Friday Night Cake Club 8/9/13

Decorating By catlharper Updated 16 Aug 2013 , 5:38am by auntginn

catlharper Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
catlharper Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 2:40am
post #1 of 98

Opening up another session of the FNCC! This is a place for anyone who wants to share their week, photos of their work, ask for help or try to help someone else! Hope to see lots of photos tonight!

 

Cat

97 replies
catlharper Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
catlharper Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 2:45am
post #2 of 98

My week was a good one. Only one cake but it's a sweet story behind it:

 

Lemon Chiffon with Raspberry filling covered in MMF with royal icing piping/trim and luster dusted flowers with pearl candy center. The broach is actually a reproduction of the Bride's Great Grandmothers wedding broach.

Bride and Groom got married this morning before the Groom is deployed. They are planning the big wedding for next Fall but wanted to be married before he left so they had the courthouse ceremony today followed by a family only luncheon. The broach on the cake is a replica of the one her Great Grandmother wore on her Wedding Day (71 years ago!!) and they were hoping to bring good luck to this couple since the original broach was worn by a Bride who was sending her Groom off to WW2. He came home safe and sound and so they are hoping it's a good omen for the new Bride and Groom. The piped design matches the invitations they have picked out for the big wedding and I hope that all goes very well and I'll be able to duplicate it on the big cake next year.

 

Other than that...spent this afternoon wine tasting with friends and taking photos of the winery for my travel blog (www.shutterbugtraveler.blogspot.com) while we were along the Delta. Just a really lovely afternoon! 

 

Next up, for me, is a birthday cake that looks like a propane tank! LOL! 

 

Cat

therealmrsriley Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
therealmrsriley Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 3:12am
post #3 of 98

AI love the cake and the story! :) I had a big wedding cake yesterday and am now working on two cakes to deliver before 9am tomorrow. It's gonna be an all nighter over here.

Elcee Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Elcee Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 3:56am
post #4 of 98

Cat, the cake is charming, as is the story. Beautiful corners and edges on that square!

 

I made "Happy First Day of School" cupcakes for my coworkers this week. I'm grateful for the design idea from CC user as you wish icon_smile.gif. I wish I had a better picture.

 

Other than that, two consultations tomorrow. One of them has already booked and paid her deposit. The other is with a planner and her clients from out of town. At the time I scheduled it, they didn't have a venue but I've since read on Facebook that they're looking at venues more than 75 miles away from me so I doubt if they'll want to pay my delivery fee, which could end up being almost $200. Not thrilled about that. I typically won't do a consultation if the date and venue aren't committed but I made an exception because I like the planner and because the clients are from out of state.

 

 

 

 

 

catlharper Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
catlharper Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 5:02am
post #5 of 98

Those are very cute! I love the idea of first day of school cupcakes!

 

And funny you should bring up the edges and corners...I can SOOOO see where it's lumpy and not straight...LOL. We are so hard on ourselves, aren't we? My hardest thing to get right is the sharp corners...I got two of them ok, one is rounded and the other, well, frankly, I covered up with a flower! LOL! 

 

This next cake will be easier...it's a 6 inch with a half ball pan on top with hard fondant accents. MUCH easier than sharp corners! LOL!

 

Cat

tdovewings Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tdovewings Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 5:05am
post #6 of 98

Cat, what a lovely cake and a story to match the beauty.

 

As for me, I'm 2/3's of the way there. This week everyone wanted 3D figurines. Never done them before, one turned out decent (Caillou for a 3-year old) and the other I don't like at all (Leia for a Star Wars themed cake).  

 

So I finished the Caillou cake and the Star Wars cake. One left to go, my first gender reveal cake. By the way, the doctor didin't call me until 5:30pm today, the party is at 2:00pm tomorrow. I guess I'll be working on that all morning, because I am TIRED!

just4fun26 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
just4fun26 Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 5:29am
post #7 of 98

ACat, your cake and story are beautiful! I LOVE square cakes, always have but I've never made one. I am so afraid of the corners being off. I am not a professional, I'm the family baker. I've watched sooo many tutorials on squares and am too chicken to try one!

catlharper Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
catlharper Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 5:42am
post #8 of 98

tdove, I don't mind figures if they are animals. For some reason those always turn out great. I hate the people ones..mainly because I suck at it! LOL! We love Caillou at our house so I can't wait to see that one!

