"Little Jim" and the Giant Church Organ

Our church Music Minister and organist celebrated his 10 year anniversary and the social committee asked me to do cake for 150. Since the celebration coincided with the church picnic, cupcakes were the grab & go choice for the majority of the cake, but a centerpiece cake for the special anniversary was a must, too.

I modeled the church organ and bench using Rice Krispie Treats covered in woodgrain fondant. The 2 church hymnals were added, along with music, and other various "organ parts"--stops, tabs, etc. "Little Jim" was done in gum paste.

"Big Jim" was so delighted with his cake! I made it so that he could take the maquette home to eat, dust--whatever.

The support cake was blood orange with mango mousse filling and cream cheese icing (Big Jim's favorite) and the cupcakes were cherry bit sour cream with buttercream icing.

The day was extremely HOT--97 degrees plus! Thank heaven for the nice breeze! The cakes were enjoyed thoroughly and I hope to be doing one in 10 more years for Big Jim's 20th!

Polka Dot Shower --Just like the invitation

This was done to match a wedding shower invitation--a green & white striped background with a 3 tier, stacked cake accented with polka dot bands and topped by a gathered, draped ribbon.

The white almond sour cream cake filled with mango mousse was covered in a layer of buttercream under the white fondant. The bow topper was gum paste. It fed 50 comfortably.

The shower was kitchen-themed, so the minature kitchen tools on the board are molded fondant. The recipe card has the ingredients for a "Happy Marriage".

Hangin' 10 Surf & Guitar Hero Cake

6 year olds have such great ideas for cakes! Gio was having a beach party in the backyard, complete with a waterslide, so he wanted a beach themed cake. He also loves Guitar Hero, palm trees, and purple octopi, so......that's what he got!

The cake, which stood about 17 inches tall with the sun plaque, would serve well over 50 people. The bottom oval tier is chocolate cake with malted chocolate ganache filling. The middle tier is yellow cake with seedless raspberry preserves. The carved wave tier is one layer yellow & one layer chocolate with buttercream filling. The outer icing is vanilla fondant. The sand is brown sugar. The white wave foam is buttercream.

Everything on the cake is edible. The palm trees are pretzel rods coated in chocolate. The shells & fish are molded fondant. The sun is gum paste lettered with edible marker. Gio, the surfing Guitar Hero was hand modeled using gum paste & fondant.

Gio's response to seeing his cake, "Awesome!"

Star Wars Inspired OSSAS Cake 2007

In September of 2007, I entered my first Oklahoma State Sugar Arts Show. The theme for the show was motion pictures, so I chose Padme from Star Wars in her picnic gown. For the competition, the table must be dressed to reflect the theme and inspiration items must be presented.

The cake is covered in embossed fondant and painted gold. Green ribbons and individual miniature roses decorate the cake to mimic the pattern on the bodice of Padme's gown. The topper is a floral ball of dozens of miniature roses. The cake board is covered in embossed fondant made to look like a wicker picnic basket pattern.

The was my first "big" competition and I have a long way to go, but my score was in the upper 3rd, so I was extremely happy with the results.

3-D Morton Inhaler & Stacked Books Cakes

My husband is a member of the Anesthesia History Association and for their Spring meeting in Pittsburgh this year, he asked that I perform some "cake magic" for the member's dinner. The logo of the association is a Morton Inhaler, a large glass sphere with a port for inserting anesthetic agents and a mouthpiece for the patient to inhale those agents. The association has also published, and been affliated with, several prestigious books.

Everything on this cake is edible. The sphere is dark chocolate cake with rolled buttercream icing. The mouthpiece and port are hand modeled gum paste painted with luster dust. The books are caramel cake marbeled with dark chocolate and dark chocolate marbled with caramel. They're filled with chocolate mousse. They're iced first in vanilla buttercream and then covered with fondant. The titles are hand piped to mimic the actual books.

The AHA membership was delighted with the cake and published a photo of it on their website. The picture of the cake is also going to be published in the American Society of Anesthesiologists' newsletter.

Happy Mother's Day & Happy Birthday!

Mother's Day and her birthday were on the same day, so her daughter requested her Mom's favorite: Classic petit fours for the family celebration. A small cake for a get-together with friends the next day was also in order.

The classic white cake petit fours are a little over an inch and a half across and about an inch and a half high. They have a bit of vanilla in the center and on top and are iced in poured fondant. The pink and yellow rosebuds and half roses are hand piped in royal icing.

The cake is also white cake with vanilla buttercream with a piped fantasy dahlia on top.

Memorial Day Stars

This cake was made to accompany 90 star shaped sugar cookies covered in the same color fondant stars. The cake fed 30 and was french vanilla soaked with amoretto simple syrup.