Cakes — Page 29

Spring into PLAYOFFS! Vancouver Canucks Hockey Cake!

May 2, 2011 by Jenn

It’s hockey playoff time folks!

Can you feel the excitement?

Ya, neither can I!

I just don’t.

I apologize to my brother, who has to live in the US where there isn’t enough hockey coverage (or at least as much as he thinks there should be), I apologize to my family, as I was bred into a hockey loving group, and I apologize to myself, as I promised I would jump on the bandwagon! Who is proud to be a wannabe bandwagon jumper? L.O.S.E.R.

I just couldn’t be bothered. The bandwagon went too quickly by my place, and I missed jumping on.

Oh well. There’s always next game right? Next round, next series, next year?

When is that next game anyway? Someone’s going to have to help me out!

I have been successful at entering my school’s hockey pool though! I put a lot (*cough* a-hem) of thought into my picks, and relied heavily on my deep, insightful choices (*cough* a-hem) . . . I randomly chose with the alphabet’s help! A- Alexander Ovechkin, B- Kevin Bieksa etc. Aren’t I clever? I hope for my sake, and everyone else’s who actually chose their players with real rationale thought, that I don’t win, or even get close to winning!

Vancouver Canucks Hockey Cake:

This cake was a customized cake done for a loyal customer for her husband’s surprise birthday party! I hear he loved it . . . doesn’t every Canadian male want to see their name on the back of an NHL hockey jersey? It was a biggie . . . chocolate cake, with chocolate buttercream covering the cake, and vanilla buttercream for the piping design.

I love doing these kind of piping cakes. I love the order to it, I love the rigid lines, and I love to watch the picture/pattern slowly develop as I get into the piping groove.

What I don’t love is the cramp in my hand that I get! You have to get your icing at the perfect consistency: not so soft, that it doesn’t maintain it’s shape, but that it is not so hard, that it makes piping difficult on your hand and forearm.

I like to test the icing when it is in the bowl still. If you put a knife into the bowl, and wiggle the bowl around, you can tell how stiff your consistency is. If the knife slowly wobbles as you wiggle the bowl, you most likely have medium consistency, and if the knife stays stuck, you probably have yourself some pretty stiff icing! For a piping cake like this one, you want medium consistency.

Happy piping hockey fans!

And, hey, if you see that bandwagon anywhere, and there’s still room for me, send it on over to my new address. Thanks!

Stay Tuned: Next Up in the Man Cake Posts- a Tank and an XBox Remote

Cricut Cake

May 2, 2011 by Jenn

I am now the proud owner of a Cricut Cake! I ordered it and got a stinking good deal on Ebay from a fellow out of Vancouver . . . $230 if you can believe it!
It got here within a couple of days, and I decided to make a vlog out of it!

Filed Under: Cakes, Videos Tagged With: cricut cake machine, video

Making and Baking Cakes- Camping Cake . . . and a hospital gown

May 2, 2011 by Jenn

One good thing that being confined to the couch allows time for? BLOGGING! YAY! Finally, a chance to catch up on my cyberstalking….here come the back links people, and a chance to fill everyone in on what I have been doing lately (in case you don’t follow us on Facebook, head on over there now!) I find it easy to throw up a couple of new cake pictures on FB, but want to take the time to blog here at CCC.

I am faced with the gift of time over the next couple of weeks while my body recovers from internal jabbing and poking and cutting!

—–Warning: Cutting to Hospital picture—- The booties aren’t in the picture!

—–Move on from hospital picture—–no one needs to see anymore of THAT! Gross.

First up on the Man cake Marathon of Posts: CAMPING CAKE! (prior to hospital visit obviously!)

We have done quite a few of these “manly” themed cakes of late . . . Monster Trucks, 3D Truck, Hunting Camoflauge Cake, and these are the cakes where Paul gets to shine . . . there is immense attention to detail required for these cakes to look (and taste) amazing! He is incredibly detail oriented, and really challenges me to be on the top of my game when caking.

Here is one that we worked on together, and it was really fun, because we both LOVE to go camping! This cake was an 9×13″ sheet, chocolate cake, with salted caramel buttercream.

