Rick and Morty Cake

I made a Rick and Morty cake for my amazing boyfriend's birthday because he introduced me to the show, we watched a lot of it when we first started dating, and it's awesome..! So.! :)

Making intricate color flow decorations takes a lot of time to do well, and the resulting decorations are fragile, but I like the effect and level of detail you can achieve. There's a reason not everyone does this for sure! Make sure to allow for plenty of time to fully dry in between layers and sections so the colors don't bleed. Very intricately detailed images may need to be pared down initially, or you can always add in embellishments with other tools and techniques later, such as using edible markers to finish a piece. I typically draw or print out the image that I'd like to make, and tape it to a flat surface such as a cake board. Cover the image with a piece of parchment paper, and tape to secure it. Trace the image using a pencil, and add or omit details as you want to. Cover this image with a piece of wax paper and tape to secure it. Mix up your color flow icing (or Royal icing) and start tracing! A few tips- keep plastic wrap over the surface of the icing, it dries out really quickly. I tend to separate it out into different containers that I mix with colored food gel to achieve the various colors that I need. It pays to plan ahead or at least think ahead as to what makes the most sense to complete first, etc. Use very small amounts of water at a time- we're talking drops- to thin out icing in order to flood a section. Take your time and don't over-saturate the mixture. Make sure to allow any borders to fully dry before flooding an area with icing.

Punny Valentine's Day Cookies

I used Royal icing to create artsy, pun-filled Valentines cookies :) Make sure to allow for drying time in between all the layers so that the colors don't bleed! I think that they turned out pretty cute myself.! <3 

ECU cookies

I just started a new position at the library at ECU, and thought that I'd bring in some themed cookies to share! I made my own royal icing and used colored food gel to decorate the cookies in the appropriate purple and gold motif. 

Giant Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

 My supervisor loves Reese's peanut butter cups above anything else, so rather than making a traditional cake for his birthday, I opted to create a giant Reese's. I used a large, deep tart pan with a removable bottom for this creation. The link is to the exact tart pan that I used. First, I covered the circular removable bottom with foil. I probably would have used wax paper instead if I had any in the house, but foil worked just as well. I sprayed the entire pan with nonstick cooking spray to ensure an easy removal.

First, I whipped up the peanut butter filling. I mixed together an entire 16 oz jar of Jif peanut butter, 1/4 cup of softened butter, about 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, and a little bit of salt to taste. You could easily add a little more or less sugar and salt. I pressed this all into the pan to achieve the correct size and shape for the layer, and threw it all in the freezer for a little while, until it was fairly solid. Once it was solid enough to remove from the pan and retain the same shape, I removed the peanut butter layer from the tart pan, but stored it in the freezer while I completed the additional steps.

Then, I melted chocolate candy melts and liberally coated the outside and bottom of the tart pan with the melted chocolate using a spoon. I used candy melts rather than chocolate chips, because they do not contain cocoa butter, and solidify quicker and more thoroughly for the purposes of this creation. I don't have an exact amount of chocolate that I used, but I bought two bags of candy melts and used all of them to make the Reese's cup. I probably used a bag and a half for the bottom and sides, and then reserved the rest of the chocolate to melt later for the top.

I allowed the chocolate to set completely in the fridge in between each step. I wanted to make this Reese's even more next level than any over-sized Reese's already inherently is, so I decided it needed a brownie layer too. I baked brownies in a 9 in round pan ahead of time and threw them in the freezer, so before I constructed this monstrosity I just made sure that the brownies were thawed out. Once the chocolate shell had set, I added the layer of brownie, then the round of peanut butter filling. Then, I melted the rest of the chocolate candy melts, and smoothed them over the top using a spoon. I refrigerated everything until it was completely set, and was able to smoothly pop my Giant Reese's out of the tart pan to serve and enjoy!

Elegant Gold and White Chocolate Cake

I had a vision for my Mom's 60th Birthday cake, and I have to say that I love how it turned out. I usually brainstorm ideas and then gradually get overly ambitious and over the top, and then alter my plans as I go. It's important to be flexible when things don't go as planned for whatever reason, and that's one of the things I love about cake decorating. Everything very rarely goes completely according to plan, but it's a thrill to creatively problem solve and change your vision on a time crunch! For this cake, I had read about how to create a lacy chocolate effect, but never used the technique myself before. The other obstacle I faced was trying to ice a freshly baked cake in a very warm kitchen- with no spare time to refrigerate layers. 

The cake itself was dark chocolate, with layers of raspberry jam in between and iced with almond buttercream icing. I piped an ombre ruffle effect on the bottom tier first, starting with a darker gold at the bottom and fading to a paler gold and white icing at the top of the layer. To make the white chocolate collar, I used candy melts. I measured a piece of wax paper longer than the circumference of the top tier of the cake that I wanted to encircle. As candy melts set incredibly quickly, I had to work fast to pipe out a swirly design onto the wax paper, and let it sit for a few minutes until the design was basically hardened but still flexible enough to wrap around the top layer. At this point, being incredibly short on time, we drove the cake as is to the venue- wax paper still wrapped around the top tier to give more time for the design to set. Last minute touches were added and I carefully removed the wax paper to find an intact design.! I touched up some icing, added the topper, fresh raspberries, gold sprinkles and edible sugar pearls. That's another tip- always bring an emergency kit of supplies you may need to touch up a cake, you'd rather be over-prepared than not have what you need to make your cake shine.! I finished everything off with a few sprigs of baby's breath. It turned out beautifully and tasted great too!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Bailey's Icing

These little cupcakes were delicious! I used a dark chocolate beer to give the cupcakes additional depth of flavor- as if anything topped with Bailey's isn't going to be amazing.?! I striped a piping bag with green food gel for an extra pop of color, used a simple swirl to top the cupcakes, and finished them off with some silver star sprinkles :)

SpongeBob SquarePants cake

Making cakes for my nephew's birthday is my favorite! This year was no different. He's so used to my cake decorating ridiculousness nothing phases him, but he loved helping me put everything together. He called me on the phone a few months ago to ask me if I would make him a SpongeBob cake for his 6th birthday and of course I was so excited to make my favorite person a special cake for his special day 💞💞💞