Happy Sunday and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all of you Dads in the USA! Hope you are celebrated for all you do for your families!


This week I had a Father's Day cake with an unusual theme...STEAMPUNK! That's sort of the whole Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea theme. With Steampunk there is always a lot of metallic colors, gears, nuts, bolts and, of course, sea creatures also made of metal. The hard part was thinking of a new way to put these all together into a small Father's Day cake.


I've seen some pretty sensational Steampunk Weddings that had towering cakes filled with metal covered boxes, tentacles and metal parts. They really are something to see so if you have time head out to Google and look up Steampunk Wedding Cakes and take a look at all of the really incredible works of art that are out there! But for Father's Day you usually only have a single tiered cake because you only have a few people to feed over dinner. This means you don't have much of a base to show off the Steampunk decorations.


I chose the hex shape because it looked as much like a "part" as I could find in a cake pan. So I decided that it would be a "nut" with smokestacks in the middle with an octopus bursting out of the middle and taking it over. The cake itself is a 2 inch marble cake with no filling.  Now here is the secret...the "smokestacks" are fondant covered columns...just like the kind that you put in between tiers of a wedding cake. I just covered them in strips of fondant and then detailed them with a fondant tool and little "bolts" and then painted it all with a bronze luster dust I had made into paint with a bit of vodka.


The other pieces had to be hand molded and then allowed to dry before being painted so I started on them at the beginning of the week so that by yesterday, when I put the cake together, they would be solid enough to stand up on their own. This was not without issues though. The metallic finish didn't respond well to my gluing methods. I tried buttercream and they slid right off. Then royal icing and they popped right off. Finally water and just held each piece in place till they stuck. Tedious but it finally worked. 


Here is the secret to the "popping out of the center" part. I crumbcoated the cake and when it was dry I brushed on water on the sides and about two inches in from the edge on the top, leaving the middle of the top of the cake dry. The fondant adheres where there is water to glue it down and is still loose where it doesn't. I mapped out where I wanted the edges of the inside of the "nut" to be and painted the whole thing silver. When that was dry I used an exacto knife, used only for baking, to cut the star burst pattern into the fondant in the center of the cake that wasn't painted silver. I, very gently, pulled these pieces back so that they "rolled" over the line of silver paint. I made sure that some curled out further than others to make it look like it's "bursting" out. I then inserted the smokestacks down into the cake and filled in around those with buttercream to give them more stability. Then began the process of adding the detail pieces.


With all "art" you have to sort of wing it when it comes to actually putting the pieces onto a cake like this. You have a general idea of what you want the cake to look like but in the end you are really thinking "yeah, that looks right" or "nope, that doesn't work there" as you are placing them onto the cake. This is what makes your cake look individual in the end. No one else will ever have one exactly like yours. This is what makes it a work of Art.


This upcoming week brings a Tiffany Wedding Cake! I think you all will love this one!

Cat

Happy Sunday! And Happy Graduation to all of you out there who are celebrating this weekend! I know several Seniors, both High School and College who got their diplomas this week include this one for a Nursing School Graduate!


This 8 inch square white cake with vanilla buttercream filling was needed on short notice so I was able to put it together for them in time but without my normal drying time for the fondant. The bottom square cake was frosted with buttercream and then three lines of decorative piping was added. The "cap" part is black fondant covered cake while the "mortar" board is actually black fondant covered cardboard. I used a toothpick to hold the board to the cap and dotted it with a round ball of fondant after looping my "tassle" round the toothpick first. With only 2 days to let the fondant dry there was just no way I was going to be able to have a fully fondant mortar board for the cap. 


The tassle is quite easy and something I have used on grad caps, curtains, and purses. I mixed quite a bit of tylose into the yellow fondant and then rolled it out dime thin on the board. Then I used a straight cutter to cut off the edges making for a 4x3 inch rectangle. From there I used the straight cutter to cut lines almost through the rectangle leaving about a quarter inch intact. Then I rolled the fondant up and made a strip of fondant to wrap around the top. Finally I rolled a small bit out as the string on the tassle, curved that around the toothpick and then used water to attach it to the tassel. I made it small enough so that most of the weight of the tassel was resting on the board and not hanging off so it would continue to dry on the board.


Then it was just the piping that needed to be done. A word about piping skills. This is the one thing about cakes that I truly don't like doing. Mainly because I sorta suck at it so I find it to be difficult to do. BUT, having said that I have to admit that the more I pipe, the better I get. I don't seem to like it any more than I ever did but I have gotten better with the practice. If you are like me and don't particularly like your piping skills there is just one way to get over it...practice. Either on a piping board or on cakes if you do enough often enough not to get rusty. Yes, there are Cricuit machines out there and that can help remove some of the issues. You can use them to cut out fondant and apply those to the cake...BUT...if you try to cut out any smaller than a half inch then it doesn't work all that well so you will be forced to pipe at that point..so you might as well practice and make it part of your own personal tool box.


