Box Cake Mixes

I was overly shocked to find out that A LOT of people use box cake mixes and add to it. If I had a confused smiley it would go here -->  .  I understand finances and timing is a factor. But I can bakemy own cake if it's coming from a box. Like really, how much stuff can you add to a box mix???  Well to each it's own. I'm a from scratch girl all the way! ;-)

The Wedding Cake

Well definitely not mine!!!  My brother's, congrats Lamar!  Soooo I'm going to make the cake. I'm a little nervous because I'm a home baker who bakes simple stuff for the holidays. The good thing is...drum roll please! The cake will be buttercream!  Thanks to Lynda (my Wilton instructor), I know how to properly spread buttercream now!  And thanks to Gretchen from Woodland Bakery, I know the trick to make the buttercream look smooth and get rid of any air bubbles. Wanna know the secret?  Then you need to go to Woodland Bakery Blog and sign up to be a Woody Insider!  Gretchen (I think her last name is Price) is also on FB and YouTube. So I'm not getting anything to promote anyone or anything I blog about. I just like sharing info I've learned and the talented people I learned it from who also inspires me to become the best baker/decorator ever!  Or in my world a Pastry Chef. Which is what I'll be calling myself when I'm up and running with my business in the future. 

2014 Wilton Tent Sale

I feel like a kid who was just told that they're about to go to the toy and candy store!!! LOL!  OMGosh, So I totally can't wait until May 30th!  I have a list of things I hope they'll have for sale. I need pans, color, tools, a caddy, cake circles/squares, pretty much a whole lot!  Some stuff I just want in my inventory. And some stuff I need because I'm doing my brothers wedding cake in August. Def hope they have square pans, as the wedding cake will be square. Any way...if you're a professional baker or amature like me, and in the Chicagoland area, you have to check out the Wilton Tent Sale in Woodridge!

 

Located At:

2240 W. 75th Street
Woodridge, IL 60517

Hours of Operation:
Doors will open May 30th, 2014 at 1:00 pm

Mon – Fri	9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sat & Sun	8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Carnival Birthday Cake

In one of my previous post I spoke on making a cake for my nephews first b-day (btw...I did find out that his b-day was on May 20th). There are a few things I would do differently based on this experience. This was also my first time decorating a cake like this...3D I assume.  The good thing is, I know what should be done differently next time, and I was also rushing... a lot, I wasn't as prepared because I was asked to do the cake 6 days before and didn't have all the supplies I needed. Originally I was asked to make a Very Hungry Caterpillar cupcake cake. Then later that day it changed and I had to scramble during the week to get everything I needed, plus start on certain pieces of the cake. Enough with the talking here's the nephews cake. 

Sorry...the lighting was bad, but this was the only place in my kitchen that didn't look like a bakery exploded. 

The writing is so pretty!!!  Obviously I have very nice hand writing, but it NEVER comes out like that on cakes.  I was going really slow and actually had to remove the first 3 letters I piped to start over. This is definitely something I'll have to practice more of.....

Yes my fondant creased...more practicing of course. 

Elephants, popcorn, and fondant creases, oh my!!!  I'm going to purchase dummy cakes. There's no way I'm not going to perfect laying fondant on a cake!

This was suppose to be on the cake but would have been too much for a 9". So I spray painted a piece of styrofoam and placed the remaining of the pieces on there.  By the time we sung Happy Birthday, the cake was still in tip top condition, however I could tell that the popcorn bag was starting to sink into the cake a little. I only used 1 wooden dowel in the center to hold it in place. If I ever make this cake again, I'll have to stick some in the cake to support the bottom of the popcorn bag. 

I must say, what an experience and learning tool.  I'm happy I did it and was able to execute it. 

Basketweave Flop :o

I went to my final Wilton course 2 class this past Saturday. (flowers and cake designs).  I was the only one that showed up!  Talk about a girl feeling special, I had Lynda all to myself.  I was able to ask more questions and just over all have small talk. It's a little hard to do that when you have others in class and I don't want them thinking, here she goes again...lol. But I take my decorating seriously, I want to do this for real for real, not just a hobby.  And who better to get info from???  My instructor! :-). Anyway I had to bring a cake that was already dirty iced or crumb coated (means the same thing but I watched Cake Boss so much in the past, Buddy would say, "Dirty ice" and I've heard others say, Crumb coat. Since it was just lil' ole' me in class I was able to pick out the Basketweave design I wanted to do. Spoiler alert...I'm over my sons Cub Scout pack and went directly from class to the event and left everything in the trunk...enough said. I have an issue staying on a straight line without a guide but wanted to try this without a guide. Epic fail, my basket weave starting to look like a roller coaster. But that's okay, it was my first time, and between grad school and my full time job (and of course family life), I don't have much time as I would like to practice my decorating. So I know for a fact that the more I practice I will get better ;-). The top was my own design, I wanted to pipe reverse shells and my brain did something total different. If you're wondering why my cake has tons of crumbs on top, it's because I ran out of time and needed to get a design on there and didn't have time to add another coating of buttercream.  So here's my lovely cake, flaws and all :-). 

You can see those chocolate crumbs peeking through...lol. Remember those flowers from my previous weeks of class?  Well here they are!!  Well some, definitely not all of them. 

This is what happens when you leave a cake in your trunk on an 80 degrees day in Chicagoland!!!

Now you all know that I can't go down like this, there will definitely be a basketweave part 2 coming soon. In my world that means at least 2 weeks if not 3..lol.

Birthday Cake In Progress...

If you read my previous post you saw that I've been asked to make a cake for my nephews 1st birthday.  This is my process this far (pics below), I've omitted the stars and will replace them with the balloons. I really hope they look like balloons to you all.  I have long nails and it's a little harder for me to work with fondant..dents, dents, and more dents.  I still have to smooth out a few of the designs, but like my title says, cake in progress. Tell me what you think of my pics below.  

P.S. I don't take the best pics. But I promise the final pic will look fancy :-)

The Challenge

I won't get into all of the details publicly, but I was asked (by the parents) to make a cake for my youngest nephews (my brothers youngest) b-day. Oddly enough I can't remember his exactly b-day, but the party is tomorrow. As you've read in my previous posts, I don't have a lot of experience using fondant/gum paste, and I'm just now starting to feel comfortable with buttercream...I think...lol. Anyway, below is the cake that I'm making (minus the bottom white and red striped tier).  It will be a yellow cake with fresh strawberries. The party is carnival themed and the cake was found randomly online so it's def not my photo or theirs.