PEACH OF CAKE

Cub Scout Blue & Gold

2012-02-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

Feels good to finally make and cake. But I will be honest it feels good to be done with it too. This was one of the fastest cakes I have done in a while. I haven't done an all buttercream cake in a long time. It was nice not having to work with fondant. I also decided to go with American Buttercream. Cub Scouts don't care if the frosting is too sweet. Heck they probably prefer it. It saved me a bunch of time and a bunch of BUTTER.

The cake was 16 x16

Made from American Buttercream

All hand piped

White Sour Cream and Almond layer on top

Filled with Oreo Custard filling

Chocolate Cake on bottom layer

Funfetti Watercolor Cake

2012-02-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

It took me 4 months to post it, but here is Auntie Bails Birthday Cake. We were so excited to give her this cake. Not just because it was her birthday, but she came home from her 18 month mission from the Philippines on her birthday. I made the cake, but the kids helped to decorate it.

We made her favorite, Funfetti. Then covered it with fondant and left to pick her up from the airport. I wish I had pictures to show of her homecoming, but we were all so excited to give her hugs that we didn't take any pictures. After the reunion we headed home so she could get cleaned up and the kids started their masterpiece.

If you are wanting to try this at home you will need:

A fondant covered cake

Gel food coloring diluted with clear vanilla extract

Clean paintbrushes. We have special food only paint brushes.

Eager Artists

Once the kids were done with painting every inch of the cake I put some extra touches on it to hide the bottom.

Doesn't it look like stain glass? They had so much fun and she loved that it was made by the kids.

Happy Birthday Bails. We are so glad you are home!!

What's Your Favorite Kind of Cake?

2012-02-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

I have been MIA in the cake world for the last 4 months. The last cake I made was for my sister. It was a simple cake that actually my kids decorated. I have yet to post it on here. I do have a good excuse though. If you follow my other blog, Positively Peaches, you would know that we are expecting. Right after I finished making Razy's birthday cake, I got really sick. I was never sick with my other three kids. This one though really did me in. I thought I would never get over it. I am now well into my 2nd trimester. 25 weeks!!! Yay. It wasn't until about week 15 that I was starting to feel better. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who took care of lots of house work and stuck through lots of eating out.

When I was asked by the Cubscout Committee Chair to make a cake for the upcoming Blue & Gold I was leary, but excited. I have been itching to make another cake. However, this one is going to be a fairly simple one with just piping. No fondant. I didn't have it in me to spend the extra day making and kneading the fondant. With that being said the cake is in the oven right now. I am making my favorite, White Sour Cream and Almond. I thought it would be fun to see what kinds of cake you all enjoy eating or making.

What is your favorite kind of cake?

What flavor of icing do you like?

What flavor of filling is your favorite?

If you have a recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing I would love to hear them (djpeachparty5@gmail.com). Who knows maybe I will have to try it and feature YOU!!

Baked Doughnuts

2012-01-20T15:14:00.000-08:00

We have had a week off of school due to atleast 12 inches of snow this week. The kids and I have had lots of fun playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate, and playing video games with daddy. Along with all this fun the snow has also gotten me in the baking mood. Must be the due to the fact that I didn't get my Christmas time baking fix in like I would have liked to because of morning sickness. I really did want to make cookies, and cakes, and other goodies, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Now I have been feeling lots better and now I am in the mood.

I love pinning. I found this doughnut recipe while doing so. The recipe was easy to follow and the end result was pretty yummy. Daddy and the kids all loved them. I think they could be even better if I could find a yummy maple glaze.

***This recipe was taken from Krissy's Creations***

Baked Doughnuts
Makes: About 15 doughnuts (& doughnut holes)

For the Dough
3/4 cups Warm Milk
1 packet Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
½ tsp. Salt

For the Glaze
* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts
¼ cup Milk
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts
½ cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon

To make the dough, place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter. Add it to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add the egg and stir until incorporated. Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form. Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth. If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky.

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball. Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick. Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left. If desired you can gather up the scraps into a ball and roll it out and cut out more doughnuts. However, I found that the dough got too hard to work with.

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overbake these. You want them to be light and doughy inside. Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze. Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts. I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping. Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts.

To make the glaze, combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until just warmed. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. Let set for about 10 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter. Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy :)!

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Cake

2011-10-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

My little girl just turned 4. For her 4th birthday she insisted on having a Strawberry Shortcake cake. Over all it was a fun cake that went pretty smoothly to make. It was really humid here the week I made it and the fondant was alot harder to work with than usual, but I was able to get past that and work through it. At least there were no cake disasters.

We went with a WSCA cake with a strawberry cream cheese filling and frosted in vanilla buttercream, then covered in marshmellow fondant.

For your taste bud enjoyment I a sharing the Filling recipe. I found the recipe over on cake central. I love that site for new recipes for cakes and cupcakes.

Creamy & Firm Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

1 cup water

2 small pkgs strawberry gelatin

4 8oz pks cream cheese at room temperature

1 16oz frozen sweetened strawberries (thawed)

Instructions:

Put one cup of water into a clear glass bowl--don't substitute. Microwave on high until it boils. Add the two boxes of gelatin and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until you can smear the mixture against the side of the bowl without seeing any granules. It should be clear and red. this step will take a few minutes. Add the strawberries and mix well. Let this come to room temperature. DO NOT refrigerate. Cream the cream cheese in a stand mixer until fluffy. Add the strawberry mixture a half cup at a time until it is well blended (it will be a little thin). Refrigerate for an hour or more or until ready to use. This filling is very yummy with WSCA as it is not too sweet.

