Cheeseburger, cheeseburger!

I have been wanting to make this cake for a long time. So what better opportunity to make this than for my good buddy Toby's birthday. Toby, I might add, recently bought a meat grinder and has been on a mission to create the perfect burger. I have first dibs (or so I like to tell myself).

This isn't your typical fondant covered cake construction and took some planning but once I had an idea about how to attack this, it was pretty smooth sailing.

For those wondering, I started by making three 6 inch layers of chocolate cake. I tinted fondant for the cheese, lettuce and buns. I formed the lettuce and cheese a day ahead so they would stiffen some to keep their shape. Assembly included wrapping two layers of cake in brown fondant, adding a little frosting, adding the cheese and lettuce, adding a little more frosting and topping the whole thing with the other bun. Presto!

This was a fun project and I was hoping to get a picture of Toby eating it like a real cheeseburger but alas, he was kind and cut pieces for everyone.

*Cheeseburger cake: Chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream frosting, covered and decorated with marshmallow fondant.

Quaaaaaack!

HELLO!

My best friend asked me to make her mother a special cake for her birthday...that special cake being a duck! She and her mother have done so much for me in the past that I was ecstatic to take on the challenge! I've never made a cake with a part of it defying gravity. How fun!



Look at that football! I decided it would be best to work on the head and body separately. Knowing that fondant wouldn't give me a stiff duck neck nor is it great for molding, I decided to explore the world of molding chocolate. What did I find? It's insanely easy to make and even easier to work with!



Molding chocolate is just like clay only it gets more malleable with increased contact with head (i.e. my hands). This was so much fun to work with I was kicking myself for not trying it sooner!



See? I wouldn't be able to attach two pieces together so seamlessly with fondant. Argh!



I picked up some powdered food colors and mixed them with some vodka after taking a few swigs. Just kidding...or not. Ok, yeah I'm kidding. I made chocolate covered eggs with the rest of the cake and frosting but I forgot to take a picture.

Duck cake: Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and Swiss buttercream frosting, covered in white molding chocolate.

The Exodus: Toot, toot!

Ok, I know the Exodus is a serious subject and a significant piece of history but this cake was for my book club and my book club is fun. So there!

This was actually meant to be a fun cake. By that I mean I didn't care if it turned out perfect, I just wanted to play around and see what I could come up with.

The best part is there was not baking involved; I had scrap pieces of cake and leftover fondant. All I had to do was make some frosting and, well, put the thing together.

I stacked the leftovers and cut, cut away until I had something resembling a boat.



The ever-lovely frosting shot...



I used every last bit of frosting and my patience on this, it was such a crumbly mess of a thing.

Some fondant and a British soldier holding an immigrant gummy bear hostage...



More detail...



...and all aboard! Look at those happy gummies so excited for Israel!



...until the British came to port.



Oh well. It's a great book though, I highly recommend it!

And now for the grand finale!



No, the Exodus didn't sink but we had to eat the cake, didn't we?!!

Exodus cake: Vanilla buttermilk cake with lemon curd filling and Swiss buttercream frosting, covered in marshmallow fondant.

Flower cake for Terra

I believe one of the first conversations I had with my friend Terra is what her favorite cake is. She described something her mother used to make her: white cake with layers of banana cream and cherry pie filling. When her birthday was coming up, I set to work figuring out how to make such a cake (though I knew it would be no where near as good as her mom's) and how I wanted to decorate it. Then it hit me, my beautiful lady friend needed flowers, lots of pretty flowers!

After a week, this is the number of gum paste roses I could make in my spare time. It's surprising how long these suckers take but it's worth the work!

There! I had the topping, now I just needed the cake. Hmm...



And then we lit 'er up!



I love how the camera plays tricks and makes the cake look like it's on fire!



Love you Terra!

Flower cake: Vanilla buttermilk cake with banana custard and cherry pie filling, covered in Seven-Minute Frosting (thanks Martha!)

Flyers cake for McNesby

My good friend Terra asked me to make this for her boyfriend Keith, who is a huge Philadelphia Flyers fan!



I like the angle of that picture, don't ask me why.

Coincidentally, I'm a huge fan of Keith too because he gave me an excuse to make my favorite cake! Mmm, chocolate! Mmm, peanut butter!

Flyers cake: Chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream frosting, covered in fondant.

The cake that started it all...

(Blurry picture, I know, sorry.)
This was actually my third time time working with fondant but it was the first big push from my family to start documenting my cakes and network. It was for my nephew's 3rd birthday.



There he is! Isn't he adorable?!! I believe his first inclination upon seeing his cake was to poke poke it. He had to leave his mark, can you blame him?



Shh! His Bubi is a samurai :)

Mickey Mouse cake: Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, covered in marshmallow fondant.

GPS Cake: Do you know where you are?

My coworker, who works with GPS units, has been on sabbatical but came back for a short visit. One of his collaborators requested I come up with a cake to welcome him home. So what did I immediately think of?

There;s my lovely model on the left.



I believe when I placed this down in front of him, it was actually pointing south. Seating arrangements, heh. What are you gonna do?



I think I liked the buttons the most!

GPS cake: Mississippi mud cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, covered in marshmallow fondant.