New Pan

I found that the demand for sheet cakes is very strong. I don't really think it is because people really prefer a rectangular cake over a round or square. I believe this is what people expect when they think of a cake because of your typical grocery store bakery.

The wonderful thing about cake making is being able to break away from the "norm" by making round or square cakes for birthday parties and baby showers. These "specialty cakes" aren't just for weddings anymore. Having something as simple as a round cake adds a certain amount of pizzaz to an event.

That being said, I went out and bought a new pan for myself. I originally wanted to but a smaller round pan for stacking, but decided to go with a typical sheet cake pan.

I do prefer different shapes over this, but for a large party or event this does do the job. Besides, I got a new toy i can break in! I'm thinking Red Velvet! MMMM......

Just a spoonful of Sugar

O.K. O.K. so it takes much more then a spoonful to make these wonderful creations, but it is pretty much just sugar.

I started learning the ropes of sugar flowers recently and I have to say that I am in love. I have always had a thing for flowers, and I absolutely love that the delecacy of the petals can carry over into sugar.

 The apple blossoms, blue rose and primrose are made from homemade royal icing. They were left out to harden and are now ready to adorn a cake.

The button flower ( lower right) and pansies are made from a fondant/gumpaste combination that were also left out to harden. The sugar flowers ( the ones made from royal icing) have a longer shelf life then the fondant/gum paste flowers, however both are wonderful to put on cakes or cupcakes.

The sugar flowers as i said are more delicate because you are able to make the petals so thin. If you notice on the pansies, there is a slight "curl" in the petals and they are paper thin. A very neat trick I think.

Hello Kitty Cake

As promised I present to you the Hello Kitty Cake!

This cake was made for a 3 year old girl who loves hello kitty. Since the kids eating the cake are young and we didnt want to overload them with sugar, we went with what I like to call a "deconstructed 2 tier cake"

I made the typical two 8 inch round cakes, but rather then stacking them and putting filling inside, I made them 2 separate cakes with my homemade butter cream icing.

The Hello Kitty was made with butter cream as well and I'm not going to give away the secret of how I did it. The cake it a simple white cake, made with only egg white, no yoke.

From what I have heard, the cake was a big success!

Upcoming Creations

I have been working very hard lately on a new tecnique. Well, new for me anyway. SUGAR FLOWERS!

I have made a few roses, some rose blossoms and a few more flowers. Pictures to come very soon.

I also have a cake I just finished that I surprised myself with because it came out just beautiful. Stay tuned!

Graduation Cake

I was so happy to hear that someone who saw one of my previous cakes wanted me to make a cake for a graduation party. i did a little investigating and found out that the school colors were blue green and white.

I was given some creative license on to what everything would look like. So, I thought for a bit and realized that I could make a "cap" out of some chocolate. I added some butter cream tassels and VOILA!

This is a chocolate two layer cake with raspberry filling! Again the icing is butter cream and home made by yours truly. I mailed out a thank you card to the person who ordered and included a few business cards I whipped up. I can't wait to hear what they all thought of it.

Happiness is...

I got this image courtesy of High heels and diet dr. pepper. I actually saw this photo in A blog magazine earlier today and couldn't get the image out of my mind. I was really inspired by the quote as well and wanted to share it with everyone.

I believe home should really be a happy place and anything that reminds you of that should be cherished. I enjoy baking cakes for many reasons. I like seeing the look on people faces and I like knowing that something I made makes people happy. I enjoy being creative with cakes and cupcakes and watching that creativity come to life before my eyes. Most of all though, I like baking because it reminds me of my grandma. A simple time when we would get together in the kitchen and she would explain the ins and outs of cooking and count the scoops of flour I put in the bowl. She would help me turn the crank on the flour sifter and let me lick the beaters when she was finished.

Every time I bake anything these little memories pop into my head and it brings me so much joy that I can truly relate that Happiness is Homemade.