Left overs are yummy when put into a graham cracker pie crust and topped with whipped cream.

Marshmellow Fondant {tutorial}

2011-09-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here is my favorite Marshmellow Fondant recipe. I will let you know in advance that fondant is super messy to make. You will have Powdered Sugar all over your kitchen. If you have never used fondant before, you may want to buy a little just so you can see what the consistency should look and feel like.

What you will need:

8 cups Mini Marshmellows

3TBS of Water

1 TB of Flavor

(I use Wilton's Clear Vanilla...I have also made pink using strawberry extract mmm)

9 Cups (ish) Powdered Sugar Sifted

2 Heaping TBS of Shortening

1. Grease Bowl and Dough Hook of Kitchen Aid.

2. Sift 9 Cups of Powdered Sugar in a separate Mixing Bowl. Sifting the Powdered Sugar is very important. You don't want to have any lumps in your sugar or you will have lumps in your fondant.

3. Put marshmellows, water, flavoring, and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. I like to use my pampered chef measuring bowl.

4. Heat up marshmellow mixture in 30 sceond increments. Pull out and stir in between each increments. Keep heating until the marshmellows are almost melted, it will look soupy with some lumps.

5. Scoop 6 cups of Powdered Sugar in Kitchen Aid. During this time your marshmellow should be cooling down, but don't let them cool completely. Make a well in the powdered sugar with the measuring cup.

5. Pour Marshmellow Mixture into Powdered Sugar well. It's going to spread out.

7. Put 1 more Cup of Powdered Sugar on top of Marshmellow Mixture.

8. Put the kitchenaid on the first setting. (mine was on Stir) Once the Powdered Sugar is mostly incorporated put on the next setting (I used 2), let it run for a while. You'll notice there is Powedered Sugar on the sides of the bowl, this is fine, leave it there. Refrain from scraping it down.

9. Do an eye and finger test. Watch for the powdered sugar to creep up on the dough hook. Test with your finger by touching the mixture. If it goo and sticking to yoiur finger add 1/4 cup more of powdered sugar.

10. Prepare your counter with shortening. Bring your sifted sugar that is left and place near where you are working. Dump the dough on the counter. Grease your hands.

11. Add more powdered sugar about 1/8 cup at a time until it can hold it's own weight. Hand knead and add more powdered sugar in the bowl if you need to. It will hold its own shape but will still fall (almost like the 10 second peak you lood for when doing cookie icing).

12. Grease it up, wrap in saran wrap and then put in a plastic gallon or quart sized bag. Let it rest for several hours (atleast 8 or more). You will notice that it will stiffen up more as the hours go by.

Try Freezing Your Cake

2011-09-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

It is birthday time again at our house. Razy will be turning 4 on Saturday! I can't believe my youngest is going to be 4. Well with birthdays come CAKE! This year Razy has picked yet another girly cake. It took me a bit to get into the cake making mood, but I am now totally on board. I thought I would share with you some tips along the way as I make Razy's cake. Sorry no picture for today, but it is pretty easy to see what I am talking about.

TIP NUMBER 1

Try Freezing Your Cake!

Not only does this allow you to start baking early,

but it also makes the cake moist,

alot easier to frost, and it will hold up better.

I try to bake my cakes the week before I want to decorate them. If I don't get around to it I will usually make them Monday or Tuesday of that week. For Example: If we are serving the birthday cake on Saturday, I will make the cake on Monday or Tuesday. I will take it out Thursday and begin the decorating process. If you don't have the time, try to at least freeze it for 24 hours. Trust me you won't be disappointed.

To Freeze:

Bake your cake and let cool completely

Wrap in 2-3 layers of saran wrap

Wrap in 2-3 layers of aluminum foil

Place in freezer

I stack like sizes on top of eachother. If you place smaller sizes onto larger ones you will get a dip in the middle of your larger cake.

Happy Baking!

Raspberry Cheesecake

2011-08-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

The other day the kids and I went raspberry picking. I didn't want to turn all the raspberries into jam because we just got done doing 18 pints of strawberry jam. Instead I decided to make a cheesecake. This was scary for me because I have never made cheesecake before. I am so glad I did because it turned out beautiful.

I found the recipe from a whisk a spoon. Can I just say that her cheesecake is gorgeous. All credit for this recipe goes to her.

Raspberry Cheesecake- makes a 6-inch cake

(I did make mine in a 7 inch pan because that is the closest I could find. It turned out just fine.)

for the base:
2-3 T unsalted butter, melted
2 T sugar
1/8 t cinnamon (optional)
pinch of salt
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

for the raspberry swirl:
110 g fresh or frozen raspberries
2 T sugar
small splash of water

for the filling:
300g cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 T sour cream
1 egg
1/2 cup superfine sugar
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean

-for the crust: Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Combine melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, salt and crumbs in a bowl. Press into the botton of a 6-inch springform pan and bake for about 10-15 minutes. Cool crust slightly.

-for the raspberry swirl: In a small pan over medium low heat, gently cook the raspberries with the sugar and water until the berries begin to break down, the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has thickened a bit. Squish up the berries a little and push the mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds. Set aside to cool.

-for the filling: Process the cream cheese in a food processor until smooth (don’t forget to scrape!). Add the sour cream, egg, sugar and vanilla bean seeds and process until smooth and fully combined.

