Semi Truck Cake

So, my father in-law called me the other day with a request. The company that he works for just received an award so he wanted to throw a party for his employees. Ok, I can handle that. Then, I realize his request isn't for just any cake, "can you make me a semi truck?" Ughhhhhh....lol I have to say - I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!!

Original

This is what the original cake looked like before the mishap! I have to say I was very pleased with how both of them turned out!

Faux Wedding Cake

Soooooo the worst thing possible just happened to me this weekend!! I was getting ready to deliver a wedding cake and one of the tiers shifted and when I went to fix it, the cake pretty much fell apart! I was absolutely PANICKED, as you can imagine, because I had no clue how I was going to redo a cake in 3 hours that originality took me about 3 DAYS to create! So, I called Dessert Deli to see if they had a tier I could buy from them in the flavor I needed and then I would just redecorate that. They suggested I do a faux cake, decorate it as the bride wanted it, and then I could buy sheet cakes from them in the flavors I needed for them to cut up at the wedding. Not only did they offer to help buy providing me with the styrofoam for the faux cake, but they handed me an apron and actually let me sit back there in the bakery, use all of their stuff, and decorate my cake right there so that I didn't lose any time! AMAZING!! What bakery do you know that would offer something like that!! Couldn't be more appreciative of Dessert Deli, the owner, or their staff! BIG SHOUT OUT TO YOU!!  Here is my finished product.

Bridal Shower Cookies

I loved every second I spent making these for one of my best friend's bridal shower! They took forrreeeevvvveeerrr, but I loved how much detail I was able to put into each one! It was just like decorating a cake!

Bachelorette Party Cake

I was nervous for this cake that my cousin requested for a wedding she was in because she needed it 5 days after my cast was supposed to come off! Fortunately, my cast WAS able to come off on the day it was scheduled for!

I'm Back!!

Well, it's definitely been a while since I've updated my blog due to the broken hand, but I thought it was time I share what I've done since the cast has come off! The end of August has been busy with wedding cakes! Here is the one I did for a wedding this past weekend for an old high school friend of mine. I was so happy to have been able to be a part of her day! 

Stayed tuned for the one I'm currently working on now.

Memorial Day Cupcakes

Yes, I know this was forever ago, but I forgot to post them!

The final "One Handed Cake"

I had to give my sister a little cake making tutorial for these as I could NOT roll out the fondant myself!

Another One Handed Cake

This cake was made before I knew my hand was broken so there was a lot of Ibuprofen involved in the making of this cake! lol (I went for Xrays the next morning!)

So, I haven't been on here in quite some time & that is because I recently broke my hand. As, I'm sure you can imagine, it has made cake making a bit difficult. However, before I could take a brake, I had some graduation cakes already booked so I figured I'd share them with you! Introducing, the first of my three "one handed cakes!"

If you're wondering what this is, the graduate wanted her top tier dedicated to the movie "Mean Girls", the middle tier is the "Jonas Brothers", and the bottom tier is...well it's a cow pattern because she likes cow patterns! lol

If I haven't mentioned it before, I am a high school teacher. While most teacher's bring in goodies like candy or new pencils, for holiday's and special occasions, I made the early mistake of introducing my students to cake pops! lol Now they almost expect it, but it's ok because I <3 them! Here's what I made my kiddos for their last day of school. Bet you can't guess our school colors!!

This was a very abstract, "Alice in Wonderland" themed Cake for a 16th Birthday Party. The cake is Chocolate with Chocolate Cream Filling. It is covered in fondant, and decorated with little candy pearls. (Which are delish, by the way!)

This year, we hosted our first annual Diamond Cupcake Sale at our school. Every year we have a "Post Prom Event" for our students to offer them a safe alternative to going out after prom. The kids LOVE it an it is EXTREMELY elaborate!! We have like a Casino area ( using monopoly money of course), Bouncy Houses, a Hypnotist, etc. The kids also have an opportunity to win things like ipads, TVs, and stuff like that; the best part is, it's absolutely free for them to attend! That being so, it is up to us to raise a TON of money to pay for the event! This is one of the ways in which we did it this year! Someone donated a $500 diamond for us to auction off. So, what we did was we (my friend Julie) baked 100 cupcakes, and I decorated them. Each cupcake was blinged out with a diamond and they sold for $10 a cupcake. Why would anyone ever pay $10 for a single cupcake you ask??? Because one of the cupcakes held the REAL diamond! The cupcakes sold in less than three hours and raised $1,000 for our Post Prom Event! A big thank you must go out to the Grand Island Community and all those who participated! Maybe we should make 200 cupcakes for next year??

