Seasonably Appropriate

This past weekend included some cake making. I love to bake during this time of year, especially when I am making carrot cake. Heavy on the nutmeg, please.

After my work was done, I had the chance to bask in the beauty of a warm fall afternoon. I laid a blanket out and worked on some projects that needed hand sewing while Phia and Ori worked on sticker books.
It was pretty amazing to feel so relaxed and productive at the same time. I finished binding a quilt, and Ori took a perfectly timed outdoor nap right as I made the last stitch.

Fourth

With the help of our family and friends we celebrated a fourth birthday with fairy skirts, pirate hats, corn on cobs,
flowered cakes, treasure hunts, light showers,  
tartlets, eye patches, and one very happy little girl. 

Goodmorning, Kitty

Imagine the crazy excitement experienced by my children when they rolled out of bed and discovered this on the kitchen table:
So excited, in fact, that Phia would not leave the Hello Kitty's side- apparently not even to brush her hair. I don't blame her, as my nine year old self would have probably fainted upon seeing a Hello Kitty cake.
Made after a doting mother saw this cake and decided to rack up some awesome mom points with her daughter.

Counting Cards

Over the weekend I baked and decorated some cookies for a very wonderful family that we are friends with. There was a 21st birthday to be celebrated, and their theme- a poker party- was simple, fun, and in my opinion it was pretty clever. 
The cookies were hand decorated with royal icing, and there was a vegas style cake to match. 

Red Velvet Progression

Red Velvet Cake

Cake Flour          2.5 C

Baking Soda        1 Tbsp

Baking Powder   1 tsp.

Cocoa                   1/4 C

Salt                       2 tsp.

Butter, melted   4 oz.

Sugar                   1.5 C

Eggs                     2 ea.

Milk                     1 C

White Vinegar   2 Tbsp

Vanilla                 1 Tbsp

Red Food Coloring

Preheat your oven to 350, and then grease two 9 inch round cake pans, and then gently dust them with cocoa. 

Sift together the dry ingredients, and in a separate bowl mix together the butter, sugar, eggs, milk, vinegar and vanilla. Thoroughly incorporate all ingredients, and then add in your red food color to your preferred color- for a deep red it usually takes about a tbsp. of liquid food color. Place the batter in your baking pans, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until they pass a knife test. Let cakes cool completely, and then place them in the freezer.

A Few Good Cakes

My Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights were spent cake making- one project was a christening cake for a distant relative. It was  rather involved as it was covered with quite a few hand molded hydrangea flowers. 

I assembled the cake at the party, and unfortunately I did not get a fantastic finished picture, but here is a peek at the pink flowers cascading down the top tier. 
And here is a picture of my Friday night cake, which was also my second alcoholic beverage cake of the year.

Early Summer Cakes

'Tis a popular time to be born. Because there have been so many birthdays going on since mid May, I have been a little busy making birthday cakes. Strawberry Shortcake, anyone? 
Vanilla chiffon, strawberry & banana filling, topped with whipped cream.

Cannoli in Disguise

Because cannolis are an East coast staple, I knew that in time I would master my modern cannoli cake. 

I tried to keep the flavors traditional- crushed cannoli shells, semi-sweet chocolate chunks, chopped pistachios, candied lemon, with a sprinkle of cinnamon. 
Add to that a fluffy cannoli filling & vanilla chiffon, layered together to make a very delicious interpretation of the cannoli. 

May Birthday

A little birthday cake was put together because some friends are so special, they deserve confections enrobed in whipped cream.

Gambling: meet baked goods.

This was a simple birthday cake finished just in the knick of time.
Who ever said that cake and gambling don't pair well together? Definitely not any of my immediate family members, that's for sure...

A Truly Classic Cake

At Noon:
At Nine:

The birthday boy has been working on a 1946 Chevy pickup and his wife and friends thought it would be funny to have half of the truck in pristine condition... and the other up on jacks and in a lovely shade of primer gray.