Lastly, IF you find yourself needing a last minute cake you can always frost it and then use "toppers" to decorate with instead of handmade figures. There are plenty of Grad Cap or Grad decorations you can use that you can pick up at your local Michaels or cake store that you just place on top of your completed cake. Will it feel as good as handmaking them yourself...well, no...but if you don't have the time it would be worse to try to make the items, fail and then feel even worse about yourself than just popping down to the store and picking up what you need. 


I do try to make sure I have at least a month to make any decorations that I need but in cases like these...basically an emergency where their A Plan fell through...I was able to come to the rescue with just a couple days prep time. Not ideal but sometimes that's just the way it works out. If you find yourself in that situation always remember that the looks of the cake, while important, will never be more important than the taste of the cake. And a homemade cake will always be better than one you get at the grocery store. 


Next week is Father's Day and we have Grand Plans in our house for a very special cake! I'll share it with you next weekend!

Cat

Happy Sunday! Here we are in June already! How did THAT happen? My summer season is here and I'm fairly booked up. I do have a few free weeks that I will be grateful that I scheduled in for myself but other than that I am having fun creating a new cake each week.


This week I got to make a cake for someone who is leaving their community after about 20 years of living there. All of her friends and neighbors decided that she needed a proper send off. She's a very "girly" girl so it was decided that flowers and swirls would be perfect for this small cake for 15 guests.


Free form swirls or filigree can be a real challenge. I know this comes easily for some but not for me. Fortunately I'm not alone in this world and they have made cookie cutter type presses that you gently press into the surface of the cake and they leave a template that you then follow over with your icing. It makes it SO much easier and worry free when you have a cake like I did this week. Now I started with a #4 tip for the main swirls and then went down to a #2 for the finer swirls. Those I did do freehand. 


The "flowers" on here are fantasy flowers. Sort of like hydrangea but not really. I cut them out of white fondant and then, while still soft, I used pink and purple luster dust to color them. Then I used a hydrangea press to form the flowers with lines and depth and then let them set up a bit while I decorated the cake.  I did use two sizes of flower cutters. One for the larger flowers for the large rosettes on top and one for the flower trim. By the time I had smooth frosted the final coat of buttercream on this strawberries and cream cake and then used the presses for the filigree, piped all the green swirls and edging, the flowers were ready to go on the cake. 


I want to take just a minute to talk about trim. For this cake I used the same tip, an open face star tip, to create the bottom edge trim as well as the top edge trim. But on the bottom edge I made little rosettes and on the top edge I used looping swirls all the way around in two bands. I did an outer band first and then, slightly overlapping, an inner band of swirls. Along with the large rosettes on the upper sides, this allowed for a nice base for the flowers when it came time to add them to the cake. The point is that you don't have to use the same pattern for each edge of your cake. You don't have to use the same pattern all the way around your cake. There are plenty of tip tutorials online that will show you many different patterns you can make with all of your tips so you can mix and match as you please. One of the reasons I do so rarely use a "shell border"...there are just too many others that you can play with instead!


The last step was adding the candy pearls to the center of the flowers with dots of green buttercream and then to write the salutation. I'm pleased to say that I actually know Rosie and am one of those who were sad to hear she was leaving us. But how's this for a turn of events? When I arrived to deliver the cake I was told that she had changed her mind and was staying after all! How much fun to be able to eat the cake and be happy she was staying at the same time! 


Next week is Grad Week! I have pieces for one already drying for the cake topper that I will share with you all next Sunday!

Cat

Happy Sunday! And Happy Memorial Day Weekend to our US fans! This weekend brought me an Ocean Themed Wedding Cake. With only 30 people on the guest list, including the wedding party, the Bride needed a small cake but didn't want to give up the big concept of Under the Sea. She requested the cake frosting be white, the shells look real and hot pink coral. This is what I came up with and I'll share with you how I made each part!


The cake is lemon chiffon with lemoncurd buttercream and it's vanilla buttercream as the final coat of frosting. That was smoothed on and then lines were added by taking the offset spatula and, beginning at the bottom of the cake, I used the tip to form a line up to the top edge. I continued all the way around the cake until it had vertical lines all the way around it. Then I used the same technique to continue the lines into the center of the top of the cake. I used an open star tip to make the "waves" around the bottom edge. I started with an upside down closed U shape and then followed that shape to make two more U shapes and the wavy scalloped design. Finally I used the same open star tip to make the shell border around the top of the cake. A shell border is such a common technique that I rarely use it and actually had to take a minute to practice it again before adding it to the cake! But this border was obviously needed for this cake...why not use a shell border on a shell themed cake???


