Sugar Crazed

Old School

2010-08-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

This order was placed by a couple of the sweetest guys. They were throwing a surprise party for their parents 25th anniversary and wanted a replica of the original wedding cake. I usually try to steer customers towards a more modern design but it was such a thoughtful gesture that I couldn't resist making it. It was actually a fun cake to make, although I was a bit nervous about the height of those columns. How did bakers in the 80's survive setting that up without having a heart attack? But I'm told it held up for the party so I guess those flimsy columns are sturdier than they feel. The parents loved the party and the cake and I was glad to be a part of it. Oh, and the topper is from the original wedding cake 25 years ago. I had to clean it up a bit but I finally got to use my archeology degree.

Bakery space for rent

2010-07-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

Interested in starting your own confection business? My partner is moving away and we're looking for someone who'd like to take her place and rent space in our shop. It's $600 a month and includes utilities. You'd get to use it at your convenience and it's already equipped. So if you're in the Baton Rouge area let me know if you're interested and I'll show you around.

Washington D.C.

2010-05-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

I had a great time visiting D.C. and thought I would share a few pictures. I went to a lot of fun places like the White House and the the Bureau of engraving and Printing (where they make lots of money!) but some of my favorite places to visit were the cake shops. The first place we went to was Georgetown Cupcakes. It's such a cute shop and the chocolate peanut butter chip cupcakes are delicious! I'm going to try making those myself.

Check out that display of cupcakes!

They were also filming for a show on TLC when I went in that day. It's supposed to air in July so it will be cool to watch it and say I was right there!

The next place we tried was Hello Cupcake. They also had good cupcakes. I like my frosting better though. ;)

And finally, I got to see the Charm City Cakes building in person! Just the outside, I didn't want to bug them for a tour. I wonder how many people they get banging on the door? We only had a few minutes to spare since we had to catch our plane so we drove by so I could jump out and take a picture. It was so cool!

D.C was a fun place to visit and I hope we can go back sometime because there's so much to see and do there!

April Cake Tasting

2010-03-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the info for the next cake tasting. If you're curious about how the cakes taste or you just want a few free cupcakes then this is your chance! Hope to see you there!

Date: Tuesday April 6, 2010
Place: 4608 Jones Creek rd. suite 250 (White Oak Village shopping center)
Time: Open 2pm - 7pm

Please rsvp by phone or email to reserve your samples.

M & R Wedding

2010-03-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here are the cakes I did for the wedding last weekend. The wedding was held at Mount Hope Plantation. It was beautiful! And the people working there were so nice and helpful. The bride and groom were wonderful to work with too! I'm so flattered to be a part of such a special day.

New video

2010-03-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

I put together a video collection of some of the cakes I've done. Hope you enjoy it!

March Cake Tasting

2010-02-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came to the February cake tasting! Here's the info for the next cake tasting day:

Date: Tuesday March 9th
Place: 4608 Jones Creek rd. suite 250 (in the White Oak Village shopping center)
Time: Open 11 am-7pm

Please RSVP by phone or email to reserve your samples.

Ashley Manor Bridal Show

2010-02-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

I'll be participating in my first bridal show in a couple of weeks! I'm so excited! It'll be held at Ashley Manor off of Old Hammond hwy. I've been to a couple of parties there and really enjoyed it. The show is free for brides and $5 for other guests. There will be several vendors there as well as games and prizes. (I'm submitting a prize!) There's no pre-registration required so if you decide to come at the last minute then that's totally ok. Here's the information I have and if you need more, then just call Melanie at Ashley Manor. (225-272-0136) Hope to see you there!

Date: Wed. Feb. 24, 2010
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Place: 14214 Old Hammond Hwy.
Baton Rouge, LA 70816

Sample Day!