 

Just4fun...I really like the way the fondant goes onto a square but the straight edge/corner thing can drive me to drink. I just SO wanted to get it right this time and they didn't even notice! LOL! I love how hard I am on myself, smoothing with the double smoothers to get the straight edges and hiding the ones that clearly didn't work with flowers or piping work, etc...and then the client just fawns over it and doesn't notice the edge that sort of waves or the corner that looks like the tip was knocked off. I got a text message this afternoon from the MIB and she let me know that the Bride and Groom were thrilled. She wanted to know the best way to protect the broach till next year for the big cake and to let me know how happy everyone was with the cake. It's always wonderful to get that feedback, it doesn't always happen. 

 

Now I have a whole weekend off and I'm SO not use to that. My family is demanding cupcakes so maybe I'll make those but no client work till Monday. Feels sorta weird! LOL!

 

Cat

auntginn Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
auntginn Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 6:10am
post #9 of 98

Good Evening All,  Cat I love your cake, So dainty and elegant.  Awe... I'm moved by that story.

Elcee, just what's needed to start the new school year off to a good one.  Very nice job as always.

 

Guess What Folks, tomorrow my Great-Grandson turns 1 and this grandma is so exited.  My grandaughter chose Monster's Inc for the theme.  So making a 2 tiered cake, 2 dz cake pops, 3 dz lollipops, 2 dz cookies, and 2dz. T-shirts.  And oh yes.... I made the goodie bags.  Well I decorated them, my grandaughter and daughter will fill them with the goodies.    As always still working on things.  Got the tshirts and cookies done.  

 

Working on cake.  The top tier is really just Mike the 1 eyed monster sitting on top of Sully's fur.  Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can put the fondant on him.  I have done sports balls before but I don't want those lines to be on this character cake.

chichier Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chichier Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 7:18am
post #10 of 98

Hello catlharper, your cake is so cute, i like it very much.

cazza1 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
cazza1 Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 12:04pm
post #11 of 98

Hi everyone, no cakes for me this week but still wanted to check up on what you were all up to.  Cat your couples story is inspiring and your cake is simple but lovely.

Auntginn just how many people are coming to this party or is it just over the top for fun?  I find it a bit amusing the extremes that a lot of people are going to for first birthdays now a days.  They were virtually ignored when I had my kids.  I made the teddy bear cake in my gallery last year as a present for a first birthday.  It was a surprise.  They had hired out half of the good Indian restaurant in town for it and then just bought a cake from the cheesecake shop.

sixinarow Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sixinarow Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 1:31pm
post #12 of 98
Quote:
Originally Posted by auntginn 

Good Evening All,  Cat I love your cake, So dainty and elegant.  Awe... I'm moved by that story.

Elcee, just what's needed to start the new school year off to a good one.  Very nice job as always.

 

Guess What Folks, tomorrow my Great-Grandson turns 1 and this grandma is so exited.  My grandaughter chose Monster's Inc for the theme.  So making a 2 tiered cake, 2 dz cake pops, 3 dz lollipops, 2 dz cookies, and 2dz. T-shirts.  And oh yes.... I made the goodie bags.  Well I decorated them, my grandaughter and daughter will fill them with the goodies.    As always still working on things.  Got the tshirts and cookies done.  

 

Working on cake.  The top tier is really just Mike the 1 eyed monster sitting on top of Sully's fur.  Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can put the fondant on him.  I have done sports balls before but I don't want those lines to be on this character cake.

Craftsy has a great step-by-step free picture tutorial for ganaching and covering a ball cake with fondant. Can't wait to see it, sounds like you're gonna be one tired grandma!! :)

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/06/perfectly-spherical-cake/

Cat -- I love your cake!! You said last week that you were concerned about it being a single tier, but it looks so elegant! Beautiful!!

Tdove -- I bet they look awesome! Modeling people gives me the hardest time too! 

 

No orders for me this week, we're heading to the lake (woohoo!) I promised the kids cupcakes on Sunday, so I've been messing around with some dogwood flowers for toppers...turning out pretty neat.

 

Can't wait to see all your results!

catlharper Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
catlharper Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 4:50pm
post #13 of 98

Ginn..please oh please post a photo or two of the party!!! In case you don't know I'm a party planner too and I just LOVE Disney so your G-grandsons party sounds like SO much fun! I, too, hate covering a ball shape in fondant. I managed to get it smooth with just the gathering at the bottom but it is just so hard! I'm doing a "Mike" later this year for my husbands 50th and it's going to be a half ball, not the full Mike. LOL! Yup, CHICKENbutt here<G>

 

Cazza...yup, 1st Birthday parties are a huge deal. Of course, in our family with my younger daughter and I as party planners, every birthday is themed in some way. I think, with the economy being the way it is, people are doing less entertaining throughout the year and thus, when an occasion arises, they invite everyone to it for one big gathering. 

