Gender Reveal Present Cake

 I was sooo excited to make my first gender reveal cake for my friends.!!! What an awesome fun way to be a part of such a wonderful surprise.! I decided a present with gender neutral colors would be most appropriate. I baked 3 tiers of cake in 9 in square pans and iced the cake and in between each layer with frosting slightly tinted with a small amount of green food gel. I rolled out gumpaste (an edible clay) thinly and used a cutter to cut several polka dots to decorate the present. Then, I fashioned the bow out of gumpaste tinted with yellow food gel.

 Cutting the cake together....! Boy or girl.?! Boy or girl.?!?

 :)

 Yayyy..!!!! Their sweet little boy will soon have a baby sister.!

This was my first try with polka dots in a came. It's pretty simple to do. I baked several pink and purple 'dots' in a mini cupcake tin. Once they cooled, I used a small round cookie cutter to make each dot a perfect circle. Then I alternated the pink and purple in circles in the greased cake pans. Do not lay the circles flat, but standing up instead so that they will be polka dots when you cut into the cake. Then, carefully fill up the pans with batter. Next time, I will definitely be adding more polka dots so don't be afraid to add plenty!

Tiffany & Co. Box Cake

My friend Precious requested a Tiffany & Co. Box cake and this is what I came up with.! To start, I baked a cake in a 9x13 pan and let it cool completely. Then, I cut the cake in half. I iced the bottom half before placing the top layer on slightly askewed. I finished icing the entire surface of the cake a beautiful Tiffany's blue (tinted with a small amount of light blue food gel). Then, I sprinkled blue and white sugar to line the inside of the jewelry box. I made the pearl necklace by rolling up small beads of gumpaste, which is an edible clay-like dough that hardens as it dries. To assemble the bow, I rolled out two thin, (6ish in) long rectangles and cut all of their edges straight. I cut the first rectangle in half. I formed a loop, bringing the edges together and "gluing" the seam with a small amount of water. As the loop dried, I stuffed a small piece of paper towel in the loop to maintain the structure. Repeat with the second half of the strip you already have. As the loops are drying, take your second rectangle, cut it in half and shape the ribbon ends with these pieces. I took another small piece of gumpaste to wrap around the center of the bow. Again, use a small amount of water to assemble and secure the bow. I also added a layer of shimmery silver luster dust for added luminance.! Next, I shaped the name tag out of thinly rolled gumpaste. Then I piped on the name tag and "Tiffany & Co." With black tinted icing. I finished everything off with a generous sprinkling of edible sugar pearls.!

Brain Cake

 In honor of Halloween I made a brain cake.! First, I baked a cake in an ovenproof glass bowl to create a domed shape. Once the cake completely cooled, I used a serrated knife to slightly shape the cake. I cut down the center of the brain to create the separate hemispheres.

 Then, I iced the entire cake and let it chill slightly in the refrigerator. While I was waiting, I tinted my gumpaste with a small amount of food gel (I used a combination of brown, pink & black- a very little bit goes a long way) and mixed it all together. I didn't intend to make such a dark color, but I think that it turned out well.

I iced the cake with another layer of frosting. Then, I rolled out pieces of gumpaste and laid them in different patterns to create "brain tissue" and cover the cake, making sure to maintain the line separating the hemispheres.

 Lastly, I used a clean brush to paint the "brain" generously with seedless raspberry jam.! ..And you're let with an OooOooozy, spooky brain...!

Traditionally, I have been making my friends cakes that look like other types of food to celebrate their close together birthdays. They were in town for the Richmond zombie walk, so I thought that this year a brain cake would be appropriate.! 

Garden gnome zombies ready to devour a brain cake whilst my pumpkin clad black cat looks on excitedly! Happy Halloween.!!

Barn with Piggies Cake

 My wonderful Grandpa just turned 86! He has been a hardworking farmer his entire life. Now that he's not physically able to complete the farm tasks that he's always loved, he enjoys watching the family complete any new farming schemes he decides upon. If you couldn't already guess this year's project, we added four cute little pigs to the family.

