Cake Pictures

I haven't added any cake pictures lately, here are a few:

Little Man's Fourth Birthday. He wanted a tractor theme, at the last minute he asked for a Thomas the Train cake, so we put Thomas around the cake base. :)

Cupcakes for one of my best friend's little boy, his first birthday.

The cake, cupcakes, and smash cake.

Wedding shower cake for a close friend. It was supposed to be a two layer cake, but I had was also hosting the shower and I had a horrible cold with fever. I decided this would do.

Petit Fours, yum!

One of my very first cakes, mom's birthday cake.

Christmas Eve Tiramisu Layer Cake, oh so good!

I also made a two layer Blue's Clues cake for Baby Girl's second birthday, but it has her name in huge pink letters up the side, so I'm not posting it. It was pretty!

Do you have a card?

I haven't written about it lately, but I'm still making/decorating cakes! Admittedly, I did take a bit of a break, but am now back in full swing. The last cake I made was a Tiramisu layer cake. And it was delicious! It was for my family's annual Christmas Eve party, and it was so crazy trying to get everything ready for Christmas that I forgot to take a picture. :( Since Christmas, though, I've had inquiries for two orders! I ended up not getting the first order, which is fine, but the second order has already been placed. Forty-eight mini cupcakes in chocolate, strawberry, and caramel, with poured fondant icing and fondant rose decoration. I practiced making them today, since I've never made mini cupcakes before. Some turned out well, some didn't. Oh well, that's why they were practice cakes!

On another note, I was at a birthday party yesterday for one of Little Man's Kindermusik friends, and the Kindermusik moms all know that I'm learning to decorate cakes. In fact that's where my cupcake order came from. Anyway, one of the moms and I were talking about it, and another lady overheard us. So she looked at me and asked, "Do you have a business card, I might call you?"

Hehe.

I just was asked if I had a business card. For my cake business.

I had to tell her "no," that I was just learning and that it was only a hobby at this point.

She looked a little disappointed, which made me feel a bit good inside.

Which brings me to another point.

I'm ready to take a baking/decorating class. I've had so many friends tell me that when so-and- so's birthday rolls around, they want me to make a cake for it. So far I've only charged for two cakes, and I only asked for what it cost me in supplies. However, while fun, it is also a huge pain in the rear to make one of these super decorated cakes, and I'm ready to start being compensated for the time and effort. The thing is, though, is that I'm not a professional, and sometimes my cakes come out well and sometimes they don't,and I feel uncomfortable charging unless it is something I know I can do. Another reason I'd like to take a class is that I've hit a ceiling with what I'm able to do, and I would love to try some of the more intricate cakes. Mmm, tiered cakes, royal icing, figurines...

Waistline, beware, I see more cakes in your future!

Busy Bees

Whew, it's been busy around here, lately. I need to catch up on my blog, there are so many things I don't want to forget!

The kids have been keeping us on our toes, they are busier than ever! Baby Girl is walking a bit, but she still seems to prefer to crawl most of the time. She's climbing on all the furniture, the stairs, up Little Man's step stools, pretty much everything she can get to. She and Little Man have a new game, they like to take all the toy bins and dump them in the den floor. Every single last one of them. It makes for some interesting clean up before bed.

Little Man has really blossomed over the past few weeks, he is more and more a big boy vs. a baby. How did it happen so fast?! He has an amazing memory, last night he read The Husband and I one of his bedtime stories, My Lucky Day, and remembered almost every word! It isn't a short book, either! The Husband and I were so proud! He also, and this is big, gave up his paci! He's only been using it during naptime and bedtime for the last year or so, but we've been unable to wean it away from him during sleepytime. I had read about the trick where you cut just the tip of the paci away, so that it loses suction, and decided to try it. Little Man noticed right away, of course, but he still wanted to use it. He asked, "what's wrong with paci?" I told him that he was getting to be a big boy, and his paci's were getting old, too, and that after a while they just break. Then I said, "when you're pacis break that means it's time to throw them away and not use pacis anymore." Little Man agreed! The next morning he threw them all in the trash and hasn't looked back! He is getting to be so big!

On another note, I've been making lots of cakes. A few friends and I threw a baby shower here at the house, and I made the petit fours, cake, and diaper cake. It was a lot of fun, but wow, also a lot of work!

I also made a cake for mom's office Christmas party. It was my first square cake, it surprised me how difficult corners are! There was definitely a "back" to this cake! I also ran out of red and green fondant, I would have liked to have had a few more decorative touches, but since it's impossible to match colors once they're made, I just left the cake as is.

I can't forget to mention the Christmas shopping! I shopped on Black Friday for the first time ever! I was planning on getting up and hitting the stores when they opened at 5:00, but Baby Girl was up half the night, so I didn't get out until 6:30. I didn't find any major deals, but I did manage to find several little ones. Every little bit helps, right!? Plus, it was a lot of fun, I think it will be a new tradition for me.

Practice makes progress - and thank goodness for that!

Baby Girls practice birthday cake, I only hope the real thing turns out as well!

Well, I've given the cake decorating, or more specifically, the fondant, another try! Despite the fact that I soon won't be able to wear any of my clothes for the "tasting," I'm having so much fun! Here's my second attempt at fondant:






Turned out cute! It's a small cake because I had one 9 in round in the freezer, left over from trying to motivate Little Man during potty training. So I cut two circles in it, stacked them, and then decorated. This time I bought a commercial fondant, I wanted to try one out. A lot of people who take cake decorating very seriously (very, very, seriously it would seem) say they shudder at the thought of using a commercial fondant, but this novice decorator liked it. I loved the texture, it was much smoother than the one I made, which was way too greasy and pliable. It tasted great, too, without adding any flavoring. The only drawback is it's expensive. To cover a bigger cake would cost at least $15.00, and for that much I think I'll try a homemade recipe that doesn't call for as much shortening.

I hope Baby Girl loves her birthday cake, or realistically will love looking at pictures of it when she's older! I sure am loving trying to make it!