Cal Poly Pomona Graduation Cake Collins School

This was another grad cake that I had made for my cousin who graduated from the Collins College of Hospitality Management program at Cal Poly Pomona.  The cake design was loosely based on the Cal Poly logo (white and green with a leaf).  Each side of the cake had different messages piped on in black with other logos: the school restaurant logo, the Hyatt hotels (with whom she's accepted a job offer) and   Texas (the place she moved to for said job).  The top of the cake was an architectural structure located on the Collins School campus (made with fondant and wire).  All details were molded from fondant and the logos were all hand drawn with edible markers on fondant.  Cake was champagne orange with vanilla custard and cookies & cream cake with chocolate custard.  

  

Girly Graduation Cake

This simple cake was iced in white buttercream frosting with swirls of icing piped on top.  The ruffle border and the writing was piped in pink.  Then pink fondant flowers were added.   A nice break from the gold and (fill in the blank) color schemes of most graduation cakes!  It was more about the graduate and less about the school.

Mini Grad Hat Cake with Diploma

This little 2 tier cake featured cream cheese icing with fondant details.  The mini grad cap was covered in blue fondant with yellow piped icing (UCSD colors).  The cake also features and fondant diploma which was hand drawn and attached to the side of the cake.

Grad Cake with College Mascot

This cake was for a recent graduate who was leaving Laguna Hills High School for Texas Christian University, home of the "horned frogs".  The cake reflected the TCU colors of purple and white.  The 2 tier cake was topped with a fondant covered mortar board and fondant tassel.   The frog mascot was hand drawn on wafer paper and attached to fondant.

Graduation "Book and Cap" Cake

This 2 tier cake was a vanilla cake with strawberry filling on the bottom and a strawberry cake with strawberry filling on the top.  The base cake was covered in fondant and made to look like a book in his high school colors of teal, black and white.  The top cake was molded to look like a graduation cap, topped with a fondant-covered piece of cardboard and a fondant tassel.  The fondant stars were covered in piping gel for sparkle and wired to stand above the cake.  Then I added a couple details to represent the Graduate's plans to study pre-med at UCLA.  [Note: If you saw my previous post regarding grad cakes, this was Grad Cake Design #3].  

Graduation "High School to College" Cake

This cake was for a Santa Margarita Catholic High School graduate who was also turning 18 and is going to Colorado State in the fall, so I chose a yin/yang design to incorporate both schools' colors and logos.  The SMCHS Eagle and Colorado State Ram were hand drawn on fondant and added to the cake.  The fondant letters were glittered with edible glitter (which matched the glitter pops that accompanied the cake - in gold, green and blue). The cake was cookies & cream cake with vanilla custard filling.  Congratulations Rylee!  We'll miss you in the 'hood!  

Graduation Cake Designs

It's that time of year!  Don't wait to order your Graduation Cake...the calendar is filling up FAST!

In an effort to speed up the process, I've designed some cakes "to go", so to speak.  I still prefer to have orders A WEEK IN ADVANCE if possible.   But here are some designs to get you started:

To order any of the above cakes and cupcakes, please send an email to PLUMERIACAKES@YAHOO.COM  with ALL of the following information:

1.  Event date / time of pickup

2.  Number of servings / cupcakes

3.  Cake flavor selection(s)

4.  Colors, names, etc. you'd like incorporated into your design

5.  Your contact information

 THANKS!  AND CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2012!!!

Toy Story 3 Woody Graduation Cake

This cake was also for a high school graduation with a fun theme: "Kevin goes to College!"  As a kid, the graduate was a fan of Woody, and who really wants to grow up??  The base cake was chocolate chocolate chip cake with cream cheese icing.  I covered that tier in white fondant and added cow print spots and a yellow rope border.  (I figured that with the grad attending UC Davis, he'd better get used to cow print).  The top cake was vanilla cake with strawberry filling and I covered it with beige fondant to resemble the moving box with Kevin's college things, topped of course by Sheriff Woody.  Woody was hand molded from fondant and the details drawn in with edible markers.

This was cuter in person (sorry for the yucky photos...camera was in use and I had to shoot with the dreaded cell phone camera!)

Shabby Chic Cupcake Tower

In a season where I make a lot of black fondant, I was happy to make something a little different for a high school graduation party.  The graduate had a party with a shabby chic theme, so these cupcakes were sweet, girly and pink to match.  

