Monday, March 31, 2014

Boys and Cake to Celebrate!

This is a short-and-sweet post, kinda like the recipients of this past Saturday's cakes! The first, a Onesie Cake, was for Erin's soon-to-be-born baby boy. Her mom Nancy is a great and life-long friend of mine. We went to high school together. This will be Nancy's second grandchild, second grandson. Her son Jason has a cutie patootie little guy named Kenny with the biggest brown eyes I've ever seen!

A few words about the cake - Nancy sent a photo of her inspiration cake, a fondant-covered cake that looked like a baby's onesie. The inspiration cake had little nautical flags on the bib. Nancy asked for jungle animals. I'm not an expert at fondant-covered cakes, so I told Nancy I'd be happy to do it in buttercream with fondant decorations. The cake was a black-and-white marble cake, the marble made with two batches of a white cake recipe marbled with one recipe of dark chocolate fudge cake. I let the BIG cake cool overnight and carved its shape the next day. I made a sketch indicating just where I needed to cut away, and did just that. I crumb-coated the sides and top and allowed that to sit for a few hours to make sure the crumbs stayed contained, which is important when you're frosting raw, crust-free edges. I liberally frosted it in a pretty periwinkle blue, and smoothed out the surface with a paper towel (great trick!) and a fondant smoother. Then I started to make defined marks on the cake with a skewer and other gadgets (like a fondant wheel). I loaded up my pastry bag and added shell borders. The bib, jungle animals, and buttons were all shaped with fondant that I colored, molded, and even painted (with paste food coloring). I loved making this cake for Erin's new little bundle, and I am thrilled that it got such great reviews, not only for its appearance, but also for its flavor. Here is the Onesie cake:




The other cake I made for Saturday was for my great-nephew Carriag's 4th birthday party. Carraig's mom, Emily, told me Carraig really wanted a tuba cake. OK. A first, but who's to deny a 4-year old the cake of his dreams?  Not me! So, I looked up images of tubas all over the internet, got a bit of inspiration, and made this cake -- in true family fashion, chocolate on chocolate! -- as well as cupcakes for one of the cutest and sweetest little guys in the world! Here are Carraig's cupcakes and dream cake:






Hope you've enjoyed seeing these cakes as much as I enjoyed telling you about them!


9 comments:

  1. They both came out fantastic!!!

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  2. Amazing. You need to show me how you frost those cupcakes mine never come out looking like that : )

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  3. You are amazing!!! Your talents never cease to amaze me. You definitely have a love for baking and an artistic talent for decorating.

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  4. Erin's cake was beautiful and delicious. My favorite part was the little animals at the top...so sweet. Carraig's cake is just too cute. I have to admit, I've never seen a tuba cake before. You did an amazing job (as always). What a great gift...the ability to bring joy to others at the most special times of their lives. No one does it better. <3

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  5. Hoping to get my comment in before the deadline! Your lemon scones look amazing and if I happened to be the lucky one....they would be traveling to OBX with me to share with family in a few weeks!!!

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  6. As I have mentioned more than a few times since Saturday, the cake was EXACTLY what we wanted. Not only did it look amazing, it tasted amazing. I made sure our guests got to go in and see it before we cut it. I think you should have cards to promote your talents. I gave out your name to several people who asked where we got the cake. I loved all the little details that you put into the frosting of the cake... stitch lines, etc Thank you again for coming through for us!

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    1. Thank you Nancy, I am SO glad you were happy! Actually, I am not promoting my cake baking - I just bake for friends and family because the full-time job keeps me very busy, and I write about those cakes. I love writing even more than baking, and hope to one day get that cookbook published. My baking is a labor of love, and I want to keep it that way. Thanks so much, though, for your vote of confidence!

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  7. SO impressive, Jeannie!! Your talents continue to bring much joy and inspiration to others!

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  8. I am so so impressed!!! Your creations are all so beautiful!!!

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