Juicy Couture 13th Birthday Cake

Chocolate cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup broken up into it along with mini chocolate chips. 

Alli loved her birthday cake

Cherry Blossom Cake

This cake is for my inspiration.  She is a member at the gym and when she first signed up she was taking a Group X class….. kickboxing.  I went to check on her to see how she liked the class and she happened to be setting up for the next class….. a Les Mills Body Pump class.  I was in AWE…. I mean the kickboxing class kicks my butt!  After that class I’m done!  So for her to set up for two difficult classes in a row….. just amazed me.
I know some of you are probably wondering why is that so amazing?  Well this cake I made for is in celebration of her 76th birthday!  Yup you got it, 76 years old!  Now isn’t she your inspiration too!  I asked her what her secret was and she replied that fitness is a very important part of her life.  She’s been doing it for years.  It’s what keeps her healthy and happy.  She’s proof of that.  She’s an amazing lady!



This cake is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Carrot cake is a favorite flavor of many so I make it often.  However not very often with the fondant on top.  Why?  Because the cream cheese frosting and fondant fight with each other. I could use a more crusting cream cheese frosting but it would be extremely sweet and the carrot cake is sweet enough.  I like the traditional cream cheese frosting which is just enough sweetness for the cake. 
Pink flowers are made of 50/50 gp/fondant.  The fondant was pink and I added petal dust with a lil luster dust to pop it out.  Branches are hand painted.  One thing I want to learn more is the hand painting.  I love the look when it’s done. 
What I learned from this cake:  When baking the carrot cake it usually has a hard outer crust so usually no need to trim.  When applying the crumb coat around the cake, have it extremely thin just enough to cover the cake.  Let the cake show through if it has to.  No need to put another layer of frosting.  When I laid the fondant on top, I hadn’t trimmed the cake board and thus the fondant laid over it and wrinkled up.  Yes the fondant and I had a fight!  I ended up winning, I think   Next time prior to laying the fondant over, I generally like to have it set on a support to where I can fold the fondant under.  I seem to get a cleaner cover that way.
Fondant and I are still getting to know each other.  It takes a lot of practice to achieve perfection with this sugar and I WILL conquer its challenge!

NIKE SHOE CAKE (WELL SOME WHAT OF A NIKE LOOK)

 This cake is made for Stevie (A Personal Trainer) who collects Nike shoes.  Yup he has a collection.  I've seen a photo of his closet and I can tell you ladies, he has all you beat in the shoe collection!

I graphically designed a piece that would go along the side of the shoe.  Stevie  always has a unique way of verbally expressing himself.  One of his clients, and a personal friend of mine, gave me some of those sayings he uses so uniquely.  I added my personal favorite he says ..... EEEE'YEAH.

Pretty much all my cakes are first time creations for me.  This one I thought would be pretty simple but it was harder then I thought it would be.  Maybe it would have been easier if I had given myself more time. 

First and most frustrating, I ended up wasting about 1-1/2 hours at the bakery getting an edible sugar sheet printed out.  The lady in the bakery didn't know what she was doing.  Tried printing it out three times (wasting those precious and expensive sugar sheets and edible ink) to tell me after waiting about 30 minutes, I have to wait for the other girl to return from lunch to have it printed because she couldn't get it right.  "URGH!" I hate when my time is wasted!  After another 45 minutes I finally got my sugar sheet done but not good enough.  So I need to work with what I had. --------> I need to just buy my own machine.  After I spend the $ on this so many times, it'll be paid off and I can do it right THE FIRST TIME.

My start time was 3:30pm Sunday, February 12th.  My end time, 10pm Sunday night.

1) I took 1-1/2 large frozen sheet cakes and a template 

and cut four layers.  Filled with buttercream, then

put back into the fridge to set up firm. After set, I 

began carving.  My one dislike on my carving was

I wish I had made the front more narrow.  

2) RKT added to make the back of the shoe and 

the tongue

3) After completely carved, I crumb coated with

the vanilla buttercream.  Now back to the fridge

to set up.  Then pulled out and smoothed. 

Repeated this a couple of times.

 

After crumb coat is set, I covered with fondant and decorated. 

I was tired and got lazy and instead of rolling the white fondant

out in one full piece to cover, I did it in pieces.  NOT the way

I would do this next time.  Makes it for a messy look and in turn

ended up taking longer.  

I was not satisfied with this look that you see above and it 

bothered me all night.  Yup another sleepless night!  