Last Minute Cake Challenge

This cake job came at a less than opportune time for me; Phia was feverish, Ori was attention deprived, and it was needed in 36 hours.

Phia was concerned about the concept as she did not understand why anyone would want a cake without hearts or flowers, Ori was just happy to pick at the fondant I was using, and in the end, I was satisfied with the finished product.

And yes, the cake recipient was a drummer by the name of Breeze. Also, please pardon my night shots.

Let them eat cake scraps

1. Make the cake 2. Play with trains 3. Whip up the butter cream
Friday we started a baking project. One thing I love about "working" at home is that the kids can play right along side me. And then comment on the substantial size of the cake being made, and suggest that there is enough for the cake recipient to share.
Our finished product for a local bar.

C is for Cookie

Aw, the ever popular baby cookie monster cake. I knew it was only a matter of time until I was asked to make one since everyone loves cakes decorated with other baked goods. This was made after a friend of my sister in law saw this cake.
And let us not forget cupcakes to match.
While I was doing my cookie monster research, I stumbled upon some funny cookie monster multimedia too good not to share. Got to love the internet.

week in review

during this past week i took some time to finish a couple projects that needed my attention. the first was a sewing project that was put on the back burner and the second was another last minute cake order. 

this quilt has taken me about six months to complete. with dresses and cakes and gardens, i had many things to procrastinate with. the pinwheels were made with phia's dresses that had small stains, and green and pink pieces from my scrap stash.
here is a peek at another cake that went out for a 4th birthday party that was inspired by this beautiful cake. 

cake on the fly

on thursday afternoon i was asked to make a 30th birthday cake. when was it needed? friday night...
i was a little apprehensive, since during the first consult i was told that it was for a guy turning 30 who was an architect and liked to work out at the gym. obviously, this is what i made...

...a woodland inspired plaque on top of a triple chocolate cake, completed in just over 24 hours.

had to take a baking break

we were hit with a week of rain, and while our garden seemed to enjoy it, the kids were maybe not so thrilled. we managed to get a couple cakes put together and take care of some miscellaneous graduation projects. phia and ori bonded from our indoor time together and we found ways to make plain things fancy.
i would have taken a picture of ori eating, but he was already done by the time i turned the camera on.

due to our inclement weather i was forced, once again, to take poorly lit pictures of a couple cakes i churned out for graduations.
the tooth made another graduation appearance and i constructed a stack of books. how do you improve on a classic like "to kill a mockingbird"? make it full of chocolate and edible, that's how.

question: how do dental hygienists celebrate their graduation?

answer: they eat cake, of course! particularly a cake shaped as a molar wearing a graduation cap, with diploma in hand.
this exceedingly happy little tooth is only made better with the "Congratulations" toothpaste.
true to form i took some mediocre pictures in poor lighting as the cake was going out the door, but i think you get an idea of how i spent my monday night/tuesday morning.

9 in '09

had we left to spend two weeks in a sub-tropic climate i don't think returning to this merciless 9 degree cold front would have gone over so well. for that, maybe it was better that we stayed, settled in, and got the opportunity to play in the snow not once, but twice. and i promise i will stop mentioning hawaii after this because i am glad that we stayed, we had a lot of fun at home. bundled up, of course.

there was that movie night which entailed lots of cuddling and lots of replays of pixar's "presto".
and then i had a burst of creativity coupled with a little determination to get those lingering christmas presents sent out. this one had a special destination, which will be mentioned later.

and finally, while i was scarfing down some chocolate cake i read the newest post over at nienie dialogues and decided to make the most of out 2009. hopefully tomorrow the temperature will be somewhere in the double digits and we can leave our security blankets. 

a not really vacation-vacation

for the past two weeks danny has been on his vacation. but, we had agreed to make his friends wedding cake, and we were unable to go away. being the wonderful husband that he is, he took the kids for me everyday so i could complete the cake on time.

so, here are some poor quality pictures of the cake. 

the hydrangeas, calla lilies, roses, sweet peas and peonies are made from gum paste. so glad that it made it there, and even more glad to have a kitchen table again.