A Wacky Day!!!

A wacky cake that turned into a wacky day!

Some special friends of ours were celebrating their daughter's 6th birthday who is also a very good friend of Miss A's. So when her mom told me she was having a Madagascar circus themed party I knew it had to be spectacular and definitely wacky!!!
I love to make topsy turvy cakes but they are very time consuming and when you cut the layers there is always the chance that you cut too much or not straight enough and it just doesn't look right. They now have pans that are already shaped at an angle, but you have to buy more pans and in all sizes....that of course requires funds and space to store. I have seen some trends in wacky topsy turvy cake stands that basically tilt the cake for you! No cutting necessary! I looked up some stands on-line and found some to purchase anywhere from $99 to $500 for kits. Then I saw some DIY videos and pictures. All it took was a design I had in mind and showing my husband Henry the stands and he was so ready to try to make one! CHALLENGE ON!

Well the stand was complete and when it was time to stack the cakes I'm not going to lie, we had a few re-do's in regard to cutting the holes in the board but we got it!!!

Of course it wasn't just the wacky style cake that made this day wacky. As I was finishing up the top layer, which I had to access on my tip toes, my pregnant belly got in the way so I had to push the bar stool out of the way further. When I did it hit the corner post and came back on my foot! Let's just say my foot looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame! My fabulous neighbor Michelle took me to the ER so Henry and the kiddos could deliver the cake!! The show must go on!!! 

Thank goodness my foot was just super bruised. I would post a pic of my foot, but it may be inappropriate. 

Bottom layer:

The bottom layer had Melman and Gloria!  

Marty and Gia sat on the second layer which was a harlequin pattern. When Henry delivered it since I was in the ER I was not able to help secure the cake in transit and the middle layer swung around and did get a little smashed. :(

The top layer had Alex the Lion of course!! And the fabulous circus tent. This was the layer that got me!

The birthday girl and her cake! 

Shower of Good Wishes and Good Cake!

I had the absolute pleasure to create a bridal shower cake today. I didn't know the bride but I had the opportunity to get to know her best friend in the planning of the cake. She is absolutely fabulous and has great taste. Just so grateful she trusted me with this special cake. The bottom layer was red velvet cake with white chocolate filing and the top layer was chocolate with a strawberry filling. Of course the outside was buttercream. Pink fondant pearls around the base of both cakes. The bridal dress was made of a corset style bodice with edible sparkle dust, a pink bouquet of flowers with pearl centers, and the skirted part of the dress was ruffled rose petals that were cut out and shaped individually and dusted with a hint of shimmer dust. Miss Alexa said someday when she gets married she wants a cake just like this! haha...I hope I have at least 20 years or so!!! Ha ha!

An "Engaging" Cake

I live in Collin County in Texas north of Dallas and in this area there are more kids between the ages of 0-5 then 6-18...which means we have a lot of baby stores, kid friendly restaurants, and you can't walk in the mall without getting run over by a few hundred strollers! Which explains why most of the cake requests I receive are usually a kid theme of some sort and pretty busy in regard to all the detail. It is a nice break to get a request for a more formal affair. I am starting to play with cake fillings so this cake of course had the usual buttercream frosting for all the outside of the cake. The bottom tier had buttercream in the middle, middle tier had a vanilla white chocolate, and the top tier had a strawberry preserve. I used a ribbon to wrap around the base and a type of coated raffia for that chic country look. Of course the chic can in place with the fondant magnolias with pearl dusted petals and gold shimmer centers. This what one of my favorite cakes to make for sure!!!

One Fine Summer Day...

Today was a special day for an amazing and beautiful little girl who is close to my heart. It was her first birthday and this little girl has taken to the water from day one! So it was fitting to have a swim party...

It's not summer without a beach ball, flip flops and an umbrella!

Smash Cake all edible except flower stem and umbrella!

Shells, flip flops, umbrellas, beach balls, and hibiscus flowers....can you smell the ocean spray? ha!