 Here are some photos of the 7 dozen cupcakes I made for a college graduation party last week! The ones with the Orange Frosting are Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting....Yummy!!

(As a Buffalo State Graduate, I couldn't help but reminisce when I finished these cupcakes! lol Although, my client was not graduating from Buff State)

 The Mini Cupcakes are Chocolate cake with a mixture of Cream Cheese Frosting (Orange) and Vanilla Frosting (Pink)

And these ones here are Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Frosting. My clients were great to work with and so so nice!!

So, I randomly decided to check out Carlos Bake Shop Website (You know, Buddy, from cake boss!) and was pleasantly surprised which how much there is to explore there!! You can read all about the history of the bakery, sign up to cake decorating classes (boy do I wish I lived closer to NYC!), and my personal favorite...Buddy offers his recommendations for cake pairings! Here's what he suggests!




Buddy’s Recommendations for Wedding and Specialty-Cakes

Red Velvet cake with Vanilla or Cream Cheese Icing
Black and White Cake with Hazelnut Cream
Black and White cake with Chocolate Fudge
Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Fresh Raspberries
Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Mousse, a thin layer of Chocolate Ganache, and Fresh Raspberries or Fresh Strawberries
Vanilla Cake with Lemon French Cream and Fresh Raspberries
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

tHe OnE tHiNg EVERY bAkEr ShOuLd Have!

In case you haven't met yet, I am PLEASED to introduce you to the KitchenAid 5-Quart Stand Mixer. Can we PLEASE just talk about this for a minute?!  I received one for my bridal shower last year, not understanding exactly what all the hype was about, and I honestly don't know how I ever got along with out one! Anyone who does any kind of baking could really benefit from this, especially those of you who bake large desserts. I used to find myself going through hand mixers on a weekly basis, trying to whip up a batch of my favorite butter cream frosting - either that, or my arm would cramp up from all that stirring. Not any more though! With this, whipping together ingredients takes seconds, literally! I find myself using it for EVERYTHING - frosting, cake batter, pancakes, dips, eggs, pretty much anything that needs mixing! There are an assortment of attachments that you can buy to go with it as well - my hUsBaNd even wants to try out the meat grinder attachment - and that says a lot! I unfortunately do not have this color (Raspberry Ice); however, it is DEF going on the wish list!

Measurement Conversions

TheBakingPan

  I found this great website that has about every baking measurement conversion chart you could ever need! Here are some of the basics for you!

Teaspoon and Tablespoon Measures:
Standard Measure	Equals	Equivalent Measure
1 teaspoon	=	1/3 tablespoon
1½ teaspoons	=	½ tablespoon
3 teaspoons	=	1 tablespoon; ½ fluid ounce
1 tablespoon	=	3 teaspoons; ½ fluid ounce
2 tablespoons	=	1/8 cup; 1 fluid ounce
3 tablespoons	=	1 jigger; 1½ fluid ounces
4 tablespoons	=	¼ cup; 2 fluid ounces
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon	=	1/3 cup
8 tablespoons	=	½ cup; 4 fluid ounces
10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons	=	2/3 cup
12 tablespoons	=	¾ cup; 6 fluid ounces
16 tablespoons	=	1 cup; ½ pint; 8 fluid ounces

Cup Measures:
Standard Measure	Equals	Equivalent Measure
1/8 cup	=	2 tablespoons; 1 fluid ounce
¼ cup	=	4 tablespoons; 2 fluid ounces
1/3 cup	=	5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
3/8 cup	=	¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons
½ cup	=	8 tablespoons; 4 fluid ounces
2/3 cup	=	10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons
5/8 cup	=	½ cup plus 2 tablespoons
¾ cup	=	12 tablespoons; 6 fluid ounces
7/8 cup	=	¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons
1 cup	=	16 tablespoons; ½ pint; 8 fluid ounces
2 cups	=	1 pint; ½ quart; 16 fluid ounces; 1 pound
4 cups	=	2 pints; 1 quart;  32 fluid ounces
8 cups	=	4 pints; 2 quarts; ½ gallon; 64 fluid ounces
16 cups	=	8 pints; 4 quarts; 1 gallon; 128 fluid ounces

I Love Love Love Summer!

Brainstorming some ideas for Memorial Day/ 4th of July Cakes! How cute are these?!