Which means I got up at 4am and pulled off some pieces to

replace with others.  Finished the shoe laces, then placed on the

cake board that had been decorated earlier with wording and ribbon.

The finished cake :)

Stevie was HAPPY :)

WINE BOTTLE CAKE

For Lizette's (one of 24 Hour Fitness/San Ramon's incredible Personal Trainers) birthday.  I knew she liked wine and always made comments on my husband's cake, so I knew exactly what to make for her.  It was a new recipe; chocolate cake with an espresso (Peet's Coffee's espresso) buttercream.  Covered in home made marshmallow fondant and hand painted.  I digitally created the image (see below) and had it printed out on edible sugar.  I wish I had my own printer so I could ensure it's color was more accurate.  A lot of times (surprisingly) the people that work within the stores bakery don't always know what they are doing.

The biggest complication of this cake is painting the bottle.  It's hard to get a look without drippings or brush strokes showing.  Takes a lot of patience and time.  One issue was the shortening which I use to smooth out some of the fondant in some areas.  Well shortening acts as a barrier.  Lesson learned: Eliminate shortening to smooth out fondant. Task: Find another way to smooth it out.

Wine Bottle Cake 2/9/12

Lizette & her Cake

After the cake is FINALLY cut.  She didn't want to cut it ;)

I created this label with multiple photos

TRAGIC but not so TRAGIC story for this Patron Cake

I work at a gym and had this cake on display for the Birthday Girl to arrive and see as she walked in. It was sitting right behind me in what I thought was safe keeping until....... A man of about the age of 50ish or so all sweaty after working out and talking on the phone, walks up to the cake and picks it up by the NECK! The trainer that was talking to me sees this and was like......"No, oh no....." then her head goes down. I asked "WHAT?!" and she tells me what the sweaty man does. I turn around and the cake is still all intact (And to think that I was worried about the drive in the car). I was with beyond words that someone would do such a thing. 


The only damage to the cake was he dented my ribbon a lil bit and put his ugly sweaty finger prints on it. Not to mention and most importantly, who wants to eat the cake now?! 

Now I know how you cake artists feel after a tragic event happens to a cake. 

I was so mad that I actually had to leave the area before I attacked the dumbass with words of: 

1. Look with your eyes, not your hands DUMBASS!
2. Does it have your name on it to touch it at all?.....DUMBASS!
3. Ummmm hello, Patron is clear NOT white.....DUMBASS!
4. What gives you the right to touch this or anything for that matter within this area!....DUMBASS!
   

After the man touched the cake, he walked away like he did nothing wrong. No apologies..... NOTHING. Not that I would accept it anyway. Lesson learned..... PUT A BIG SIGN SAYING..... "THIS IS A CAKE.....KEEP YOUR SWEATY PAWS OFF OF IT!......DUMBASS!!!!

Cake is made of:

• Pistachio Cake with Pistachio Filling. 
• Home made Marshmallow Fondant
• Hand painted with the exception of the label
• I created the label digitally myself.
• Unfortunately I had run out of time and had only time to print out a label on clear film.  Brushing the fondant with water made it become adhesive.  She would have to remove the image prior to cutting the cake.

Money Cake for our District Manager

For someone who LOVES to collect money or just MAKE IT.

• Chocolate cake with white buttercream and raspberry filling.  
• The Million Dollars is from an image I did and had it printed out on edible sugar to adhere to the top.  
• I used my Silhouette to cut all the signs.  
• The coins are from See's candy (Only the best chocolate around).  
• The money bag is made from cake pop ingredients then covered in fondant and airbrushed.

Needless to say the Big Daddy totally loved it and was very surprised.  

REBECCA'S 21ST BIRTHDAY

Vanilla Cake with vanilla buttercream and rasberry filling.  

She’s 50 & Fabulous

Chocolate cake filled with raspberry white butter cream.  Crumb coated with Ganauche. 

I was asked to make a cake by a friend for her friend who is turning 50.  She wanted something with a martini glass.  I thought, hmmmm, since I make cakes for the fun of it, I’m not really in the mood to construct a martini glass.  I suggested to her that they buy a custom-made martini glass that she can have as a keepsake.  I lead them to

 

Kudo’s Kitchen offers you a unique brand of wonderfully detailed hand-painted glassware and ceramic tiles. She specializes in completely personal pieces that fit your many interests, occasions and people in your life. I’ve ordered from her and the quality is outstanding and the artwork is amazing!  If there is anyone you would like to have a personalized gift done for, Kudo’s Kitchen is the place to go!  The photo of the glass doesn’t do it justice to what it looks like in person.  One other KUDO for Kudo’s Kitchen, when your item arrives, it is beautifully and professionally packed and ready for wrapping.

