Recently, I received an email from Jessica!  Okay, so I received an email from her.... big deal, right?  Yes, it is!  Let me run a little back story here.  About 2 years ago, I made a cake for a friend of a friend.  That was the first time I was going outside of my normal circle, and I was super nervous.  It was a cake for her niece's first birthday, and I really wanted to impress them.  I designed a wonderful Strawberry Shortcake themed cake, and a smash cake to match.  When I emailed to follow up, I didn't get a response.  That left me a little worried, and I ran through a billion scenarios in my head.  The thought of them not liking the cake lingered in my mind for almost 2 years!  Now, you see why this email was such a big deal?  Well, it turns out that they loved it and were hoping I would help with her other niece's first birthday cake... My first Minnie Mouse Cake!



To start, I created the signature mouse hat by covering a small spice bowl with black fondant that I had added tylose to.  A pinch of this powder will allow the fondant to dry like gumpaste.  This is a great tool to have when working with dark colors... no need for mixing the color when there is ready made fondant!  I allowed that to dry completely before carefully removing the hat part from the bowl.  A great is to cover the outside of the bowl with cornstarch or powder sugar so the fondant won't stick.  I then added the ears and a pretty pink bow.  To give the bow a nice full shape, I stuffed a bit of tissue inside the loops and left them until they dried completely.  The same method was also used to create the yellow accent bow on the cake.  I rolled out a long wide strip of fondant and pinch the center, folded in the loops and pinched again to meet at the center.  A narrow strip then was wrapped around the center to finish the bow.  Once again, I left the tissue in the loops until it dried to give it fullness.

And on to the main cake!  I started with a 10 inch cake that had a layer of yellow, and a layer of rich chocolate cake.  The layers were torted and filled with a sweet and tangy strawberry cream cheese filling.  The top 6 inch cake were two layers of chocolate nestled around a cloud of decadent coconut flakes and cream.  The two cakes were crumb coated before they received a blanket of smooth pink fondant.  To stack the the two cakes, I figured out the center of my cakes and measured the height of my base cake.  I cut bubble straws to the proper height, and carefully inserted them half way into the cake.  This is a trick I used to keep my cakes clean, and gives me time to adjust my placement if need be.  I pipe a dollop of buttercream at the top of the straws, and align my top cake.  I carefully release the cake, and allow it's weight to lower itself on to the base cake.  This works great with buttercream cakes too! No buttercream covered fingers or gouged tops.


Once the cakes were stacked, I added a ribbon of yellow around the bottom of the 6 inch, and a random pattern of white polka dots were attached with a little water.  The yellow bow was then attached off center, with a flow of ribbon sitting below it.  The Minnie Mouse hat was then attached to the top with a bit of clear piping gel.  Be careful when doing this because piping gel will dry shiny.  For the finishing touches, I hand shaped Riley's name in the signature Walt Disney font and added it to the hat.  I was extremely happy with how the font turned out, being a type freak and all :)  I then molded two white buttons to resemble those Minnie's dress, and a whimsical number 1 for the birthday girl.

Last year, I was happily blessed with my daughter, Eva.  She has been a wonderful addition to our family, and we couldn't ask for anything more.  Well, except Mateo... I think he secretly wants a brother, but Eva's giving him a run for it.  I can't believe a year has passed by so quickly, and it was time for her first birthday.  Of course, I had to plan something fun and design a cake to match.  I went online looking for some inspiration and I came across winter themes, then Valentine's Day... then I saw it!  I found the cutest Valentine's Day edition Buff Monster ever!.  A side note about myself, I love designer toys and vinyls... I mean LOVE.  This was right up my alley, and was reminiscent of Mateo's first Dunny cake.  I knew exactly what I had to do, and started planning the party.

Like all of my carved cakes, I started with a nice template to guide me on how much I needed to bake or carve away.  Luckily for me, I had plenty of Ice Cream Minis on hand to reference.  I stacked a 8" round on the bottom, two 9" cakes in the middle, and another 8" on top.

Once the 4 cake layers were baked and cooled, I leveled and filled the bottom two layers.  I then added support straws into the bottom half, and then placed a 7" cake board on top of the stacked cake.  I then stacked the other 9" cake and 8" cake on top of the 7" cake board.

