When you purchase a digital subscription to Cake Central Magazine, you will get an instant and automatic download of the most recent issue.
Turning 5 is a fun event when your birthday theme is mermaids---particularly Ariel. When told Ariel was a copyrighted figure, she accepted a generic red haired mermaid instead. Mermaid is made of gumpaste with chocolate clay hair. Palm is fondant/tylose. Shells are all fondant; coral is iosmalt poured into crushed ice. Fish net is fondant, cut with a pie crust lattice cutter. Sand is crushed grahamj crackers. Bottom layer of cake is chocolate torted and filled with peanut butter mousse while top layer is peanut butter cake filled with whipped chocolate ganache. Island is peanut butter cake. (I needed the island with its accompanying cakeboard to help support the top heavy palm tree.) All is covered with dark chocolate ganache topped with marbled MFF.
Palm tree for soon-to-be birthday cake. Fronds are fondant/tylose. I made the trunk on a double wire armature, wrapped with foil and floral tape and covered with circles of gumpaste, (with the tops cut off to resemble frond scars.) I wanted a curving trunk, but with the weight of the fronds, I had to straighten it somewhat. Even with the long wire, with which I hope to penetrate the cake board, I still fear for its success.
10 little monkeys jumping on the bed. 1 fell off and bumped her head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Sung in a sing-song voice, this children's ditty was the theme for her 3rd birthday party. Cake is white chocolate sour cream with strawberry BC filling--covered with white choc ganache and quilted MFF overlay. Head board is pastiallge, eyelet dust ruffle is pearl clay-- (thanks Jennifer Dontz!) while the monkeys are gumpaste. The wild colors matched the party's color scheme.
The BTB didn't want the orchid topper I had earlier made. So here is the rose version. I'll do my best to give her what she wants, even if she wasn't too clear at the beginning conveying what she had in mind. I am only contributing the topper---I hope it is treated carefully by her cake lady.
The cake: a lemon, torted with fresh raspberry filling. Covered in white chocolate ganache and white chocolate cheesecake MFF. The flowers, butterflies and ribbon are of gelatin.
The bride wanted elegance, but being a hunter, her groom wanted a camo theme. With the pink and brown and camo theme, I came up with brown cymbidium orchids, pink babies' breath, stephanotis and cotinus leaves. There is a band of mossy camouflage ribbon around the base and a small camo bow hidden by the orchid. We'll have to see if she wants the cake to go with it!
This are a fun flower to make. The real flower is known for its long vase-life, but it can't beat the sugar variety.
I'm finding orchids a very fun flower to make. These are real orchids with the exception of the lower center one which is a little brighter in color, being made of gumpaste. The others are gumpaste, stuck in real orchid pots which currently are not in bloom. I was amazed, when at the nursery, to see just how many color variations there are among moth orchids. So many actually do look fake!
For a one year old who loves Word World. The cake and the smash cake are WASC / strawberry BC filling. White choc cheesecake MFF over white choc ganache. Figures are flowed sugar.
I made several tiaras for the Fancy Nancy cake to give the birthday girl a choice. I used my extruder for the gumpaste and piping gel to secure the isomalt gems. I need to practice making isomalt gems and I wasn't too pleased with the results. I had difficulty following a template, so just free formed them over a can for the shape. All in all, she was delighted. I was surprised at how durable they actually were.
Emma couldn't decide which Disney princess was her favorite, so all were invited to the party at the pink castle. Since this is a friendly castle, there is no drawbridge over the piping gel moat--- rather, a welcome bridge. The cake is WASC with strawberry buttercream, and strawberry MFF over white ganache. The towers are RKT topped with gumpaste slates. The trees and rosebushes are chocolate covered grape stems dipped into green rice krispies for leaves. Water lilies and roses are gumpaste, as is the birdbath filled with piping gel. I had so much fun making this cake that I had to hold myself in check, not to over-do. The client provided the figurines.
I wish I knew whom to credit for the inspiration for this cake. I printed it out from my hard drive and don't have the source. But to whomever, thanks. My little grand daughter's 5th birthday was enhanced by this little puppy. She was almost hesitant to have us cut into it, but then gleefully watched us slice its head off! She loved the fondant nose. (Do we need worry?!) Anyway, it was fun and delicious.