 

Here are the sweet piggies peeking out of their pigpen! Travis is the one to the left. The other three are tentatively referred to (and not really referred to because for some reason Travis is the star) as Porkchop, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, and Baconator (one is not pictured).

 I made the piggies out of gumpaste (an edible clay like substance that hardens as it dries) tinted with pink food gel a few days before the party. I used foodsafe black marker to draw on faces and splotches for each pig. I baked and cooled two 9x13 cakes that I iced with green tinted buttercream icing. First I used a decorating tip (#233) commonly used for grass to create small 3-D grassy patches, and then squeezed and dragged additional icing around the top of the cake using that same decorating tip. To make the barn, I made a small batch of Royal Icing (*It is very important to use royal icing- it acts as a very strong glue and hardens enough to connect the separate pieces of graham cracker. It's not the tastiest icing, you certainly wouldn't ice a cake using it, but it's a handy technique for decorations). I iced the sides of the barn red and let them completely dry. Cover Royal Icing not being used immediately carefully and completely with plastic wrap so that it doesn't crust and harden. Then, I piped a generous amount of white royal icing to "glue" the sides of the graham cracker barn together and let them dry completely. Right before presenting the finished cake, I put Travis on top of the barn and accented the pigs with mud puddles (hot fudge dusted with cocoa powder).

 This is Grandpa's Barn- clearly my graham cracker representation is dead on accurate.

 My sweet nephew was thrilled to see Travis the pig on the roof of the barn! "Muddy" (hot fudge) pig hoof-prints make up the 86 that Travis traced on the roof. 

Barbie Dress Cake

My friend asked if I would make a cake for her daughter's birthday. I thought it would be fun to try an old school Barbie dress cake, and this is what I came up with.!

First I baked one cake in a 9 in round pan and one in the bottom of a glass oven proof pyrex bowl. After everything cooled, I iced the bottom cake and most of the skirt (the domed cake upside down that was baked in the bowl) with pink icing. Then I stuck the Barbie in the middle of the cake. I piped a bodice with hot pink icing and added extra details like pink sanding sugar and edible pearls all over the dress. To make the white ruffles in the center of the dress, I piped a simple shell design that I then covered by overlaying it with the draping ruffled design.

Pusheen Birthday Cake

Somehow don't know who Pusheen the cat is.?! Check it out:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/pusheen

There are adorable different versions of Pusheen for just about every occasion.! I knew that my friend Todd would greatly appreciate a birthday Pusheen wearing a shirt of a birthday Pusheen wearing a shirt with his name on it all portrayed in cake form...but really...who wouldn't.?! :)

To make this cute rotund feline fellow, I baked one 9 in cake round and one smaller 5 or 6 in cake round. Once everything sufficiently cooled, I cut the top of the larger cake round to form the pointy ears and a space for the birthday hat to fit into perfectly. I cut the smaller cake round into a triangle birthday hat to set right on big Pusheen's cute little partying cake cat head. I iced a stripe of a white shirt, and iced the rest with lightly gray tinted icing to form the cat. I used a darker gray icing to pipe on details such as eyes, stripes, whiskers, tails, etc. I accented the green party hats with colored chocolate covered candy decorating bits. Because Cats.

 :)

Basketball Jersey Cake

I surprised my friend Brie with this cake for her birthday- she absolutely loved it.! She's a basketball star and told me that her favorite colors are yellow and red. Her jersey number is 24 and she's also turning 24 so that worked out perfectly.! All I had to add was her nickname to the back of the cake and it was finished. To make the cake, first I baked a cake in a 9x13 pan (for the jersey) and also in a glass oven proof Pyrex bowl (for the basketball). You will probably have to drop the temperature of the oven for the basketball portion since it is a much thicker cake, it will take longer to bake but you don't want it to get too brown. I literally just took a knife to cut out the jersey shape in the larger cake and an arc for the basketball to fit in. Then I simply iced everything and piped on extra details.!

Beachy Sea Creature Cake

 I made this cake for my friend Olivia- do you see it.?! (The Octopus is the O, a seaweed L, seaweed I's dotted with starfish, two crabs fighting to form the V, and a pink fish A.!) First, I iced the cake with lightly tinted blue icing. I just barely mixed a small amount of light blue food gel into white icing to create various shades of blue and white waves. Next, I covered a third of the cake with a sand mixture I made by mixing graham crackers and a little bit of brown sugar in a food processor.