2010-01-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to start this up for a while but things have been crazy trying to get the shop ready. Once a month, I'll prepare a box of samples to give customers a chance to try my cakes. This will be in place of giving samples at consultations, which saves me from baking a whole cake for each consult. So if you haven't had a chance to taste my cake (or you have and just want free cake,- hey, I'd do it too) then here is the info:

Date: Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010
Place: 4608 Jones Creek rd. suite 250 (in the White Oak Village shopping center)
Time: open from 11 am to 7pm

I'll only prepare enough samples for those who sign up so please RSVP by email or phone.
Obviously, I can't have 100 people sign up so I'll have to set a limit of 18 but we're working on having a grand opening soon where lots of people will get free cake and cookies.

Updates pics of our shop

2009-12-18T15:53:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to post pictures! I finally remembered to bring my camera. I really should get one to keep there permanently. Anyway, here's our set up. It's more function that pretty but at least we can work out of it now. We'll work on making it pretty as we earn more money. :)

Exhausted but the shop is ready!

2009-12-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today our shop passed the final inspection from the health department which means we can open! Although I might wait a week or two to officially open since I am completely wiped out. :) This endeavor was a lot of stress and work. But I'm looking forward to working out of my shop and advertising. It took us a while to find a plumber and get the sinks installed but thankfully we were able to find a good plumber who took care of it quickly. I'm so excited to move in and start working. Have I already mentioned that? I have a lot of cake sketches I want to turn into cakes but have been too preoccupied with business stuff. But first I have to give my house a thorough cleaning since it's been neglected lately. Thanks so much everyone for your support and well wishes!

This is what's been keeping me busy

2009-09-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my friend and I decided we'd finally like to start our own businesses. She would keep her business and I would keep mine, but we'd split the rent on a commercial space and just share the shop. Since then we've been trying to get everything lined up, business plans, finances, buying up equipment as we found it at a good price, etc. We also fell in love with a space for rent that used to be a restaurant, which meant we wouldn't have to renovate it too much. We finally signed the lease a couple of weeks ago so I cleaned it up and took pictures to show off. It's so cute and kind of secluded which normally wouldn't be a good thing for a business but since we'll only be open by appointment only then it's perfect for us. And as an added bonus, we were able to find another girl to share the rent with who wants to open her own cookie business. Now the only thing in our way is all the permits and licenses we need. The first and easiest one that we have to get isn't proving so easy to get. In fact, it's stalled everything since we can't even turn the electricity on until we get it. I've been nicely harrassing them a couple of times a day so hopefully it will pay off soon. At least before I lose it and bust into their office with my big rolling pin. Oh, and here are pictures of my shop.

Doberge Cake

2009-09-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

I recently video taped myself making a chocolate doberge cake for my brother's birthday. A couple of friends were asking me how to do it so I figured I would share it with all of you. You start with 2 layers of yellow cake. Then it's filled with chocolate bavarian cream. Homemade is definitely the best. The cake supply stores sell some premade but it's pretty gross. Here's the recipe I used but next time I will use milk chocolate instead of semi sweet because I'm a milk chocolate kind of girl. This was found on grouprecipes.com

Chocolate Bavarian Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/4 oz. unflavored gelatin (one envelope)
5 oz. chocolate, chopped (semi sweet or milk)
1/4 cup water
5 TBS sugar
3 large egg yolks

Put the 1/4 c of water in small bowl & sprinkle the gelatin over it.
Put the egg yolks into a large bowl & whisk lightly to mix.
Add the sugar & whisk until smooth.
Put the milk into a saucepan & bring just to a boil.
Gradually whisk the hot milk into the yolks.
Then return the mixture into the saucepan.
Cook the custard over medium-low heat, scraping the bottom of the pan constantly with a wooden spoon.
Cook the custard sauce until it reaches 165 to 170°F on an instant read thermometer
Run your finger down the middle of the custard, & if the trail stays it's ready).
Melt the chocolate in a microwave.
Stir the softened gelatin into the custard, whisking until the gelatin is dissolved.
Whisk the custard into the chocolate.
Pour the mixture into a bowl & allow this to cool to about room temp.
Place in refrigerator for 20 mins, stirring every 5 mins.

Be careful when whisking the milk into the yolks. If you put too much hot liquid too quickly into the yolks, you will have scrambled eggs. Just pour in a small amount at first.

