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!

I'm gonna be on TV!!

Ok, well, my cake will be on TV.  And maybe not even TV, more likely straight to DVD.

A friend of ours was the production designer on a kids show and they needed a cake so he called little old me!  I was so happy - so excited - so unbelievably terrified.  I know the expectations of this guy, and of TV production in general, and so I wasn't sure I was up to par.  I mean, come on, I live in Los Angeles, the city of creativity and endless talent.  But after seeing the cake and then getting this screen shot from my husband, I felt pretty darn good about myself!

And actually, this isn't the first cake I've made for him.  I made 6 huge cupcakes several months back for a Russian 'Ikea' commercial, but being the silly girl that I am, I forgot to take pictures!  When I get the footage, I will definitely post that.

Honestly, this is the first time I've looked at one of my cakes and thought, that's a real cake.  Not some cutesy-mom-made creation, but the real deal.  So, snaps for Rebecca!!!

Oh, and as a side note, my daughters' birthdays are coming up, and my soon to be 4 year old was so in love with this cake, that she declared she wanted this cake - with eyeballs.  Yep, eyeballs.  I love that child for so many reasons.

The Very Hungry One Year Old!

Have you ever had one of those 'DOH!' moments?  You know the kind where you work your butt off shaping a caterpillar out of cake and then have multiple people ask, 'are those donuts?'  DOH!!! (palm to forehead)

In the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, we meet a teeny tiny caterpillar that won't stop eating, and eventually turns into a beautiful butterfly.  I had the joy of making a cake this weekend for one of my favorite one year olds and my daughters' honorary 'little sister'.
Now, to look at Mattie, you would think she is younger than a year old because of her sweet baby face and tiny body.  But don't let all that miniatureness fool you.  Girlfriend can eat.  And eat.  And eat.  She has a special smacking sound she does with her mouth and that means - feed me!  Every time her tiny little hand picks up (or shall I say forcefully grabs) a handful of cheerios, I almost feel compelled to make the NOM NOM NOM sound effect.  But much like our caterpillar in the story, she is on her way to becoming a very beautiful butterfly!  And we're all so excited to watch her grow!

D-D-D-D-DORA!

So I'm feeling a little sentimental today, and I don't know why.  No, that's not true, I totally know why. It doesn't help matters that Rylee has been so stinking cute these past couple of days, and every time I look at her, I don't see a little baby anymore.  I see a big girl.
But there's one thing that is still my little baby about her, and that is her love of Dora!  For her 3rd birthday, she wanted a Dora party.  So we made Map invitations and delivered them to all our friends, we got a Dora pinata that was size of Rylee, we had quesadillas and chips and salsa, Rylee wore her Dora backpack and Dora hair ties, and most importantly, we had a Dora cake.
When I set out to make this cake, I thought about making Dora, but then realized a Dora head on a platter would be a little too disturbing, except for all of us parents who giggled in delight as our toddlers beat the crap out of the Dora pinata (especially my husband who had to step in and really smack her around to get the candy out).  But Backpack seemed like a good option!  My little Rylee thought so too! And just so she could be represented, we got a Dora candle.
My daughter's birthday isn't for another 5 months, and she is already throwing ideas out there for her party and cake.  My life is going to be full of creating my daughters' fantasies out of buttercream, and I couldn't be happier about that!

I'm jumping on this Thomas bandwagon.

No, I will not be running to the store and stocking up on overpriced trains.  I have been blessed with 2 daughters (so far) and while we should buy stock in princesses and glitter, there is not a train in sight at our house.

But, it has been brought to my attention that there is a whole legion of parents who are willing encourage the obsession of their Thomas-crazed kids.  So I would be crazy to not pimp out these trains made of sugary goodness.  Now if I were really smart, I would take a cue from the manufacturer and not only make one size cake, but several different sizes, like cupcakes!  So not only would the kids want a big cake, but individual cupcakes as well!  Hee hee hee!

