I can transform you

You don't know how many times Chris Brown's song went through my head while making this cake...

Looking at it now I still get that song stuck in my head, sigh.

In my last post, I noted I took a break from baking and discovered break equals a lazy baker! When it came time to come up with a cake for my beloved nephew's 4th birthday, I was lost! After eating grandma's birthday cake, he had requested his cake be exactly the same, flowers and all. Yeah, that would go over as well as...well, you know. It should also be noted that we knew it had to have strawberry filling because anytime my sweet nephew is play-baking, he makes strawberry cake, strawberry pie, strawberry cookies...cookies? Now that I would like to taste! Why have I never seen/heard of a strawberry cookie before?!!

My sister said he had recently started watching old Transformers cartoons and requested his cake be modeled after that. The first idea was to make a 3D replica of Optimus Prime's head but after taking a look at the detail on his guard, I decided I would kill myself trying to make something with so much detail.

So after some discussion with my sister and searching the web a bit, we came up with this concept (thanks largely to someone else's awesome cake).



Half Autobot, half Decepicon with flames! It turned out way cooler than I though it would. It also took way longer than it should have. A little slow getting back into the swing of things, aye CiCi?

Anyway, after the 100th ball had been rolled for the border and the cake was finished, I sat down on my couch to relax and watch some TV. Guess what movie was on. Oh yeah, Transformers. It's one of those ironic moments that puts a smile on your face :D

Happy birthday big boy! Aunt CiCi loves you lots!

Josh's 4th Birthday Cake: Vanilla buttermilk cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting, covered in marshmallow fondant.

A week of baking

It took me a really long time to get these photos up but I have good reason. Three baking projects in a week is REALLY tiring. In fact, I took a break from baking for about a month after this. Then when it was time to get back into, I couldn't find the motivation! What's up with that?!! Two lessons learned here: three is not the magic number and baking is a lot like exercising; after a long break, it's hard to get back into.

Here we have a Chanel purse cake for Carmen, our beloved Office Assistant. She has a flare for the finer things in life so what better than to give her a purse cake for her retirement party. Oh Carmen, how we will miss your smiling face!

Next up was a graduation cake for some some Nutritional Science students. Oh the irony of gifting them with a sugary treat!



Plus a few cupcakes for good measure...



I think I need more cupcake practice, which is why I was a little nervous about the next order; 50 cupcakes for a baby shower. I got some inspiration from the baby's room but I still feel I could have gone further with it.



Next time, more frosting. I think people who love cupcakes love them for the typically ungodly amount of frosting on top. I have to note the first batch of chocolate spilled over the edges, which is common practice for me. Argh!

So I survived the week and looked forward to the break ahead of me...

Carmen Cake: Chocolate cake with Swiss buttercream, covered in marshmallow fondant.

UA Graduation Cake: Chocolate cake with Swiss buttercream, covered in marshmallow fondant.

Baby shower cupcakes: White and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and fondant and white modeling chocolate decorations.