Ganache
by: Chef Taz

8 oz. cream
1 TBS butter (optional but makes it stay really shiny even after refrigerating)
1 oz. sugar
12 oz (340 g)chocolate

Footnote
White chocolate use nearly double the chocolate to cream
240 ml cream
455 g white chocolate

Break chocolate into 1/2 oz pieces and place in stainless steel bowl.
Heat cream, butter and sugar to boiling. Pour over chocolate and let stand 5 minutes. Stir from center out until smooth. After refrigerating 1 hour then fill your piping bag
Or use to ice your cake by pouring or spreading (allow to cool to room temp first)

So there are the recipes I used to make a Doberge cake. You can also make a lemon doberge cake by using lemon filling, white buttercream, and poured fondant icing with a little lemon extract added. Very good. And here's the video demonstrating how I made it.

Busy busy!

2009-08-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry I've been unable to answer questions lately. I'm trying to get things together to open a cake shop and it's a ton of work and research! I've barely had time to do any actual cake stuff. So it may be a while before I can answer your questions but you can try http://cakecentral.com/ to get some answers. Hopefully when things settle down I'll be able to put together an FAQ sheet for the most common questions. Thanks!

Tutorials

2009-07-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Topsy Turvy Cake Construction

Ednas Cakes

Aine2's How To's

Cake Boss

Chocolate Transfers

Natalia's How To's

3-D R2D2 Cake

Gumpaste Baby Booties

Drop Strings

Basketweave

How to Make Cake Truffles

Sharing and Caring-Cake Decorating and Sugar Art Tutorials

Wilton's Youtube Channel

Beautiful Gumpaste Flower Tutorials

Yea! $50!

2009-07-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

I entered a picture of one of my baby shower cakes in an online contest over at Cutest Baby Shower Ideas and won 1st place. And it comes with a prize of a $50 gift certificate! Hooray for online contests!

Kreative Blogger Award

2009-07-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Thank you Kanga for giving me the Kreative Blogger Award! Ok, let's see if I can get this right.

Here are the RULES of this Award:

(1) Thank the person who nominated you for this award. (check)
(2) Copy the logo and place it on your blog. (cannot figure this out yet)
(3) Link to the person who nominated you for this award. (check)
(4) Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. (check)
(5) Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers. (check)
(6) Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. (check)
(7) Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

7 bloggers I nominate are...

http://modestmaven.blogspot.com/
http://sugarteachers.blogspot.com/
http://minetterushing.typepad.com/my_weblog/
http://sugarbloomcupcakes.blogspot.com
http://charmainepastry.blogspot.com/
http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
http://mooshinindy.com/

7 things about me...

1. I am a sci-fi geek. I love science fiction tv shows!
2. I have a cake obsession but can't make a decent looking cupcake. I always take them out too soon and they sink in the middle.
3. My husband is the best guy in the world. :)
4. I love Bollywood movies.
5. I have two cats who think the world revolves around them.
6. I'm a coupon clipper.
7. I'm getting ready to open my own cake shop!

Cake Cookie Sandwiches

2009-06-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

I made this recipe out of desperation one day. I wanted something sweet and chocolate but I was out of everything I could possibly use to make anything decent. No chocolate chips, no cocoa powder, no milk, I think I may even have been out of sugar. What I did have was some frozen buttercream and one chocolate cake mix. I definitely didn't want cake but I remembered hearing someone mention being able to make cookies from a cake mix. So I looked it up on the internet and found this recipe that called for very few ingredients. Perfect! They came out similar to the Doozies from the Great American Cookie Co.

Cake Mix Cookies
By Jan White

1 pkg. cake mix (any flavor but I've only made chocolate)
1 large egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water

Mix well. Just like cookie dough, drop on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes. When they've cooled down spoon buttercream on one and sandwich together. Feel free to add chocolate chips, nuts, oatmeal, whatever you want in your cookies.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

2009-05-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

As if we needed an easier way to add volume to our hips, someone discovered how to make a cake in the microwave within a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, it's really quick and easy so I find myself making it when normally, I would bypass sweets because I don't feel like going to the trouble of baking. The recipe I found that tastes the best was posted on an online forum by a woman named Jeanie, so that's as much as I can credit her. I make mine in a bowl because my mugs are kind of small (and it's easier to *cough*double the recipe.)

