A place to report on my adventures with cakes and baking
My niece celebrated her birthday last week and I was lucky enough to be in town for her special day. I told her I’d be happy to bring the cake and what would she like? White cake, buttercream icing. So that’s what I made for her. I covered her cake in buttercream flowers because when she was a little girl, she loved eating roses made of icing. Thirty-five years later things haven’t changed much!
Josh, the son of a dear friend of mine and his girlfriend Emma love Volkswagens, particularly VW bugs. When they announced their wedding a few months back, they asked me to make their cake and having known Josh since he was a wee lad, I asked if I could give it to them as a wedding gift.
They wanted something simple. Buttercream atop chocolate and vanilla cakes. Wedding colours were white and plum. They really wanted something fun to top their cake and Josh had the idea to put his beloved VW bugs front and centre.
His mum Jen found black and white versions on the internet — perfect mini replicas and so they took the place of the classic bride and groom.
Best of luck to Emma and Josh who got married yesterday. And btw, they loved the cake!
When Melissa called me about a cake for her husband Neil’s 40th birthday, we discussed all sorts of things. His truck repair business. His other job as a farmer. His family. His love of his Scottish roots.
Melissa said she’d send me photos for inspiration and as we discussed the cake more (which was to feed 70 partygoers), I thought about making it a sort of “this is your life” type cake. Almost like a scrapbooking page.
My training as a graphic designer kicked in. I drew a layout of the cake and sized all the photos so I could order them from a friend who has an edible printer. Then I made tools (that I thought he’d use on the job) — wrenches of varying sizes and lug nuts out of fondant and painted them with edible silver.
I thought it turned out great and was a fun way to recognize all the important things in Neil’s life on his significant birthday.
It’s not every day someone turns 90! Carol’s daughter asked me to make a cake to honour her mum. She especially loves purple and is proud of her Scottish roots, so could I add some Scotch thistles?
Buttercream was preferred for the cake itself but I added a few fondant flowers, amongst the piped buttercream ones to make the cake really pop. The cake fed 40 plus party-goers.
I’ve known Carol for what seems like a million years, so I hope she really loved her cake and had a wonderful time at her birthday gathering.
I can’t think of a better way to bring in a 30th birthday than with a day at the spa. Apparently Anna is a big fan of “a spa day” and loves soaking in a hot tub.
Here she is, a fondant version of herself that is, luxuriating in all those bubbles. And there’s even has a mojito, her fave, balancing on the tub’s edge.
Happy birthday Anna. Enjoy!
My cousin Cindy was turning 50 and her husband Saul asked me to make a cake for the celebration. They love dogs and have a sweet little dachshund named Rusty.
I tried to make the cake look a like their little guy and feed 20 party-goers too. Good times!
Today is my birthday so I made myself a birthday cake! It’s called “Self portrait in berries and buttercream.”
Happy birthday to me!
