see more of my cakes.