Chocolate Mug Cake

2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cocoa powder (I mound them for a little more chocolate flavor)
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon oil

"Mix together all your ingredients and stir well. Put the cup in the microwave and cook it on full power for 60 seconds. Depending on the power of your microwave, and your altitude (go figure) you may have to cook the cake longer. Only cook in additional 15 second intervals, because an overcooked cake is no good, and it's even worse because you're microwaving it. Trust me, you think an overcooked cake out of the oven is dry and yucky, try having a solid wedge of dry microwave cake sometime. No fun. Once your cake is finished, it should be nice and fluffy."

Chocolate Mousse

2009-05-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

For her birthday, my friend requested a chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse. I had never made chocolate mousse before so I was excited to try it out. I watched a couple of videos on youtube and found a recipe with good reviews and actually got it right on the first time. So it's pretty easy. It's basically a fluffy chocolate pudding. Here's the recipe I used. It has egg yolks in it so I recommend buying fresh eggs even if you already have eggs from last week in the fridge.

Heavenly Chocolate Mousse
By Christy Freeman

8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup water, divided
2 TBS butter
3 egg yolks
2 TBS sugar
1 1/4 cup whipping cream, whipped

In a microwave or double broiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water, and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. Cool for 10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees F, about 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate mixture.
Set saucepan in ice and stir until cool, about 5-10 minutes.
Fold in whipped cream.
Spoon into dessert dishes and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

I like this recipe because the egg yolks are heated to kill off bacteria. Which was probably negated when I added the whipped egg whites. I didn't want to waste perfectly good egg whites so I whipped them to the soft peak stage and added a TBS of sugar even though the recipe didn't call for them. I folded them in like the whipped cream and it gave the mousse a little more volume. If you want your mousse a little denser then don't bother with the egg whites. To whip the cream, it helps if the bowl is chilled so just stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. I also didn't bother to cool the mixture in an ice bath since that sounded like too much work. I just let it cool on its own while I whipped the cream and egg whites.

Here's the link to the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Heavenly-Chocolate-Mousse/Detail.aspx

And here's a video demonstrating how to make mousse in general:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqDa7sdEcGs

Stop prescription drug abuse

2009-04-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and kindness when Jared died. We are very fortunate to have such good friends and family. I made a video in memory of my brother mainly to spread awareness of the growing problem of prescription drug abuse. We live in a time where we can get effective medicine for many ailments and I used to think that was a good thing. However, their regulation is very lax and they've become easy for people to get and misuse or abuse. Many teens are self medicating or abusing prescription drugs because they think they are safer or they can find them in their parents medicine cabinets. I encourage parents to learn as much as they can about the dangers of prescription drug abuse and to teach their children. Keep your prescriptions locked away and hidden. When you don't need them anymore, mix them with something gross like cat litter or coffee grounds, seal them in a non see through bag or container, and throw them in the garbage. Please don't flush them down the toilet or sink since they can harm the environment. I've included information and links to reputable drug prevention sites on the video page. Please take a few minutes to learn what you can about prescription drug abuse. It's become a major problem and is claiming so many victims.

My little brother

2009-03-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

My youngest brother, Jared, died Sunday afternoon on March 22. He was 22 and the baby of the family. He became addicted to prescription medicines and used them until his body couldn't take it anymore. He died from an accidental overdose. We were horrified to hear him say once that oxycontin was better than heroin. We tried so hard to help him but he refused to acknowledge he had a drug problem. He kept insisting he quit or he was in control. We thought we had more time to help him. I miss him so much.

Romantic Cakes Contest

2009-02-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

Yay! I entered my topsy turvy valentine's cake in the Cakecentral online cake contest and I won second place. Yippee! Although I'm surprised it placed at all. There were some cakes that put my cake to shame, they were so well done. Oh well, unless they say they made a mistake in counting the votes, then I think it's awesome I came in second!

