It's a Cake Fest

Following an extremely hectic week of baking and decorating cupcakes, Libby Lane Cakes held our first booth at The Festival of Trees at GSU, a good way to get our feet wet at a smaller venue. We were both running on fumes by Saturday morning but were troopers.

We want to start out slowly and keep everything manageable for now. I am still not 100% sure how I will be able to juggle all of this with working full-time and the two grad classes in January either. Never a dull moment that's for sure!

Last week, I literally walked through my front door every evening (except the one night I had to work late) and engaged in fest preparations, using every medium from sugar and the Kitchenaid to paintbrush and canvas.

My friend and first co-worker in my old office Marie is finishing up a business logo for us. Since we're just starting out at this and are having to rely on funds from our own limited pockets, I made the two signs for us to display so that we'd have some some signage at the table. I used a large piece of foamboard for the one that set outside our table and a smaller paint canvas for the one that set on our tabletop. I used paint, scraps of scrapbooking paper and a few little embellishments for the smaller one. For the larger one, I dug out the Mr. Sketch markers and found some cute cupcake stickers at the store. (Mr. Sketch is the best quality, longest-lasting markers for posters and other projects -- plus smell good so no marker stench headache.)

I also stole a cute idea from this blog: http://www.howdoesshe.com/cupcake-liner-pom-poms. I made this same cupcake pom pom using cupcake liners that have a cupcake pattern all over the sleeves.

And I totally forgot to take any good photos of our signage or of the table put together with my actual camera, and all I have to rely on are a few camera phone shots that are not the best quality.

This is our little table top sign.
It's dark, because it's a phone pic.

At the table -- again, a phone pic.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Owl Cupcakes

Snowflake Cupcakes

Football Cupcakes

A Little Team Spirit + Christmas Spirit this Year

There is an upcoming holiday event in the 'Boro, The 3rd Annual Festival of Trees. November 15-20, 2010.

(I am still processing that it's already mid-November and that Thanksgiving is days away.)

I will be at The Festival of Trees Saturday, November 20th with some cake samples, but my Aunt Linda and I also decorated wreaths that we donated for the Christmas tree and wreath raffle. Raffle tickets are only $1 each. Each tree and wreath has its own raffle box so that you can choose which ones you wish to spread your chances.

My Aunt made three wreaths, and I made one. I called my theme "Braves Country" since it is Braves on a more rustic, grapevine wreath. This could be pulled off for any sports team. I bought 3 star-shaped ceramic ornaments for 49¢ at Hobby Lobby. I printed off 3 pictures that I liked and cut them to fit on the front side of the ornament. I used some Mod Pod that I had in my crafting box, coated it very heavily with a sponge over the pictures on the ornaments and let it air dry over night. I wrapped a shiny blue ribbon around the wreath. I decorated it with red and silver foliage (found at Hobby Lobby) with just a touch of greenery (as not to detract from the team colors). I hot-glued blue glass Christmas balls along with red and silver stars from a garland I cut up. The glass baseball ornaments I found were much too overpriced, so I took a plain white glass ball, and while looking at a baseball, drew the stitching on with a red sharpie. I made the huge red bow and added it as the final touch.

So if you are in the area, stop by and buy a $1 raffle ticket for my wreath. All of the proceeds go to a couple of local charities that provide Christmas for families in need.

Ceramic star ornaments - after I used the
Mod Pod to adhere the pictures to it.

The CE ladies snapped my pic when I delivered it.

My wreath (above) and one of my Aunt's
wreath (below) on display, ready for next week.

When autumn comes, it doesn't ask.

To have such a sweet tooth and to love sharing the cake wealth, my "slices of life" posts are pretty lean in comparison. Life just gets so busy.

"When autumn comes, it doesn't ask. It just walks in where it left you last," as John Mayer sings. (I know a few eyes just rolled on that one.) And Fall more or less did just that in Georgia this past weekend. The brisk air rolled into town and has settled into the Boro for a bit. I actually wore a light sweater today and was not roasting by 12:00. It is quite welcome (by me) after the 100+ degree temps all summer long.

