Side Garland Practice

Joan and Amy practice their writing skills.

Joan practices her zig zag side garland on the side of cake pan. Looking good!


Amy and Julissa working on their writing skills for the Midterm party cake exam in a couple of weeks. Look at that dedication.

Daisy is working on overlapping star swag garland. She's getting there.

Way to go Sheryl, keep practicing!

Gloria practices her writing with a large #6 round tip. Nice job!

Baby Shower Cookies

Heart Cake

In all the years I have been working, decorating cakes, creating desserts, baking, etc., there is one thing I believe in so strongly; I am constantly learning. In order to even receive such knowledge you have to begin to admit that you don't know everything.

After I try and complete a new challenge or idea for a cake, I always say I could do it better. I'm so critical, I pick it apart to death till I practically hate it. I can't stress enough how this is such a learning process for me.

There is an abundant amount of professionals out there in this industry, and I've learned at least one thing from each and every one of them.

I created this heart cake for my niece's birthday, which happens fall around Valentine's Day. I made it with a strawberry and chocolate marble cake and filled it with white chocolate mousse and strawberry filling to carry on with the pink theme.

The hearts, ribbon and bow, #2, and plaque are made out of fondant. The stripes on the hot pink cake were piped, which I will change to fondant for the next time I am asked to recreate it. Piping from the top of the cake and then down the sides without stopping can be difficult. When the icing is in bold colors, they are even more noticeable and it is important to have a steady hand. I am a fast decorator and I don't think this piping technique worked with the cake. See, I learned something!

Other than the second top tier, I am pretty happy for my first attempt. I might have made the #2 a little fancier or even add some fondant ribbon roses. The cake consists of a 10 inch, a 6 inch, a two layer 5 inch, and a tiny 3 inch which serves about 50 people.

I recently purchased new cake decorating cutters for name plaques. I've been recommending that to my clients and seem to be a popular alternative to the standard writing. There is a wide variety to choose from.

Strawberry Shortcake

Popular Baby Shower Cakes

I have been doing a ton of baby shower cakes within the last year. These seem to be the most requested.

I used the petal #104 tip to pipe ruffles along side and top of bassinet. I trimmed the cake with the round #3 tip to create a lace effect and finished with a small bead border. I figure piped a little stuff animal, such as teddy bear or bunny, as if it was delicately placed there just for baby. I added a pretty floral spray in assorted colors as well as a fondant blanket which looks so lifelike. It is not visible to the eye, but I used edible white pearls with the carefully piped drop strings. The baby's named could written on the blanket for a personal touch.

For the yellow bassinet cake, sweet bunnies were the theme. We stayed with gender neutral colors because the sex of the baby was not known. Notice the petite carrots piped around the cake. This cake was also made up of carrot cake with cream cheese filling. Clever, huh!

This was the first time I decorated a baby carriage cake. I look back and think to myself I could do it a little different, but it is on the road to perfection. The wheels are made with doughnuts dipped in pink icing. I wanted to keep it entirely edible. The handles are constructed with large wooden dowels and then covered with fondant. I am surprisingly pleased how it came out for my first attempt.

Look for updated versions of these popular baby shower cakes in the near future.

Weekend of Cookies

I had a busy weekend baking and decorating cookies. I made mermaid cookies to go with the Ariel Mermaid cake. Cute, huh. I'm still deciding whether or not to put faces on the cookie. I tried but it just didn't look right. It is new cookie cutter and a work in progress. Any opinions?

I also made cross cookies as samples. I think I sell more cross cookies than anything else. They are used mostly as favors for of baptisms and communions. I have made so many I don't even bother taking pictures of my work. An opportunity arose to create samples so I thought it might be an appropriate time to photograph.
I let creative juices flow for these Valentine's Day cookies. I think they look so pretty on a beautiful pink glass plate.

GOT MILK?

Medieval Castle Cake

OK, I went crazy on this one. I had so much fun making this cake. It was first time I decorated a castle cake.

I alternated each cake tier with a different color grey so you can distinguished each tier. I used the Wilton Romantic Castle Cake Set. The tower and turret pieces are made of white plastic so I covered them by piping bricks in three shades of grey.

The windows and draw bridge entry are made of fondant and flags are cut out of heavy card stock. They are light weight enough to be held up by buttercream icing.


I bought the knight figures at the local craft store. They are the perfect scale size for the castle and when washed with a little hot soapy water, they can be reused and played by the birthday boy. Vincent helped me put the knights on his cake exactly where he wanted them, including a fierce dragon. You can't forget the dragon.