Honda Shadow Motorcycle Birthday Cake

Made this cake for my husband's Birthday. I'm taking him out tonight for a surprise Birthday adventure. He has no idea what we are doing but he just learned the cake is coming with us. Now he's nervous. ha ha Gotta love the suspense!

The motorcycle on the cake is a sugar paste replica of his new "old" motorcycle. It's a 1990 Honda Shadow. It was a challenge to make a sugar paste bike that sits on 2 wheels. Took lots of patience as it had to be done in steps. But I'm happy with the outcome.

Steps to a Finished Cake Part 3... It Is Finished!!!

So here is the finished girlie, pink, Mickey Mouse Cake. I'm really pleased with the outcome of this project. Mickey and Minnie ended up standing in front of the cake because I'd have had to cover their feet in icing to get them to stand on top of the cake and it would have made the cake very, very tall. This seemed to give it more balance and now Jessie can keep them as long as she likes.

Sweet Baby Girl...

Okay, here's the baby girl. Isn't she just precious! I think I know 4 or 5 pregnant people right now and every one of them is having a boy. Don't know when I'll ever get to use her, but I do love how she turned out.

Both of these little ones, are made using a silicone mold from First Impressions Molds. They have incredible products and the investment was worth every penny. All the extra details are hand painted or added. The mold only does the naked little baby. But the possibilities are endless.

Don't you just love her little diaper!?!

Precious little one...

Okay... this speaks for itself. I'm ready to do a baby shower cake. Just itching to do a baby shower cake. Is this not the most precious cake topper you ever saw???

This baby is all made of gum paste with a fondant blanket and gum paste bow. I have another little guy drying that I'll show you later. Can't wait to see how that one turns out. Maybe I'll make that one a girl... Stay tuned!

Forget-Me-Knot

The past three Saturday's I've left my home at 8:30am to drive into South Philly's, Italian Market. There's a fantastic kitchen supply/cooking store called Fante's. In the back of the store, there's a little room where a very talented Debbie Lang, teaches Cake Decorating. I decided to sign up for the Advanced Cake Decorating course to brush up on some of my skills and learn some new ones.

Our final class was today and therefore, our final cake was due. All the prep work had to be done ahead. I piped all my flowers ahead, made the monogram, and the arbor, and also baked, torted, and iced the cake.

This cake has alternating vanilla and chocolate layers with Strawberry filling and it is covered in a dark chocolate buttercream. The flowers are made out of royal icing and the butterflies are made from unbreakable gel.

Steps to a finished cake... Part 3

I spent a little more time on Jessie's 2nd Birthday cake today. The little Mickey heads for the side of the cake are done, the #2 for the side of the top tier is done, and Mickey got a tail. Didn't realize till we put a mirror behind him that this mouse was missing an essential element. Ahhhh, the details....

Anyway, Matt was kind enough to take a photo with a mirror behind Minnie to show off the back of her dress with the nice little bow. At this point, I'm pretty much done with this cake until I bake, ice, and assemble.

And you have to love kids... I asked my 6 year old son what he thought of Mickey.

"It doesn't look like him."

"What!?! Why doesn't it look like Mickey?"

"Because Mickey wears red shorts and he's wearing pink shorts!"

"Oh, GOOD GRIEF!"

Steps to a finished cake... Part 2

Okay guys... Here's a completed Minnie. I will probably put a flower in her hands but for now, she's complete. She's got some drying to do. Believe it or not, this little body gave me some trouble. I think it took me 3 tries to get it to where I was happy with it. But hallelujah she is complete!

Want to know how to bake a moist delicious cake without baking from scratch???

I'll bet you do!!! And I'll be happy to share how easy it really is!


To doctor a cake mix so that you can create your own moist, melt in your mouth, delicious confection, all you need is...

