Gingerbread Castle 2010

You followers out there will remember that we try to make a family gingerbread house every year. So this year, we decided to make something to submit to a real gingerbread competition. This is our edible replica of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland. Now, I have to admit that it is usually a more family-oriented project, but this year, mommy kind of took over and did about 90% herself.

*** I have received numerous requests for the instructions and templates for this design, but unfortunately I don't have them! This was created for fun and not for mass production. So sorry! ***

Star Wars Lego Cake

Growing up, I was the only girl on an all-boy street. I remember Lego's fondly; the boys next door had bazillions of them, and we would spend hours in their garage building. And as children of the 70's, we lived and breathed Star Wars (also a good game to play when you're the only girl around...I always got to be Princess Leia!) So this was a fun project for me. I made a two-tiered cake (chocolate chocolate chip with cookies and cream filling on the bottom and red velvet with cream cheese filling on the top). I covered the whole cake with blue fondant and piped a white bead border around the layers. Then I added writing in piped icing and little stars around the cake. I created Lego's out of gray and white fondant, cutting bricks with a pizza cutter and the tiny circles on top with a drinking straw. I made the Death Star and a Tie Fighter (yeah, no Internet research needed...I was a huge fan) for the sides of the cake out of fondant (detailed with an edible marker). I also added the birthday boy's name in the style of the Star Wars logo. Then I created the little Lego men out of fondant. Luke and Darth Vader battle it out on the top of the cake with light sabers that I made from plastic drink stirrers. And Yoda sat at the bottom tier of the cake. I loved their little cupped hands...a detail that I forgot about until this week. So funny! I think the force was with me.

Sew Fabulous! 40th Birthday Cake

I admit that this was not at all what the client ordered. But when the client is your good friend's husband and he wants a "over the hill" cake for his wife, and his wife was in your wedding, and said husband says "I trust you", then this is what happens. I couldn't, in good conscience, put black fondant on this cake. (Sorry Russ!) But I did like the end result. The dress form was actually my husband's idea, and I thought it was adorable. The birthday girl is an excellent seamstress, and I thought a "Forty and Fabulous" theme would be more fun with some sewing-related details. So I baked the cake (cookies and cream with chocolate filling) and covered it with vanilla butter cream. Then, instead of the usual cover of fondant, I decided to make a "quilt" out of fondant squares which I textured with some cool, fabric-like texture plates. I added "yarn knots" by piping white icing at all the quilt piece corners. Then I created some fondant details (roses, measuring tape, bobbin spools) to add to the base cake. The crown jewels of the fondant details were the little silver high heeled shoes (because every fabulous woman needs a hot pair of shoes!) I made the shoes from a little cookie cutter kit that I bought at the ICES convention over the summer. Then, on to the dress form! I actually started with rice crispy treats and molded them into a bodice. Then I spread on some frosting to act like glue and covered the form with white fondant. Since this was my first foray into cereal treat molding, I discovered some valuable lessons here. The white layer of fondant was really lumpy and looked like something like a botched liposuction job (not so fabulous). So then I rolled out some purple fondant and gave it a pretty texture, and created a dress. The second lesson I learned was that no matter how many episodes of Project Runway I watch, I am NO fashion designer. That is just hard, whether working with fabric or fondant! I finished my sugar dress with some silver roses on the shoulder and a silver ruffle at the bottom. The last touch was the birthday banner for my forty and fabulous friend! Hope it was a great birthday and a delicious treat! Love you!

Soccer Cookies

These cookies were for "the Bruisers" and their end of the season party. I topped my sugar cookies with white icing glaze and drew on the black details of the soccer balls with my edible markers. I thought they came out cool, and I didn't have to use fondant (which I think just overpowers the taste of the icing glaze). Then I added the names of all the team in blue royal icing and wrapped the cookies up in bags with matching ribbons. Go Bruisers!

Princess / Monster Truck Cookies

Seeing as how my kids were born 2 years and 1 day apart, I understand the double-birthday party. So I didn't even flinch when I was asked to do party favors that were half princess, half monster trucks. I made my favorite sugar cookies (which are really addictive...I have a hard time resisting those cursed cookies!) and topped them with a icing glaze. Once the glaze dried, I added details with white royal icing. The princess crowns got an extra little sparkle for the girly girls: I added some fondant jewels that I had leftover from my antique jewel wedding cake. They turned out really cute with little pink fondant gemstones on top. All the cookies were individually wrapped in cellophane bags with coordinating ribbon tied at the top. I hear they were a big hit, and my daughter was so excited to actually get to eat a pretty one since she was a guest at the party. (We usually get ugly leftovers with weird leftover icing colors in my house!)

Book Worm Cupcakes

These cupcakes were for my Mother-in-Law's book club. She came up with the idea too, which I thought was adorable! The cupcakes were margarita flavor (my kind of book club!) topped with vanilla buttercream. I rolled the cupcakes in red and lime green sanding sugars and added a fondant leaf with a tootsie roll stem. Then I molded the worms out of green fondant and made them poking out of the apples. I finished the design with little books that I also made out of fondant. These may keep the doctor away, but not the dentist!

Soccer Cupcakes

With soccer season coming to a close, I got to do a few soccer projects. These cupcakes were for "the Teal Turtles", as you may have guessed. I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. I added soccer balls that I stamped in fondant and colored with an edible marker. For the turtles, I added legs and heads that I molded out of fondant. Go Turtles!