Piped swirls cake

I went to a "Day of Sharing" for an Ices club. (Which is basically a cake club.) It was really cool, in one of the presentations this lady was doing this technique using piping gel and painting it with vodka and luster dust. 

So the next week when I could do whatever I wanted, this is what I wanted to do. Now the one downside was that I didn't have piping gel that day, so I had to pipe with frosting, and paint with luster dust.

The overall effect was definitely more bold, and less clear and iridescent, which was one thing really pretty doing it with clear piping gel, but overall I still liked it. I think it was pretty.

I tried to give you all the angles. Piping is definitely not my strongest cake skill, because mostly I just work with fondant, but I'm working on it and I think I'm getting a little bit  better anyway.

Bridal Cake

Sometimes cakes turn out just the way you hoped they would, and this was one of those times. To make it more personal I asked for a picture of the bride in her dress. and her colors. Her dress was so pretty I immediately wanted to make a bride on top of the cake.

She had one of those dresses that bunches in different places, I think I was able to replicate it pretty well.

I liked the way she turned out. And they seemed to be happy with it that it looked pretty much like her.

I actually don't like to put ribbons on the bottom of cakes very much, because I like to show that I can get the fondant on the bottom smooth and not have to cover it. But the cake definitely needed something else and I wanted to tie in the tie and bow that goes around her dress.

Personally I like cakes better without words, so that is why I took the pictures above before I put the words on. Below is the finished cake with the words.

Christmas cupcakes

I almost forgot about these, which is why I'm posting them quite a bit after Christmas.

 I wanted these cupcakes to be simple and delicious. Red Velvet cake, with my white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

 And I just added some simple little gingerbread men, and candy canes. Simple but yummy!

Ombre Fly Fisherman Cake

I have to say I love this cake. I have done a similar version of this cake last march. But I had airbrushed the Ombre waves instead. 

 I feel like the the effect is much more distinct with each fondant layer being its own color. It makes for a cleaner, crisper effect.

 This little guy is to represent my (used to be neighbor) Shawn.

 The cake was chocolate cake, with a new recipe I've been playing with of chocolate buttercream, that is super chocolatey.

 I know I've had a few ombre cakes before, and I can tell you that this one is not going to be the last. I love the look of the varying shades from light to dark.

Happy fly fishing!

Missionary Shirt Cake

My second cake I ever made was a version of this cake. I got a call from a nice lady who's son was about to receive his mission call. So we thought this would be perfect for when they opened up the call with their friends and family.

 I have to say this one looks a lot better than the first one I did.

 This one was chocolate cake, with peanut butter buttercream, and marshmallow fondant.

I hope that his call opening party was fun, and that he gets to go where he wants to. I think this cake helped the party.

Steelers Cake

I told my husband that I was doing a Steelers cake, and he said, "Oh are you doing it black?" And I said, "Why do I have to?" Clearly I do not know a lot about sports.

 I didn't want to make the whole cake black if I didn't have to, because when you eat an entire black cake, your entire mouth turns black as well. My husband said as long as I made it yellow it should be fine. I did put a stripe of black around the bottom just to have some black in there.

 My brother in law was surprising his friend and neighbor with this cake for his birthday. And as you guessed the Steelers are his fav team. This cake was chocolate, with vanilla almond cream cheese frosting.  Go Steelers!

Cute Snowman Cake

I didn't realize that the lighting in this picture is not very good, so sorry for that. But I think this cake turned out so cute. 

If you're wondering what the arms are made of it's pocky again. Ever since Halloween of 2011, when I used it to make spider legs I had wanted to try using it for snowman arms. And I finally got my chance. I love the way this little guy turned out.

 I had thought about making a snowman that stood up, but I thought this would be so much easier for people to cut into and serve. Happy Winter Everybody!