3-tiered 30th Birthday Cake

I love how the colour combination worked out for this cake!  The "30" was approx. 4" high, and the cake weight 17 lbs.

                        

Dogs Playing Poker

My Dad loves playing poker  I thought it would be fun to make a Poker Table cake.  Then decided to challenge myself even more and make it a DOGS Playing Poker cake!   This took countless hours and was the first time I sculpted figures, but it was a lot of fun and I was especially happy with how the dogs turned out!  The doberman is wearing an "I 'heart' New York" t-shirt.  The bulldog is cheating with an Ace of Spades hiding under the table, between his toes.

Poker table is the actual cake.  Chairs are made from rice krispie treats covered in fondant.  Poker chips, cards, mugs of beer, cigars,  dogs and floor are fondant.

Naughty bulldog cheating, with an Ace of Spades between his toes!

Dalmation eyeing his competition

Sweet, fluffy dog

 Slice of cake

Kayak Cake and Farmer with Chickens Cake

I had the honour of making two really fun cakes for two dear friend's husbands...However, it is tricky making an actual person out of fondant -  I worried that if I didn't have their features quite right they could be down-right offended.  I was thankfully given full-creative license on both cakes, and I think both Fondant Barry and Fondant Flav were a success!

First up is Fondant Barry Kayaking with his Faithful Blind Cat Stevie.    Followed by Fondant Flav and his Egg-laying Chickens!   Check them out...

Real Barry and Fondant Barry together at last!

 ...and along came the chicken farmer...

 Flav in the wooden barrel and chicken coop prior to cake assembly.

Real Flav with his barrel tub buddy

SEMI-SWEET

A sweet read!  

For all of you who love to bake or have ever dreamed of opening your own cake/cupcake shop...I highly recommend this delicious and delightful fictional novel by the brilliant and charming Roisin Meaney.

This is an entertaining story with wonderful characters that takes place in a small town in Ireland;  Hannah, the main character, is about to open a cupcake shop when her boyfriend announces he's leaving her for another woman.  To find out more, you'll have to read it yourself!

"An endearing, insightful story of self-discovery, empowerment, love, and yes, most deliciously, cupcakes." - Erica Bauermeister, author of The School of Essential Ingredients.

Roisin is a friend, and a very talented best-selling author from Ireland whose books are now being introduced into Canada and the U.S.   Semi Sweet is available in bookstores in the U.S. and Canada, and online (Amazon.com).

After reading this book, I wanted to run out and open a cake shop on the spot!  :-)

Halloween Cake Pops

Halloween Cake Pops - 2010

Thank you, Bakerella, for super fun treat ideas that made me the hero at my kids' school!  I was up until midnight last Halloween making approx. 60 cake pops for my two older children's classes...only to find out the next morning that my son's class wasn't having a party like the rest of the school...Argh!  I brought them into his class anyway, with large dark circles under my tired eyes, smiling politely at his teacher,  explaining the effort they took. Thankfully, my son's teacher was happy to receive them, and being the ONLY treat brought in for his classmates (in a school FULL of treats in every other class) made me a celebrity for the day. ;-)

Lego Cake

Lego is a very popular theme cake to make.  I had no appreciation for how well-received this would be by kids.  If I had to put money on which lego cake would be most popular with kids, it would have been the Star Wars one.  Turns out my wallet would have been a little lighter!  

Lego logo made with fondant

Little lego guys were made using a lego ice cube tray.  I molded fondant into the trays, and put them in the freezer for a few minutes to harden.  Once ready, I popped the little guys out and hand painted (with food colouring) pants, hands, and faces on them.

Lego bricks are chocolate, just like the Star Wars Lego cake.   I cut 3 chocolate lego bricks to form an "11" at the front of the cake, as this cake was for a boy turning 11.

Little lego guys in various stages of decorating.

Death Star Lego Cake with Fondant Star Wars Figures

A long time ago, in a kitchen far, far away...

...a Star Wars Lego cake was created for a wonderful boy!  This was my first commissioned cake.  I had to think long and hard as to what an 11 year old boy might like Star Wars-wise.  I wanted to make sure whatever I came up with was "cool" and not "babyish"  I think it turned out well, and from what his mom tells me, it was a success!  It was such fun to make!  

The figures are hand-sculpted to (hopefully) look like Lego Star Wars guys.  The lego bricks are solid chocolate.  I found lego brick ice cube trays online (eBay I think?), poured melted chocolate into them and these were the result!  

The death star is a chocolate cake. The bottom (blue) cake is chocolate as well.  

 Look at these cute little guys!