Well it looks like I haven't posted in quite a while. This last year has been super crazy with work and travel that I haven't had much time to catch my breath. My last post left off with my new job in Washington State. Well since then I have now moved to Nashville, Tennessee for my permanent placement and hopefully last big move for a while. I enjoyed exploring the beautiful scenery in Washington State, but was not a big fan of all the rain and gray skys in the fall and winter, so hopefully Nashville weather will be a bit nicer. With all my moving around and travel for training and classes, I haven't had too much time for cakes. Since my last post, I only made 5 cakes, 1 custom cupcake stand and 2 cupcake orders.
The first cake was created for a co-worker's baby shower. Her nursery theme was hot air balloons and I wanted to make a cake based off of that. The balloon part and basket are both made out of chocolate cake. I used toothpicks for the strings and painted them with edible paint. I also hand-painted each of the colors onto the balloon with edible paint.
The first cake was created for a co-worker's baby shower. Her nursery theme was hot air balloons and I wanted to make a cake based off of that. The balloon part and basket are both made out of chocolate cake. I used toothpicks for the strings and painted them with edible paint. I also hand-painted each of the colors onto the balloon with edible paint.
The next cake I created was also for a co-worker. Her grandson was a big fan of Jake the Pirate, so the cake was themed after that. The pirate map is a thinly rolled piece of fondant that I tattered the edges of to make it look weathered.
This next cake was a fun cake to do. I recreated R2-D2 from Star Wars. I created a wooden internal structure to elevate the main body of the cake. I also used rice krispy treats (rkt) for the legs and coated them in modeling chocolate and fondant. I used rkt because it would be able to hold its shape better than cake. I also added some LED lights as an extra touch. I covered the bottom of the lights in plastic wrap so they would not come in contact with the cake.
This next cake was very special to me. My boyfriend is a huge fan of all things Legend of Zelda, so I decided to make him a Legend of Zelda - Hylian Shield. He actually wanted to help with the cake, so I taught him how to make the cake batter. The actual cake part was all him, but the decorating part I did.
This next cake I created not only the cupcakes, but also the stand that went with them. The cupcakes were made for a baby shower and the theme was woodland creatures. I immediately thought of incorporating a tree into the cupcakes somehow. I decided to create a cupcake tree stand. I used 1/2" MDF board and cut out a tree trunk shape. I also had to size the platforms to fit all the cupcakes onto the stand. Once I got everything cut out and sanded, I painted the stand to look like a tree. For the cupcakes I created a variety of forest animals and plants out of fondant. I also made cupcake wrappers using a circle punch. Overall this was a really fun design.
This next cake was a bit tricky to coordinate. I made all the decorations and baked the cake in Washington State and decorated it in Washington DC. This was my first experience flying with a cake. I didn't have any issues with airport security questioning the cake and I was able to fit the cake box under the seat in front of me. Cake does get a bit heavy carrying it around though. The only issue I had while decorating this cake was time coordination between myself and the location where I was going to decorate the cake.
My last cake I made was cupcakes for my niece's graduation party. This was also a traveling cake. I made most of the hat and scroll decorations in Nashville and baked and assembled the cupcakes back home in Iowa. I did find a new cupcake liner that is amazing. I used grease-proof cupcake liners and after baking, you could still see the pretty design on the outside whereas normally the design is hard to see after baking. I will definitely use these cupcake liners in the future.
Well that is all the cakes and cupcakes I have made this past year. Hopefully once I settle into Nashville I will start making more cake creations.
~Mary
~Mary