Relay for Life 2005 (Butterflies & Hawaiian flowers)

This was for the 2005 Relay for Life Survivor Luncheon. It was a Hawaiian theme. They originally asked for it to say "Congratulations" - but that seemed somehow morbid to me. So, I found a Hawaiian phrase meaning "to good health" and used that instead.

The Hawaiian flowers are all made of fondant. The butterflies are made from painted rice paper, piping gel, and royal icing. It's hard to see, but in the final cake, there was also a butterfly that hung suspended over the cake on floral wire and fluttered a bit. One of my favorite cake toppers...

Relay for Life 2006 (Hawaiian flowers)

This was a cake for the survivor luncheon at our local Relay for Life event. They had a Hawaiian theme, and just wanted a topper for a Costco cake. The flowers were all made from fondant. The base is rolled fondant with royal icing piping for the writing. "Olakino Maik'i" means "to good health" in Hawaiian.

The Castle Cake

My single biggest failure so far...although the birthday girl was THRILLED with it - so I guess that counts for something. :)

My downfall here was a lack of planning. Generally, if I am making a cake this big, with this many structural elements in it, I make a test cake first, so be sure that it will work. But, time management got the best of me, and I did not practice - so I found out too late that my turret columns were not structurally sound. They slumped more and more as the day progressed.

But, the foundation of the cake was solid, and the white chocolate hearts & turret points all turned out well. And the 'bricks' of the walls looked good too.

Spring Flowers & Picket Fences

This was a cake for the local mothers' club new member tea. It was my first foray into fondant flowers. The flowers, cake covering, picket fence and sign are all fondant, over a 14" round.

Incredibles Topper

This was another topper only. It was for an Incredibles borthday party, and they just wanted the Logo. It was made from fondant.

Baby Shower Ubrella Topper

This was a cake topper for a Costco cake that someone requested to match their party paper goods. I decided to do it primarily in white chocolate. It was SO fun to do. The only real learning curve for me was that when I piped it all on parchment and then flipped it - the pregnant lady was facing the wrong direction. Oh well...still turned out cute. And it was super quick. The base is fondant, the girl and the text are white chocolate.

The Christmas Tree Cake

I made this cake for our Mothers' Club Christmas (OK..."Holiday") party. It was a true feat of engineering, thanks for my phenomenal husband. It was five layers of cake, each carved and supported by a star shaped sheet of plastic (custom cut) in graduated smaller diameters. Then it had a "trunk" supporting it on the bottom to keep it raised off of the ground, and a set of graduated, inset dowels running up through the center of them.

I think this was one of my more original ideas. I ran out of time to fully execute - but considering that this was only my second (I think) attempt with fondant, I think it was pretty ambitious, and turned out pretty well. I wish I had had more time to make ornaments. therwise, I was pretty happy with it.

Unfortunately, it turned out so well, that nobdy realized it was a cake. It was the buffet centerpiece, and until I was cut and served, nobody realized that it had been a cake!