There once was a cake-eating doggie-saurus....

Well....the quilling cake turned out beautifully! I really have no proof of this because I wasn't able to take any final photos before the once-beautiful "Aloha" cake had an encounter with mischiveous Annie, our Golden Retriever. Let me start out by saying, THAT'S OKAY...I now have an excuse to make another quilling cake with step by step photos of how to quill fondant! :D And I will also share the disaster right off the bat.....

After sobbing for about 5 minutes, mainly because I lost the opportunity for some good photos, I decided I could still savage this blog post. I will fight disaster with humor!!! :D

However, had the disaster (it's still edible though!!) not happened, it may have looked more like this...

Except, it probably would have actually said "Aloha" on the top instead of "Oha"...

Really, it did....

At least the turtle is adorable, and the edible candy seashells are tasty....

I would know, I ate a few while staring at the gaping cake wound in horror! :D (The seashells are made with vanilla candy melts, by the way, and after molded and hardened, they were hand-painted with petal and luster dusts)....

I am pretty happy with the colorful flowers too! Notice that one is made with loose scrolls, and the other with tight ones?

Now on to the next cake adventure!! :D As in...finishing the Ten Little Ladybugs cake!!!

Quilling...

I saw some photos posted on the MyCakeSchool.com blog of a quilled cake that Melissa made. I really think it's a fun idea. As Melissa would say, quilling is an art technique that has been popular for centuries and now it's also becoming a popular cake decorating method (you can look this all up on Wikipedia if you want, hehe). Of course when I see intriguing new cake challenges I just have to try them! Actually quilling with fondant is very simple and if you are looking for a pretty unique, inexpensive and decorative way to design any cake, this is an idea you should try.

I will post some step-by-step photos as soon as I can. But basically, you take any fondant that you want. I would strongly recommend adding tylose to it because it makes the fondant more pliable and it also helps it dry faster. Sprinkle a small amount of tylose onto the fondant, knead it into the fondant and roll it out. You want it to be about 1/8-1/16" thickness. It should be thick enough to stand easily when rolled, but thin enough that it won't crack when it is rolled. Are you confused yet? :D I would use a fondant cutter to help you make all the strips the same size and in straight lines...you will want them cut into 1/4" strips. Then, roll!! You can do round loops, S scrolls, C scrolls, whatever you want! Make any designs your creative side can come up with! Set the pieces out to dry for several hours to a full day. You can glue the ends together if need be with egg whites, corn syrup, or sugar glue. I personally think egg whites work well, just don't plan on eating the fondant!

The pieces in the photo above are for an "Aloha" cake I am making for my parents. Since we are from Hawaii this is a festive summer cake for them to enjoy. The cake will be teal blue and bright. I am finishing it off with candied seashells. To make these I am melting white candy melts in a bowl and pouring them into a candy mould, then putting them in the freezer for about 5 minutes to harden. I will finish them with petal dust and luster dust. Easy!

I will post the photos in a day or two!

Raspberry Vanilla Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made from the vanilla butter sponge cake recipe, and I added pureed raspberries to the batter. These turned out as well as I was hoping and they have a good raspberry vanilla flavor. The vanilla butter sponge cake recipe is flexible because it has so many flavors that come out of it naturally, so when you add other fruity elements to it you get a marvelously flavorful cake/cupcake! The one caution is that the batter for the sponge cake is so fragile that you have to be very careful when incorporating other elements to it, you really can't overmix this batter or it will flop! I used some of the chocolate mousse SMB recipe that I discussed in the Ruffles and Frills post for the icing on these cupcakes, and I topped them with a fresh raspberry. They were as delicious as they were pretty! I also finished these off with some gold disco dust.

Tropical Fruit Cupcakes

These cupcakes were an experiment for sure, but they turned out unexpectedly well. I say unexpectedly because I added Rainier cheeries to the vanilla butter sponge cake batter. These cherries have such a light flavor as it is, so instead of the cherry vanilla flavored cupcake that I expected, the cupcakes turned out tasting like a fruit punch. This is probably because the vanilla butter sponge cake recipe uses almond, vanilla and lemon extracts. The flavor is great! So I added some pineapple apricot filling, and made a fruity Swiss meringue buttercream. I added pineapple apricot jam and coconut extract to the SMB and honestly, the buttercream tastes like fruity ice cream! These are a fun summertime fruity cupcake! In all honesty though I'd probably leave the fruit filling out of them next time. :D

Vintage Ruffles and Frills Cake

Ruffles and more ruffles! I really am in love with this cake, the photos didn't do it the slightest bit of justice. This was an anniversary cake and since I had the freedom to decorate it the way I wanted (and after much debate and waffling back and forth!) I chose the ruffled look with a filled flower on the top. I piped both the ruffles and flowers with a #104 tip. This is a very simple and elegant decorating method. It is also a decorating style that's flexible and gives you many options with how you would like to finish the top of your cake. Just one word of advice: make sure you make enough buttercream as making the ruffles requires more than just a normal batch.

The cake is a vanilla butter sponge cake with fresh raspberries in between the layers and chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. The chocolate comes from adding melted bittersweet chocolate to the SMB. This version ended up so light and fluffy it tastes just like a chocolate mousse, which I love! I am very excited to make a cake like this again!!!! SO tasty!