1 cake mix (flavor of your choice)
1 package of pudding (If using chocolate cake, use chocolate. If using yellow cake, use vanilla)
1 cup of sour cream
3/4 - 1 cup of water (See how much your original recipe calls for and then drop it by 1/3 - 1/4 of a cup)
1/2 cup of oil
4 eggs

Mix according to the directions on the box and bake according to the box. Remember... if you have a little (just a little) cake sticking to your toothpick when you test to see if it is done, that is OKAY!!! Your cake will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven.

Is it worth the extra's? ABSOLUTLEY!!! I promise, you'll get compliments on that cake!

Banana Cream Cupcakes

My Dad's Birthday is March 9th. He loves banana cream pie but that's not really something I can decorate so I'm creating a banana cream cake for him. I wanted to come up with a really moist, melt in your mouth, banana cake recipe that I can use for his Birthday. So today is my day to test this recipe.
I tweaked my usual vanilla cake to come up with this moist and banalicious cupcake! It's topped with a very light whipped icing.


As usual, my husband is my taste tester. Thanks Matt!!! We've got a winner!

Chantilly Lace

My friend Kristin celebrated her Birthday yesterday. We don't exchange gifts and I didn't see her but I felt this desperate urge to make her a cake anyway. So it will be a day late but it is the thought that counts.

White whipped icing and butter cream decorations. This is my first attempt at Chantilly Lace and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Vanilla cake with blueberry filling. It is only a 6" cake and I had left over batter so I made some vanilla blueberry cupcakes also. My husband told me that they are "terrible and we shouldn't share them with anyone". That's how I know he likes something. He gives it a bad review so they won't leave the house. HA!

One Crazy Week

My good friend Nicole was drafted to make a surprise 30th Birthday cake for a good friend. I offered to help her and we worked side by side. She worked on her 30th Birthday cake while I worked on the Monster truck. It was a LOT of fun to have someone to share in the creative process. We did a lot of laughing, a little commiserating, and made a HUGE mess 3 nights in a row. It was a blast. I hope we can work on another project together in the future.

Other than helping her learn how to make fondant and cover a cake, the only other thing I did is help make the topper. She did the rest by herself! Not bad for her first attempt at fondant. She did a great job!!!

Monster Jam Birthday Cake

My son absolutely loves Monster Trucks. His favorite is Blue Thunder and for his Birthday, he asked for a monster truck cake. His cousin TJ is celebrating his Birthday in February also (the boys are 6 days apart), so this is for both of them.

It was most definitely a challenge. Matt was an indispensable part of this project. He put his carpentry skills to work and built an incredible frame for me to work with. He also helped carve the shape of the truck. He wanted to have a hand in our son's cake and he did a fantastic job!!! I love you baby!

Happy Birthday Garrick & TJ!!!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Believe it or not this is a healthy version of a double chocolate chip cookie! Amazing that such healthy ingredients can turn out such a moist, chewy, and oh so chocolaty delight! As opposed to a traditional chocolate chip, these have less than 1/2 the fat, about 1/2 the sugar, and they have whole wheat flour!

Want to make them yourself? Here's the recipe!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (HEALTHIER VERSION)

(side note: I spent about 6 months tweaking the ingredients to get this cookie just right. If you make substitutions or change measurements, I can't be held responsible. Make changes at your own risk!!!)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

3/4 cp Land O Lakes Light Butter (Softened)
1/4 cp Applesauce
1 pkg Chocolate Pudding
1/4 cp White Sugar
1/2 cp Splenda
3/4 cp Brown Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla

Combine the above ingredients and mix.

2 Eggs(room temperature) (or egg beater equivalent)

Add Eggs and mix

1 cp. White Flour
1 cp. White Wheat Flour (King Arthur Brand)
2/3 cp. Cocoa Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt

Combine these ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk together lightly to incorporate. Then gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients just until they are thoroughly combined. Do Not Over Mix.

1 1/4 cps Mini Chocolate Morsels (Yes, it makes a difference!!!)

Add Morsels and stir

Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Do not over bake. Pull them from the oven before they look "done". When cooled they will firm up and you'll have a chewy and chocolaty treat. You can add nuts if you like and you can also add dried cherries.