 

The Process of the Cake:

I wish I had taken more pictures of the process.  I’ll have to remember to do so next time.

I can’t say that doing stripes is my favorite.  It was my first attempt at it and it was a painstaking process for sure.  I drew up a template within my Photoshop program.  Printed out several copies in black & white (to save on my color ink).  The pink was the shadowed color.  I measured around the cake pan and compensated for about 1/4” of ganauche to go around it.  I wasn’t sure of the exact measurement of the circumference or height of the cake, so I guesstimated the whole way. 

I taped together the print out of the template to be what I thought was close to the circumference of the cake, leaving a very long template on my table.  I then laid wax paper on top taping both together so the template stayed In place with the waxed paper.  Each cut out piece would be laid upon this template.

I then rolled out some fondant and laid wax paper on top of it.  Then took another sheet of the print out of the template and placed it on top of wax paper for cutting out each piece.  The reason for putting the wax paper on top of the fondant is to keep it sealed from drying out while cutting out all the other pieces.  The wax paper will remain on the fondant until the very end prior to putting onto the cake. 

The scallops along the top were easy.  Now this is the part that took *F.O.R.E.V.E.R* to do and why I’m not stoked on doing stripes.    I rolled out the white fondant and using a very sharp exacto knife, cut each strip out individually.  Then I did the same for the pink.  Once one sheet was done, I would take it to the cake template and place each one according to the template.  If you’ve worked with fondant before you would know it’s like clay and can easily be squished or disproportioned.  What a PAIN!  As time went on the process became a lil easier but still VERY time consuming!  If anyone has a solution or an easier way to do this, please fill me in. 

TIPS:

1) fondant colors can fade easily.  Even though I had the wax paper over the fondant, light can still get through.  So to ensure that the color was protected from the light and the sides (where I had cut out the image) did not dry out, I laid foil over the top.

2) Use rolling pin spacer rings to ensure the thickness is even.

Now that all the fondant pieces laid on top of the wax paper template and ready to be placed onto the cake, I did the following. 

1) I rolled and cut out some white fondant to go over the top (not down the sides) of the cake. 

2) I took a tape measure and measured around the finished crumb coated cake and then in height (to now include the fondant you just placed on top) and then trimmed the template where necessary

3) Then I removed the top layer of waxed paper from the template that was protecting the fondant from the light and drying out. 

4) Now the *COOLEST* thing about this process was…. all I had to do is roll the template up on to the cake.   LOVE THIS!  Very precise design laid in place with no movements of pieces. 

Having all my scrapbook supplies and a ton of templates, I made use of one by cutting out the number 50 along with the oval circle placed on the front of the cake.  And to think I wasn’t sure what I would do with all those templates I had stored away. 

The bow was a challenge.  I used Planet Cakes bow tutorial to make the bow on top.  What was challenging was to get it to set up like they did, but finally I was able to succeed.  They make it look so easy!  Now black fondant can easily start to look like leather so I took my steamer and steamed it right away to give it that shiny look that most ribbon have.  The photo below is shown prior to the bow being steamed.

      

The two ribbon tails on my picture above were tossed and redone once the cake was put together.  I wanted them to flow down the cake and they dried out so much that there wasn’t any movement to them.  I didn’t have the cotton batting as Planet Cake shows in their video, so I used brand new packing material.  It did the job but I want to try this again using the batting material.

Putting the cake together.  I was really proud of the layering of this cake.    I looked at it while it was setting up within the fridge and thought I should take a picture but I didn’t and now I regret it.  Ah well, next time.  Photo shows the Ganauche crumb coat.  Cake was leveled perfectly. 

Note the flower in the image above?  Well it wasn’t used on the cake because it was to big to sit where I wanted it to be placed.  So I had to quickly work another flower to fit perfectly. 

