The perfect gift for that little cake-maker in your life!

I have been contacted by CSN stores to write a review of one of their products and I thought, what a great opportunity to try something new and share with you what I think about it! No in case you are wondering, I am not getting paid to do that, I just receive a product to test it.

The product that I chose to review I found by pure accident.  I was browsing through some cake stuff on their website and voila, there it was- the very exciting Trace and Learn Cake! I know that this is a section for real cakes, but at this time of the year what a better way to tell our little cake-maker sidekicks (that we usually try to distract with something else while we, the super-duper-grown-up cake makers decorate) that we appreciate them, than to find them substitute of the real cake decorating?

Daisy hat cake!

In August I wrote that I am making 2 cakes in one day- for my birthday girl Ellie and for her friend Ella. They are born on the same date ( 2 years apart) and I was very anxious to agree to make both cakes, since I had no idea what Ellie will want for her cake and how much time it will take me.
You all know that Ellie's cake was a "tutu" cake, so let's focus on the one you haven't seen yet.

I know, I know...it took me almost 3 months to post it, but I hope you still enjoy it none the less!

This of course is the finished cake:

But everything starts with the details...

Fall Flowers Cake for school raffle

You know one of these occasions that whatever you plan it's just not going to happen?
Well, last year I made a cake for my son's school Fall fest and they did a raffle for it and the PTO asked me this year to do one more with the same purpose. I had all these grand plans what I am going to make and 2 days before the event I dislocated my shoulder.
Ouch, right?
So, I had to rethink the idea and do the best that I can in this situation. It's not what I initially have planned, but I think it came out pretty well.
What do you think?

1. This of course is the sketch that I made in a hurry the day I started the cake ( believe it or not, until that moment I still didn't know what I'm going to do with it).

Kermit Mums with a simple daisy cutter!

This is a short tutorial how to make Kermit mums that I've previously presented to you through my " Wedding cake to remember" post.
If you have missed that post and want to see the original cake, check this out:
A wedding cake to remember post

Here is a quick and inexpensive way to make Kermit Mums with a regular Wilton Daisy cut out set!

* I have used the Scott Clark Woolley's gum paste recipe, he gave a very nice detailed instruction how to mix it, check it out!

You will need:

- a walnut size gum paste
- a small rolling pin
- the Wilton daisy cut outs
- some corn starch
- something to cover your gum paste ( a box, a bag, a cup...)
- some soda caps ( large bottles of Pepsi, mineral water etc)( I've used the caps, but you can use anything that has a similar shape will work!)
- a ball shape gum paste tool ( or something like it)
- small brush and water

* Note: You don't have to use particular tools for this! If you find something with a useful shape, you can use virtually anything!

Making the Kermit Mums- read the instructions and then watch the movie!




1. Roll out the gum paste and cut 4 medium and 6 small size daisy cutouts.

2. Take a damp brush ( not wet!) and wet the center of one of the medium cutouts then add another one of the medium cutouts on top of it. Repeat with the rest of the medium cutouts as you rotate the petals, so you can't see the surface underneath ( i.e the table).


3. When you finish with all of the medium cutouts, repeat the same with the small cutouts.

4. Brush with damp brush the center of the top medium cutout and place all of the small cutouts on top. With the smallest ball-shape tool ( dipped in cornstarch first!) go through all of them at once. Remove the flower from the ball-shaped tool.


5. With a damp brush go over the middle of the top smallest cutout. Adjust the petals to look more realistic and place in the bottle cap you have ready.


6. Let them dry as long as possible, can be used as soon as 30 min after preparation. For best results wait a day or so.



I hope you find this tutorial useful!
If you did and want to see the Gerbera daisy tutorial for the same cake, check it out here!


Annie

Pinkalicious Birthday!