Cake Appreciation Society Appearance

This past week four of my cakes/cupcakes were published in the Cake Appreciation Society's Facebook photo albums. I'm so excited to show off my work!!

My Cinnamon Mocha Cupcakes appeared in the Celebrating Chocolate Vol. 2 album:
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?fbid=237071966328538&set=pu.158099100892492&type=1&theater

My Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes appeared in the Celebrating Chocolate Vol. 2 album:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=235279733174428&set=a.229151140453954.48188.158099100892492&type=1&theater

The York Peppermint Patty cake I made for my in-laws' anniversary appeared in the Flower Power Cakes photo album:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=235234549845613&set=a.198905823478486.41697.158099100892492&type=1&theater

AND my Cupcake Bouquet appeared in the Cupcake Parade album:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=235227136513021&set=a.232613950107673.48685.158099100892492&type=1&theater

Thank you to Adrianne from the Cake Appreciation Society for posting my photos!! :D

Pina Colada with a Twist Cupcakes

These cupcakes are also part of the museum volunteer appreciation event desserts. This is a pina colada cupcake...with a twist! Instead of a traditional pineapple cupcake, this is a pineapple apricot cupcake. This cake is ridiculously moist and delicious.....and I think the apricot cuts the sweetness a little. The only criticism I have of this recipe is that there is just SOMETHING about it that makes the cupcakes bake flat, and in my opinion, ugly. I love the way these taste, but I plan to keep working to find a better recipe with the same moist, delicious texture and taste...just with a more sturdy and beautifully baked final product. :D

The buttercream is a coconut Swiss meringue buttercream, with almond extract added. It's perfectly flavored, not too sweet, and the almond extract adds a little extra hint of cherry, more like a real pina colada. YUM, YUM, YUM!!!

The only thing better than this would be: "Give me two pina coladas, one for each hand...." Sorry, couldn't help it. Garth Brooks has been stuck in my head all day!! :D

Cinnamon Mocha Cupcakes

These little beauties were made for a volunteer appreciation event that I helped with at the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington. The event was a Fiesta on the Patio......so I made a sure crowd pleaser chocolate cupcake, and a fruity Mexican/themed one (post to follow).

These cupcakes are my favorite dark chocolate cupcake recipe, with cinnamon mocha buttercream and topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon and dark chocolate covered espresso beans. There really is nothing more to say here.....except DELICIOUS!!!!! (And there were almost 60 of them too.....ooooh lala!!) :)

Final Photos for Hoedown Birthday Cake

The party was a success, the cake was amazing, the birthday girl was adorable, and here it all is!!

This was a dark chocolate cake was vanilla SMB icing and strawberry SMB filling. So delicious!

I'd make another cake like this in a heartbeat (hint hint if anyone needs kids birthday cakes or baby shower cakes!!!)....the animals are so easy and fun to make. I love it! :D

Hoedown Birthday Cake!

These little fondant and gumpaste critters are all for the hoedown birthday cake I'm making for my niece, Kayla who just turned 8. There are still many more components to this cake coming! I will try posting a few tonight. This cake will be a mixture of princess yet country and will be ADORABLE! I really do love making animals. And flowers. And bugs. And all things cake!! Please note the fabulous Cowgirl Kayla figure as well!! :D

This cake is going to be my famous dark chocolate cake, with vanilla SMB icing and strawberry SMB filling. I am looking forward to eating it as well as to seeing the final product (and Kayla's happy face!)

 Cowgirl Kayla... :)

Margarita Cake

This cake honestly hurts my eyes! :D However I promised to share failures as well as triumphs so here it is! This really isn't a failure in any way, it was merely a challenge and very 1970s art-deco funky. :)

I made this cake for the Miso Bakes August Cake Project, which called for a green cake decorated with a small leaf tip, with a repetitive design.  I am not a fan of the leaf tip and the warmer my buttercream got, the less the color contrast appeared.  The idea in my mind was fabulous....the idea on the cake, in my opinion, was just okay. Eh, it was worth a shot! However, Miso loved this cake! She told me she gasped when she saw it! Wow, someone thinks it's beautiful! How flattering. :D This cake will appear on the Miso Bakes blog in September along with the other challenge participants. I was even chosen to select the September cake challenge for Miso...what an honor! I am very excited to see if I can do it!! :D Haha!

But under this green goup is the most wonderful tasting margarita cake!!! It is a fluffy vanilla cake recipe, taken from Sweetapolita, and modified to include tequila and lemon extract. It is so fluffly and delicious! The cake is filled with vanilla SMB and lime curd (yes I said lime...it's just as good as the lemon version!), and iced with lime infused SMB. This is a very tasty cake!!

One note about the photo showing the crumb coat, this cake was perfectly straight when I began that process. This cake includes three 6" layers. I forgot to add a dowel into the cake to hold it straight during the crumb coat process. Drats to the failures on this cake! :D








Cutie pie Mattie showing off Mommy's cake. :)

More fondant and gumpaste...

Here is an adorable turtle, just for practice & fun. Tomorrow's agenda is to finish the Margarita cake for my August Cake Project, and make a fondant person for a birthday cake!!!