-to assemble: Brush sides of the springform with a little softened butter. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double layer of foil. (The cake bakes in a water bath, and doing this will help keep water from seeping into the cake as it cooks.) Pour the filling over the graham cracker base. Drizzle the raspberry sauce over and swirl gently with a butter or pairing knife. Create a water bath by placing the cake tin in a slightly larger roasting pan or baking dish. Carefully pour hot water halfway up the sides of the springform. Bake at 280°F/140°C for a little over an hour, until the edges look set but the center jiggles slightly. Let cool on a rack, then cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Homemade Samoas Cookies {MMM Girl Scout Cookie Goodness}

2011-07-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

Homemade Samoas Cookies

shared from the kitchen of

Once Upon a Plate

Read Before Making: These cookies do take some time and there are many steps to it. However, you will not be dissappointed. They are well worth the work.

Cookies ~ Homemade Samoas
(also known as Caramel de-Lites)
Makes about 4 to 4 1/2 dozen

Let the 4 step process begin:

1. Make the cookie Base
2. Top with Caramel-Coconut mixture
3. Dip bottom of cookies in melted chocolate
4. Drizzle tops with melted chocolate

The Cookie (base):
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
up to 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, next, the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk only as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (you may not need any at all). The dough should come together into a soft, pliable ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough seems sticky.

It's easiest to roll the dough out in 2 or 3 batches (between pieces of wax (or parchment) paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or a little thinner) using a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined (or on silicone mat) baking sheet and make a hole in the center. I used one of those big plastic straws. You know the ones that your kids blow into and they drive you crazy with that whistling sound. However, this part is really not necessary. Next time I don't think I will do it. They will give you the Girl Scout look, but the flavor is still the same. Repeat until the dough is used up (it's okay to re-roll, this dough is shortbread-like and very forgiving.)

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are very lightly golden brown around the edges. All ovens are different so I actually did mine for 9 mins. and they came out perfect.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, to allow them to firm up slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping:
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-ounces good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk
8 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips will do, however, I found that when I made them with the chocolate chips they melt in your hands even after setting up.)

(If you prefer milk chocolate use it. I used semi-sweet and JBody wishes I would have gone with Milk. He is a huge milk chocolate guy though.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F)

Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Watch carefully, especially near the end of toasting time; the coconut toasts very quickly once it begins to become golden.

My Notes: 20 minutes was too long. The coconut was already golden at 10 and I had to take it out.

Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 teaspoons per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it begins to firm up, to make it soft and spreadable once again.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper (I dipped them and then had them set up upside down before drizzling). Transfer all remaining chocolate into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Let me just tell you that you have to try these. And once you make them hide them from yourself. Trust me they are addicting. I have plans to make them again. I have a cute cookie container idea I found on pinterest. We are going to give them away as Christmas Presents. Let me know if you make them and what you think of them.

Recipe credit: Nicole @ Baking Bites.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-07-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

I love pinterest. I have become addicted to it. In the evening while we are watching tv I find myself looking through pins. I have found many things that I will slowly be doing myself and sharing here on the blog. Here is a recipe that I knew I wanted to try out. I had to share it with you. I shared it on my Positively Peaches blog, but I wanted to share it with my Peach of Cake followers as well.

They were pinned and posted by i am baker.

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

*I only used all purpose flour for my recipe.

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds chocolate chips

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add eggs. Stir in vanilla. Reduce to low speed and add dry ingredients slowly, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 24-36 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

I don't know why these turned out perfect. Whenever I make chocolate chip cookies they spread out thin. It could be because the dough is refrigerated. I don't know, but these were so yummy. Try them out and let me know what you think.

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

2011-07-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

A while ago I bought a book called "Hello, Cupcake". It is full cute cupcake ideas that are fun and pretty easy to do. I hadn't made cupcakes out of it for a while so I decided to make these corn on the cob cupcakes for our family 4th of July get together. They are cute, easy, and fun. But I will warn you, atleast for me they were a bit pricey. I went to wour local candy store for the jelly bellys. My goodness jelly bellys are over priced. However, the end result was worth it.

I know lots of pictures. For all the work I put into my cakes and cupcakes, I have to take lots of pictures.

What you will need:

24 cupcakes baked in white liners. I used my favorite WASC recipe.

Vanilla frosting tinted yellow. I have yet to put my favorite frosting recipe up. I will eventually.

Lots of jelly belly's in yellows, cream, and white colors (the book says 3 1/2 cups, but they don't take into consideration that some are going to be eaten. I don't know how many pounds it was, but at the candy store I filled the whole bag to the tip top. I was able to cover 30 cupcakes.

Yellow laffy taffy or starbursts. The laffy taffy looks most like butter and is easier to work with.

Black and white sugar.

Let's get Baking:

1. Bake your cupcakes

2. Prepare your frosting and tint yellow.

3. Frost your cupcakes and arrange jelly bellys into five rows on each cupcake.

4. Place 3 cupcakes touching in a row.

5. Cut laffy taffy in half and mold the edges to shape into melted butter pats.

6. Put a small amount of frosting on the bottom of your laffy taffy and place on your cupcake.

7. Sprinkle with sugars.

8. If using insert your corn holders to each end of your cupcakes.

R2D2 cake

2011-06-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated Lil' E's 7th Birthday. Going along with the Star Wars themed Cupcakes we made this R2D2 cake. This was a fun cake to make. It is made from 3-6"rounds, and a 1/2 ball cake pan. The cake itself was alternate layers of White Sour Cream Vanilla Cake and Chocolate Cake with Cookie n Cream filling. This go around I even made my own marshmellow fondant. It turned out great and was just as easy to work with. Who would have thought. Man I have been spending way to much on the other stuff. It only cost me about $5 to make 6 lbs. Wheras the other is about $4-$5 a pound.