You know, I've always thought that my daughter wouldn't like pink since I don't.
I also thought she wouldn't be " girly colors person" in general and I took comfort in the thought that if I don't encourage her to be girly girl in the process of creating her taste, she'll be fine.
As often happens in life, parents have no idea what's coming to them until it gets them.
I started liking pink....I'll say no more! LoL :-)


" What cake do you want?" is the mandatory question before my kids birthdays and I have to tell you, the answer doesn't always come easy.
" I want a TUTU cake!" was the little birthday girl's demand this year.

"O-K! A tutu cake...hm... Would you like a ballerina cake?"
" No!"
"How about a princess dress cake?"
" NO! I said I want a tutu cake!"
"Well, do you want just a dress cake ?"
" NO! I WANT A TUTU CAKE!!!Just like my tutu for the birthday party"

Ok, Mommy, sit down and think. What the hell is a tutu cake?! It's not a dress cake, it doesn't have the dress on it....how am I supposed to figure it out?

Well, first things first, I made her her tutu to wear, as you already saw:

So, after some deliberation, I made 3 sketches for her cake:

No.1

No.2.

No.3.

She liked No. 3, so that's how the whole thing started. 

First I had to make the mannequin and I started with a drawing:

Then I made the mannequin out of fondant and gumpaste ( 50:50):

Then I made the clothes for the mannequin, fondant and gumpaste again!

Front:

And Back:

Then I baked the cake ( chocolate layers, lemon mascarpone filling, one layer with bananas, one with raspberries)

 Some decorator's icing on top

And then I covered it with pink fondant on top, some lace, the mannequin and voilla! A tutu cake! :-)

And here is the mannequin close up

And here is the back of the mannequin:

It was extremely delicious!!! Trust me!

I hope you liked this little " behind the stage" kind of pictures! I'm off to edit more pictures of the other cakes I made this month!

Stay tuned as they say! :-)

Annie

Guilt free and healthy cake!

 

Isn't that everyone's dream? To eat as much cake as you want and to be healthy?

Since I often get " yeah, your cakes are great, but the calories, ah...the calories..." I decided for a change  to post something I call " a guilt free fruit cake", which is my answer to my husband's diet this year.
For the past 2 years he starts a diet around his birthday and this presents a real challenge for me in the cake front, but what can I say....the person who can challenge me beyond my imagination isn't born yet ! :-)

 Most of you probably remember the post about the "cake" I made for him last year, when he didn't eat anything for 2 weeks( only tea and water). This year things were easy, HE EATS FRUIT!

So, voila- 2 tier cake out of fruit ONLY!
 

 You will need:

1 watermelon
2 cups blueberries
3 kiwi
3 peaches
 * you can use any fruit you have, that's just what I used today!


1 small VERY SHARP knife


Preparation:
 1. Wash the watermelon, blueberries, kiwi and peaches thoroughly.  
2. Cut 2 large thick slices of watermelon- one larger than the other. This will be your "tiers"
3. Cut the edges like a fan with the small sharp knife on the bottom " tier" of the cake, then repeat with the smaller top tier. 
4. Arrange the fruit on top of the tiers.

I apologize for the lack of pictures during the process but I made it in a hurry in the morning before everyone woke up, so I had no time to take some.

As you can see, the cake looks good even in pieces! :-)

Enjoy and make the birthday of someone special around you even more fun with this guilt free and healthy cake!
 Annie
 

Making gum paste gerbera daisy

Remember my "wedding cake to remember"? :-)

Well, I had quite the trouble with the Gerbera daisy cutter I ordered from Global sugar art and I definitely don't recommend it, but because I was in a hurry to make the flowers for the wedding cake, I had to improvise.

Here is a quick and inexpensive way to make Gerbera daisies with a regular Wilton Daisy cut out set!

* I have used the Scott Clark Woolley's gum paste recipe, he gave a very nice detailed instruction, so check out the recipe!