Every November I think: I don't want this year to be as hectic as the previous holiday, yet it always ends up being an overload of activity and overall rush-rush-rush. No doubt that this year will be the same, but at least it means I will get a few days off from work while seeing "old" friends and family. And I am looking forward to trying out a pretty awesome 3-D Santa cake pan that Elizabeth gave me.

There are some good things coming up on the cake horizon that I will hopefully be able to update on soon...still working on specifics and logistics.

And I couldn't not provide this update since Libby and I successfully completed our first wedding cake: a 3 layer poundcake with buttercream icing, dyed a serene ocean-y shade of periwinkle. White chocolate sand dollars and shells flanked the cake. Real shells my mom and I collected around Amelia Island, Florida this summer were set around the bottom of the cake. The cake was served at a beachside wedding on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, October 30, 2010.

Congratulations to John and Sarah Barber!

Is it Fall yet???

A nice, productive weekend at home in the 'Boro. . .

Saturday evening Jennifer called me to come hang for a while and eat fresh seafood; one of the perks of being so close to the Georgia coast. Her boyfriend Rob and a few of his friends had been out on the sea all day fishing. They brought back fresh fish and crabs that they cleaned and cooked. So we sat down to Jennifer's kitchen table right at midnight and chowed on some whiting, hushpuppies and crab legs. It was quite wonderful! I was thrilled she called me with the invite.

Earlier Saturday I finished a cake and made my first wreath. I have had the same over-the-door wreath hook hanging BARE on my front door since last Christmas when I took down the holiday one at the end of December. I often think I need something festive hanging there when the seasons change or new holidays approach...then I look at the price tags on store bought wreaths and catalogs and push that thought aside. I was feeling Fall-ish (even though the temperatures outside are mid 90s). I recommend looking online for "how-to" tips as a guide.

I was quite pleased with the final product. It's such an easy and inexpensive project that can yields a pricier look. You can spend as little or as much as you want. Hobby Lobby here had all of their floral supplies 50% off this past week. All in all I spent $14 on the entire project!

I bought a basic 16" grapevine wreath (retails for $4 but was $2 with the 1/2 off -- so cheap!). I also took the time to rummage their clearance corner in the floral section. Most of these were too summer-y for autumn decorating, but I did find 2 flowers that I liked: one a deep red and one a deep orange for $1.70. In the fall floral section I splurged on a large red flower that caught my eye (1/2 of $7), along with a cluster of autumn leaves and 2 sections of stems filled with bronze ball clusters.

I did not use a glue gun, instead some thin gold wire that I already had on hand. This way when I get tired of the look, I can easily clip the wire, remove the current foliage and start from scratch by recycling the wreath base. The stems of the foliage all tucked into the many grapevine wreath branches securely, so I used minimal wiring. I determined how I wanted to arrange the 3 flowers and worked the other accents around these. As a final touch, I picked up a bolt of zebra print ribbon with gold-fringed edging (also 50% off) and wrapped it around the wreath. Finally I made a bow to hang the wreath from the door hook.

I carried over the leftover ribbon to a white ceramic dessert stand that my cousin Wendy gave me for my birthday last year and weaved it around the rim to display some cookie sandwiches I had made with some icing left from the cake.

Cupcakes & John Mayer

September 8, 2010: Merging a little cake love with a little John Mayer love. Mr. Mayer made a final stop in Atlanta for the last leg of his Summer '10 Battle Studies' Tour with opening act Owl City. I got crafty with the Mr. Sketch Scented Markers and made another concert poster for this round.

Wild about Dachshunds!

My cousin Wendy marked her birthday August 31st. She loves dachshunds and has one at home that she adores. This lead me to make a birthday cake for her featuring a little black dachshund in honor of her little black dachshund Prissy.