The latest obsessor, er I mean little boy, has a deep love for Gordon.  His mom tells me that he has taken up being called Gordon at home!  I think his birth name is darling and completely acceptable, however, he thinks he's more of a Gordon.  So, Gordon it is:

Now before all of you Thomas enthusiasts start yelling at me for the incorrect number (and yes, I was already corrected by Gus' mom) the number 3 is not a typo!  Gordon is in fact number 4, but being that this was for a 3rd birthday, I thought having a 4 on the cake would be misleading, and 'Gordon's' mom agreed - so please calm down!

Based on my knowledge of preschoolers (it's vast!) I have a feeling I'll be making a lot of trains...

Vegetarian Steak

When this cake was ordered, the only instruction I got was it MUST be red velvet and the birthday boy was a vegetarian.  Because my mind immediately goes to sarcasm and irony in every situation, all I could think of was steak.  Luckily birthday boy has a sense of humor and went with it!

I'm a recovering vegetarian, and rarely do I want to take a bite out of raw steak, but this one was definitely tempting.

Once Upon A Time....

In a land not so far away, there was a little girl named Siena. For her third birthday she wanted nothing more than to be a fairy in her own magical land. Since I only have magical powers in the kitchen, I threw some powder sugar fairy dust in a bowl and viola!

I thought this sweet little white chocolate fairy looked like Siena, so I made this her mushroom palace.

Another chocolate fairy (my daughter likes to think this one is her) is lost in the meringue mushroom cluster!

This cake did not start out well at all. It became one of those moments where I started rethinking offering to make cakes for my friends, because I might end up on cakewrecks. My oven and I were having a domestic dispute, and it got so heated that the gas company almost had to be called. After taking a cooling period (literally let the cakes cool overnight) I came back to it the next day and we worked things out, with the help of some buttercream. I've learned over and over, that much like a glass of wine, there's nothing that a little (or a lot) of frosting can't fix.

Happy Birthday Siena!

Cupcake Cake Take 2

I have a wonderful daycare that my 18 month old goes to and my 3 1/2 year old went to for the year before preschool. The owner is like family to us, so when she wanted a cake for her sister, I was more than happy to oblige. She first told me that her sister was a singer, so it needed to be something musically related. My first thought was - microphone, I'll build a microphone! But then she saw the giant cupcake and said she must have that, but still musically related.

Hmmmmm...

The ambitious woman in me still wanted to do the microphone, but maybe put it on the top of the cake. Somehow I couldn't wrap my mind around how that would turn out, so I had to convince myself it was okay to do a simple cake.

The day before I was to give it to her, she gave me the spelling of her sister's name. Now, you might have noticed that blatantly missing from all of these cakes is piping, especially when it comes to writing. Give me a challenge to carve or decorate, and you got it, but ask me to write someone's name on a cake? Deer in headlights. (My wonderful friend J recently took me to a decorating/piping class for Christmas, to help with my phobia, but that's a story for another day...maybe). Anyhow, she was dead set on having her name on there, so I improvised. And really if I were her sister, I would be psyched to have my name in chocolate, instead of some boring old piping! Sidenote - hilarity (and almost tears) ensued when I pulled the letters out of the fridge and dropped them directly on the floor, sending shards of chocolate through the air. Good thing it was cold out, because that second batch didn't get much time in the fridge!

Now, many have asked me if I use the cupcake cake mold, and to that I say - why would I spend $30 and waste kitchen space on something that is so easily carved? I can't speak from experience, because I haven't used one, but I'm having a hard time imagining the center being cooked properly without the outsides getting a little dark, don't you think? Besides, most of the fun of making the cake is starting with a blank pallet. Not to mention, eating the scraps from cutting down the cake is really the best part about making a cake, and is a must in my house. That is the only way my husband tolerates my spending the weekend baking something he cannot eat. Especially when that something is red velvet - such as this cake.

There were a few things that were not ideal though about carving this cake. I discovered that while red velvet is tender and delicious, it's really not that much fun to carve. In fact, it's damn near frustrating. I would recommend to anyone using red velvet for anything other than a circular cake to make sure you give it proper time to cool in the fridge. Between my day job and my kids, I rushed this one along, and almost paid the price - of making a whole new set of cakes. And, on the same note, while cream cheese frosting is absolutely d-lish and so easy and fun to decorate with, it too needs extra time in the fridge, or you might have a sliding mess on your hands. Also, dowels are your friend.

