Diaper Bag Cake

Here is the making of a diaper bag cake I made for my best friends baby shower.

I started with 2 14×14 in square chocolate cakes.

Cut them in half and filled with a layer of chocolate truffle then a cherry cream cheese buttercream on top of that.

Then, stacked, wrapped several times with plastic wrap and put into the fridge.

The next day, I carved it slightly…really just rounded out the corners a bit….a diaper bag doesn’t really have much of a shape. Then iced with ganache and again put into the fridge.

Next step is to cover with fondant. I did this in 4 pieces, well 5 if you count the top. I figured it would be easier to cover in pieces then to roll out and drape such a large piece of fondant. I put a little schmear of shortening on the ganache to use as a glue for the fondant. I didn’t worry about the seams since I planned on covering them up later. I also drove a dowel rod through the middle of the cake into the cake boards. This was a tall cake and I was afraid of it possibly moving during transport.

Then came the top. I used my favorite clay extruder for a rope border for the top piece and to create the seams of the bag.

Then came the front and side pockets.

I used several molds I have for the rest of the decorations. A zipper for the back side, a baby bib, booties, baby bottle, pacifier, pins and keys.

One quick note about the molds….after their filled, pop them into the freezer for a minute or two or three to firm them up and that will make them easier to work with too!

You can find some of the great molds that I have used from Jennifer Dontz at  www.jenniferdontz.com.

Here’s the finished cake :

Can’t wait to hold either baby David of Natalie! Congratulations to Norm and Angie!

Happy caking everyone

Kelly

Diaper Bag Cake

Here is the making of a diaper bag cake I made for my best friends baby shower.

I started with 2 14×14 in square chocolate cakes.

Cut them in half and filled with a layer of chocolate truffle then a cherry cream cheese buttercream on top of that.

Then, stacked, wrapped several times with plastic wrap and put into the fridge.

The next day, I carved it slightly…really just rounded out the corners a bit….a diaper bag doesn’t really have much of a shape. Then iced with ganache and again put into the fridge.

Next step is to cover with fondant. I did this in 4 pieces, well 5 if you count the top. I figured it would be easier to cover in pieces then to roll out and drape such a large piece of fondant. I put a little schmear of shortening on the ganache to use as a glue for the fondant. I didn’t worry about the seams since I planned on covering them up later. I also drove a dowel rod through the middle of the cake into the cake boards. This was a tall cake and I was afraid of it possibly moving during transport.

Then came the top. I used my favorite clay extruder for a rope border for the top piece and to create the seams of the bag.

Then came the front and side pockets.

I used several molds I have for the rest of the decorations. A zipper for the back side, a baby bib, booties, baby bottle, pacifier, pins and keys.

One quick note about the molds….after their filled, pop them into the freezer for a minute or two or three to firm them up and that will make them easier to work with too!

You can find some of the great molds that I have used from Jennifer Dontz at  www.jenniferdontz.com.

Here’s the finished cake :

Can’t wait to hold either baby David of Natalie! Congratulations to Norm and Angie!

Happy caking everyone

Kelly

Easter Basket Cake

Hello my cake friends. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  This blog post is about the Easter basket cake I made for my friend and co-worker Gail.

I started with 3- 10 inch round chocolate cakes filled with chocolate fudge, sprinkled with espresso crunchies, then a rich chocolate buttercream.

I wanted a tapered look to the basket, so I placed an 8 in cake circle on what would be the bottom of the cake.

Hold the knife with the tip on the bottom of the cake at a slight angle. Trim off the excess.

You can see there is a slight taper to the cake. It’s upside down…so flip her over…

Of course….the best part is the cake scraps for dessert!

Next…the ganache. Your ganache should be made the day before, so it’s had time to set up. It should be the consistency of peanut butter….thin enought to spread but should hold on the spoon.

I put on a thin crum coat, then placed it in the fridge for about 10 minutes, then iced it once more.

There is a “ridge” along the edge….I leveled that the next day after the ganache had firmed up…this gave me a nice sharp edge.

The eggs and the bunnies were formed using some molds I found on Amazon. I had an assortment of candy melts, not the best tasting chocolate for sure, but good for making suckers and candy pieces like these.

After the bunnies…the eggs…

After filling the egg, I set it on top of a plastic bowl to hold it in place….then popped it into the freezer.

You must freeze it for at least 20-25 minutes…if not…when you unmold it…it will look like this…..

A nice, big air pocket! Thankfully, in cake decorating, you can usually cover your blemishes. We will do that later.

The good, the bad and the ugly:

It’s now time to put the eggs together. I melted some chocolate to use as my glue and put the two halves together. Some of the eggs had a nice seem to them like this one….

some did not turn out so well….

Once again…we will use decorations to cover these ugly seems.

Time to cover the basket.

I brushed the sides of the cake with some shortening so the fondant would stick.

I took a piece of ribbon and measured how long my fondant should be.

I used my basket weave rolling-pin to impress the pattern into the fondant, trimmed it and rolled it up.

Then carefully unroll it.

I made a rope border for the top edge.

I bent some floral wire and also covered it with the same rope pattern for my 2 handles.

I used a fabric patterned rolling-pin for the fondant on top of the cake.

Then I  just pieced together pieces of fondant on top of the cake.  I doweled the cake and put a cake board on top because I knew the weight of the fondant, eggs and bunnies might be too much.

After adding the eggs, bunnies, a fabric bow and some grass….it’s finally done!

 

I realized I forgot to take pictures of the eggs while I was decorating them….oops! I just used stripes and dots on each egg….you can see they are pretty simple.

 

I hope you enjoyed my little cake and maybe learned a thing or two!