I have found that the following process is a nice way to conceal the edges of the bottom of the cake.  Here is a great video to show you how to cover a cake board with fondant:

Overall I love the cake.  It’ll be awhile before I attempt stripes again; however, I want to come up with an easier solution to make this process faster.  It’ll be on my mind for awhile and knowing me I’ll try it again soon.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Suz
Cosima’s Creative Cakes

 

A Sweet 16 Birthday Cake for a Sweet Girl

For a sweet girl.  This cake actually wasn't exactly suppose to come out like this.  It was suppose to have one more tier on top.  BUT!  after putting the crumb coat on this cake, my right hand literally gave out. I didn't know what in the world happened...... this has never happened to me before!  But all I could say, the next morning I couldn't even hold my coffee cup....it was that painful!  My husband, whom lives with Tendinitis, says you are using  your hand too much! 

I wrapped it up put on the brace that my son once had when he broke his hand and let it rest the full day.  I sat there and wondered "WOW, What would I do if I had no use of my right hand?!?!"  I live to do artistic things; whether it be cakes, photography, digital art..... and to live in pain the way I was that day was really an eye opener in so many different ways.  And WORK!  By trade I'm an Esthetician and that would just put a HUGE damper on making a living.

The cake ended up being decorated on top of the crumb coat.  Thank goodness I had all the elements done days prior.  The ribbon wrapped around the bottom was suppose to be fondant.  All in all the cake came out beautiful.  The crumb coat could have been smoother but I had to work with the abilities my right hand had left me.

Danielle loved her cake and it was plenty to feed everyone, with some leftover.  Cake flavor was Oreo Cookie with Oreo Cookie Vanilla filling.

DO YOU PIN? What is it and why do it?

Planning parties, weddings, photo-shoots, a trip,?  Create a board for your favorite recipes, crafts, bucket list, favorite websites.  <---------- These are all reasons you should pin.

• Remember that bedding set you loved and saved within your favorites folder?  You go and look for it and you have to go through a bunch of different bookmarks spending wasted time figuring out which one it was.  With Pinterest, you don’t have that problem.  You just go to the board you put it under, find the image you pinned.  Easy Peasy!
• Are you remodeling a room in your home?  Pin different ideas and when you need to refer to it, it’s all on that board.  Not to mention the links also with it….. Loving it
• I read my favorite blogs everyday and when I find something of interest, I pin it.
• Follow people located on Pinterest that have the same interest as you.  You just follow the board they have and every time they add something it appears on the front page of your Pinterest as a new pin and you have a choice to repin it to one of your boards.  Now you have the pin and the website where that pin is located.
• Put the Pin on your browsers toolbar so you can easily pin different sites on the web. 
• When I see something I want to share on my Facebook or I want to Tweet it, I can easily do that while pinning, just check the box and it automatically embeds to your social network of choice.

I’m addicted.  I have over 3,400 pins and it just grows and grows and grows.    If you aren’t pinning yet, then get started.  I promise you, you will be addicted and it will be your main reference to things you find interest in.  HAVE FUN! 

13th Cake - Bella’s 8th Birthday

     Miss Bella was celebrating her 8th birthday and she asked me to make her cake.  I sat down with her and asked her what her favorite colors,  hobbies & elements were.  First thing she said was her favorite color was “black” I gave her a look of but then was able to get her to give me some other colors.  So Black, blue & purple she chose (sounds like a bruise to me….. to go along with the theme perhaps?) and she was having a roller skating party and her favorite elements of choice are stars and butterflies.  Oh how my head of creation was turning. 

I started by making the cake topper earlier in the week.  I wanted to create something that she would be able to keep afterwards.  I came up with the cutest creation!   Butterflies & stars incorporated.  Note the glitter must be a non-toxic glitter when messing with any food-product.
Top layer of the cake is a dummy cake.  I wanted her cake to be big and extravagant but without the abundance of leftover cake. Covered the Styrofoam dummy cake with fondant.  I created the sugar transfer sheet in Photoshop and had my local Nob Hill Store Bakery print it out for me, which was placed around the fondant.  Two sheets were used and it didn’t quite fit the circumference of the cake.  I had a gap on each side which didn’t please me.  I must conquer that issue……a future task of mine to defeat!

 
The circles on the first layer are a mixture of 50/50 fondant/gumpaste and the purple is sprinkled with luster dust and the blue is airbrushed blue then sprinkled with iridescent edible glitter.  Did this a couple of days ahead of time and placed in an airtight container until ready for use. 
Bottom layer is four layers of Oreo Cookie Cake with Oreo Cookie Frosting.  Didn’t put fondant along the bottom layer because I wanted to perfect my buttercream application.  Came out pretty darn cute and it was soooooooooo good!  Probably one of my favorite cake recipes to date.
Recipe for cake: Oreo Cookie Cake & Frosting Recipe.