I baked three layers of a new cake recipe I recently found in a cookbook, cannoli cake. It was a little something different, yet tasty with a good flavor. The recipe called for cutting each layer in 1/2 horizontally and adding a ricotta cheese and Marsala wine filling. The cake was then stacked and iced in white butter cream icing -- as smoothly as possible. She is not a fan of fondant, so I wanted to use it as minimally as possible.

The third and top layer, I cut out to make a cushion. The "cushion" was iced in buttercream and covered with hot pink dyed fondant. A fondant tufted "button" was added to the center, and I used an ice pick to etch the faux stitching.

I dyed black fondant to create the dog and saved a little white fondant for her eyes and mouth and also to make the black and white leopard print snuggie to wrap around the doggie and coordinate with the animal print base of the cake. I rolled out the remainder of the black fondant and used a basic kitchen knife to cut out leopard-inspired stripes and applied these to the cake base. This was not too difficult to do...I simply took the knife and cut free form stripes with a little curve to get the animal print feel.

In creating my dachshund, I searched and searched online for cakes with dachshund themes, as I did not want to make just any dog. I only found one; a tan and white version that the artist had taken pretty clear close-up shots of and posted on a message board 6 years ago. This proved helpful for getting me started. Keep in mind: this is the first time I have attempted any sort of animal, and I don't really recall being particularly skilled at molding clay animals in art class in elementary school either! I thought it turned out well for a first attempt.

Another cake first was the bow. I have never attempted to create fondant bows (aside from the Relay for Life remembrance ribbons for the cupcake fundraiser and that was totally different). I dyed a deep purple fondant (I wanted to use a lime green but the store was out of that shade of green at the time) and rolled it out. I measured a couple strips to wrap around the base of the cushion. The bow took a number of attempts to create. I don't own any fondant books and have no training on it, so it is trial and error based on my sketches and examples I have researched online.

I do need to invest in a couple of good fondant applications books, if anyone has any suggestions.

( By the way, The "W" was purchased at my local Hobby Lobby and was the only non-edible cake deco piece on the cake.)

Wild about Dachshunds!

Kate & Emily also made off with a present also.
My Aunt Linda gave them each a couple hundred
silly bandz and kindergartner Emily and I had a counting
lesson. She did a pretty good job with her numbers too!

Summer Updates, finally

What a busy, action-packed summer it's been for me. It is so hard to believe that summer is now winding down and will slowly (hopefully...this heat has to dissipate soon) morph into fall. And fall also means lots of holidays and birthdays and events (Sarah's wedding!) to decorate more fab cakes.

Keep in mind, I am not a trained baker and have so much to learn. I pick up on new things every week from trial and error, other blogs, Libby (who set me straight on butter, for instance) and even tweeters. It's amazing how much the online community has educated me. I am into coming up with ideas and then trying to figure out how to make them into a reality. The science of baking sometimes alludes me, but I just keep practicing.

I think I'll use this next-to-the-last-day of August entry to showcase a few summer goodies decorated and eaten this summer of 2010. . . .

Monogram Birthday Cake
Poundcake with butter cream icing & fondant accents.
Decorative gold medallion topper.

Welcome to the 'A' List
Fall 2010 Bid Day Cake for AOII
Poundcake with butter cream icing & fondant accents.
Licorice rope for the trim.
(Photo by Kathryn Lanier)

Let's Go Cubs' Ball Cap
Poundcake with butter cream icing & fondant accents.
Note the faux stitching & trim work.

La Tour Eiffel -- Bastille Day Goodness
Poundcake with butter cream icing & fondant accents.
Fondant Eiffel Tower with chocolate icing trim.

A Turner Field Birthday
Atlanta Braves' "The Ted" Cake
A joint collaboration with Libby

Junk Food Lives On

My favorite lunchbox treat as a kid.
Chocolate Devils Food cake with cream centers.


