A Look Back



Toy Story Alien Cake

This was my final project from my
"Decorating Basics Course" that
I took through Wilton. It was given to
my middle son for graduating kindergarten.
The Alien image was transferred using piping
gel and then tinted icing was piped using a
Wilton Star tip.



While going through some photos this weekend I came across a few pictures of cakes that I've made this past year. It was fun to look back and see some of the first cakes I decorated and to see how much I've learned since then. I've always loved baking but I didn't start "cake design" until this past year. I don't have a recipe to share with you today, but I wanted to share some of my photos with you. Each cake was made using a different cake design element and I thought it might give you some ideas for your own cake creations.



Rose Bud Cake
This was my final project from my "Flowers and Cake
Design Course" that I took through Wilton. It was given
to my mother for her birthday. It was a red velvet cake with
buttercream icing. The roses and rose buds were made from
royal icing and placed on the cake after they had hardened. The
vines are made from green tinted buttercream frosting.



     



Rose Bud Cake
arial view





USPS Priority Package Cake
This cake was made for one of my fellow employees at the
post office. This was his retirement party cake. It was a full
sheet cake- half chocolate, half vanilla with tinted buttercream icing.
The design was etched by hand using a sculpting tool as a guide line before the icing was applied. The design was piped using a Wilton Star tip.



                  

      

  

Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin Cake
This cake was made to enter into a magazine's Halloween cake contest. I spend a lot of time on this cake.

Unfortunately I did not win, but I'm proud of it all the same. This was the first time I had ever sculpted anything on a cake before. It was a vanilla cake with tinted buttercream icing. The fence was made with pretzel sticks that I dipped in melted chocolate. The grass was made using a Wilton grass tip. Charlie Brown and the pumpkins were sculpted from a fondant/gum paste mixture and then hand painted.



side view



pumpkin patch close up







Give Thanks Cake
This was the cake I made for Thanksgiving.
It was a vanilla and cinnamon cake
with buttercream icing.
Iused tinted marshmallow fondant to cover the
cake. More fondant (rolled as thin as possible)
was draped around the sides to create a fabric
effect and painted with edible shimmer dust.
"Give Thanks" was piped with piping gel and
the pinecones were added using a rubber stamp
and brown food coloring gel.





side view

Cowboy Hat Cake
This cake was made for my brother for his birthday.
It was a chocolate cake, double layer, with buttercream icing in the
middle and chocolate chips. The ridges of the hat were sculpted using
the scraps of the cake that were left after leveling mixed with icing.
The cake was covered in tinted fondant and the trim of the hat and
the brim of the hat were placed on last and molded to give it a more
realistic look. It was roughed up in spots to give it a worn look and
lastly, handpainted to give it brushed leather look.



Rose Cupcake Bouquet
This was made for my mother-in-law for her birthday. They're "Hummingbird Cupcakes" (see previous blog for the recipe) and "Cream Cheese Icing" (see previous blog for the recipe).  I used a terre cotta flower pot and placed a round styrofoam ball inside. Then using bamboo skewers, I arranged each cupcake to look like a real bouquet of roses. Then, one by one, I took them off the skewers to ice them using a Wilton tip and then placed them back on. Unfortunately, I could not find solid green cupcake liners anywhere (to make it look like the base of the rose and stems). Then I placed butterflies (these were not edible but bought at a craft store) and a big yellow ribbon on the flower pot.

These are just some of my cake creations over the past year. I hope they inspired you with ideas for your own creations.

More recipes will follow later in the week so keep checking back. Become a follower of this blog by email and never miss a recipe! As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments on the recipes. If you have tried any of the recipes, please vote on my opinion poll to the right of this post. You're feedback is greatly appreciated and all answers are anonymous (I don't know who votes, I just get the answer).

Thanks again to all my supporters of my blog and as always,

Happy Baking!