My First Cake Class

Up until Saturday March 27, 2010 every single thing I knew about cakes was learned via Internet and books but I felt it was time I got more hands on training. Culinary school... hmmm, so not in my budget right now. Wilton classes.... No! I wanted something a bit more advanced than that. So I started stalking.. I mean browsing my favorite cake designers sites when *gasp* I saw that Cakegirls offers classes!!!! I called and left a message with all of my contact info. Georgia ,who handles runs the office promptly called me back to finalize all the details. I was so excited!! That morning I made it to the bakery early. I even had time to run to the Starbucks across the street :-) By the time I got back there was one of the other students already inside (darn, I wanted to be the first one there). While we waited for the other six ladies I took pictures of all the cake designs I had been gushing over.

                     Including this little beauty that I've always admired. I didn't even know they made it.

Finally all of the others arrived and out comes Brenda Maher who is seriously one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. After a quick tour of the bakery she the class starts. Everyone is given supplies such as an apron, spatula, 10" square cake, super sharp knife (I have the scar to prove it),templates,etc.

During the course of 3 hours we learned carving, stacking, filling , how to cover a cake in fondant, painting on a cake, and some other many other tips.

Mary (the other half of Cakegirls) did pop in to finish a cake she was working on but I didn't get a picture.

My Finished Cake!!!

I had such an amazing time at my class on that Saturday and was truly saddened by the events that took place on Monday March 29,2010. The apartment above the bakery caught fire and the building was completely destroyed but fortunately everyone escaped the building without injury. 

To help their employees bridge the gap they're selling t-shirts while they try to rebuild. If you'd like to help purchase one here.

What's New, Cupcake?

Hello everyone! I'm sure by now you've all heard about the release of  Karen Tack and Alan Richardson's new book What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion.

Those little ducks are so darn cute I wanted to buy the book just because of the cover. I must tell you it only gets better once you get past the cover. The April Fool's section is my favorite. It features everything from pound cake french fries and faux foot longs. The authors have  outdone themselves.

I can't wait to get started on some of these designs. Wait, what's that? You wanna join in on the fun? Ok,ok you don't have to twist my arm. I'm giving away a copy of the book!! All you have to do is leave a comment and you email address. The winner will be choose randomly on Friday April 9,2010 at 5:00pm CT. What are you waiting for?? Post those comments :-)

Sorry, US residents only.
Contest is now closed. Thank you for all those who entered!! The winner is ...... Red30!!! Congratulations

Little Black Dress Cookie

Last month I celebrated my 30th birthday with a small group of my closest friends and family. My party theme was little black dress. My invitations were these darling clutch purse made by Kee2Creativity and they featured lbd's on the insert so naturally I wanted to carry that theme through to the rest of the details including the favors.  

I was inspired by a design I saw in the book Cake Chic by Peggy Porschen and instantly fell in love. The book is filled with one gorgeous design after another. There were a couple obstacles in my way. First there was finding the cutter. Now I am all for making templates and hand cuttting cookies but this particular week I had so much on me that I just wanted to keep things as simple as possible. I posted a picture of Peggy's cookie design on flickr with hopes that someone could help me track down a cutter and sure enough the incredibly talented Glory of Glorious Treats came to my rescue. She suggested this great company called Ecrandal. High quality cutters and excellent customer service!! Thank you so much Eric and Jamie!

Ok, so I have this gorgeous new cookie cutter and I still have one more problem.  Peggy's cookie was absolutely stunning and had gorgeous piped royal icing details. Royal icing and I have a love/hate relationship. It just never seems to work out for me. For my version of the cookie I chose to go with rolled fondant instead. You simply use the cookie cutter to cut the fondant and place it on a warm cookie. I added a few details to the neckline and skirt and added a bow using real ribbon.

They turned out well and my guests were thrilled. My poor little birthday cake suffered major damage in transit and I didn't get any pictures before that incident. Dispite the cake fiasco a great time was still had by all.

I've been busy!!

I know I've been a bit of a slacker when it comes to posting but I've had a very good reason. Here are a few more of them :-)


This mini cupcake tower was created to match the birthday girl's party dress. There were 4 dozen cupcakes all were not pictured.
While making these purse cookies and purple cake I must have sang Purple Rain by Prince at least 50 times.

This cake was created for a guy who loves Rocawear clothing!! He's not alone because I love the brand as well.

Giant Cake Slice

On February 2nd I celebrate my 3oth birthday. Since I won't have a party until the 13th I decided to keep this cake simple and save the more ornate one for the party. I've always wanted to make a "slice" of cake and I finally got my chance. The cake is carrot with cream cheese frosting and all accents were fondant.

Pamper Me Pretty

This cake and matching mini cupcakes were created for a spa party.

Pink and Chocolate Baby Shower

Pink and chocolate brown has to be my favorite color combo for a baby shower. I wasn't very pleased with how the cake turned out but I was thrilled with the cookies.