The cupcakes were as follows: cookies & cream (with pink jewels), snickerdoodle (with fondant pearls), red velvet (with embossed fondant hearts), chocolate chocolate chip (with pink fondant double flowers), and vanilla (with flowers and silver heart sprinkles).  

The mini cake that sat on top of the tower was vanilla cake with strawberry filling.  I covered the cake with pink fondant and added a thin bow and a ribbon rose at the bottom (with more fondant pearls).  Then I piped on flower and leaf shapes and brushed them to resemble embroidery.  It was a fun technique and it made a really pretty centerpiece to the tower and to the party.  

El Dorado High School Graduation Cake

This cake was for another cousin of mine (there are many!) on his graduation from El Dorado HS in Placentia.  I created the school mascot logo as a focal point of the base cake, then added black and gold details.  The top cake tier was shaped into a grad cap and topped with a fondant covered piece of cardboard.  The tassel was also made of fondant, and dusted with gold sparkle dust.  The top cake was chocolate chocolate chip and the bottom was cookies & cream (Matt's favorite).  I always enjoy making cakes for family (probably because I get to eat them!)

Graduation Dessert Buffet

I set up this display for a triple graduation party.  The oldest daughter was graduating from high school (school colors teal and black, "sharks" mascot), the middle daughter was graduating from elementary to junior high (school colors royal blue and silver, "coyotes" mascot, and the youngest son was graduating from preschool to kindergarten (red, blue & yellow abcs).  The client ordered a variety of cupcakes, homemade truffles, and parfait cups to represent all three of the kids' accomplishments.  She also rented my display pieces and we created this elegant display for the party.

Graduation Cupcakes

These cupcakes were for a graduation party and the grad's school colors  were red and black.  For the grad caps, I topped the cupcakes with mini peanut butter cups and squares of dark chocolate.  Then I piped on a little red tassel with more chocolate.  The diplomas and "class of 2011" plaques were also molded out of chocolate.  The cupcakes were chocolate chocolate chip, vanilla, cookies & cream and red velvet.

Cal Poly Pomona Graduation Cake

When my cousin was asked what she wanted on her graduation cake, she said "wouldn't it be funny if Jen could make the CLA building out of cake?!" So naturally, I had to try it. I love a challenge. And it was!

This cake was a feat in engineering, at least in cake. I (tried to) create what they call the most recognizable building on the Cal Poly Pomona campus. It is, in fact, triangle shaped with an asymmetrical roof line, so pretty complicated to build. But luckily I found my building inspiration when I came across some long stir sticks from Starbucks. I created the open roof structure by hot gluing the sticks together and sticking them in the cake. Then I wrapped fondant around the sticks to hide them. The base cake was red velvet with cream cheese icing, and the building was cookies & cream cake with vanilla buttercream. The triangle building cake was 6 layers of cake, which I have since found out was a bit too much. The cake actually started to implode on the drive to the party. Luckily, this was for family, so when the "leaning tower of Pomona" showed up at the grad party, they were all good sports. In the past, I have managed to escape the learning curve, but I guess it caught up with me this time. Oddly enough, I was informed that the building has been marked for demolition...maybe I'm just psychic! Congratulations Amanda! It's nice to hear that someone graduated in 2010 and got a job out of college befitting their major... There is hope for the future after all.

Graduation Party Centerpieces

It was such a nice break to do something that didn't involve washing any dishes! These centerpieces were for a graduation party for a Laguna Beach High School grad. My challenge was to create some festive centerpieces for a grad party that could be used again the following week for another grad party. I usually do fresh flowers for centerpieces, but with the multi-party aspect and the fact that 17 year old football player didn't really say "roses" to me, I decided to go another direction. So I did 5 different centerpieces for dining tables that incorporated personal photos and the school colors of maroon and white. I made 2 that were "beachy" with sand, shells, and synthetic coral and sparkly plant life. I made 2 more that were school-related (real apples in fish bowl vases, pennants and "2010"s). And the last centerpiece had a cool graphic photo that the grad had used to campaign for class president. I played of that photo and went with all red filler, apples on sticks, and a little blackboard sign. I also added some touches that evoked 4th of July with the sparkly stars in red and silver and picks that simulated fireworks. I was really thrilled with how they came out...they really set the tone for the party. They were fun, but still elegant and personal. Congratulations Ryan! Good luck in your future endeavors.