All proceeds from this cake were donated to the Lone Star Shih-Tzu and Lhassa Appso rescue group in Texas.

 

Happy Caking!

Kelly

Time saving tips

I just wanted to share a couple of things I do to save some time in the kitchen.

 

Freezing bananas!

I LOVE banana cake….one of my all time favorite flavors, but RIPE bananas are essential for any banana cake or bread recipe.  Seems like whenever I got an order to make a banana cake, I had no ripe bananas available. My lovely sister, Rebecca, told me to freeze my ripe nanners for later use!!!!  I wish I had known this years ago. I buy a bunch or two of bananas  every week, and what I don’t eat, I simply let them ripen, peel them, toss them into a Ziploc bag and mash them with my hands, then into the freezer they go until I need them!

 

The next thing I like to do is measure all my dry ingredients the night before I plan to bake, so that’s one less thing I have to do the next day.

 

I was making a chocolate cake, from scratch, of course….so in one bag I put all my measured flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda….in the other bag my sugars.  It’s just so nice to not have to break out all my measuring cups and spoons…I can just open the bag and pour!

 

I hope you find these little tips useful and if I can think of any more, I will post them!! After all, we all learn from each other….I know I have learned so much from many other people’s blogs.

 

Happy caking!

 

Kelly

Off chemo “beach” party

My friend and co-worker, Cathy Beach’s son, Jason,  recently finished a 3 year-long chemo treatment plan for leukemia.   Since their last name is Beach, our department decided to throw him an  ”Off chemo beach party” complete with music from the Beach Boys, beach balls, tropical leis to wear….and of course, we needed a beach cake!

I started making  the shells and fish 1 week before the cake was due. I just mixed a little tylose in with some fondant although you could use all gumpaste or melted white chocolate if you wish. I’ve bought most of my molds from http://www.firstimpressionsmolds.com. Here are a few pics of the process.

Corals

I  love this sand dollar mold.

Fish molds

I wanted to make a beach ball and sand bucket to put on top of the cake, so I made them out of rice krispie treats.

Here’s the bucket

the beach ball was made using two halves of a ball pan

I covered them with melted candy to fill in the cracks and crevices of the treats.

This is the template I made for the stripes on the beach ball.

Covering the ball was much harder than I thought. The stripes didn’t quite match up right…I actually covered it twice, the second time yielded a somewhat better looking beach ball!

Now for the assembly….I made 2 12×12 square cakes. Since this was a beach theme…I thought of fun summer flavors!

Banana split and lemon blueberry.

First layer of filling for the banana split cake was a pineapple cream cheese filling

Next came the chocolate fudge with nuts

Last layer….strawberry!

Next cake was a lemon cake marbled with blueberry puree

This cake had alternating layers of SMBC mixed with lemon curd and blueberry filling.

I put both cakes on a HUGE piece of plywood my hubby cut for me….I knew this was going to be a heavy cake!

Time to ice

For the “sand” I mixed graham crackers, a little light and dark brown sugar with a couple of tablespoons of coffee granules

I forgot the flip-flops!

I googled flip-flop clip art and got a good picture that I then laminated and cut out for my template.

I added some dots for some color

I found an impression mat that I had to give it a little texture

I like it!

Cut an upside down V for the straps

Time to put it all together!

The finished cake with Jason….

Happy caking!

Kelly

Sinking Titanic cake!

I was asked if I could make a Titanic themed cake for a young teen who was a fan of all things Titanic.  I thought I’d attempt to make a sinking Titanic!

The cake was 2 flavors…chocolate with PB cup filling and white with raspberry filling.

I haven’t carved very many 3D cakes, but from what I have done, I have found it easier to start with much more cake than you’d need and SLOWLY take off cake inch by inch.

After I put the two halves together, I gave it a crumbcoat and popped it in the freezer for 30 minutes, then I started to carve the bow and stern.

After another crumbocat….back into the freezer.

I wrapped the bottom of the ship with a black fondant band, then white on top.

Time for the deck…..light brown fondant, painted with darker brown gel color mixed with vodka to get that wood grain look of the deck.

Next came the railing…toothpicks and fondant rope. The smoke stacks and the “people”.

The icebergs are rice krispie treats covered with buttercream.

 

I hope you enjoyed my little cake!

Thanks for reading the blog  and happy caking:)

 

Kelly

My first standing 3D cake!!!

I was feeling very daring and decided to attempt to make my first standing 3D cake!!! Food Network here I come (just kidding!).

 

It was really easier than I thought it would be. I ordered Bronwen Weber’s man skeleton from Caljava’s site. It comes with all the pieces you will need. All PVC pipes that are fully adjustable.

 

Start with securing the legs to the board that’s provided.

Then slide the cake plate over the center pipe and start stacking your cake.

I used rice krispies to form the legs.

Then it was time to attach the arms and head. All the “joints” are designed to be positioned any way you want. You have flexibility in the design you wish to create.

This is the styrofoam head that comes with the kit. This is actually ovoid in shape. I suppose you can use a round shape if needed. This is the perfect shape for the character I am making. General Ackbar…a Star War’s character.

Since I got this new MAC computer, I am having a heck of a time learning how to cut and paste. I would love to add a picture of this character so you know what he looks like…he’s ugly! So, if you’re curious just Google it.  Here is the shape of his head.

I then covered his head with some brown fondant and added his eyes.

Here he is after getting painted and getting his hands put on.  All that was left was to add some details to his uniform….here he is:

Not bad for my first try! All the pieces are easy to remove, wash and dry so they are ready for the next project.

 

Next blog post will be the sinking Titanic cake…coming soon!

 

Happy caking and thanks for reading my little blog.

 

Kelly