Heroes among us...

I'm going to get a little personal for a moment. Now, I'm not one to get super sappy or emotional, but this cake has a very special meaning for me. Without going into too much detail, the night I was finishing up this awesome little number, I got a call about a life-threatening emergency for one of my closest friends. She is fine now, but it was a very scary moment in my life. I'm quite sure everyone would have understood if I offered up a half-finished cake, or bailed altogether, but I decided to finish it. The piping is a little shaky and I probably would have added more details if I had it in me, but I can honestly say I love this cake just the way it is.
So, even though this cake was for an awesome little superboy, in my heart this cake was for one of my real-life heroes and one of the strongest women I know.

Ok, sappy moment over. The cake had layers of chocolate, vanilla and lemon with a buttercream frosting. And the superhero emblems and spiderwebs were made with royal icing and an unsteady hand. :)

Flowers, Rocks, Dirt and Stuff

This was my first cake of the year and what a way to kick off 2012! The birthday girl asked for a 'cake with flowers, rocks, dirt and stuff' so there you have it. This lovely little cake combined many of my favorites things...candy, cookies and meringue mushrooms! Oh how I love making these little mushrooms!

I realized I blew it big time though. As they were lighting the candles, both my husband and I looked at each other and thought, why oh why did I not make a rock fire pit to put the candles in? Ugh. Next time. So someone, please ask for a 'flower, rocks, dirt and stuff' cake.

I promise, I still bake.

I'm just super lame and don't blog apparently (or maybe that makes me super awesome?). Either way, here's a quick synopsis of what the cyber world missed out on in 2011.

This (not so) little beauty is a fond memory. So simple, so delicious. Vanilla cake with buttercream, strawberries and royal icing flowers.

 

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had roast beef and this little piggy had none. And this little piggy went WEE WEE WEE all the way to my tummy! I don't remember what the cake was, but I do remember that the petting zoo company that had come for this party were jaw-dropped over this cake. Buttercream icing, marshmallow feet, snout and ears, Laffy Taffy tail and chocolate frosting with oreo crumbs for the mud. 

Ok, so I usually frown on the use of non edible materials in my baked good, but I remember the  birthday cake that I got a new Barbie out of as a child, so I knew my daughters would feel the same. These cakes were for a Monster Ball(et) themed birthday for my 3 and 5 year old daughters. We had to combine Lady Gaga and ballet, sooooo....yea. And yes, those are marshmallow pasties you see on the left. 

Not the fanciest cake, but it did the trick! My son was born in 2010, five minutes after the Bears kicked a field goal to beat the Packers and yes, we had the game on in the delivery room. It was amazing. So for his first birthday, we hosted the rematch at our house. The Bears didn't fair out well this time, but my son did, getting his first cake and a face full of chocolate. 

For those of you who don't know, this is Shawn the Sheep. I love this little Wallace and Grommit style cartoon, but haven't seen him on TV lately, so maybe it was a small following. But a darling little 2 year old was a fan as well, so I got to make this funny guy. Made out of my favorite zucchini cake recipe and cream cheese frosting, it's possible he tasted even better than he looked!

I hadn't made a train in a while, so when my friend needed one for her 2 year old at the last minute, I was more than happy to oblige! I've become a bit of an expert on making these things....

MONSTER TRUCK RALLY!!! Seriously, this cake went to a party where they had mini monster trucks for the kids to ride in. It was awesome. And, I was informed that the 4 and 5 year old attending were super excited with their blue poop (sorry, TMI, but come on, that's funny!).

And that wraps up 2011! I've had some awesome cakes to make already in 2012, but I will give those individual posts. I promise! :)

Eruptasaurus!

That's what do you get when you combine the love of dinosaurs with the awesomeness of a volcano!  This cake is so rad, it needs a video.

One of my favorite little boys has a serious love for dinosaurs.  Like crazy love.  Like annoyingly corrects all of us adults when we mispronounce dexamicrosaurasomethingorother.  And he's only 4.  I was praising Jesus a few months ago when suddenly he concluded that he in fact did not need a pterodactyl (check me on that Gus) cake, but instead wanted a volcano.  Of course we could not totally ignore the dinosaurs, and after realizing others are capitalizing on dino crazed kids, I hooked him up with some dinosaur cookies.  Which he promptly declared he wanted, but not because he wanted to eat them, because he didn't want anyone else to eat them.  Happy Birthday little dude.

When is a purse, not just a purse?

When it's cake filled of course!

The thought of this makes me incredibly happy.  Can you imagine a world where you no longer have to keep snacks in your purse for your kids or when hunger strikes?  Hmmmm, I'm hungry, I'll just take a bite out of my bag.  And you get a burst of tangy, chocolatey, cream cheesey red velvet cake.  AHHHH, bliss!  It would definitely give me a different opinion on carrying a diaper bag, that's for sure!

I made this cake for my lovely daycare owner, for a going away/birthday party for her very girly niece.  She told me they used a food coloring pen and all signed their names on the bag, which I thought was incredibly sweet!

Princess Party for my Princesses!

When your daughters turn 2 and 4, within 3 weeks of each other, the smart thing to do is to combine the party and make it a royal princess bash x 2!

Well, until you realize that means royal princess cakes x 2.  In the middle of summer.  With no air conditioning.  And a refrigerator full of food for a family of 4.  And you're almost 7 months pregnant.

With all the cards stacked against me, I was bound and determined to make my unique little princesses, unique not-so-little cakes.  And I think I did it!  Sure I was force feeding everyone food they didn't want, just because I needed the fridge space, and sure the oven made my house feel like a sauna, and yes my feet felt like giant sausages at the end of every day, but for my little babies I would do it all over again.

Happy Birthday to me dear, sweet, precious little princesses.  We love you oh so much!

When in Doubt, Spout it Out!!!

OMG you guys.

I found a picture of a whalespout cake not but 2 weeks ago, and had been dying to do one, so when I got the call for a sea creature cake, I nearly peed my pants.  A little back story here:

Anyone remember back in the 80s and 90s when the whalespout hairstyle was all the rage?  You know, the ponytail planted firmly on top of your head, so as to 'spout' your hair?  Back in my good old days of TV production, we had a saying in the office, 'when in doubt, spout it out.'  It seemed that spouting your hair in any given situation, made the day more manageable.  We became so enthralled by the spout, that we began to celebrate on a weekly basis - Whalespout Wednesday.  We managed to find several shirts and even a skirt (thank you Target!) with whalespouts!  This tradition moved from production office to production office, and even now that I'm not in production anymore, still lives on!

SOOOOO - imagine my excitement to make the whalespout cake!  I was doubly excited because it's not very often that a 3 year old girl asks for something other than a princess cake.  Also, she loves lemon cake, and I have a lemon cake recipe that I LOVE!  So this cake was all around super awesome for me to make.  My kids were pretty impressed too!

And, I swear, I'm not insane.