Finally, after 20 years...RETIREMENT!

I have had the privilege to work with a wonderful group of people at the same elementary school my mother, myself, and my children attended.  After 20 years, the manager of our cafeteria is retiring and we had a party!

This is the cake that I created for the guest of honor at the celebration.  A Shabby Chic 3 tier vanilla cake with pale gold butter cream frosting was the focal point of the reception.  Sugar poppies, hydrangea blossoms, and leaves added character and interest to the cake.  I loved the way that it turned out!  I hope that you enjoy viewing my creation.

Our Airman's Welcome Home Celebration!

Our precious son-in-law was deployed in August 2012  to serve our country in Afghanistan for 7 months.  During his deployment he missed many holidays and family events; therefore, with his safe return we celebrated all of the missed events.

    I made this Sanford Stadium Cake for a surprise celebration honoring Stephen.

 Notice the Bulldog Statue at the rear.  It is a bulldog with a camouflage jacket, USAF  and Georgia G patch.

Stephen loved the cake, it was worth all of the HOURS I put into creating it for him. 

50th Wedding Celebration!

I am always up for a challenge and this project was the first of its kind.  Recreating a cake baked 50 years ago was the challenge.  The base for the cake was a 15 inch round vanilla cake followed by a 12, 9, and 6 inch rounds. The layers were relatively short with each being about 21/2 inches tall.  The cake was frosted with white butter cream and embellished with baby pink butter cream roses and mint green


When the "bride" saw the cake she was amazed at how much it looked like the original cake!  The topper used 50 years ago and a golden 50 were added following delivery.

Toby Tank Engine and Care Bears Ride Again!

Man, oh, Man...the Choo Choo was a huge bite, but it came together and I was pleased with the final product!  In my previous post I spoke of the largest project I had ever committed to, following are the pictures that chronicle the process from beginning to end, minus only a few details.

I began with the basic design - Engine, three cars, and Care Bears.
Three weeks prior to delivering the cake, the Care Bears were made out of gum paste.

I used 1 inch foam board to create the bases for each of the cakes.  As you can see from the first picture, there were two layers of foam for the base.  This is the form for Toby.

 Next, I made three forms with a 1 inch base for the train cars.  The wheels were painted with black royal icing.



It was at this point, I realized I had created a "monster" and didn't have a cake board that the train would fit on...Help! My husband came to the rescue and cut me a 24" x 42" piece of 1/4" plywood. Now on with the show!




Next, I baked and froze 9" x 13" sheet cakes to make the train from.  Also, I made the train face and a few other details from gum paste.

The day before delivery, I carved, molded, and attached the cake to the bases, forming the train engine and cars.  Each piece was frosted with butter cream, which was textured to resemble wood.



The gum paste details were added and the Care Bears were attached to the train cars. 

Finally, after more than 15 hours Toby the Tank Engine is complete and ready to pull the Care Bears to the party!

Have I Bitten Off More Than I Can...?

Choo Choo! A month ago I had never heard of Toby the tank engine, but when I was asked to create a birthday cake for a brother ( 4 years old) and sister (3 years old) I began my quest to learn as much as I could about him.  This cake has turned out to be a mammoth task, an engine with three train cars, each holding a gum paste Care Bear.  Half inch foam board creates the base/template for the cake, believe me cutting foam is not an easy task!  Pictures coming soon...

Pinterest...where you can find what you are looking for!

Oh, I saw that on Pinterest...I can sit for hours looking and pinning, but never get around to trying much of what I pin.  Yesterday was different, I made one of the best cupcakes ever.  I had seen the recipe on Pinterest during the Christmas season, but never got around to baking them and am sorry I didn't.  My problem now is that the recipe uses fresh cranberries and I am having a problem finding them...thus my next obsession..."I going on a cranberry hunt," any suggestion as to where I should start would be appreciated! This recipe can be found by following this link, Your Cup of Cake Blog - by Lizzy Mae Early -  White Chocolate Cranberry Cupcakes

January 2013 Birthday Cakes

Celebration Cakes

Phantom of the Opera  German Chocolate Cake with chocolate ganache under Marshmallow Fondant.

A wonderful way to celebrate! 3 layer 6 inch Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, just enough for a small gathering without having tempting left overs laying around. 

Blogging is a new world for me, but I thought I would try my hand at it, so that I could share my baking/decorating endeavor with those who do not subscribe or regularly use Facebook.  It is my goal to post pictures of the cakes, cupcakes, and cookies which I have created and marketed as CiCi's Cakes & More.