The shells took several days to make. They are made from fondant that was hand moulded. I love making figures like this because it's like working in play dough! So on Monday I formed the shells and put them into the forms, for those that needed a rounded appearance like the scallop shaped shells to dry overnight. The next day I started handpainting them. Each shell, including the sand dollars, are layers of color. Some of the layers had to dry overnight before adding on another layer and some had to dry just a short time before blending on another color. The starfish was one of those that needed an overnight drying time before adding on the next color. So the final coats of color went on Wednesday and by Thursday they were all dry but still drying out so I left them on the forms to continue drying as I made the cake. 


The coral is another subject. Working with melted sugar is not an easy thing to do. It's actually dangerous and I have never worked with it without ending up with a burn. This time was no different but it was only a very minor burn. To make the coral you use 2 cups of white cane sugar and 3/4 cups water. Bring that to a boil, stirring constantly, and then, using a candy thermometer, bring it up to 300 degrees. Once it reaches 250 it will go quickly so watch it carefully at that point. While the sugar is boiling you want to get another deep pan and fill it with cracked ice. When the sugar gets to 300 degrees add a teeny bit of whatever gell color you want to use, stir well, then remove the pot from the heat and submerge the bottom of the pot into cold water for about 15 seconds. This brings down the temp of the sugar before you pour it over the ice so it won't steam or splatter. Pour it in jagged lines over the ice and let it cool completely. Drain off the melted ice and then melt the left over ice with cool water. Drain off the water and break out which sugar pieces you want to use. Let that dry the rest of the day. It will be sticky for a few hours but as it dries it will go from clear to opaque and from sticky to smooth. I let mine dry for a bit and then added it to the cake. By morning it was completely opaque.


So I wish Laura and Eric a very Happy Wedding Day tomorrow! I'm so happy you loved your cake and that it was everything and more than you dreamed! That's a reward for all of my hard work like no other!


See ya'll next week!


Cat

 Happy Sunday! We are getting really close to those End of the School Year parties, summer picnics and BBq parties. Having friends and family over for an evening starts to sound like a really good idea when you can have it outside and enjoy the weather as each day cools off. This doesn't mean dessert has to be complicated...or boring.


Several times a year I get "Dinner Party Cupcake" orders. These are small orders of fancy cupcakes for a dinner, bbq or picnic party that I make for the client and make them just a bit more special that the typical swirl of frosting. This doesn't mean they are hard to do. It just means you take the time to add a bit more detail to the cupcake. 


The cupcakes this week are vanilla bean cupcakes topped with lemoncurd buttercream icing and then sprinkled with a bit of gold colored sugar. I just chose bright yellow liners, and there are LOTS of fun liners right in your grocery store these days, because of the lemon frosting, and then sprinkled the gold sugar on top. This I ordered online at shopbakersnook.com ...one of my favorite product distributors!

 Now these Mexican Hot Chocolate Caramel stuffed cupcakes were a bit more complicated but not by much. All I did was use a round cutter to cut out a ring of cake in the center of each cupcake, filled it with caramel and then topped it with the buttercream and drizzled it with caramel.  If you don't want the caramel to soak into the cake then mix it with a bit of buttercream first before filling up the hole. 

 These Dark Chocolate cupcakes are meant to look like chocolate starfish for a clients ocean themed party. I used the gold sugar on top of these as well to give the seastars a bit more texture!

 Of course I'm not saying they are all "easy". These Family Reunion BBq Picnic cupcakes took plenty of time and work making all the little pieces. So you CAN get very complicated with the cupcake for your event. These took several days moulding and hand painting of the small pieces that set on top. One thing to remember though...you will see some cupcakes with towering toppers. Most of that stuff will NOT be eaten. It will be cast aside and the rest eaten. At a picnic this is ok since most people will be dressed casually but with something more formal like a dinner party you really don't want your guests to have to make piles of food on their plates just to eat dessert. 

 One easy fun thing to do is to add candy to your cupcakes! These vanilla bean cupcakes are caramel filled, drizzled with chocolate and, for an extra treat, have a bit of Hersheys on top. Easy to pick off and eat for your guests.

Finally...if you like to play with piping tips, check online how to make easy piped on flowers. Make larger versions of these and you end up with a sunny little plate of flower cupcakes to serve at your BBq! What a cute way to say goodbye to Spring and hello to Summer!


