The Hunting Cake

This was for my friend’s husband, who was turning 40, and is a big deer hunter. Only, the last 4 years he hasn’t gotten anything, so we wanted to make the deer laughing at him. He also drinks Korbel brandy while he’s away on his hunting weekends (which may explain why he hasn’t gotten anything in awhile…?), which is the little Korbel brandy bottle next to him. The hunter ended up being a pretty good likeness. Anna kept asking, “Why didn’t you give Mr. Rich any hair?” I said, “Because he doesn’t HAVE any hair!” It was a big hit at the party. :)

It was devils food/milk chocolate marble on the bottom cake, and butter cake on the top cake. All covered in rolled fondant. The hunter, the deer, the target, the Korbel bottle and rifle are all fondant. I did cheat and use a few plastic trees in the very back, because I ran out of time, but most of the trees and all of the grass are hand piped, tinted chocolate.

Care Bear Cake

Best. Cake. Ever.

That said, I never want to make it ever, ever again. :) I love this cake. I did make a full practice cake before this one, because the Care Bear just looked like a BEAR, not a Care Bear - which wasn't working for me.

The bottom is a 14" round. The Care Bear is a separate layer, supported by a custom cut plastic sheet (pays to be married to an engineer). Both layers are covered in fondant. The clouds on the rainbow are royal icing. Everything else is fondant.

Lilo & Stitch Cake

This was for a Lilo & Stitch birthday party.

Lots I would change, or that didn't end up as I wanted it to - but overall I am happy with it. I did have to glue Stitch's happy little ass to his surfboard, so he's out of commission after this. Thank goodness my dad raised me, not on duct tape (although that was popular too), but on the merits of 5 minute epoxy.

The water is fondant, done in a swirled blue, slicked with clear piping gel. I propped the base of the fondant on the bottom layer up, to simulate waves. Then I piped royal icing under the rises to look like surf.

The Island is made of cake, carved, then covered in a mixtures of graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar. The tree leaves, animals and fish are all made of fondant. Stitch is riding a fondant wave, cresting with royal icing.

M&A Wedding Cake

This was my first wedding cake. I had to make the cake work around a Lladro topper that was beautiful, but WAY over sized for the cake that we needed to make.

There are over 300 hand set (with tweezers) sugar seed pearls on the cake. Cover and flowers are all fondant. Overall, I was pleased with how it turned out.

Hello Kitty Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes. It was Hello Kitty (or, in our house at that point, known as "Hi Kitty Kitty"), made to match the party paper ware. I love the simplicity of it, and it was an easy cake to do. It was all fondant, with the base layer striped in hand cut strips of fondant, to match the plate design. I also made matching fondant centers for the PB&K flower sandwiches. At that point, my husband told me to step AWAY from the fondant before things got out of hand. :)

Graduation Cap & Tassel Cake

This was a cake for a high school graduation. They wanted the school colors (red, white & blue) and hearts. The cake in a 14" round covered in fondant with inlaid hearts. The cap is a small bowl cake. The board in a thin layer is plastic covered in fondant. The tassel is her real tassel.

Barbie Cake with Flower Cupcakes

This was a Barbie cake for a Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses party. (Yeah, I could have done all 12 dancing princesses, but then I'd have had to jump off a bridge, and my family would have missed me.)

I learned a lot on this one...such as, they make little Barbie "torso"s that you can stick on the cake instead of using the whole Barbie...but that they look NOTHING like real Barbie.

They make a cake pan (or bowl, as the case may be) JUST FOR baking a cake the shape of Barbie's skirt. PERFECT! Except, the skirt is made for Midget Barbie (probably why some genius thought up the separate torso thing). So, it is necessary to use additional cake at the bottom of Barbie's skirt so that she will actually stand in it.

And most importantly, after days (literally) of baking and decorating, your 5 year old thinks nothing of saying, "Hmmm...it's OK. It doesn't really look much like her though."