Thanks for looking!

The arms weere made out of Rice Cereal Treats that were covered in buttercream and fondant.

I can't believe Lil' E is seven years old.

Wilton Punch. Cut. Decorate! {Giveaway}

2011-06-07T23:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted a giveaway on here before, but thought I would let you know of one that is going on right now at Mom Spotted. Look at these super cool Wilton Punch. Cut. Decorate! tools:

For those who have never piped or piping doesn't come easily these cute sugar sheets can make it easier. They have different colors, prints, solids and alphabets.

The tool that I am most excited about are the cake punches. I do have my cricut cake, but when I don't have to pull out the cricut the better. These look so fun to use. Some of these even come in sets of 3 different sizes for layer. Oh I want these too bad.

Do you want a chance to win this Wilton Punch. Cut. Decorate! set valued at $126. If so head on over to Mom Spotted. Good Luck, but I will be honest I am keeping my fingers crossed that this giveaway comes my way!

Have I mentioned that I really wish I knew how to become a Wilton Mom Abassador to try out the newest Wilton's tools? If any of you know how I can do so please let me know!!

Baseball Cupcakes

2011-06-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

T-Ball and Prep are coming to a close tomorrow and we just happen to have snack, and it is Lil' E's birthday. Well it was planned because I am the team mom. I thought it would be fun to make cupcakes in the colors of the boys' teams. Lil' E is light blue. They were the Mariners. Doble's team is orange. They are the Tigers.

I used my FAVORITE cake recipe, but altered it a bit by substituting the vanilla for the almond extract. I think most kids like vanilla better. Then I topped it with a GENEROUS swirl of Italian Meringue Buttercream...MMMM! The little baseballs are out of fondant with tylose and then piped with royal icing.

sorry in advance to the parents whose children will be consuming all that frosting.

Star Wars Cupcakes

2011-06-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

Not the best picture of these cute little cupcakes. Lil' E is having a Star Wars themed birthday. For his Kindergarten class today we made Star Wars light saber cupcakes. Super cute and super easy! He actually just wanted frosing and star sprinkles, but can you believe it NO SPRINKLES anywhere in town. I think these turned out better and he loved them.

Can I just say that I am LOVING the frosting recipe I have been using to lately. It is so light and creamy. I will never go back to frosting with powdered sugar again.

Thomas Goes to the Circus

2011-06-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Thomas and the Chinese Dragon Birthday cake for Doble.

He wanted a Thomas Carnival cake and this is what I came up with. For his preschool class we made cupcakes to look like boxes of popcorn. This was alot of fun to make. Everything is edible. The two figures are made from gumpaste, and the circus tent is out of rice cereal treats. He chose a vanilla cake with cookies and cream filling and a chocolate cake with white chocolate buttercream and raspberry filling.

Once again I had to cover Doble's name. The red little plaque thing on the bottom layer has been colored in to hide his name.

I used nut and party cups instead of cupcake liners. Every other crease was colored using a sharpie. The popcorn look was created using marshmellows that had x's cut into the top of them and then painted using yellow food coloring. We had butter and extra butter!

Strawberry Banana Muffins

2011-05-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

About a month ago a friend on my facebook posted a link to this recipe. I knew I wanted to try it. However, strawberries and bananas don't last too long in our house. The kids devour them quicker than I can muster up the motivation to bake. A couple days ago we went to costco and bought fruit and lots of it; apples, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, bananas, and strawberries. With so much fruit in the house I was actually able to try out this new recipe!

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 medium, ripe bananas
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix the bananas, eggs, brown sugar and butter until blended. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well. Stir in vanilla and strawberries by hand so as not to mush the berries. Spoon into well greased muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
Makes 12-18 muffins.

The Verdict: The house smelt delish! I love the smell of baked goods and banana bread is one of my absolute favorites. The muffins were also very tasty. The banana and strawberry flavors as always compliment eachother. I will admit strawberries are not my favorite mushy foods. I like them fresh. I hate them in strawberry yogurt. I don't like chunks of mushy strawberries so it did take me a bit or two to get past the warm mush of strawberries. I may have to try one later when they aren't warm to see if it helps. If you can get past the mushy strawberries you are sure to love these. I have a feeling they won't last long in the house.

For more yummy recipes visit Nanzinas-Recipe-Swap.

Banana Crumb Muffin Recipe

2011-04-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight while JBody was at Priesthood session for General Conference, I decided to let the kids watch Tangled. We just received it from Netflix. With a movie, often times comes snacks. As I looked around for something for the kids to snack on I found some ripe bananas. I remembered Razy talking about making cupcakes and decided to go muffins. I quickly surfed the web for a test worthy muffin recipe. I found a yummy sounding Banana Crumb Muffin recipe with great reviews.

So what was our verdict?

DELICIOUS, yummy, ScRUMPtious,mmmmmMMMMM! The list could go on.

