Dallas Cowboys Cake

So, I finally got my first paying gig. Actually, I take that back.  I was hired to do a gig at Aidan's birthday party but not until October 15th.  This one came up and I have been paid for it, so I guess it's the first cake I've ever gotten paid to do. :)

A coworker saw some of my work and asked me to do a Dallas Cowboys cake for her son.  She pretty much gave me creative free reign - so I did a bit of research and since she wanted an 8 inch round, I decided simple was best.  

I intended to do the Cowboys actual logo in the font, but in the end, I ran out of time.  I knew getting those cookie cutters would make me lazy, but I don't think it detracted from the cake.  This was also my first time working with floral wire and I must say - it was a breeze.  Basically, I just cut out two star shapes for each decorative element and sandwiched them together with the wire in between.  I used a bit of water on a paintbrush to help them stick together. The football is made of chocolate fondant, which tastes just like tootsie rolls, and white fondant accents.

This was my first full assembly -

At this point I realized that I didn't have enough room to write "Happy Birthday Tyrone" on the cake board in front of the cake.  But then - I noticed that I had six stars and that there are exactly six letters in his name. Poifect!  I also needed to somehow show that he was turning 44.  So, after some additional work -

Here are a few additional views

I must say, this cake caused the least anxiety out of all the cakes I've made.  It's also the smoothest fondant free cake I've ever done.  The secret - I found a stainless steel scraper/dough cutter/food chopper at Ross for 2.99.  It's slightly beveled and works like a charm on smoothing the sides.  I also chilled the cake for about 5 minutes then took it back out, pressed wax paper to the sides and went over it again with the scraper - right on top of the wax paper.  It worked out well.

Aidan's First Birthday

My baby boy turned a year old on Saturday.  Since I began decorating, I knew that I would definitely be making his birthday cake and that it would definitely be a two-tiered creation.  I planned this cake for several weeks - did sketches, watched videos, got advice from decorating friends, etc etc.

His theme was owls.  I decided to create a fondant owl topper and other fondant decorations, but would buttercream both layers instead of covering in fondant.  I wanted to do fondant feathers, but figured I might have to hand cut each one.  There was no way I'd have time to do it.  Instead, I bought a leaf cutter and drew lines on each to make it look more feathery.

I also did his name using cookie cutters.  I was going to either freehand his name or use a homemade stencil, but didn't have time.

Made his owl topper, name and feather decorations 2 days in advance to give them time to dry.

The smash cake was made with mini cake pans - 4 inch rounds

And here is the final result.  I couldn't get the buttercream finish as smooth as I wanted it.  But I now know that the icing should have bit a bit thinner in consistency and I should have put much more on the cake.  I also wasn't completely pleased with the color - really wanted a lighter blue.  But overall, I think it came out pretty well for my first attempt at a two tier.

All You Need is Cake

My brother Jim is a huge Beatles fan.  And so, for his 32nd birthday, I decided to bake him a Beatles birthday cake.  After a bit of internet research, I stumbled across an image of a cake that I really liked - simple, clean, modern, yet pretty impressive looking.  So, I decided to tackle it.  And boy was it something that needed to be "tackled."

The process took nearly a week.  I drew the stencil in Adobe Illustrator, printed on cardstock, cut with an exacto and then put onto black fondant and cut out.  I let the faces dry for two days.  The logo nameplate was done with fondant and edible marker - I used a template for that as well, which I cut out of cardstock.  Other elements are fondant cut with cookie cutters. The "frames" were the most arduous of everything.  They started out too thick, broke like crazy, etc, etc. But in the end, with the help of my mom who was in town, we got them on the cake.

The cake board decoration is actually cup cake cups cut in half and glued to the (terribly messy looking) cake board.  (I'm such a sloppy crumb coater and the board wasn't grease proof.)

This was my first big cake covered in fondant.  I don't know what possessed me to attempt a square cake for the first fondant covering, but let me just say that it is NOT easy.  And that the fondant elements in the corners are very, very strategically placed.

Overall, I think it came out quite well.  Although it's been funny asking people what they see when they first look at the image on top.

Funniest comment yet - "Ummm - a buffalo? NO! Wait! I see John Lennon!"