For those unfamiliar with the Fancy Nancy of children's books, she is a little girl for whom nothing can be too fancy, gaudy, blng-ly, or yes, even garish. Hence, this over-the-top cake. I took several elements from the book and made them out of gum paste, isomalt or pearl clay. All is technically edible, except for the wooden skewers in the parasol and the gold on the tiara. To me, this cake is woefully over- decorated, but was exactly what the 4-yr old birthday girl and her mother wanted. They were thrilled. I guess that is really what counts in the long run. It is MacMom's strawberry filled with white chocolate mousse and fresh strawberries, covered with white chocolate ganache and topped with quilted white chocolate cheesecake MFF. Of course it had to be predominately pink, as that is her "very most favorite-ist color in the whole world!" (By the way, the star is a sparkler provided by the mom.)
Olivia the niece is made of sugar and spice and everything nice. Olivia the Pig is RKT covered with modeling chocolate and dressed in fondant. I had a surprisingly difficult time with her. My first two attempts looked like real pigs, (I have a difficult time with cartoons), and the third looked just like "Miss Piggy"--- definitely not Olivia. The cake is two tiers, the first is WASC torted with choc chip cookie dough filling, the second is a choc chip cookie cake. Both are covered with white choc ganache and coated with homemade MFF, (white choc cheesecake flavor). The beach ball is a gelatin bubble, oh so carefully painted with edible marker, and the bucket is gumpaste, formed over a medicine dispenser cup. The sand is brown sugar.
This was a fun cake to make. Three year old little boys are so easy to please, especially when they love trains. It is WASC with a cheesecake mousse filling. The train is gumpaste with cotton candy smoke. The railroad ties are sugar wafer cookies while the rails are fondant. The trees are fondant covered sugar cookie cones and the crossing sign is pastillage. The whole thing was covered with white chocolate ganache and topped with MFF.
My neighbors are avid turkey hunters. Since they are so helpful to me, I made them this cake. Shotgun shells are gumpaste, as are the leaves. The tail feathers are wafer paper painted with markers and vodka-diluted gels, while the body feathers are rice spring roll wrappers. To get the iridescence of the body feathers, I used layers of different colored luster dusts. Bottom layer is snickerdoodle, while top is caramel pecan. Filled with white chocolate ganache and covered with white ganache and white choc MFF.
This cake was a donation to a church auction. The design came to me while 2' of snow lay on the ground outside, ergo, tropical flowers and tropical flavors! The bottom layer is mango cake, torted with fresh blackberry filling, then cheesecake mousse imbedded with with fresh blackberries, and top layer is a key lime cake torted with passion fruit curd and fresh mango chunks. It is covered in passionfruit/white chocolate ganache and overlaid with white chocolate MFF. All the flowers are made of gum paste. It didn't bring what it was really worth, but hey---it was for the Boy Scouts, a good cause. And I truly loved making it. Snow, who cares?
Bubbly cake for a bubbly little three year old. Macmom's cinnamon roll cake, (thank you!) with cream cheese filling and white chocolate ganache topped with white choc MFF. Bubbles are gelatin and bow pearl clay dusted with luster dust. Thanks to Sweetflowers for the marvelous tutorial on making gelatin bubbles. They were a hit!
Ordered by a daughter for her mother's 75th birthday. Her request was that it include orchids and the lilies, as those were in her mom's wedding bouquet. Oh, and purple is her favorite color. The cake is cakepro's (thanks, cakepro!) lemon cake recipe (oh, so good!), two layers, torted and filled with lemon curd and fresh raspberry filling. Coated with white choc ganache, covered with white choc/cheesecake MFF. Thanks to Marie Herbstritt for the inspiration for the gum paste card.
another style of anemone
This was such a fun cake to make! It is Macmom's cinnamon roll cake recipe, cream cheese filling, covered with white choc ganache topped with Michelle Foster's fondant, cream cheese flavored. Absolutely my favorite flavor to date! I made the pin oak leaves and acorns with silicone double sided veiners and molds made from my own oak trees. They are of gumpaste dusted with petal dust and painted with americolor/vodka. It was a big hit. Everyone wanted that to be their next cake, but there are too many new recipes yet to try.
Gumpaste calla lillies, veining done with a rib of fresh celery. Gumpaste stephanotis
Gumpaste roses. I made the cutters for the leaves out of aluminum flashing and the two sided leaf veiner from silicone molds made of my own roses. Had to hurry to make the molds because the leaves will soon be gone for the season!
A tranquil pond scene if it weren't for the styrofoam!
gumpaste crane's bill
Gumpaste anemone
(if this is a private computer)
Yes please, register now!