 

Sixinarow...yeah, I have to make cupcakes too. My family keeps seeing cakes headed out the door and they are tired of having none for them! LOL!  And, yes, I was worried about the wedding cake. There was no topper so I had to figure out a way to "top" the cake so it wasn't just this 10x10 expanse of plain<G> 

 

Thank you all for the kind words on the cake. "Simple" is hard for me but "lovely" is definitely what I was going for. 

 

WELCOME Chichier! To the site and to our Friday Night group! Hope to see work from you...right now I'm gonna go check out your blog!<G>

 

Cat

tdovewings Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tdovewings Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 6:46pm
post #14 of 98

Time for bed, but not before I check in.

 

Here's the Caillou cake, the party was also trained themed so I tried to work them both in on this cake. This was the first time I did a fondant "person". 

 

 

Next up, Star Wars.  I was supposed to do plastic figurines for the entire cake but I couldn't find Leia. This 6-year old was very specific she want Darth Vader, Luke, and Leia. I told the mom, I didn't think I could pull Leia off in fondant, nor did I have time, but she said she would pay anything for me to try so I did.  I personally think my Leia looks like a cross-dresser. I guest my next decorating class will be on modeling figurines.

 

Last up, the gender reveal.  Nothing creative here. The mom-to-be sent me a picture of a similar cake.  Boy did I underestimate the time it would take getting stripes on this cake. Stripes on buttercream at that, big mistake! I thought it would take an hour. NOPE. It took me 2.5 hours. You live, learn, and adjust the price for the next time around. It didn't help that when I tried to close the box, my and slipped and I smashed in an entire side of the cake which I had to re-do. 

 

 

This week is an odd week I have orders all over the place, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. 

 

Until next week.... my the force be with you. 

catlharper Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
catlharper Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 8:42pm
post #15 of 98

Oh my goodness tdove! Love the Caillou!! Perfect and SO cute! As for Star Wars...I really suck at people figurines so please don't feel badly, you are NOT alone! And...it's really not that bad...you can clearly tell that it is Leia, even if she was off of the cake. The honeybun hair curls alone secured that! LOL! And I love your gender reveal cake! I know all about underestimating time...the wedding cake before this one was like that...all those little pink pearls! I had NO idea it would take me HOURS to put them on! Lost money on that one<G>  Have a great week!

 

Cat

CakeChemistry Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
CakeChemistry Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 8:56pm
post #16 of 98

AI made a Star Wars cake too! The covering of the ball was a bit dicey but got there in the end! Love the story about the groom off to war, the cake is beautiful. Lovely thread x x

howsweet Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
howsweet Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 8:58pm
post #17 of 98

Pretty cakes, yall!  I had the cake week from hell.  Can I post that here? I'm too traumatized to find the right place to post that! icon_biggrin.gif

Elcee Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Elcee Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 9:12pm
post #18 of 98
Quote:
Originally Posted by howsweet 

Pretty cakes, yall!  I had the cake week from hell.  Can I post that here? I'm too traumatized to find the right place to post that! icon_biggrin.gif

Go ahead, I'm here icon_smile.gif and I just had a crappy consult so we can have a pity party!

BatterUpCake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BatterUpCake Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 9:26pm
post #19 of 98

I tried to find the latest FNCC last night but all I could find was old ones.....I had a very good week. I made my favorite cake to date:

700

I have been wanting to do Tinkerbell for a longtime. I love children's' cakes but I hardly get to do them! Maybe I will get to do more because the parents said every parent at the party took my card as soon as they brought the cake out. That is a really good feeling. Not just because it's a pat on the back but I love it when I make someone happy.

On another note I am in the process of starting a new line of cake stands. I sold my first one today...before the stain on it was even completely dry. That is really exciting. Hopefully this will pan out so I won'thave to get a real job when I retire next month...lol, Dream big.

tdovewings Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tdovewings Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 10:42pm
post #20 of 98
Quote:
Originally Posted by BatterUpCake 

I tried to find the latest FNCC last night but all I could find was old ones.....I had a very good week. I made my favorite cake to date:

700

I have been wanting to do Tinkerbell for a longtime. I love children's' cakes but I hardly get to do them! Maybe I will get to do more because the parents said every parent at the party took my card as soon as they brought the cake out. That is a really good feeling. Not just because it's a pat on the back but I love it when I make someone happy.

On another note I am in the process of starting a new line of cake stands. I sold my first one today...before the stain on it was even completely dry. That is really exciting. Hopefully this will pan out so I won'thave to get a real job when I retire next month...lol, Dream big.

I love it! Can you share a picture of your cake stand? I'd love to see it! I really need a good sturdy one.