Here is the original version of the muffins (found on allrecipes.com). I actually made some additions. You can find those and some tips at the end of the recipe.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2.In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3.In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

So I added 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. of cinnamon to the muffin mix

The topping is seems to cook into the muffin if you add it before putting it in the oven. I actually did a batch by putting the topping mix on 5 minutes before baking time ended.

In my oven I baked the mini muffins for 7 mins then added topping and baked another 5 mins.

I baked the larger muffins for 17 mins adding the topping at the begining. Next time I would bake for 12 mins and then add topping and bake another 5 mins.

Let me know if you tried these out and what you thought.

Wanna share a muffin recipe? Post one on your blog and send me the link, send me an email (djpeachparty5 at gmail dot com) or post in my comment section. I love new recipes!

Winnie the Pooh and Friends Baby Shower Cake

2011-03-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

Winnie the Pooh Baby Shower Cake for Baby Drevin. The Client asked for an elegant Winnie the Pooh cake with bows and characters. The orginal plan was to sculpt just the Winnie the Pooh and put images of the characters on the side. After sculpting the Winnie the Pooh I decided to go ahead and do the other characters. The client was so appreciative that I wanted to go over the top with it. It pays to be thankful :) I love the way it turned out.

New technique I tried. I have a little work on it, but I think it brings in that simple elegance to the cake.

I would like to eventually own a fondant diamond impression plate.

Fondant T-I-double G-ER

Doble asked why Eeyore was smiling. "He is supposed to be sad", he said.

Cute little piglet

Sleepy Pooh

Top Layer: Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Bottom Layer: White Almond Sour Cream Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream and Fresh cut Strawberries.

All the Winnie the Pooh characters are sculpted from fondant mixed with tylose to make a gumpaste

Scroll and Swirl Wedding Cake

2011-02-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

My largest cake yet was made for my Brother and his new Bride this weekend. I had a lot of fun learning how to pipe for the first time. I can't wait to do more in the future. I was so nervous and didn't want to free hand it but I did anyway and here is what I came up with.

So as a litttle tip...you must have confidence when doing piping work. It takes practice, but the more confident you are the steadier your hand will be. I was so nervous to do this cake that I practiced a couple times prior to the real thing. The improvement jump from the first time the the third time was dramatic. I was going to pin prick the whole image onto the cake. However, I found that doing that method was actually harder. If I accidentally didn't cover the pin prick it would look bad. Freehanding actually was easier.

From Top to Bottom Tier:

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Filling

Vanilla with Lemon Cream Filling

White Almond Sour Cream with Cream Cheese Filling

Chocolate with White Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream and Raspberry Filling

The newly weds cutting the cake. Thank you guys for trusting me to make your cake. Best wishes to the both of you. I love you!

Kali and Kyle's Pinecone Wedding Cake

2011-01-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

This cake was made for a friend of the family. She gave me a picture for inspiration and a paint color chip to match the fondant to. I was really happy with the way it turned out.

The pinecones were made from real pinecones I found in the clearance section at walmart for a dollar. I then iced them with royal icing to make the snow affect. The twigs were shaped using 22g wire and then wrapped with floral tape. Let me tell you floral tape is not my favorite thing to work with. It is so sticky. The tiers are all covered in fondant and then wrapped with blue ribbon. The perfect cake for a wintery wedding.

Sunflower Cupcakes

2010-10-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

These cheery little cupcakes were made for my mom's birthday. They are vanilla cupcakes with butter cream frosting. The flower is made from an oreo with petals of buttercream. Little m&m lady bugs were placed on a few flowers.

Teddy Bear Baby Shower Cake

2010-10-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

This was a baby shower gift for a friend's baby shower. She didn't know what she was having, but told me the babies room was being done in these colors and teddy bears. Everything on the cake is edible.

aww isn't he cute?!

Proud soon to be mama...She had her a beautiful baby girl in December.

Congratulations Morgan and John!

Princess and The Frog Cake

2010-09-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

For Razy's Birthday all she kept asking for was Princess and The Frog. She had never even seen the movie all the way through. I think that it was because the word Princess was in the title. I don't know who loved her cake more, her or I. Everything is edible, except for the figurines. I even tried out gumpaste flowers for the first time and loved it.

Love the effect the blue piping gel gave to the pond.

One happy little princess.

Princess and The Frog Cupcakes

2010-09-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

These are Razy's Birthday cupcakes for her preschool class. I forgot to put the cattails on the lily pad cupcakes. You can see them on the cake though.

Seattle Mariners Birthday Cake

2010-08-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

This year for Lil' E's birthday Lil' E told me "NO FONDANT" So I did just that. I tried a new technique that apparently I am horrible at. I tried to do a buttercream transfer and I need alot more practice. It didn't help that it was warm and humid and things were melting and just plain old didn't work. But here is what it looked like. Lil' E loves baseball and LOVES the Mariners. So we did a Seattle Mariners baseball birthday cake.

Can you see where the cake got bumped by one of the kids? Oops should have taken pictures sooner.

He loved it non the less.

Elegant Black Tie Wedding Cake

2010-08-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

I will admit that I was extremely nervous for this cake. I have known that I was going to be making it for about 8 months. A wedding cake is a big deal and I didn't want to make any mistakes. After setting up the cake I was actually really pleased. I started thinking... "Hey I actually can do this cake thing". I even had someone ask me to make thier wedding cake. Who knows, maybe when the kids are older I could go into business.