You will need:

- a walnut size gum paste
- a small rolling pin
- the Wilton daisy cut outs
- some corn starch
- something to cover your gum paste ( a box, a bag, a cup...)
- something with oval shape to form the daisies ( I've used Christmas ornaments that open and you can turn them around. Anything that has a similar shape will work!)
- a ruler or a large spatula like gum paste tool to form the middle
- a ball shape gum paste tool ( or something like it)
- small brush and water

* Note: You don't have to use particular tools for this! If you find something with a useful shape, you can use virtually anything!

Making the Gerbera daisy- read the instructions and then watch the movie!

 You will need three of these large cut outs for the base of the flower!
(Part 1)
1. Roll out the gum paste. Cut a large daisy cut out and cover the rest of the gum paste. 

2. Round the edges of each petal with something that you have handy. 

3. With a ruler or the spatula gum paste tool make 3 lines on each petal as shown. 

4. Let the petal dry on top of a ball shape so it can round around the base. 

5. Repeat with the rest of the cut outs.

Part 1 video

(Part 2 )
You will need 3 medium size Daisy cut outs!


6. Cut 3 medium size Daisy cut outs.

7. Take two of the medium size cut outs and cut each petal lengthwise 2 or 3 times as shown in the video.

8. On the third cut out make straight line impressions with a ruler of a spatula, same way as with the big cut outs. 

9. Take the big cut outs and until they are fully formed, round the edges on the ball shape tool as shown in the video.( ONLY the edges, not the whole petal!)

10. Let all of them dry with the petals down!

Part 2 video

(Part 3)

11. Take a darker color gum paste and make a ball the size of a large blueberry.

12. Make an impression on it with the large ball shape gum paste tool and then "pinch" the edges with tweezers.

13. Wet the edges with a small brush and water. 

14. Take the medium cut out with the cut edges lengthwise and arrange it around the darker middle with the help of the tweezers.( It doesn't have to be perfect, in fact if it's not perfect it's better, because flowers in nature are not perfect, that's what makes them perfect the way they are!). Let it dry for a couple of minutes.

Part 3 video

(Part 4 )

15. Take the middle of the flower that we finished in part 3 and wet the sides and the bottom with a brush ( don't use too much water! Just barely damp brush!) and glue the 2nd medium size cut out with lengthwise cut petals while arranging them around as shown in the video. Let it dry for a little bit.


16. Take the 3 pieces large cut outs and wet the center ( on top) top on each one of them, then arrange one on top of the other, so each of the petals to be visible when looking from above.


17. Press with the ball shape tool in the middle ever so slightly.


18. Add the medium size cut out that you have left on top of the 3 large sized ones as shown in the video.



19. Brush some water in the center and add the middle of the flower that we had left to dry. Press with the small ball shape tool to go through all of the cut outs. Rearrange the petals with the tweezers if needed.



20. Take the flower and place it in an oval shape to dry. Leave it for at least 12-14 hours, the longer, the better!

Part 4 video

Voila, you have Gerbera daisies!  

Additional instructions: After normal drying, you can enhance the look of the daisy with some petal dust or food coloring.

Here is the finished product:

I hope my tutorial was helpful, I'll show you how to make Kermit mums next time!

Belated feature !

And I am featured again in Cakewrecks.com ( in the Sunday sweets cakes posts) with my Tinkerbell cake!
Don't ask me why I found out 1 months later, I'm trying to keep up with my work, but my work is not keeping up with me! ;-)

http://www.cakewrecks.com/2010/05/sweet-reading-sweets.html

A nice feeling, to know people appreciate what you do! One of the comments even posted a link letting them know who made the cake, NIIIiiCE! :-)

Kung Fu Panda cake- the final battle!

Tomorrow is my first day off in a long long time and I am planing to do nothing!

Still , I wanted to share with you the final stage of the Kung Fu Panda cake, and since tomorrow I'm doing nothing, there is no better way than today to finish a job!

So here it is, the finished cake!

Po

The "wishing scrolls"

And here it is at the birthday party with the sparkly candles

That's all for now folks, I'm off to bed!