With all my layers stacked, I slowly started carving away at my cake.  I used my template as my guide, sitting at eye level, and rotating the cake inch by inch.  My advise for cake carving is to use a really sharp knife, carve away small sections, a chilled cake carves easier, and don't be afraid!  Once I got the cake to a shape I was happy with (I carved too much away from the very bottom), a crumb coat was smoothed on before I laid on a blanket of black fondant.

Using the template, I cut out and applied the pink fondant accents to
the front and back of the cake before adding the horns and arms that where shaped of out of a 50/50 fondant and gumpaste mixture.  I tend to have an issue with aligning the front and back, side to side, placing decorations evenly.  A trick I came up with is to use long strips of wax paper and taping it to the cake... scotch tape is food safe!  This has helped me immensely to avoid lopsided arms and ears. To complete this cake, it was placed on a custom cake stand made of wood and round drawer knobs that the guys at work helped me put together :)  A proper Buff Monster needs its signature round feet.






For Eva's smash cake, I went with a 3" cake decorated in two toned buttercream rosettes.  Buttercream rosettes are so easy to do, and they look wonderful for different occasions.  I also figured buttercream would be easier for her to eat or dig her hands into, and in her case, put her face into. Happy Birthday to my little monster!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and a great start to a new year!  My past year has been very busy, and time just really flew by.  It's been almost 5 months since my last post!  As I was going back through my photos, I realized that there was one cake that I never posted about and was definitely worth sharing.  I learned so much from designing it, and it forced me to tackle the one thing I dread... covering a sphere with fondant.  The idea scares me, and on top that, this cake had to look like an awesome Mark V diving helmet.  Chelsey wanted her wedding cake to be a surprise for her husband-to-be who is a professional deep sea diver.


 To start off with this design, I created some beautiful red poppies and ivory frangipani out of gumpaste a week prior.  I let them dry completely before assembly, and always make extra since accidents can happen.  A great tutorial on making gumpaste poppies can be found here.  This is was very helpful for me, but of course I used a slightly different cutter.  Once they were dry, I used luster dust to add some natural color gradations.  The great thing about making gumpaste flowers is that they can be made weeks ahead of time and stored until you're ready to use them.


Next, it was time to dive into the cake, no pun intended :)  I knew the dimensions of the cake so I baked two 8" rounds of red velvet, and the same flavor in a 6" Wilton Sports Ball pan.  It comes in two hemispheres that are filled, baked, and then stacked to make a 6" ball.  The baking seemed easy enough, but the assembly of the different layers had me thinking.  My first attempt at the helmet layers resulted in a very squashed bottom half.  The weight of the buttercream and fondant would need some extra support.  That was when I ditched the bottom cake half and opted for a 6" styrofoam hemisphere.  This was perfect!  Rule of thumb when dealing with styrofoam... don't let it touch the cake!  I gave it a small flat bottom with a knife so it wouldn't roll, and covered it in plastic wrap.  A 6" cake board was then placed on top, held in place with a dollop of buttercream.  I then placed the top half of the cake ball on it.  The sphere was crumb coated and ready for fondant...DUM DUM DUM DUM!  You could only imagine that I'm very nervous by now.  I gathered myself...took some deep breathes, and proceeded as I knew how.  Some people would cover one half, and flip it over to do the other.  I wanted no seams so I covered it all in one shot.  I set the cake ball on a plastic tub that was smaller in diameter to give me a nice pedestal to work with.  This allows me to get the fondant as close to the bottom without having a table top being in the way.  I rolled out a light yellow fondant and laid it over my cake ball.  Working my way from top to bottom, I rubbing it down inch by inch, lifting any pleats to get it smooth.  I continued until I got all the way to the bottom and trimmed away any excess.  Phew! The hardest part was over.