16" square - sour cream almond cake and buttercream filling and icing

12" square - chocolate cake with nutella filling and buttercream icing

8" square - lemon cake with lemon filling and icing

***Thanks to my friend Katrina for the chocolate cake recipe and the nutella idea. The cake tasted just as good as it looked.

Congratulations Vanessa and Joshua!!

Thomas Roundhouse Cake

2010-05-16T23:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Doble

This is my 4th Thomas the Tank Engine themed cake in 4 years. Three of them have been for Doble. I don't know what I am going to do if he asks me for another one. I am running out of ideas. I may have one more up my sleeve. However, I would love it if he came up with something else. We are all Thomas'd out. All of us but Doble. However, how could I say no to a face like the following picture. It makes it all worth it.

He was so excited for his cake and even told me that his cake made him laugh. Not because it was silly looking, but because it made him so happy. I love the reaction my kids give me when they see their cakes.

So some may say that this cake is a "simple" cake. Can I just let you know that I didn't have a stencil or mold to make the brick on the side of the roundhouse? I used a single pez candy and imprinted the brick onto the building. I also color ALL my fondant and to get the colors to come out exactly how you want them can be very time consuming, especially when you are working in large amounts.

Owen was trying to help Doble blow out his candle. Luckily he didn't blow it out all the way.

Happy Birthday sweet Doble. I hope you LOVED your cake. Mommy loved makig it for you.

Once again the cake was covered in fondant. I used his Thomas toys are decorations. The cake was a "Too Much Chocolate" cake with cream cheese frosting. He likes chocolate and it was alot of it.

Thomas Cupcakes!

2010-05-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about these cupcakes. I think that they turned out super cute and Doble is super excited for me to bring them to school later this morning. The eyes turned out a little buggy, but I had to work with the cutters that I had. Other than that they were actually pretty easy to make. I made 15 for his class and have 24 more to add alongside his birthday cake this weekend. We added one more cupcake to to the mix, but you will have to wait till we post the cake pictures later this week.

I can't believe this is my 4th year in a row making a Thomas the Train themed cake (3 for Doble). We'll see if he lets me change it up next year. He is just so in love with this beloved train and his friends.

Can't you just tell by the look on his face?

Close up of our favorite Train

THOMAS

The very proud birthday boy.

Tomorrow he turns 4!!

Peek a boo Thomas.

The cupcakes are my usual white almond sour cream cake with buttercream icing. This time I filled the cupcakes with buttercream and just put enough on the top to set the toppers on top. The toppers are all fondant and food coloring painted faces.

Dino cupcakes

2010-05-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

The boys have been learning all about Dinosaurs in preschool. Well mostly Doble's class. They have even made a 6 foot paper mache dinosaur for their classes to pull in the Grand Parade this weekend. After the parade the school is having a family get together where the three classes, families, and past alumni can sit and visit. The boys are a little torn because they had to choose the parade and party for a Mariners game. They chose the Mariners game and of coarse now that I have the tickets they want to do the parade and party. Although we will not be going to the parade and party we still made these Dino Cupcakes for everyone else to enjoy. Sadly I made exactly 24 so they couldn't even have one spare.

I have no idea why the purple frosting looks blue. I couldn't figure out a good setting on my camera. I think it is from the lighting in the house. The Dino cutouts were all done by hand since I have still to get my cricut cake. One day I will get one just wait and see.

mmm 24 cupcakes

I was impressed that Doble knew all the names of the dinosaurs. I guess he really does pay attention.

My new cupcake caddy. So excited for this.

Snug as a cupcake in a tub. Now no little fingers can get to them and it makes for very easy transport. I have to make cupcakes 2 more times in the next 3 weeks for school, on top of 2 cakes. This is our busy birthday time.

Twilight Series Cake

2010-03-26T18:20:00.001-07:00

This is the cake I made for my mother in laws 60th Birthday. I will say that I am so pleased with it. This one and my Minnie Mouse Cake are my two favorites I have done lately. So as you can see this is a Twilight Themed cake. Can you see each book represented in the cake?

Twilight: The apple

New Moon: The words and the flowers

Eclipse: The ribbon

Breaking Dawn: The chess board middle tier and the chess pieces.

Each tier was a different flavor

Top: sour cream almond

Middle: red velvet (loved the effect)

Bottom: too much chocolate (first time I have ever used this recipe and loved it)

The cake was frosted in cream cheese frosting and then covered in white fondant. Then I embellished the cake with hand colored fondant. Everything was edible, chess pieces and all.

Needless to say my mother in law LOVED the cake. I was so excited to make this for her as she is a huge fan of Twilight.

Minnie Mouse Birthday Cake

2010-03-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is probably my all time favorite cake I have made thus far. I made it for Razy's 2nd birthday. I wanted to do a fairy cake, but in September we went to disney and since we would be celebrating her actual birthday at Disneyland I made her a Minnie Mouse Themed cake. It has taken me months to post it but I didn't want to neglect putting it on her.

The cake is a sour cream almond cake. It was layered with a fudgy filling and covered in buttercream before covering in fondant and fondant embellishments. The ribbon was fondant as well with little buttercream dots. She loved it as did I. I guess you could say I made it for my birthday as well since our birthdays are only 3 days apart.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Cupcakes

2010-02-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Friday nights are movie nights. One Friday we decided to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. In honor of the movie I made some Speghetti with Meatballs Cupcakes. The cupcakes were made using the Almond Sour Cream Cake recipe. I placed the cupcakes on the a plate and then covered them all messily with buttercream icing squeezed through a round tip. I placed the meatballs (oreo truffles) on top of the noodles and spooned homemade strawberry jam over the whole thing. MMM MMM Yummy! I have seen ferrero rocher chocolates used as the meatballs. However, Lil' E is allergic to nuts.

Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. of oreos finely crushed

1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened

2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S semi sweet chocolate, melted

Mix the oreo crumbs and cream cheese together. Shape into balls. Dip into melted chocolate. Set aside on wax paper to set.

ARG!! Me Berry own Treasure Chest Cake

2010-02-11T14:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a Pirate's Treasure Cake made for a friends little boy. I really wanted the chest to open, but soon figured out that this wasn't going to happen unless I built a false back to the cake and with time I chose not to do that. This beast weighed a ton and could feed around 200. I think I went over board for Jorel's small party of 8 kids, but he loved it. I frosted the cake in chocolate cream cheese frosting and embellished it with fondant and gold pearl dust. The fun part was all the treasures around the chest. Ring pops, candy necklaces, chocolate coins, hershey chocolate treasures and rolos layed around the chest that lay on a pirate's treasure map. Happy Birthday Jorel!

UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship Cake

2010-02-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

I take alot of pictures of my cakes don't I? I can never choose which ones to post so I just post alot. This cake I made for my husband during our Valentine Week celebration. He is a big fan of mixed martial arts and the UFC. I have actually never made him a cake before so I decided to make one for him this year. Let me tell you I was excited to pull this off without him knowing. I finished the cake in a day and I didn't even start baking it till about 1:30. I was able to finish it by 6:30 when he got home from lunch. It is my White Almond Sour Cream Cake with buttercream frosting and strawberries in the center. The logos were all hand cut from fondant. I bought the fighters at Walmart. It was a fun cake to make and the kids were so excited to have daddy see it.

It's A Boy Basketball Cake

2009-08-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

Baby Shower cake for a friend of mine. Her husband loves basketball and they were doing the baby's room in basketball so to go along with the theme I made this cake for them. The cake itself is a sour cream almond cake and the basketball is a chocolate cake. They are both frosted in buttercream and embellished with fondant basketballs and jersey. I painted the name and number on the jersey and the stripes on the small basketballs. Next time I would not paint. It looks way better done in all fondant.

Shark Cake

2009-06-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

Lil' E's 5th Birthday Cake. It is supposed to be a Great White Shark...some thought maybe a nurse shark because it was so big. It is the first time I have covered a cake completely with fondant. The body was easy to cover. The fins and the tail another story. The cake is a red velvet cake with the fins and the tail made out of rice crispie treats. It was also my first attempt at airbrushing. Over all I was happy with the result. To decorated with swedish fish and sea shells that I made from fondant. For a recipe of the cake see below.

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 ounces red food coloring

2 1/2 cups cake flour (I used all purpose with great results)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 3 (8-inch) round greased and floured pans (or pan size of choice). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.

Tiered Thomas Cake

2009-06-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here is Doble's 3rd Birthday cake. We just couldn't talk him into any other cake. He loves Thomas too too much. So for the 3rd time I have made a Thomas cake. He loved it as did I. I am also in love with the new recipe I have found. It makes such a moist cake. mmm yummy.

One tier is chocolate and the other is vanilla. Buttercream icing with fondant decorations. The trains are toys. Happy Birthday Doble!

The below recipe is the new recipe I found.

WHITE ALMOND SOUR CREAM WEDDING CAKE

SERVES 40 -50

Ingredients
2 (18 ounce) boxes white cake mix (Betty Crocker or Pillsbury)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 2/3 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons real vanilla
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 cups sour cream
8 large egg whites

Directions
1. Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed until everything is wet. Do not overmix. Recipes tell you to mix for 2 mins. I don't go the full length.
3. Pour into greased and floured cake pans, filling each pan a little over half full. I like to line the bottom of my pan with parchment paper for easy release.
4. Lightly tap cake pans on counter to bring air bubbles to top.
5. Bake in preheated 325° F oven until cake tests done.
6. Baking time varies according to the size and depth of pans being used.

In 2" deep pans, this recipe makes:
One 14" round and one 6" round
or One 16" round
or One 12" round and one 10" round
or One 12 X 18" sheet cake
or One 12" round and one 8" round and one 6" round
or Two 9" squares.
or 5 dozen cupcakes.

Half the recipe makes:
Two 7" rounds
or Two 6" rounds and 6 cupcakes.

For chocolate cake: use chocolate mixes and substitute 6 whole eggs for the egg whites.

For berry flavors: use frozen berries, thaw reserving the juice. Substitute the berry juice for part of the water in the recipe, and stir the berries in at the end.

For lemon cake: substitute lemon juice for about 1 cup of the water in the recipe, use 6 whole eggs instead of the whites, stir in 1 Tblsp lemon zest, and use 1 tsp of a good lemon extract in place of the almond.

For white chocolate: melt 8oz white baking chocolate & cool slightly. use 6 whole eggs in the recipe instead of the whites, temper the chocolate by stirring in a small amount of the batter, then add the white chocolate to the entire batter and stir well. Doesn't bake up quite as high as the original, so add a pinch more batter to the pans.

** I have made this by substituting more vanilla for the almond. I perfer the almond flavor but JBody really liked the vanilla flavor.

