This is my latest cake, and I must say, one of my favorites.  Although not technically Thomas, this cake is of two of Thomas’ friends, Percy (Green) and Gorden (blue.)  The cake is the round house where the trains “sleep” and was made from one 14″ round cake, cut in half and then trimmed to create a semi-circle building.  The two trains are sculpted from gum paste and fondant, along with the doors, stones, and train tracks.  I had a lot of fun making this cake and continue to challenge myself in the sculpting department.  When I dropped off the cake, the birthday boy’s father asked how I had learned to sculpt (classes etc.)  My honest answer is that I think I taught myself, both from observing and then simply good old trial and error.  I am certainly finding that each sculpting project seems to get easier and easier.  I have to credit my good friend, Diane, (Dee’s One Smart Cookie Bakery) with the observation portion of my scuplting education.  Diane and I worked together in a small custom cake shop.  I was in charge of building and icing the cakes, while Diane created all the sugar art work to adorn the cakes.  So every day, as I was icing, I would watch her miraculously create golf bags, baby carriages, and an evening gown-clad humpy dumpty out of seemingly nothing. So who knows exactly where I picked it up, but I am hooked now.

I must admit, however, that the best part of the cake was the delivery.  As I placed the cake on the table, the birthday boy who is turning five, ran in and exclaimed “It’s Percy & Gordon!”  That was all I needed – it made my day.  You always expect the adults to appreciate cakes of this nature, but to have the child get as excited is really neat.

I am still a big believer that cakes are made to be EATEN!  They should look great, but they should taste even better.  This particular cake is Caramel Apple:  Cinnamon Spice Cake, layered with Sauteed Apples, and finished with Caramel Buttercream.

	I started with a rectangle cut from rice krispys for a solid (yet light weight) base.  I then covered the base with black fondant, and then topped it with gray fondant.  I sculpted the face pretty early on – mainly because I was scared and wanted to get it over with!
	Next, I added a tube of blue gum paste for the body of the train, attached the face and wraped a small section in black fondant, creating the “head” of the train.
	The train really starts to come together with the final details.  A red runner in placed around the base of the train, two smoke stacks are added, and the wheels go on.  A couple more details in the front of the train and he is complete.

As the summer winds down, I thought I would sneak one more berry dessert into the mix.  Although peak raspberry season is over, you can still find acceptable berries at your grocery store.  This tart is the epitome of simple: a graham cracker crust, a sweet and creamy filling, topped with fresh berries.  I can’t imagine anyone not liking this combination.  The dessert highlights the berries by creating a subtle contrast in flavor and texture in both the crust and filling, but does not over power the delicate raspberries themselves.  The tang of the berries are complimented nicely by the tang of the sour cream filling.  Similar to a no-bake cheesecake recipe, the filling is a simple combination of cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar.   By including the sour cream, it not only adds an extra layer of flavor, but also softens the filling and keeps the dessert on the lighter side. (more…)

Here is the latest cake from work.  I was given the invitation below and asked to create a cake to match.  I fell in love with the mermaids (and their little shell bras) and therefore had a blast making the cake.  I think children’s cakes are my favorites; they are always creative and colorful. The decorations were drawn on with colored frosting.

An evening in wine.

It all started about a year ago at our wedding…

As a token for their involvement in our wedding, Scott and I presented two of our groomsmen, Reed & John, with bottles of Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon. I believe John was the first to suggest that he and Reed hold on to their bottles and we all drink them together at a nice dinner.  Flash forward 10 months and four failed scheduling attempts and finally we all managed to congregate at our apartment for our “Stag’s Leap Wine Dinner.” However, in the time that it took us to plan this event, we found that we had another reason to come together and celebrate; our dearest friend Reed proposed to his girlfriend Kristina. Now we really had a reason to open those bottles of wine. (more…)

Here are the fruits of today’s labor.  We had an order for 200, yes 200, soccer ball cupcakes.  All were hand decorated and piped with chocolate fudge.  It officially took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to create all the cupcakes and then about an additional hour to recover.  (Hunching over a workbench for hours at a time tends to do a number on your back and neck.)  But here they are nonetheless.  The picture below only shows half of the order.

The cupcakes were ordered for a Bar Mitzvah with, you guessed it, a soccer theme.  Like so many these days, the customer opted to forgo a traditional cake and serve individual cupcakes instead.  While I admit that 200 was a little daunting, I feel as though I conquered something.  A cupcake marathon, if you will?  (Side note – have you ever attempted to draw a soccer ball?  Turns out when you investigate, the pattern is made of up both black pentagons and white hexagons.  Now, try to imagine piping those shapes, with straight lines and crisp angles with chocolate fudge in the middle of the summer!  I promise, it was not the easiest of tasks.)  I hemmed and hawed over their likeness to real soccer balls, but in the end, if you squint, I think they are good enough.  Everyone who came into the bakery kitchen today who could identify the cupcakes as soccer balls got a hug (it was that kind of day).