The Giving Cake
This cake was a simple gift for a waitress's birthday. No, I didn't really know her but I knew she was a long way from home, being from another country, and I wanted to make sure she had a cake! I know it wasn't anything crazy fancy and my buttercream work had a long way to go, but it was from the heart and made her day. It was a buttermilk cake I believe from Rose Levy Beranbaum, filled with chocolate ganache from what I remember. The rose and pearls were made with white chocolate plastic, brushed with pearl dust. I forgot to post it! It's been a while!
Jemoiselle
Daddy's Request: Chocolate Rose Birthday Cake
On vacation again, Daddy must have his chocolate cake! This one is another from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible, the Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake. It is covered in a poured ganache, made in the 10c Fleur de lis pan from Nordic Ware, and topped with a huge modeling chocolate rose. I never have to ask Dad what flavor he wants for his birthday, he is so predictable!
Jemoiselle
Nintendo Nes Inspired Birthday Cake
This was a special request by the birthday boy, my Hubby! It was by far one of the hardest cakes I've done, which is weird because it looks so simple. It is a yellow cake base (The Downy Yellow All Occasion I believe) made with "The Rose Factor" via instruction from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I brushed the layers with simple syrup laced with rum, and filled them with an experimental recipe of reduced fresh strawberries. I did a very thick buttecream dam due to the gel textured sauce being piled high between the 4 layers, and covered the outside of the cake using Toba Garrett's method of making a "spackle" out of cake crumbs, buttercream and filling. The MMF was Tonedna's recipe from Design Me A Cake dot com. The buttercream recipe was wilton's. Thanks for looking!
Jemoiselle
The Antler Cake
This cake was a hoot! The recipient was a loving Husband who lost his very first set of antlers when an ill mannered hunting dog ran off with them never to be found again, while they were sitting on an ant hill being "cleaned" eww. LOL I recreated the antlers from the photo he had taken (supplied by the awesome Wife, this cake was her surprise to him for a 15th wedding anniversary) and I mounted those antlers on his very own mounting board, and attempted to recreate the scene with symbolism. The paw print was for the dog obviously, the antlers and "15" representing the anniversary and the ants, well, they were just doing their job! What fun this cake was! It is four layers of Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe from The Cake Bible for All-American Chocolate Butter Cake filled with my Daddy's secret German Chocolate Icing/Filling recipe (seriously top secret!) and then covered in a milk chocolate ganache followed by Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe for Classic Rolled Fondant from The Cake Bible also. That book is as advertised, my Bible of cakes for certain! I will NEVER bake without it and consider it the ultimate authority on cake recipes and science!
Jemoiselle
"the Quintessential Birthday Cake-Cake"
My son turned three this year and I was puzzled with what theme to use for his cake! He just kept on asking about "Birthday Cake" and couldn't make up his mind himself so I decided to make a cake that resembles the top tier of my "Familiar Red Monster from a Street" lol cake and theme it around whimsical things I consider to be just yummy and classic for cakes and deliciousness. I used a FABULOUS recipe from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum called Sour Cream Butter Cake, and after all this time making dozens of cakes I'd have to say this is the holy grail moment, the cake I will always make and never look for another to try when it comes to yellow cakes. It was easy to torte (I used four torted layers) baked up on time and perfectly without over-browning or sinking/shrinking, and most wonderfully of all, tasted like a dream. It uses all egg yolks and Rose's special mixing method to create it's exceptionally soft and tender crumb. I even carved the sides so they were perfectly level and even and didn't have a problem crumb coating it. Just a DREAM to work with guys. I think every serious baker should own this book and all of Rose's books for that matter. Go out and get "The Cake Bible" and you'll never be the same. I sprinkled the torted layers top and bottoms with homemade rum syrup too for freshness/moisture retention. The flavours married up beautifully! So, I used milk chocolate ganache for this cake, made it out of European chocolate (Galaxy Bars) since I am currently overseas. It soaked into the layers a bit because I didn't chill it before assembling (was in a hurry as usual) but it didn't matter because it was out of this world incredible. I also used Indydebi's buttercream frosting recipe, with the addition of Princess Cake and Cookie Emulsion/Extract for the Frosting and a smaller less noticeable amount for the fondant (Rhonda's Ultimate MMF Recipe). Everything is fondant and handmade except for the toothpicks I used as sticks for the "lollipops" and the "cherry" stem which was a toothpick painted green with food colouring. I wanted to make a fondant stem but once again, no time for drying ;) What a fun cake! Thanks for looking and sharing in my fun! Happy Birthday Baby!
Jemoiselle
The Mario Cake
This is a 10" and 6" All-American Chocolate Torte from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, covered in fondant with ALL fondant accents, not an ounces of plastic in this cake lol. I used many user's Mario cakes for inspiration, combined it with my own ideas and this is what I came up with! TFL!
Jemoiselle
The Chocroach Cake!
I made this cake for a local pest control company's display at a local home and garden show! It was so fun to make! I used Rose Levy Beranbaum's All-American Chocolate Torte recipe from The Cake Bible to carve the bug's body/base, and the rest is all fondant. I started with white fondant and hand painted the whole thing... seemed easier than trying to layer. IT HAD GREEN FILLING! lol TFL!