The tent is made out of carved cereal treats, and then covered in fondant. The trees are also made out of cereal treats and then I piped with a small star tip, the branches. They got a little bit heavy, so make sure that you reinforce your trees, so they don’t start to fall over like one of ours started to.

Can you see the little fondant man roasting a marshmallow? So cute, eh? I think that fire might be a little hot for that little ‘mallow though! The stream/river flowing through the campsite is a blue buttercream based, topped with a little bit of blue piping gel layered on top.

In this picture, I LOVE the axe on the wood pile! Paul literally whittled pretzel sticks into little mini logs to make a pile, and to put in the fire. The rocks lining the stream are chocolate covered rock candies.

Next up in the Man Cakes Posts: Vancouver Canucks Cake

Filed Under: Cakes Tagged With: camping cake, working with fondant

Monster Truck Cake

April 19, 2011 by Jenn

This blog should now be called the “Ode to Paul’s Decorating Skills”. And I mean cakes . . . ’cause I just have to say, thank god I am there to shop for him! “Lo0-boo-who?”

He is getting so good . . . at boy cakes! Haha . . . I still have complete ownership on girlie cakes and all things cupcake! But, seriously, he is invaluable to me and he is becoming incredibly talented. Look out Buddy, there’s another Italian on the cake decorating block!

This cake was done for a very special six year old, whom I have the fortunate of getting to see each and everyday. He was very specific when it came to directions for his big birthday party . . . at the bowling alley of course (because where else would you take a group of kids around these parts) . . . to play in their camo in the long grass? This little man wanted “a cake with monster trucks ON it, NOT a cake that IS a monster truck.” Paul totally wanted to build a monster truck, but he was happy playing with these ones while he built 😉

Filed Under: Cakes, Cupcakes Tagged With: chocolate cake, monster truck, monster truck cake, monster truck cupcakes

3D Truck Cake

April 17, 2011 by Jenn

You’re not going to believe this cake.

I barely do, and I watched it being built! I said in my last Fortunate Friday that I am very thankful for Paul’s new found decorating skills with fondant tools . . . and you will understand what I am talking about when you see this cake.

Give credit where credit is due . . . PAUL!

He did this decorating, and carving, and shaping, and building! All I did was bake the cake and make the icing. It was him from then on. I can’t say that I handed over the reins very easily. If you know me, you know that I am a control FREAK, and to have someone else in my kitchen, using my tools, decorating my cake, was very difficult for me. But, after relinquishing my bossy, controlling ways I have come to appreciate how letting someone else help can open a whole new door!

The truck is two 9″x13″ slab cakes, and all of the shaping and conturing is done with rice krispies. Paul was diligent in copying the exact shaping of the real truck. He had the webpage up on the computer and kept referring back to it whenever he started a new section.

As I did end up with a couple of jobs for this one after all! I had to bake it, a slightly important step, and I was in charge of the windows. Such responsibilities, hahaha! To make the windows a little bit more realistic, I covered them in luster dust, to give them a lovely shine (that you can’t really see).

Inside, the cake was a vanilla with vanilla buttercream. The vanilla cake that I make is a heavy dense one, and this made carving and shaping easier. I definitely recommend having a solid cake to carve when you’re attempting a 3D replica. It’s helpful to have a solid base when you’re building. The ground under the truck is graham cracker and oreo crumbs, scattered with chocolate rocks.

This cake is stunning . . . if I do say so myself.

Filed Under: Cakes Tagged With: truck cake

How to Make Camoflauge Fondant

April 11, 2011 by Jenn

Living in an area where hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities fill the surrounding mountains, meant that sooner or later, someone was going to ask me to make a camouflage cake. So, instead of waiting (dreading) that moment, I went ahead and learned to make it before I had to learn under pressure!

I decided to make this post a picture tutorial, and hopefully it will be helpful to others who *suffer* the same fate as I.

Can there be princess fondant?

First, whenever you’re working with fondant, you need a mat. Coat that baby in Crisco! Some people like to use cornstarch when working with fondant, but I prefer the grease.

