Tackling my fear of the piping bag...

When I first started decorating I completely skipped learning how to use a piping bag with buttercream because I thought it looked easy and I would not have any issues when I finally decided to use one. Well a month or so later when I tried it for the first time I got so frustrated with starting over and over again that I just called it quits. The piping bag and tip can be a little trickier than you think! I actually became a bit intimidated by it, well to be honest I still am, but I decided to try it again yesterday at 5 in the morning because I was up with the kids and all was quiet - for once! :) I have seen so much gorgeous piping work from people like Peggy Does Cake and Dillicious Cakes (find them on FaceBook, you'll be glad you did) that I HAD to practice until I got it right. I started to make a rose cake, which by the looks of this tutorial seems pretty easy, but after scrapping my roses off four times I gave up. To my credit I think it was more my frosting being too soft than me just totally screwing it up again and again but hey...

I remembered seeing some really pretty ruffle/ribbon cakes on FB and found a great little YouTube video (find it here) to help with the technique. I only had to scrap one layer of ruffles off so I was happy and overall it turned out pretty cute. It did droop a bit more than I would have liked but never try this with cream cheese frosting that is to soft to stay in place....trust me. So I've decided to not fear the piping bag but embrace it and try to learn as much as I can and will post all my little creations here!

Keep it sweet

~Katie

Nicole's Gothic Fairy cake!

I wanted to make something cute and Gothic for my dear friend Nicole's birthday so it had to include a fairy. My first thought was to try to make it out of gum paste but memories of my last attempt kept me from moving forward with that one....plus I didn't want the fairy to look like a chubby ball of dough! :) So, I found the cutest fairy figurine from artist Myka Jelina online and ordered it - it would be the perfect little topper for the cake! I decided on a simple single tier in purple sprayed with smoked amethyst luster dust and accented with gum paste roses and candy skulls. I wanted to make the colors pop so everything was covered in luster dust and the roses even got a little sprinkling of disco dust to give them an extra sparkle. Isn't it amazing what you can do with sugar? I never imaged there would be so many edible products out there to play with - it's addictive I tell you!!! Since I do not have an airbrush gun I opted for this cool little gadget called a Preval Spray Gun I saw on another cake decorators page and it did the trick! Funny how I find so many cake decorating tools in the hardware and modeling clay sections! Even funnier how my Christmas list now includes an airbrush gun! :) The cake itself was Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting and everything except the figuring on top was edible. We had a wonderful time celebrating with Nicole and I hope she enjoyed her cake - I loved making it!

 

Keep it sweet
~Katie

Poker anyone?...

What better to make the poker lover than a poker themed cake? When I say poker lover I mean poker LOVER! :) Actually I don't think I have visited my parents and not seen my dad playing poker (Internet poker). Some call it obsessive, he just calls it relaxing....gotta love him. This was my first time using a hexagon pan and the end shape is really nice - need to invest in more shaped pans for sure! The poker table design I had in mind originally included a little gum paste "dad" sitting at the table with a beer in his hand playing an awesome hand of poker but alas my ideas did not correspond with my figure making abilities - or lack thereof! So, I decided to scrap the figure idea and hone in on those skills later. Everything on the cake is edible, including the little playing cards with the edible images on top.

Cake was lemon with lemon curd filling (sweet and tart - just like my dad). It was the first time I had made him anything by hand (outside of those cards we made when we were little) and I know it meant a lot to him. Mistakes and all a lot of love went into this cake!!!! Love you dad!!!


Keep it sweet
~Katie

The cake goes public!...

How excited was I when a dear friend asked me to make her birthday cake? It was my first request from someone other than family (who, by the way, are genetically required to love your cakes!) and I was honored because it was for her big 50th birthday bash!!! It was also the first time that my cake would seen out in public! She gave me free reign to design it so I thought it would be the perfect chance for me to learn to make gum paste roses - after all I had watched tutorials on designmeacake.com a hundred times and it looked pretty simple so I tried it (anyone else see my trend of mistakenly thinking things look simple?). My first practice rose took several hours to complete and this scared me because I wanted to make 15 or so for the cake! So, I decided to invest in some petal cutters and better modeling tools and wow did they make a difference! Even though it still took several hours to make all the roses they turned out well and I fell in love with making flowers! I still have a lot to learn and want to focus on making them look more realistic but not bad for my first time right? :)

The cake was WASC and Bavarian creme filling on the bottom tier and Chocolate Stout and choc hazelnut filling on the top tier - yummmm! Everything is 100% edible, except the candles of course. I was happy with the design and everyone loved the cake - especially the birthday girl!!!





Keep it sweet
~Katie

Could you pass me a cold one?...

Anyone that knows my husband knows he loves beer! So, what better way to celebrate his birthday than with a nice cold Budweiser! Well, it wasn't cold, and it wasn't beer but you get the idea. This was my first time trying to carve cake and it must not have enjoyed the carving because it gave me lots of trouble. Maybe it was the fact that I was trying to carve moist carrot cake with chunks of pineapple that caused the problems...who knows...lesson learned! The cake itself was SO good and the cream cheese frosting was "lick it off the spoon when no one is looking" good. It was also the first time I used an edible image - they are really cool and super easy to use. So glad I have a local cake supply near by to print it for me! My husband really enjoyed it and I think it meant a lot to him to know that I had spent hours making something special just for him. Isn't that why we do this? To see the joy it brings others? Funny how flour and sugar can make people smile. :)

Keep it sweet

~Katie

Everybody loves the 4th of July...

Now that my obsession was in full swing I decided that I would find any reason to make a cake...and what better reason than celebrating our country's independence! I saw many great ideas online and decided to try making my version of an Uncle Sam Hat. It seemed doable and although I still had my share of issues I was happy with the overall result.


 The inside of the cake was the real show stopper though. I found inspiration from Glorious Treat's blog and was thrilled at how the inside turned out - my family loved it and no one expected it. It was a great day - bellies full and surrounded by love!!!



Keep it sweet
~Katie

The adventure begins...

     I have never been someone that bakes. My baked goodies either came from a box or from the local bakery. I did not even know what fondant was and if you would have told me last year that I would be obsessed with all things cake a year later I would have looked at you like you were crazy. I was more a lover of eating the sweet stuff than making it....that is until I got the idea to make my son's 1st birthday cake. I found a cake design I loved and a local baker who would make it to my specifications for what I thought was a pretty high fee. I was torn between shelling out the cash and trying to make something myself so I started watching YouTube and checked out cake designer pages on Facebook and was AMAZED at all the talented cake decorators out there. I was also impressed at how simple rolling out fondant, stacking tiers, and making homemade butter cream seemed to be....or so I thought! My first lesson learned - it ALWAYS looks easy when someone ELSE is doing it!!!! :) Baking and decorating cakes is WORK!!! There was no pretty apron, no Betty Crocker moments for me, no, it was clouds of flour and powdered sugar all over the place, me crying on the kitchen flour when my fondant tore, and my husband pleading with my not to throw it all away and go buy a cake at Wal-mart...it was a war between me and sugar!! Hours later (and when I say hours I mean 24 with no sleep) the cake was complete and I even mustered up the courage to make my step-daughter a cake as well.
     There were mistakes, LOTS of mistakes, but there were also ooo's and ahh's over what I had created and I felt this sense of purpose and accomplishment - I was in LOVE with this!!! Who knew flour and sugar could be so addictive! So, here I am a couple of months later, a few more cakes baked, many lessons learned with a dream of opening my own little shop one day...who would have thought? This blog will follow me along my way towards that dream...fingers crossed that I make it...and even if I don't my love of the sweet stuff will prevail!


Keep it sweet
~Katie