Then, I crafted each sea creature out of gumpaste- an edible clay that I like to use. It's very pliable and easy to work with but I would suggest only using a small amount at a time, and always remember to keep the rest of your gumpaste tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and stowed in a sealed plastic ziploc; exposure to air will harden the gumpaste very quickly and make it impossible to work with. I also like to use food gel to tint icings and decorations, because you can use a very small amount and achieve a more intense, exact color than with food coloring without compromising the composition of the material. I added yellow sprinkles on the star fish by rubbing a small amount of water onto the gumpaste stars before sprinkling them on. Lastly, I accented the cake with edible pearls for an extra pop!

Taco Cakepops

I surprised my friend with taco cakepops for his birthday given his great love for taco bell.! I thought that mini tacos would be a fun new food like challenge to add to my cake making repertoire.

 Here's the finished, packaged product all ready to enjoy.!

 First,  like with any cakepops, you bake a cake. After letting the cake cool completely,  crumble it up in a large bowl. Add 3/4 of a container of icing and then its the fun part- time to get messy.! Knead the cake and icing mixture by hand. Form into individual cakepop sized balls. I like to put the balls in a pan to briefly stick in the freezer to firm up.

Take out one individual ball from the freezer at a time so that the other ones stay intact. I formed the ball into a taco shell shape, dipped the tip of a cakepop stick into melted yellow candy melts, and stuck the stick into the "taco shell". You may need to quickly stick this back into the freezer to solidify. Then, cover the outside of the shell with the yellow candy melts. Quickly spoon a thin layer of melted brown candy melts to serve as the "meat" inside the taco shell. Then, sprinkle green tinted coconut "lettuce", shredded orange candy melt "cheese", red candy coated chocolate sprinkles for tomatoes, and top with a healthy dollop of icing for sour cream. Enjoy.!

Camera Cake

Here's my simple version of a camera cake.! First I baked a 9x13 in cake and a 9 in round to form the base. When everything cooled, I cut out two rectangles for the camera body, and used a large circle cutter for the two circles to form the lenses. I crumb coated the camera with icing and used a knife to shape the camera and round the edges. Next, I rolled out black fondant thin and carefully smoothed it over the cake. I iced the base cake "saints" gold and piped a black bead border around the edge of the cake. I also piped several fleurdelis and accented the cake with edible sugar pearls.

Here's Melissa riding a kangaroo- someone is taking that wonderful picture .! With a Heath ledger-esque likeness, she safaris through the Australian outback atop a noble pouncing steed.!

Monster Book of Monsters Cake

I wanted to make a "different" type of Harry Potter cake to surprise my friend with for her Birthday his year. I decided to create a Monster Book of Monsters.! :)

My cat Oswald/Lil Z was a big help in the decorating process as you can clearly see.!

 First, I baked a 9x13 cake (chocolate with oreos lining the bottom if you must know.!). After it had sufficiently cooled, I cut the cake in half and stacked the pieces, gluing them together with a bit of icing in the middle. Next, I iced the three "pages" sides of the book. I rolled out three long thin strips of gumpaste (an edible clay-like substance) to serve as the pages. I cut lines for individual pages using a rolling cutter, and then brushed some cocoa powder over the surface of the gumpaste to create a weathered look. After attaching the page edges of the cake, I molded the fangs with additional gumpaste. I piped all over the remaining surface of the cake with icing tinted with brown food gel using a #233 icing tip-one that is used to create a grassy, or in this case, furry effect.

 I also used gumpaste to form the eyeballs (with a toothpick dipped in black food gel to make the pupils), and to make the "bookmark" tongue. I dribbled some red food coloring around the teeth to emulate blood. Those ferocious fangs just seemed like there would be blood dripping from them.!