I didn’t really know where to begin, so I just started rolling and piecing different colours together. ** This is one change I will make the next time I do this: I will start the piecing process on a thin piece of white fondant, rolled out to the size of the cake, and then start to piece them together. Basically, this will allow you to cover the cake with a single sheet of fondant, instead of the many, many little pieces that I used.**

I laid small pieces randomly on top, and then cut around it, removed the bottom piece, and fit the top piece into the hole…just like a puzzle!

Piecing, piecing, piecing . . . at this point, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to lift the fondant in one piece, so I decided to put it on the cake at this point. Stupid move. You can’t get it off after you’ve laid it down, and therefore, I had to cut and place every single piece that was left, while working on the cake!

Happy hunting! Please don’t wear camo outside of the bush. Please, just don’t. I don’t care where you live. This has been a fashion service announcement. Oh, and this cake was a chocolate cake, filled with caramel.

Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials Tagged With: camouflage cake, chocolate cake, hunting cake

Root Beer Float Birthday Cake, Vanilla Good Luck Cake and a Season Ending Chocolate Hockey Cake

April 4, 2011 by Jenn

Here are a couple of pictures of the cakes that I spent last week working on. There were pretty simple, but I loved doing them! There is something about the non-fussiness of a buttercream covered cake, that calls my name. I think that as soon as you start involving fondant, your game has to be ON. With a buttercream cake, it’s just you and your piping bag, and I let mine go where it wants to take me.

I needed a refresher on some simple buttercream borders, so I went to YouTube to check some out. I will be posting my own Simple Border Video soon, so make sure you take a minute and subscribe to our YouTube Channel, here.

This was the Root Beer birthday surprise cake for “Weiny”. It is a Root Beer cake base, with a Root Beer Buttercream icing. Mmmm!

This cake was for a lady who’s colleague was leaving and wanted to wish her Good Luck. It is a Vanilla Cake, with Pink Vanilla Buttercream.

This is cake was for my Dad’s hockey team. I made it for them to enjoy after their final game of the season. Word on the street was the “guys” loved it. I love how my dad talks with hockey player speak, as if he is 20. It’s so cute! This cake is a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream. Doesn’t get more Classic than that. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click here.

Like I said, these cakes were all pretty simple, but fun to make. This week coming up we’ve got some more intense creations on the list: Monster Trucks cake for a 6 year old’s birthday, and a Truck replica cake for a client’s brother in law’s 25th birthday. How is that men like the same things st 6 and 25? Ha ha! Should be interesting! These are right up Paul’s alley.

Filed Under: Cakes Tagged With: birthday cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate cake, good bye cake, hockey cake, pink buttercream, Root Beer Cake, Vanilla Cake, YouTube

St Patrick’s Day Cake

March 25, 2011 by Jenn

Yes, this post is slightly behind in timing, but, hey, look at the bright side, and it’s 355 days EARLY!

This year, I made my first St Patrick’s Day cake! Keeping with the Irish in me, I created an Irish Car Bomb Cake . . . an exact duplicate of my Irish Car Bomb cupcake, but in GIANT form!

I can honestly say I have never had an Irish Car Bomb . . . the thought of one makes me want to vomit. Curdling cream?? SICK! But, throw some sugar and flour into the mix and you get a delicious cake creation.

For the cake, I made two Guinness Chocolate 6″ rounds, filled between them with Whiskey Ganache, and covered the whole thing with Bailey’s buttercream. Mmmmmm.

Having made this cake so many times, I am absolutely starting to love the smell of Guinness. It brings me back to the time my family and I went to Dublin, and toured the Guinness Brewery! At 10:00 in the morning, when our tour was over, we all got a fresh, free, Guinness! It was my first Guinness that I had ever had . . . and it was my last!

Filed Under: Cakes, Holiday Baking

Spring into PLAYOFFS! Vancouver Canucks Hockey Cake!

Cricut Cake

Making and Baking Cakes- Camping Cake . . . and a hospital gown

Monster Truck Cake

3D Truck Cake

How to Make Camoflauge Fondant

Root Beer Float Birthday Cake, Vanilla Good Luck Cake and a Season Ending Chocolate Hockey Cake

St Patrick’s Day Cake

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