How to Make a Topsy Turvy cake

2009-02-16T08:38:00.001-08:00

When I made my short video for my Valentine's day cake a lot of people requested directions to make it. So I re-edited the video to make it longer and included directions. Hopefully it's clear enough but let me know if you have any questions.

I made this cake from 6", 8", and 10" tiers each 3 layers high. I iced them with buttercream and then covered with fondant. I recently discovered the "secret combination" for covering cakes with fondant. I'm probably the last person in the world to figure it out but I found that if I chilled the cakes in the fridge for a couple of hours, spritzed them with water, then covered with fondant, and then chilled them in the fridge again, then my cakes wouldn't inflate like a balloon. If I covered a chilled cake with fondant and left it on the counter to decorate then it got all sorts of horrible air bubbles and ruined my smooth fondant. So it turns out the cake and fondant have to get to the same temperature so they don't fight each other. The cake doesn't have to stay cold either. I take it out of the fridge a a couple of hours before the party and it gets to room temperature by the time it's cut and it still looks great. It glistens a little from the condensation but I think it's a fair trade off. Chilled cakes are so much easier to cover.

Update: *sigh* My own mother "accidentally" rated my video 3 stars. Since I just uploaded the video today and only a few people have viewed it then I'm deleting it and uploading it again. Mom! Do you have any idea how long it takes to upload a video to youtube?! Eh, don't worry about it. :)

Valentine's Cake

2009-02-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

I found out about a cake decorating contest that Ace of Cakes and the Food Network were holding on Youtube and just couldn't pass that up. So I started trying to think of designs for my entry. A few months ago my nephew drew a cake for me and I loved it so much I put it on my fridge. When he came over for Christmas I showed him I had his picture displayed. He asked "so did you make it yet"? Ha! I had no idea it was an order! So I decided to base my contest design on his drawing. Hopefully he'll be happy with it. :)

This was also the first time I made a video. It had to be under three minutes for the contest so everything is cut a little short but I'll try to make a longer video this weekend to demonstrate how to make a topsy turvy style cake.

This cake was made from a 6", 8", 10" cake and covered with fondant. The topper is made from rice krispie treats and gumpaste, and it says "Chris and Janell", of course. ;)

Here's the video if you're interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7xY3MYGHBM&feature=channel_page

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-01-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

I decided to try out a new cookie recipe so I went to Allrecipes.com. I love that site because everyone rates recipes and sometimes recommends variations. Everyone gave this recipe high reviews so I decided to try it out and they really were as good as everyone said they were. I halved the recipe because even though I may want to eat 6 doz. cookies, I really shouldn't. :) Here's the link if you want to try them yourself:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Award-Winning-Soft-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
by Debbi Borsick

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/3 cups and 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

* The only thing I did differently was to use margarine instead of butter and add butterscotch chips. Yum. Just thinking about them makes me want to bake some.

Lemon Cake Recipe

2009-01-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry for abandoning my blog for a while! Here's a delicious lemon cake recipe to make up for it. This was recommended by a friend and comes from the Food Network. It also has a filling and icing recipe but I didn't try that part. It has a light, real lemon flavor, unlike the artificial taste that comes from the box mixes and it has lemon zest. Lemon zest is wonderful! It can be frozen for later use too.

Lemon Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large whole eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions
1. To make the lemon cake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour your pans. (I prefer to use Baker's Joy)

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together the dry ingredients with a whisk. Set aside.

3. In an electric stand mixer, using the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds, or until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, increase the speed to medium-high, and continue to beat until the mixture is light, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add the whole eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the lemon juice (the batter will appear curdled at this point smooth out after you add the dry ingredients). Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 10 seconds. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.

5. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 20 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the racks and cool completely.

*I'm a little more generous with the lemon zest and juice. I filled this cake with lemon filling and cream cheese frosting, a fantastic combination. To get the lemon zest, use a vegetable peeler and lightly peel off the yellow part of the of the lemon. You don't want the white stuff under it. Then chop it up and you have lemon zest.