BatterUpCake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BatterUpCake Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 10:48pm
post #21 of 98

 

This is one design. We are coming up with a design for colored ones.

catlharper Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
catlharper Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 10:54pm
post #22 of 98

CakeChemistry...pictures??? We love to see photos! HINT HINT (no, I'm not subtle at all! LOL!)

 

Howsweet...gripe away...we have ALL had weeks like that one so feel free to vent!

 

Elcee...sorry to hear the consult went badly...please gripe away as well!

 

BatterUpCake!! I'm a HUGE Tink fan and I simply adore your cake! Love the "cat tails" SOO much! Just adorable. Thank you for sharing a photo of your cake stands! Beautiful! Will you be selling online?

 

Cat

tdovewings Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
tdovewings Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 11:02pm
post #23 of 98

Batterup! I love it. I'll take one in black, red, white, and the natural wood you have pictured. Hmmm, mahogany would be nice too. icon_eek.gif

BatterUpCake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BatterUpCake Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 11:04pm
post #24 of 98

Yes...I am setting up my website to accept credit cards and once I get a few more made I will probably try Etsy. Thank you so much for the compliments on Tink. I love her and really wanted to do this cake for my granddaughter's birthday but my daughter has her heart set on a Sweetopolita cake. I was so excited when I got this order.

BatterUpCake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BatterUpCake Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 11:08pm
post #25 of 98
Quote:
Originally Posted by tdovewings 

Batterup! I love it. I'll take one in black, red, white, and the natural wood you have pictured. Hmmm, mahogany would be nice too. icon_eek.gif

This one is mahogany. 14". I'll PM you when I have more ready!

BatterUpCake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BatterUpCake Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 11:14pm
post #26 of 98

I love the back to school cuppies.... I may have to steal your idea...lol

 

Six thanks for posting the fondant tutorial. I am thinking of doing the Tink Cake as a display for a few upcoming events and I certainly can't use the SMBC...

Elcee Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Elcee Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 11:33pm
post #27 of 98

BatterUpCake, that stand is fabulous. I won a wood one in a giveaway a while back...from someone who sells them on Etsy...and yours is SO much nicer. Here's a picture of the one I won...I'm not sure if you can see it but the edges aren't finished nicely and the paint is terrible.

 

 

 

 

 

My crappy consult...first words out of their mouths..."we don't want fondant". Um, have you seen my cakes? As soon as I hear that, I kind of stop trying, because I know our aesthetics aren't a good fit. I guess I just assumed that the planner, who is very familiar with my work, had suggested me because she thought we would be a good fit. I just know I flubbed it. Not to make excuses, but on top of that I was tired (had already done 2 consults and grocery shopping), and the meeting place (chosen by the wedding planner) was really uncomfortable for a business meeting...it was a hotel lobby where the chairs were too squishy and deep, trying to work on a coffee table; even though I was 15 minutes early they were already there so I didn't have a chance to get my stuff set up. I made dumb, amateur mistakes like calling my Basil-infused Lemon Cake Lemon-infused Basil Cake...forgetting half of my spiel, planner had to keep asking me leading questions icon_redface.gif. On the plus side, my 2 morning meetings went really, really well and as far as I know, I didn't forget anything at the grocery store!

BatterUpCake Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BatterUpCake Posted 10 Aug 2013 , 11:47pm
post #28 of 98

Thanks Elcee....It's really hard to see the pic you posted. What color is that? It kind of looks silver. I looked at your albums. Those black and white cakes are fabulous... 

Elcee Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Elcee Posted 11 Aug 2013 , 12:03am
post #29 of 98
Quote:
Originally Posted by BatterUpCake 

Thanks Elcee....It's really hard to see the pic you posted. What color is that? It kind of looks silver. I looked at your albums. Those black and white cakes are fabulous... 

Thanks!

 

The stand is black, very shiny, which shows all the flaws (and there are a lot of them icon_lol.gif); the edge is scalloped with a jigsaw for a cool, scalloped look but not sanded properly.

smittyditty Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
smittyditty Posted 11 Aug 2013 , 2:14am
post #30 of 98

I'm sorry about your consult Elcee you should have just told them that you were out of sorts because you had done so many consults. That way they knew you were Popular ;). A busy woman. By the way how do you find a planner that loves you..lol

 

Batterup that stand is GORGEOUS! Etsy is a great place to sell I have two shops you will love it and its cheap to sell.

 

Everyone else you did amazing jobs on your cakes. I am not computer savvy enough to go back and quote everyone but they all were super.

I especially like Princess Leia. I think she was awesome.

 

I'm in the process of a cake due on Monday so I thought I'd take a break and share. I ended up having to do everything by hand because I couldn't order the molds in time. It was ordered only a week in advance. So I'm happy with my shells but the perfectionist in me would have liked the molds.

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%