Lastly, I piped "Hannah's Monster Book of Monsters" on the cover of the "book," and 25 on the spine. I also used brown tinted gumpaste to form a wand (emblazoned with Hannah's initials, HP, along with a lightning bolt) and threw in a cheap pair of Harry Potter-esque circular glasses.! Super cool.! Always.! :)

Spongebob Cupcakes

I didn't have much time to go all out, but wanted to make something special for my nephew's 3rd Birthday, so I decided on Spongebob cupcakes.! They were super simple to make and turned out super cute. They would have been quick to decorate, but he decided he wanted to help me with each step of the way- so decorating the cupcakes was 27 million times more fun and a special activity to share with my little helper.! First I iced the Spongebob cupcakes with yellow icing. I used a larger round icing tip for the white of his eyes, and then added a dot of blue icing in the middle. Then I piped on black eyelashes, the outline of his nose, and his smile. I added his teeth then, and three small orange freckles above his cheeks. The Patrick cupcakes I iced pink, then added his eyes then eyebrows, pupils and smile, and finished him off with light purple dots. I also made a few cupcakes with a blue "ocean" swirl pattern that I piped starfish onto and covered with blue sprinkles.

Here monkey is diligently decorating his cupcakes. Or, "painting his bohna na muffins" as he put it.

 

There's the monkey posing with his cupcakes he decorated, and to the right is both of us.!

 He enjoyed every part of decorating and eating his special Birthday cupcakes.! He didn't even want to share them. :)

Walking Dead Cake

EEeeeeeee..!!!!! Walking Dead Cake.!!!! My boyfriend absolutely loves Walking Dead, so here's his surprise Birthday cake.!!! Shout out to my roommate's boyfriend for helping me by making the wooden plank and the four fingered zombie hand- my boyfriend recently almost cut his finger off. First, I made gumpaste zombie hands in various shades of gray that I let slightly dry. I iced the cake gray with a stripe of black in the middle to divide the doors. I fashioned the lock and the door handles using gumpaste with cocoa powder and black and red food gel as "dusty" "bloody" accents. I piped out the DONT OPEN DEAD INSIDE with black icing and used drippy premade black gel on the edges of some of the letters and on the bloody 27 in the corner. Happy 27th Birthday Zack..!!!! <3

 :):):)

Chinese Noodle Bowl Cake

 One of my dearest, best, most fun and wonderful friends absolutely loves Chinese food- as well as anything to do with Asian culture-, so of course I had to make her a Chinese takeout cake.!!!! It turned out soooo awesome.! I was super happy with the results & everyone loved it!

A few days ahead of time, I molded the mushrooms, broccoli & carrots out of gumpaste (an edible clay-like material similar to fondant). I rubbed some cocoa powder on the caps of the mushrooms to make them look more realistic, and added some green sprinkles to the tops of the broccoli to make them pop. To make the chopsticks "float" whilst holding up a healthy portion of noodles, I fashioned a log shape of gumpaste and stuck the chopsticks through the top of the material. I used shaping tools to draw lines for individual noodles. Then I let it dry completely on a flat surface to hold its shape and be strong enough to stand up in the cake. 

 I baked the (pineapple flavored) cake in a greased glass ovenproof pyrex bowl. I iced the cake with a thin layer of vanilla frosting. Then, I colored some cinnamon flavored fondant using no-taste red food gel. I rolled the fondant out evenly to be big enough to cover the bottom and sides of the "bowl." I cut out about 2 inches of the top cake, leaving a rim to enhance the bowl shape and leave more room for the noodles and vegetables. Then, I used golden colored fondant to cover the top of the cake. The rest of fondant I squeezed through a small handheld fondant press (similar to a garlic press) with a circular attachment at the end to create the noodles. I stuck the previously made noodle cluster up into the middle of the cake, and then draped individual noodles on top and all over the top of the cake. I poured Butterscotch sauce over all the food to create a "soy-sauce" glaze, and then added the vegetables on top with real pineapple chunks and a fortune cookie to finish it up.!

 Different angles.! OOoooooooo.!!!!

 Ahhhhhhhhhhh....!!!!

Awwwww..!!! Me and Tanesha :) :) :) Happy Birthday.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a blast partying with everyone yay fun.!!!! and CONGRATULATIONS..!!!! <3