**If making a chocolate cake I do not recommend adding extra vanilla for the almond. And don't use a milk chocolate cake mix they don't taste as good (my preferences)

Pink and Brown Onsie Baby Shower Cake

2009-03-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a new cake I have made for a Baby Shower tonight. The baby's name is Riley. She was born last Monday. The mommy didn't have any preferences on the cake, just that it was chocolate. She told me to surprise her. So I went with what I knew I would like...Pink and Brown. I wisha that the pictures gave justice to the true colors of the cake.

This cake is a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and fondant decorations.

Pink and Green Polka Dots

2008-09-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

It was so much fun to finally make a little girl's birthday cake. For Razy's first birthday we went with a pink and green polka-dot theme.

6" round is chocolate cake

10" round is vanilla cake

6" round smash cake is chocolate cake

All are decorated with buttercream icing and embellished with marshmallow fondant.

The candle was purchased from Party City and says, "fun to be one".

The topper on the large cake is a Willowcreek figurine that says, "birthday girl".

Pink and Green Pinata

2008-09-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

This pinata was made to match the pink and green polka-dot cake. It is a pull string pinata and can be reused. Each participant pulls one string and one lucky winner releases the candy.

It was made for a first birthday and the A is for the beggining letter of the birthday girls name.

Pink and Green Polka-Dot Birthday Announcement

2008-09-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

This announcement was made to match Razy's Polka-Dot themed party.

Pink and Green Birthday Banner

2008-09-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry these aren't the best pictures. I made this banner for Razy's Polka-Dot themed party. The banner says Happy 1st Birthday. I made it using my cricut. The scalloped shapes are made with the minimogram cartridge. The circles and squares with the George and Basic Shapes cartridge and the letters with the Pooh Font cartridge. Each shape is connected with ribbon and tulle. I reinforced the holes with eyelets so it will last longer.

Spiderman Cake

2008-06-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

This year for his 4th birthday, Lil' E chose Spiderman. I was going to attempt another 3D cake, but opted for a city scene instead. He loved it. 6" round is vanilla cake, 10" round is chocolate. Decorated in buttercream icing with rolled fondant city and stars and black piping for web and outlines. The spiderman is a store bought candle.

Spiderman Pinata

2008-06-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at a fringe pinata. All others that I have done in the past have just been spray painted. We think these kind look way better.

Spiderman Invitation

2008-06-04T07:00:00.001-07:00

Here is Lil' E's birthday invitation. It of course had the correct information for the where abouts and phone.

Spiderman Thank You

2008-06-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

This thank you was attached to small notepads of papers and put into the goody bag we sent home with his party friends.

Word Search Birthday Cake

2008-05-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

I made this birthday cake for a friend of the family. His parents said that he loves word searches so I came up with this.

3-D Thomas the Tank Engine Cake

2008-05-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for Doble's 2nd Birthday. I thought it would be so easy because I had a step by step tutorial to follow. By the time I had the cake shaped and ready to frost it had already begun to thaw. So putting the crumb layer of frosting was a bit hard. It kept ripping the cake apart. By the time the cake was finished it had so much frosting on it and 3 dowels in place to keep it from tipping over. Needless to say Doble enjoyed it. And for a first time attempt at a 3-D cake I thought it was pretty good. The face and the track are made of fondant. The rest of the cake is chocolate cake with buttercream frosted icing.

2008-05-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

Doble's Birthday Invitation. I made it to look like a train ticket. The bording pass number 10M 2008 was the date of the party (May 10).

Pink and Brown Polka Dot Baby Shower Cake

2007-09-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

I love pink and brown. 2 weeks before having Razy I made this pink and brown baby shower cake for my own shower. In the picture her name has been squiggled. I just love the polkadots. The cake is a yellow cake with buttercream frosting. The baby in the middle is made using glaze.

Wolf Graduation Cake

2007-06-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for my little sister's graduation party. The graduation cap was done using a glaze and the rest was done using buttercream and a star tip. The SHS and wolf looked like patches on a lettermans jacket.

Glaze Filled Thomas the Tank Engine Cake

2007-06-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

This cake was made for Lil' E's 3rd Birthday. I will never forget how excited he was when he saw it. I made this cake using a filled glaze technique I learned from Karen.

2007-06-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here is Lil' E's Birthday invitation for his 3rd Birthday.

To see the cake for this party click
here.

Squirt the Turtle and Starfish Cake

2007-05-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for Doble's 1st Birthday. The guest cake is Squirt from Finding Nemo. It is a chocolate cake with buttercream icing. I used graham crackers for the sand and goldfish for the fish. Doble's cake is a star fish made with yellow cake and buttercream icing.

Race Track Cake

2006-06-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for Lil' E's 2nd Birthday. He was really into cars that year. It is two round yellow cakes decorated with buttercream icing. The cars on top are just two hotwheels and the Happy Birthday was printed off the computer.

Alligator and Frog Cake

2005-06-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

This friendly duo was made for Lil' E's 1st Birthday. I had a lot of help from my friend Lindy.I couldn't have done it without her. She basically shaped and detailed while I just did the easy frosting and teeth.
The frog is a yellow cake frosted with buttercream icing and apple-o candies, and candy eyes. The alligator is a chocolate cake frosted with buttercream icing and decorated with candy eyes and airheads for the teeth and tongue. The jaw is made of rice krispie treats.
Thank you Lindy for getting me started with making birthday cakes for my kids.