Mermaid Emily
Actually a pre-summer 5th Birthday Cake but very summer-y, no matter the season.
Lots of buttercream waves & a pool of aquamarine gel icing.

Cupcakes for a Cure!

Cupcakes for a Cure...

In an effort to raise more funds for my Relay for Life Team, I made some relay-themed cupcakes to take to work and solicit donations today.

Thanks!

Turner Field, It is. (Eeeek!)

I have not been able to find a Turner Field cake online. So I am willing to attempt it...baby steps. I may only be able to create it in "abstract" terms -- unlike the Ace of Cakes episode where they did one of the Cali baseball stadiums -- down to the exact number of seats in it. For a first try, I am shooting for the outline of the field/stadium and a few landmarks, like the signs...maybe even the Welcome to the Bigs restaurant if I am feeling adventurous...well, we'll see. I am pretty open to let the creativity control the concept, since it typically works.

Eeeeee! I am excited to try! And it'll be a cool birthday cake for my dad since I was already thinking baseball and Braves.

Here is a sketch I am working on to make a pattern for the Braves outfield sign. Two glasses of Moscada (been saving this bottle forever) and the JM Trio in (Another Kind of Green is fitting with a baseball diamond, right???) -- so anyway it could probably be much cleaner...but I am enjoying myself right now -- not thinking about HW or papers or projects (just found out I got a 100 on my project a couple weeks ago that was stressing me out!).

I must also mention that the Braves had an awesome season opener tonight at Turner Field versus the Cubs...just saying. Go Braves!

Having my Cake and Eating it Too

Having my cake and eating it too...
...because what's the point of having a cake and not eating it.


My mom's a kindergarten teacher and has always taught on the elementary level. I grew up around construction paper, markers, paints, glues, sequins, etc. She has always had a knack for creating stuff out of odds and ends. And it's amazing what she's pulled off with a stapler and some fabric which explains why I used a few staples on some curtains recently...

I'm not quite sure where the cake-creating-interest came from now that I think about it. I have watched different cake-deco TV shows over the years and always find these fascinating. About a year and a half ago I felt compelled to buy some fondant and a Wilton fondant roller at Hobby Lobby and just sort of went with it. Since then I have made a few cakes here and there for birthdays and other occasions.

Baking is not necessarily a gift for me. It's taken quite a few years to finally master my grandmother's homemade buttermilk biscuit recipe which is a proud accomplishment since it's a skill shared by most of our female ancestors on my mom's side. (Baking cookies still alludes me.)

With cake baking, finding and doctoring a good cakemix has been my safety net. I can also turn out a pretty decent poundcake base for a cake, which is ideal for hardcore decorating because it is nice and heavy.

I took the Wilton Cake Decorating I class last fall which proved to be hardwork! My experience has been with fondant, so it was great to take the steps back and learn the basics of how to ice a really smooth cake, pipe borders and so on...and I still have much to learn in this area by all means. I have not been able to locate any fondant decorating classes around this area, so I am more or less teaching myself and relying a lot on the internet and booklets/magazines.

If I want to go anywhere with this craft, I know I need to practice a LOT more. I also will need to be in top form, because my friend Sarah has asked me to make her wedding cake for the end of October 2010 on Hilton Head Island. I am excited about this opportunity and that she is trusting me with one of the most important elements of a wedding. Fortunately, Libby is volunteering her services to the venture, since she has culinary classes on her side and is always willing to help me with my baking.

My goal this Spring and Summer is to kick it up a notch and practice, practice, practice. I'd like to challenge myself to 1 cake a week (or 2 weeks), depending on what all else is going on in my life. (And yes, I have seen the movie Julie & Julia and there is no way I am attempting to crank out a cake a day like Julie did with her daily Julia Child dinners! Gotta be realistic!)

The next cake on my agenda will be for my Dad's upcoming birthday, and I am thinking baseball. I will keep you posted.