Not complete without the birthday girls name!!! ;)

Happy Birthday Jordan...so glad I got to spend this special day with you and I feel privileged to have made your special smash cake and cupcakes!

Those infamous ears!

Today was a birthday for a fabulous little girl with more gusto then I have in my little finger. She wanted a Minnie Mouse cake for her special day. I must say it is kind of nice to do a similar cake more than once. Usually each cake is the first time for me but I have done a very similar Minnie Mouse cake before for another fabulous little girl. Minnie Mouse is pretty awesome I must admit! The other duplicate cake I did was Lightning McQueen Cars cake. There is something special about Mickey and Minnie Mouse...makes you feel like a kid again! Just something about those black ears!!!!

"Laughter is timeless,

imagination has no age,

and dreams are forever."

              - Walt Disney

Bottom layer is chocolate with white buttercream, top layer is white cake with hot pink dyed buttercream icing. All other accents are all fondant and edible of course.

I free handed the lettering for her name so it would match the classic Walt Disney font. I hope I did it justice. 

Pikachu saves the day!

When I think of superheroes I think of your garden variety cartoon superhero like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Underdog, Mighty Mouse...you get the picture. But yesterday my hero was a Pokemon character called Pikachu! This yellow Japanese Pokemon creature from the media franchise of anime did not have to store electricity in its cheeks and release it in lightning-based attacks to save me...no...all this cute little red cheeked lightning tail had to do was sit on a cake and look adorable! So adorable in fact that young boys love him so much that even a Father cannot pass up an opportunity to make his son happy and present him with some form of Pikachu. Where am I going with this you ask? I don't really know...I kind of lost track on the Wiki reading up on Pikachu who is often found in houses, forests, plains, and occasionally near mountains, islands, and electrical sources like power plants. As I delivered this cute little fondant Pikachu to a mom who was making her son happy presenting him with a cake, I somehow got pulled over by a man of the law. Not the Lone Ranger...my Armada could have outrun that horse! haha...sorry. Anyway...as I pulled to the side to see what this man of the law needed I misjudged the shoulder of the road which was not really a shoulder but more of an armpit and I could hear the cake box slide and hit the side of the car. I got out to check on the cake, after the police officer nicely with his hand on his gun asked me not to make any sudden moves...and when he saw the precious yellow Pikachu perched atop the cake...he smiled...and I knew I had him right where I wanted...I mean...I knew he had a son who would love a Pikachu cake. It wasn't a bribe per say, just a mention. I drove off with a smile on my face and a piece of paper that "warned" me not do it again. Thanks Pikachu, I choose you as my hero!

Summer lovin...in the form of cupcakes!!!

Summer beach themed cupcakes of course!

We celebrated this weekend with a new concept called a Progressive Pool Party...a couple of my neighbor gals hosted along with myself...Appetizers at one house, dinner at another, and dessert at the third and final house which was mine! Other neighbor guests brought sides to the second house which was dinner. The kids enjoyed swimming at each of the houses and it was super fun to see them pack up all wet and wrapped in their beach towels walking the neighborhood to the next house! The rule for the adults is that they had to at least make it into one pool! Very honored it was our house...the last stop on the pool road trip which was hanging in the spa. We also picked a vodka based summer cocktail to have available at each house. Great drinks like orange creamsicle, vodka tea, vodka lemonade, vodka cherry limeade, and watermelon vodka slushy. What a great night with a few neighbor friends!

We definitely need to do this again!!!

Shark fin (fondant) chocolate cupcakes / Strawberry beach cupcakes with umbrellas (drink paper umbrellas), beachballs (cherry gumball), beach chair (stick of gum), and blue and yellow sanding sugar for water and sand. I used a few graham cracker crumbs for sand as well but don't actually like the taste of it with my buttercream so opted to do more sanding sugar and less graham cracker. 

Compliments of the show Cupcake Wars found this recipe on Food Network: Chocolate Vodka Raspberry Rock Star Cupcakes.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocolate-vodka-raspberry-rock-star-cupcake-recipe/index.html

Good times!