Jemoiselle
Jemoiselle
Jemoiselle
Anesthetist's Birthday Cake
This cake is so small (6x4 carved), yet gave me more hassle than any cake yet! I am so glad it is done, and am soo anxious to find out if the person receiving it tomorrow likes it. Hopefully they aren't as picky as I am! Where do I start, my fondant (Toba Garrett's) was way too soft, kept tearing and cracking etc. Very fine cracks but still. using MMF I never had that problem! Then, for some reason (never happened before) my fondant started to bulge, and eventually wrinkled at the bottom. I don't think I am ever going to use this fondant again, and it's a pity! It is SOO nice to make, easy to roll etc. Just way too soft. Anyhow, it is a scratch yellow cake, also from Toba's book. I torted each layer, so there are three layers of whipped ganache filling. I baked it in a glass baking dish and carved it to size, BC and then covered. All accents are fondant, too. The colors are the person's college colors, as you may have guessed they just graduated and are to become an anesthetist =) A big thank you to member candoo for the inspiration, this cake is based on one of hers entitled "anesthesia cake".
Jemoiselle
Just Playing Around, A Butterfly Cake!
I had to play with some extra batter and fondant I had lying around! It served me well, because we had surprise dinner guests over later that night, and I was prepared with a special dessert. This is a 6 inch single layer scratch yellow zucchini cake, torted and filled with pink buttercream. I then covered it with white chocolate ganache, buttercream then fondant. I used Toba Garrett's recipe, what a soft fondant! TFL!
Jemoiselle
Jemoiselle
Jemoiselle
Jemoiselle
Special Birthday And Adoption Day Cupcakes!
I was asked to make these for a friend's two beautiful children. It was a Birthday and an Adoption Day celebration! There were 40 color matching cupcakes in all, but only these two were decorated like this. It was such a HUGE honor! The cupcakes are a scratch recipe chocolate fudge cake, and the frostings are homemade semi-sweet ganache and whipped vanilla-almond buttercream. Olivia's cupcake, the pink one, is decorated with a white chocolate rose, brushed with luster dust, and topped with a gelatin butterfly, the body of the butterfly including the antennae in their entirety is dark chocolate plastic. The pearls are made from white chocolate as well, rolled in pearl dust. Her name is rolled out of a fondant rope. Evan's cupcake is covered in the semi-sweet ganache, with a special flag of his home Country, Guatemala. I was asked to make that the theme, celebrating his heritage! The "worry dolls" (little people) were inspired by a story his Momma told me about how they have these little dolls over there, you tell your worries to and place under your pillow to find peace. I tried to recreate those to the best of my ability, they are traditionally made with bits of string, fabric, and sticks inside for support. I used fondant for the flag, and a mix of fondant and modeling chocolate for the dolls. The bananas, a chief export, are both fondant and modeling chocolate as well.
Jemoiselle
Gelatin Butterfly On White Modeling Chocolate Rose
This is the topper for a special cupcake I am making for a little girl's 4th birthday. The cupcake will be uploaded once it is done in a few days =) The rose is made from white modeling chocolate, brushed in luster dust (bad photo for capturing it) and the butterfly is made from gelatin. I didn't have the butterfly veining/texture sheets everyone has, so I downloaded a butterfly picture, cut it out, and used it as a cutting template for mine. It worked awesome, minus having the cute veins. I used a paintbrush with simple food colors, liquid and gel, to brush on the details. I had no problem with the colors melting the dried gelatin at all. I made/ dried my gelatin butterflies on a flexible cutting board, it popped right off just like a texture sheet =)
Jemoiselle
Daddy Craved Chocolate, I Delivered!
I was on vacation visiting my parents when Dad suddenly got a terrible craving for "Birthday cake" as he called it. He said it had to be chocolate, so chocolate he got. This is a short double layer 9" scratch devil's fudge cake brushed with a simple vanilla syrup, and iced/filled with semi-sweet ganache. The roses and accents are milk chocolate plastic, or modeling chocolate whichever you fancy! He loved it, and I got another cake for my portfolio. I'd say it was a fair trade!
Jemoiselle
Jemoiselle
The Batman Cake
This is a cake I did for a little bub's 5th birthday party. It is a 14" and 10" double layer two tier vanilla almond scratch cake with chocolate ganache filling, buttercream, fondant and semi-sweet chocolate plastic accents. Fun stuff! It also as a dusting of luster dust, hard to see I know!
Jemoiselle
Baby Shower Cake
This is a baby shower cake I did for a friend, all scratch vanilla and devil's fudge cake. It was filled with homemade chocolate ganache and bavarian cream. The bottom tier is a 10" round, three 2" layers. The top tier is a 6" round, two 2" layers. Mostly fondant with chocolate plastic bear, bow and accents.
Jemoiselle
The Naruto Cake
This is my first paid cake, made for a friend's little one's birthday. He loves Naruto, but also loves whipped frosting instead of fondant so I decided to do both. Naruto is based on a fight scene the clients emailed me, made out of exacto-cut fondant and hand painted. The rest is whipped frosting. It was my first time doing big borders with frosting tips, I have a long way to go but they were pretty happy with it.
Jemoiselle
Skyebird's Kitty Cake
This is the cake I made for my toddler's 2nd Birthday. He loved it too much to eat it, he just wanted to pet him and talk to him! It was a fun cake to do. I based the design off of a cake I saw online somewhere! This was the second specialty cake I ever did, and the second fondant cake. A big improvement over the cheeseburger's fondant job =)
Jemoiselle
The Argyle Cake
This is a cake I made for a friend's birthday. She loves argyle prints and green so I attempted to make a design that incorporated those things. I learned the important of measuring out design placement with cakes like this, as the original plan ended up not fitting. Overall, I was very happy with my work and she was elated! The topper is simply piped chocolate stood up with toothpicks I molded into the bottom. The rest is BC and MMF.