Here's the link to the original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/lemon-layer-cake-recipe/index.html

Santa Cake

2008-12-03T10:42:00.001-08:00

Last month, I had the chance to take a cake class with Bronwen Weber. She's a famous decorator who's frequently on the Food Network cake challenges and she's a great teacher. She taught us how to make a standing up Santa Claus out of cake and pvc pipes. It was a lot of fun and I ended up with something resembling Santa Claus. He looks a bit saggy now but that's probably because he's been sitting on my table for the last month. Now that I finally got around to attaching his hands and taking a picture I'll be able to break him down and throw out the cake. I think I'll have to wear a saftey mask to do that though. Yuck. If you ever get a chance to take a class with Bronwen I highly recommend it. It's completly worth it.

Halloween Cake Contest

2008-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Lat month I entered a cake contest on a cake decorating website and they posted the results today. There were a few hundred cakes entered and mine won 3rd place. Yea! This cake was based on a cute greeting card I found last year. It took about five days to make and I applied all the shingles and siding planks individually. That part alone took two days and my shoulders hurt like crazy afterwards! But it was a fun cake to make and it's still sitting in my refrigerator. I don't have the heart to throw it away yet so now it's serving as a science experiment to determine at which point it starts to mold. Going on five weeks now!

Denny the Artist

2008-11-04T07:03:00.000-08:00

I was visiting my sister recently and when I glanced down at the counter I noticed an envelope addressed to "Aunt Janell". I asked her what it was and she said "Oh, Denny made that for you a few weeks ago and I forgot to mail it to you." I was so excited, I opened it to find he had drawn me this. It totally made my day. Since I can't interpret art very well I asked him to explain it to me. This is a wedding picture! There's a large heart cake on a table with the bride and groom topper and the bridal couple and church in the background. How awesome is that?! What a thoughtful artist! And he's only five! Move over Van Gogh.

Published Again!

2008-11-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

This time in Mailbox News, which is another cake decorating magazine.
Yea! And they included the part about my dad taking the picture so now we both got our name in print. The cake that made it this time is my Christmas tree cake. I got the idea from a cute little figurine in an Illinois souvenir shop last year. I had my husband take a picture of it since I was too cheap to buy it. Some of my favorite cakes come from ideas I get from figurines, greeting cards, and invitations. And people think I'm just creative. ;)

The Best Customers

2008-10-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

I really have the best and nicest customers. They almost always call, email, or write to tell me how much they liked the cake and thank me for it. I'm always taken aback at, one, how they liked my cake so much and, two, that they took the time to let me know. Thanks so much! You all are too nice to me and I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you all! Thanks!

Cameras

2008-08-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

I've gotten in the habit lately of forgetting my camera when delivering a cake, which is pretty much the most important tool for cake decorating. If I spend two days working on a cake and don't get a picture of it then it's enough to drive me mad. This last cake was one I was pretty proud of. I was running late to deliver and set it up and was halfway there when I realized I'd forgotten my camera. It was too late to go back and get it but I had to get a picture so I started thinking of anyone that lived in the area. I happened to pass near my friends house so I stopped and begged them to let me use their camera for half an hour. They thought I was crazy but understood and let me borrow their very expensive camera. The cake got set up great and I got a picture of it after all. Woohoo! Madness averted. I guess I could have begged the customer to get a picture of it but the last time I did that they ate the cake first and forgot the picture. :( Maybe I'll start keeping the camera in my cake tool box because I may not get so lucky next time.

Fame and Glory

2008-07-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so not quite. But I did finally reach one of my goals as a cake decorator. Over a year ago, I sent a picture of one of my cakes to American Cake Decorating magazine and they actually put it in their issue this month. Woohoo! I'm famous! So that's a bit of an exagerration but it's still pretty cool. Now I need to decorate a really fantastic cake so maybe I'll get in their magazine again next year. Yes, fame is addictive. ;)

Conformity

2008-07-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally gave in to peer pressure and decided to start a blog. I thought it might be fun to have a place to talk about sugar art and sweets. So, if you've ever wondered what goes on in the glamorous world of cake decorating then prepare to be dazzled. Just kidding! No glamour here but I'll try keep it as unboring as possible.