OREO COOKIE CAKE POPS – DaBOMB!

How many times after carving up a cake you have a ton leftover?  I do all the time and with that leftover cake I make CAKE POPS! 

Ingredients:

• Leftover Oreo Cookie Cake
• Leftover Frosting from cake
  Here is the recipe I worked from http://cosimasbakingblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/oreo-cookie-cake-frosting.html
• Ground up Oreo Cookies
• White Chocolate

1. Put the leftover cake within a mixer.  I added another cup of crushed-up Oreo Cookies and mixed it with the cake until it was well combined.
2. Then pour in the frosting.  I start with 1/2 cup and add until I get a doughy consistency.  Pour into a bowl and put into the fridge to set for a bit about 15-30 minutes.
3. I have a Non-stick Silicon Round Mold I will pack the cake mixture firmly into each circle.  I then take a knife and scrape along the top so I have a flat center.  You do not have to have the mold, I do only because I want my pops to be a uniform shape and when I freehand it, they are either bigger or smaller then the rest.  I just found this to be effective, however, more time consuming.
4. Put back into the fridge to set (5-10 minutes)
5. Flip mold over and release the pops. 
6. Take a dab of frosting or Royal Icing and glue two halves together and WAALAH a perfect cake pop round.
7. FOLLOW “Decorate This Cake Pops - A Tutorial” for the rest of the instructions.  Best instructions I’ve found to date.
8. For my toppings, I used more of the crushed Oreo Cookies. 

These are incredibly delicious and you will receive a ton of compliments on them!  Enjoy & Happy Baking!

Oreo Cookie Cake & Frosting

• Any cake mix you like
• 1C of crushed up Oreo Cookies

Directions:  Follow cake directions, adding crushed up Oreo Cookies to mix.  Bake as directed

FROSTING:

• Frosting of your choice
• Crushed Oreo Cookies – Amount to your preference

Directions:  I use a Marshmallow or Vanilla Buttercream frosting for this so it tastes close to an Oreo Cookie.  When filling the cake I sprinkle a good amount of the crushed Oreo Cookies on top of the frosting.  Recommendation:  This is best if done closest to the serving time as possible, no more then 24 hours, so the cookies DO NOT get soggy.  You still want to have the cookie crunch texture. 

CAKE-PAN RELEASE

No more grease & flour, Pam etc.  This is all I ever use anymore!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Shortening
• 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Can be kept for three months and does not need refrigeration.
2. Tip: Use a silicone bristle pastry brush for easy clean up. Cover all nooks and crannies to ensure that your cake pops out nicely.

Some comments on this recipe that I found useful:

• Mix on slow to med speed of your mixer until it is light and fluffy like whipped cream. This can take up to 10 minutes. Don’t be in a hurry for best results. Stores best in a sealed glass jar. I liked to keep mine in the frig to prevent seperation of the oil.  If you live in a very high humidity area also add a 1/4 cup of cornstrach
• I use all ingredients in 1 cup amounts. I store in a jar with a lid. When whipped, it occasionally separates. Just stir the oil back into the mixture. Keeps indefinitely (well, I have never had it spoil before it was gone). Great stuff.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/pan-grease-cake-release-recipe/

12th Cake - Our 22nd Anniversary Cake

Spending time up Lake Tulloch with amazing friends celebrating our 22nd year Anniversary.  Couldn’t be any better!  Well one most important person missing is our son who was stuck at work :(

Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and Bavarian Cream with fresh Strawberries.  MMF covers the cake.  Roses are gumpaste flowers and lil flowers mixed with 50/50 fondant & gumpaste.  Fun cake to make.  Now the chocolate numbers was made for me by Raffine Chocolates located in San Ramon California.  The smoothest chocolate/caramels you’ve ever tasted. 

Anemones

 

 

 

 

To go with the black & White theme, I did a chocolate cake with a strawberry infused flavoring added to the buttercream filling (keeping the filling's color still white).  Made for a girlfriend's birthday whose theme was black & white.  Anemones flower is made of gum paste and airbrushed Super White.

Gumpaste Laced Crown

I hate making cupcakes and don’t.  But in this case had some leftover batter and wanted to experiment on some miniature gumpaste laced crowns.  Enjoyed making these little things.