Annie

P.S: If you like this cake, maybe you would want to see how it came to life as an idea? Take a look at this:
- the project
- The structure
- The making of Po  
- Po has pants and assembling the cake
- Painting the cake

Kung Fu panda cake teaser 4

Almost there!
Some landscape for the bottom tier...

Live it's much more impressive, but I am really in a hurry now, so I can't focus on taking good pictures! The colors are blending much better and also there is a really nice " sponge" effect with the sky...which is totally lost on the pictures :-( Here is visible a little bit in the center, although it looks more white, than it is!
I hope you like them nonetheless!

Sneak preview ;-)!

P.S: If you like this cake, maybe you would want to see how it came to life as an idea? Take a look at this:
- the project
- The structure
- The making of Po  
- Po has pants and assembling the cake
- Painting the cake
- The finished cake

Kung Fu panda cake teaser 3

A very late night yesterday!
The good news is that the panda is drying better than expected ( for fondant) and I think I'll be able to put it on the cake and for it to stay the way it should!

The bad news is ...it is extremely hot! It's almost 100 F and no matter the AC, since I use outside refrigerator on the porch ( my "cake" refrigerator") it's almost impossible to work! I am dreading the "painting part", since I have to bring the cake inside. I'll work as quick as I can, but still it's nerve wrecking! On top of that I have no idea if the place we are going for the B-day party actually has AC!


Did I mention that whenever all this is over I'll be very happy?! LoL

Finally, Po has pants! ;-)

And the pants are the right color!

The scrolls are ready too!

These are the real Chinese words for Wisdom, Prosperity, Luck, Double happiness, Respect, Success and Knowledge. I though that it would be a great idea to have them next to each candle, so when he blows them it would be like making a wish! the other thing is that I probably would put the candles on the bottom tier, next to the scrolls, not on the top. That way Po would look like " surrounded" with fire ...very mystical! ;-) Kalin absolutely loved my idea, which makes me very happy! :-)

Doesn't these look yummy? :-)

 

It's mascarpone filling again ( I can't help it, I love it! ) and bananas this time with Kalin's favorite Devil's food cake. I dipped each banana in lemon juice, let's hope they'll not brown!

The top tier!

And covered in fondant 
 

Getting there, I know!
I have to go now, so I can start with the drawing on the bottom tier, but let me first put the AC on 65F and freeze everybody at home! ;-)

See you later with more pictures!

P.S: If you like this cake, maybe you would want to see how it came to life as an idea? Take a look at this:

- the project

- The structure

- The making of Po  

- Po has pants and assembling the cake

- Painting the cake

- The finished cake

Kung Fu Panda cake teaser 2

Still working on the Kung Fu panda cake .
I wish I had the time to start a couple of days ago! The fondant is taking a long time to dry up, I didn't have the time to make gum paste ( I always make from scratch), so now I'm stressing out if it will hold the shape until tomorrow.
I'm not touching the figure until later tonight, hopefully it will be dry enough!

My progress so far:

- Here is the wire construction

- Wire construction + one more arm

 

- Couple of legs

- A head

- Coming along...

- Stage 3 of 5 ( it still needs a lot of work but I'm waiting to dry up)

- 7 scrolls drying

I am a little disappointed I had to make the panda this way, I must admit. I could have made it a way better if I had the time, unfortunately it has to be ready for tomorrow and I had to rush it, which is not the best way to do things.
Yes, it's not finished yet and it's going to look much better than it does now, but still, I had a different idea how I'm going to make it and it doesn't feel right this way.
Unfortunately, not everything in life happens the way we want , so let's hope I'll manage to make lemonade from the lemons and it will look good! :-)

P.S: If you like this cake, maybe you would want to see how it came to life as an idea? Take a look at this:
- the project
- The structure
- The making of Po  
- Po has pants and assembling the cake
- Painting the cake
- The finished cake