From what it sounds like, the cake was well received, and that's really what matters!

Murdoch the Train

What you've never heard of him? Couldn't be because most kids are so obsessed with Thomas the Train that they often over look his fleet of steamy friends. But not the 3 year old that this cake was for, Gus.

Now Gus doesn't just like trains, he lurrrrrves trains! You should see the collection of trains he has, it is crazy! His parents literally keep a spread sheet to keep track of what they have already, what they need, and what they have waiting in the wings. When my daughter comes over to play, the first thing he asks is if she brought him a train present. This kid likes trains so much that his dad made him a train for Halloween (and not that generic crap you buy at the store - oh no - he had a full on train built around him) and mom actually dressed up like railroad crossings. Now that's commitment! But I digress...

While Gus tolerates Thomas, his real love is for all of Thomas' friends. Almost as though Thomas is his competition for said train friends, or *gasp* he believes himself to be Thomas! Either way, I knew that just showing up with a Thomas cake was not going to cut it. His current obsession has been with Murdoch (which he got for potty-training, pun intended!), so Murdoch it was.

And his face was priceless when he saw this big train, covered in frosting, just for him. The wonderment in his eyes, of how he could play with and eat this train all at the same time. Happy Birthday to a very special little guy!

The Best Way to Eat a Cupcake...

Is when it is the size of your head and you cannot possibly take a bite without getting frosting all over your face and stuck in your eyelashes and eyebrows.

This cupCAKE was made for my daughter's first birthday this year, but I didn't see the humor until my pixie like one year old sat next to it. She cried and cried and cried because the damn thing was nearly bigger than her. I don't blame her, I can't imagine how I would react if I saw a cake the size of me. Scratch that, I know exactly how I would react. By jumping in and swimming through it to find the stripper in the center! But I digress....

This was a pseudo champagne cake, because I didn't think it was appropriate for my infant to have champagne. I know I know, it bakes out, but whatever, it felt slightly counter intuitive so I went with sparkling grape juice instead. She didn't know the difference. And our bellies were happy.

Start From the Beginning...Kind Of

I have several cakes under my belt that I would like to share with the world, so I figure I should just start from the beginning. Well, not the actual beginning, because I don't have pictures from baking back in the day, so let's call it the beginning of the obsession. I think it started around my oldest daughter's first birthday. I needed a cake, but not just any cake. Something that screamed Rylee, but without using hideous piping. So this is what I came up with.

To which Rylee promptly did this:

And this:

Looking back on this ghetto little cake, I laugh. It was awesome for what it was, but definitely could have done better. I guess this is what you get from a new mom trying to balance everything. Whatever, it was delicious.

Get In My Belly!

Hello. My name is Rebecca, and I have a baking problem.

Although, isn't a problem only a problem if you make it one? I don't see anyone staging an intervention, but it's possible they should be. As if I had so much extra time on my hands, I have taken up blogging now too. I'm always looking for new and improved ways to avoid my actual responsibilities, so, well done Rebecca. And truly, as much as I love baking, the obsession really began when I needed something to help me procrastinate. Does this mean I will be procrastinating on my former procrastination tool? AACK!

No, nothing could come between me and my beloved baked goods.

So, should I tell you about myself? Sure! I have 2 kids and a husband that are 100% on board with this baking thing. (In fact, I think I should stage an intervention on them...) As a kid I begged my mom for an Easy Bake Oven and always got the same response, 'Rebecca, we have a real oven'. To this day, I despise and love that she did that to me, but oddly still want an Easy Bake Oven. Many of my earliest and fondest memories are baking holiday cookies with my mom and waiting to see how my dad decorated my birthday cakes. My favorite part of a meal is dessert, and really only eat dinner as a means to get that dessert (and that whole setting a good example for your kids thing). But here's the real shocker - I'm not fat! In fact, I'm very thin! I can stuff my face with cookies and cakes and it doesn't effect me. It's as though my body and soul have found one harmonious place, in my belly.