The next step was to prep the bottom layers for the covered ball.  I stacked the (2) 8 inch rounds, filled with cream cheese frosting, and crumb coated them in buttercream.  This layer then received a smooth blanket of kelly green fondant. Support for the helmet layer was very crucial at this point.  I trimmed down a 6" cake board to fit below the flat bottom of the styrofoam part, about 2 inch diameter. I located the center of the cake, and inserted 4 wooden dowels within the size of the mini cake board, and on top of that, I piped a couple dots buttercream.  This will hold the cake board in place once it's on the wooden dowels and on the cake below.  To create a more finished and cohesive look, I rolled out a rectangular piece of yellow fondant and laid it over the mini cake board and cake to create the collar of the helmet.  I gently rubbed down on the fondant along the edge of the cake board so I could locate it.  I wanted to make sure that the cake stayed centered. The helmet layer was gently lifted and positioned over the cake board and secure in place with a dollop of royal icing.  You can also insert a long dowel through the whole cake to really hold it in place at this point.  I know it's a lot to take in, but I hope my illustration to the left would help :)




Once the cake was fully assembled, it was time to finish decorating!  I rolled out ropes of fondant and created the signature windows of the Mark V, and trimmed off the edges of the collar.  I then airbrushed the yellow parts of helmet with a gold shimmer for a metallic look.  Another key element to the cake were the octopus tentacles that look like they are ready to envelop the Mark V.  To create these, I rolled out long tapered ropes of red fondant and adhered them to the cake.  I started at the base of the collar on the back side, and wrapped the tentacles around the helmet as realistic as I could.  I then made small balls of light red fondant that I flattened with a ball tool for the suckers.  I used a small detail brush and water to attach them to the tentacles.  This made them so life-like!  For the final touch, I inserted the gumpaste flowers to soften it up for the bride.

Last month, I had the opportunity to create a wonderful and meaningful cake for my co-worker and his fiancée.  The cake was simple, yet elegant, with a touch of fun.  When it came down to the decoration, I had free reign as long as the cake was offset and that their children were incorporated in the design.  The offset cake symbolized their journey together, and their children were, of course, an important part of their lives.  They were two individual families that will be joined as one on that special day.

My preparation for this cake began a week prior to the wedding when I sculpted the bride and groom cake toppers.  With their photos in hand, I began shaping the couple out of tinted gumpaste starting with the legs.  The legs were created first and allowed to dry a few days before I built on the torso, neck, and then the head and face.  I made sure that each added part were almost dried before moving on. The added weight would make the toppers slouch if the parts were still pliable.  Who would want a slouchy bride and groom on their cake?!  Once the body was completed, I added on their suit and wedding dress.  I rolled out thin sheets of gumpaste, and cut them out as if I would with real clothing, piecing on the back and seamed with the front.  The wedding dress was cut out as if it were an apron and wrapped around from the front to the back to form a halter style.  Sugar sprinkles were then attached with simple syrup to represent the sequins on her dress.  Once I was happy with the clothing, arms were added and attached in position.  The final step is also an important step.  No matter how general or unlike the real person the toppers may be, the perfect hair makes them recognizable and personal.  I rolled out gumpaste that matched their hair colors, and pieced them together on their heads.  I used different veining tools to give them movement, texture, and curls.  Now they look just like them!

Toppers done, and it's time for the cake... lots of cake.  The cake was made up of 4 offset square tiers, rotated to the left until the corners almost met the edge of the one below.  Each tier consisted of one layer of chocolate and one layer of vanilla cake, sandwiched around a layer of rich buttercream.  These were then all iced in buttercream, alternating a smooth finish with one covered in large roses.  I love covering whole cakes in large buttercream star tip roses.  It is a simple technique that looks so dramatic.  To incorporate the kids into the design, but keeping with the elegance of the cake, I created printed edible images of the kids in the coral accent color.  I edited the images in Photoshop to remove the background, and then laid them out in Illustrator with decorative borders to compliment the overall design of the cake.  I wanted their images to be part of the cake, not take away from elegance, or take away from the toppers.  The edible images were attached to the buttercream on the bottom tier before it crusted over.  I then pipes scallops along the edges.  I finished off the cake with dots of  coral in between the roses, and a simple scroll to tie in their wedding colors.  The same treatment was duplicated on two sheet cakes that I also baked for extra servings.  That is a great way to feed a large number of guest without having to pay for a super huge wedding cake.