This next week I have a wedding cake coming up...can't wait to share that with you next Sunday!

Cat

Happy Monday! I do hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day here in the US! I know I did. Of course that doesn't mean I chose to sit back and relax...nope...in fact just the opposite. I'd been working on these mini cakes all week and then we had a big family brunch! (more on that later today on our "Cherry" Blog: http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com ) So until the food was on the table I was hoppin' around quite a bit. Then I sat back and pretty much relaxed the rest of the day by going to the movies and seeing The Avengers! 


Ok, so back to the cakes. Mini cakes are SO cute when they are done but SUCH a pain in the rear to make. A mini cake will run you as much as $75 depending on how complicated the cake design ends up being. I went middle of the road complicated for these. The reason a mini cake is harder is because the smaller the cake, the harder you work to ice and cover it smoothly...they don't have the weight of a full size cake to hold them into place...and you do just as much work on the fine detail decorating. Maybe even more since the details have to be mini as well!


Starting from the back left cake. This was for our younger daughter, Tory, who has a 1 yr old little boy. I started out with royal icing and piped lots of little dots and then curly-q's as trim and then hand painted little vines all over the cake and then added tiny blue forget-me-not's as well. Lastly I added little candy pearls to the center of each flower.


The next cake was for our older daughter, Krista, who has a 3 yr old little girl. For this one I started out with piping royal again but this time I went with a "S" configuration for the trim. Then I added more "filigree" to it with purple royal icing and finally finished it off with little purple bell flowers. They also had little candy pearls in the center.


Front right was my mom's cake. She adores yellow roses so it was an easy one to decide to make a yellow rose for the topper. The rest of the cake, however, was not easy to figure out. I finally decided to go as simple as possible using teeny dots as trim and then hand painting on the stem and leaves.


Finally, front left is my own cake. It's funny how this cake design took me the longest to decide upon! LOL! I stared at the blank white cake for the longest time before I decided to ruffle it up and use sweet peas for my flowers. I used a very small star tip for the ruffles and then just used small circles and a ball tool to make the flowers. I hand painted on the stems and vines in the panels and then placed the flowers on the cake.


And speaking of panels. This is how I applied the fondant to the cakes...in panels! I figured out what size circle cutter fit the space in between the tiers and made a "donut" piece of fondant that I slid over the top tier and onto the top of the bottom tier. Then I used the center of that, cut it down with a smaller cutter, for the top of the cake. Finally I used long rectangles of fondant to wrap around the cakes and join up with the circles. I simply used water to glue the seams together and then covered the seams with royal icing trim which was part of my original designs. This made covering these little cakes much easier. And they are little! 3 inch bottom tiers with a 1 inch top tier. Perfect for 2 slices only.


We did have a huge and beautiful brunch...head on over to the Cherry Blog to see more on how that all came together and get some great ideas for your next Brunch! http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com


See you next Sunday!


Cat

Happy Sunday! Today I'm actually writing to you from Washington while I visit cousins and have a teeny vacation seeing the sights up here. I mention this because this weeks cake was for this trip! An early Happy Mother's Day cake!

Now I know it looks quite complicated but, in fact, it was fairly easy! I started out with a 6 inch vanilla cake that was about 3 inches tall. I then frosted it with a bit of blue buttercream..yup, blue. I didn't want white poking out between the leaves and liked the blue as a background for the green.

Then I started on the leaves while the cake settled out. I used a medium leaf cutter and thinly rolled out fondant that had no tylose added to it. I wanted the leaves to taste really good, like fondant candy, and tylose can change that taste. I then used two different texturing tools to create the "veins" on the leaves. Lastly I put about 30 of them onto a petal drying stand. This stand looks like white plastic waves and is for drying flower petals for cakes. I let those dry overnight. Those were for the crown of the cake and had veins on both sides.

The next day I started out with a ring of flat leaves going around the top rim of the cake. Then I place the crown leaves with royal icing. Then I continued with flat leaves all in rings all the way to the base of the cake. The left over crown leaves were used to make the raised center on the top and I used more flat leaves to trim the bottom, letting them drop over the sides of the cake stand in the process. I used royal for attaching all of it so the leaves would go on solidly and not move. 

The last step was trimming with the royal icing. Just a ring around the top and then the simple addition of the royal icing dot flowers and all I needed to do was add the pearls and the cake was done. I wanted a showpiece type of cake for this early Mother's Day surprise and I think I managed to get it!

We are off to Seattle today but I will have more photos from our Mother's Day at home to share next week...including showing off the new little mini cake stands I just picked up for my collection! See you next Sunday!

Cat