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. :)

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! :)

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!

Holy Hiatus!

I never meant to take this much time off from blogging - not to mention BAKING!

But alas, there have been some developments in my life recently that leave me feeling like hugging a toilet bowl rather than my mixer.  There were minor attempts at baking.  I made my friend chocolate chip cookie cupcakes for her birthday, so that was pretty awesome, and I managed Valentine's cookies for my daughters' school and daycare, but that's about it.  I'm feeling very sad about this, like part of me is not alive and well right now.  So let's take a look back at a bakier time in my life.

Oh, now look at this.  My darling daughter, who I thought was such a big girl in this picture.  Little did I know that I would look back on this face like she was just a baby.  Ok, this isn't helping.  Not to mention, what you can't see in this picture is me literally 2 weeks away from giving birth, and sweating like a pig in 115 degree heat.  So let's move on from this before I run away crying.

Ok, now this I like.  Pink and princess.  Two things that are all too familiar to me these days.  Only bad memory from making this cake is that Starbursts are surprising difficult to roll out.  I even nuked them for a second to soften them, and still my arms hurt for days.  (Note to self: I need to find a better process for that.)

 

Mini Cakes!!  How could you not love a mini cake?  I made 12 of these for my dear friend J's babyshower.  Chocolate, vanilla with strawberries, red velvet and lemon!  

Ok, now I feel much better!

I feel like I'm slowly coming out of the fog and will be back in my kitchen very soon.  Otherwise, this baking blog is going to get B-O-R-I-N-G, if the writer doesn't actually start baking again.  Fingers crossed! 

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...

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!