A Hunka Hunka Burnin' Cake

picklewart.blogspot.com

It seems as though all my posts lately have revolved around cakes and other confections... I guess because people love sweets and when you live in an area that's not populated with a lot of bakeries, people want cakes - and hey, I love to make them!

In May, one of my dearest friends will graduate from college. It's been a long time coming, and I am so proud of her. She has been my mentor and friend for many years now even when she had no idea of it. When she asked me about a graduation cake, I knew what was coming before it ever came out of her mouth... Elvis... and even better is a Blue Hawaii Elvis. Nothing says "Kathy" more than the two. Seriously. Nothing.

So, here's the initial design phase of the Blue Hawaii Elvis graduation cake:

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Practice Proves to be a New Creation

picklewart.blogspot.com

I had a new ruffle technique I was really wanting to try out... so today was the day. I whipped out the flours, sugars, eggs, butters... and created a lemon chiffon cake - complete with the frilliest ruffles you have ever seen!

After trying out the lemon chiffon and the ruffles, I wanted to get in some buttercream rose and rosebud practice. So my lemon chiffon cake now looks like it's ready for a tea party!

Happy Caking!

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The Caking Process | My Ideas Collage

picklewart.blogspot.com

Sometimes I feel like my head is going to overflow with ideas when I first find out about an upcoming cake. It's like brain puke everywhere, and most of the ideas don't go together, but they all seem so cute, and picking just one theme is so hard, and... you get my drift.

So, I've decided to use my computer-programmer-logical side of my brain and create a process... or an algorithm in geek terms.

The first step in my caking process is to gather ideas, possibly sketch them in a paint program, and/or create a photo collage.

The upcoming baby shower cake for a sweet little baby girl and her mommy needs to be super duper uber feminine... so here's Step 1 of the process... a photo collage of my idea of a 2 tier cake to serve around 30 or so that I have spinning around in my head:

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A Cake Story | A Toy Story Completed

picklewart.blogspot.com

After hours of love and work, the Toy Story birthday cake for my friend's son is completed. And I am pleased with the results. It's not perfect, but I still like what I see.

Enjoy, and Happy Caking!

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A Cake Story | A Toy Story

picklewart.blogspot.com

Caking is fun... a bit time consuming but fun. A friend of mine asked me if I would do her son's 2nd birthday cake. I said YES! So, it was a toss up between John Deere tractors or Toy Story... Toy Story won. She went and purchased Woody and Buzz Lightyear and so the creating began. Sketches, searches, scale... it all began to build into a cake for this special little boy. I have discovered that caking is a 3 day process in a perfect world.

Day 1: Bake.
Day 2: Dirty coat, build details like fondant critters, choc coated structures, etc.
Day 3: Coat and decorate base cake and assemble and add more detail.

Today was Day 2 of the build. I thought I'd share a sneak peek of what was accomplished today. Also, perhaps I should note here, this is my FIRST time building small character critters with fondant... so be gentle. :-)






HAPPY CAKING!

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My First Wedding Cakes

picklewart.blogspot.com

Well, after caking a few years and doing a few for others, I had some good friends from church approach me about making a set of wedding cakes for their son's upcoming wedding. I took a few days to contemplate this task, and decided I would give it a go. If it turned out to be not-so-great, I'd give it to them free and call it a learning experience (we've all had those, right?!). But, I am so very happy to say that the cake turned out lovely and the groom's cake (Mocha Madness) turned out to be quite a hit with the chocolate lovers out there.

The pictures of the cakes here are from Kara Guffey Photography (and here's her FB page). Kara is our pastor's wife, a giving friend, a wonderful example of a mother and has been blessed by God with an amazing gift in the field of photography. Thank you Kara for sharing your talents with me!
(*You can click any of the pictures to see a larger version of her great work!)

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