Birthday Shoe Cake!

Nothing says girly like shoes, lipstick and red roses! (Just ask Dorthy, a new pair of shoes can change your life!)

Honestly I LOVE zebra cakes. Love everything about them! big statement and they are not super difficult to make! I used my airbrush a LOT on this cake. It really helped add texture to the red ribbon and made the reds a nice deep red that can take so long to kneed into fondant.

Of course the all important shoe!

I also got to play around with more gumpaste flowers this month, I am really liking these 'cabbage roses' they have all the impact and are way less fussy!

Short post today, I'm getting all packed and ready to go on vacation this weekend!
Happy Baking Everyone!

Something Blue!

This month I was lucky enough to get to make a wedding cake for a friend from University! Her wedding colours were Navy blue and lime green (so awesome!) and she picked a really cute cake design! 

 The ribbon matched the bridesmaid dresses! So cute!

 I loved this cake, I got a chance to practice making fondant roses (my poor BF had to listen to "does this look like a rose?" about 100 times) I think they turned out quite well!

This cake was a bit of a challange due to the size of the cake. It had to be assembled on site (I could hardly think the whole drive over I was so worried about the cake!) It was supported using the wilton layer plates and candy sticks as dowels. Each layer had 6 dowels that were measured to the height of the cake, so the cake plates balanced on the dowels. Overall it worked really well. Next layer cake I make I'll take pics of the process and post a tutorial. (I was too focused making the darn thing stay up to take photos!)

Anyway, That's all for now, Happy baking!

BLACKJACK!

Phew; Summer is winding down and I finally have a free moment to sit and write out a quick post! (I have a few saved up from the summer that I will get around to this month!) Even as I'm sitting here the dog is whining at the door wanting a walk, so this will just be a quick taste of a really cute cake! 

A friend of the Family is turning 21 this weekend and to celebrate he is taking a trip to Sin City with some Friends, we decided that a blackjack cake was the perfect fit for his poker tournament birthday! 

 I used edible markers and gum paste to make the cards and the poker chips, drawing out the queen was the funnest part of the cake for me! I had three decks of cards all lined up trying to decide on the most classic looking Queen. (Needless to say my M&M cards with the blue M&M wearing a crown, or the Star Wars, Princess Leia decks didn't make the cut!)

The backs of the cards were decorated with the Birthday boys favourite website, "The Chive" I got quite a few questions from the older generation what the Chive was, my response: "It's like Pinterest for  Men, more humor, way less weddings"

Anyway I've got a really big project coming up this week so its back to the kitchen to bake!

Happy Baking everyone!

Lingerie shower!

This week I got to host a lingerie shower for my friend Alanna! The theme was pin up and the colors were light blue and red. Blue because it's one of the wedding colors, and red because most pin up pictures are wearing red!

The dessert table! (my favorite table at any party!) It was a small shower so I just made cookies, mini cupcakes and cake pops.... But I think the coke bottles were my favorite part!

For favors I went and got cute red lipstick and panties from Victoria secret! (they haves one size fits all panties.... Perfect!) I used the panties as decorations throughout the house... They almost looked like bundling when tied together! And I put the lipstick in little gift bags that matched the colors... The gift bags were lined up as the backdrop of the table.

I made mini cupcakes with buttercream frosting! I printed off the invitation on photo paper and used it as a center piece!

I also made cake pops in the coordinating blue! Super cute! I haven't made very many cake pops so please excuse the lack of stick straightness!

However, these might be my favorites! They defiantly made the table! I got the straws online at green paper co. I was super impressed with how they stayed in the cokes!

And last but not least.... The lingerie cookies! They were also favors! To make these you simply cut out heart cookies and then cut the tips off! Best boob and bum cookies and no special cutters!

To decorate the table I made tissue paper Pom poms, super cute, super fast and super cheap! I will deft be doing them again! Loved the pop of color! I also printed off some cute pin up pictures on 4x6 photo paper and then mounted them on card stock. They looked really cute hanging with the poms!

I also used the poms to decorate the chandelier at my front door!

Here are a couple more table shots! I couldn't resist!

And one more shot of the cola... Love the glass bottles they defiantly added the right element to the table! I got playing around with itch the filters in iPhoto.... Can you tell?

Hope you enjoyed this weeks post! It was a blast putting the table together and the party was a hit!

Happy wedding Alanna, and happy baking everyone!

Chelsea

Hats Off to the Captain!

This weeks cake is for a gentleman retiring from Air Canada!

On this cake the order-er gave me free reign, (woohoo!) it didn't need to be a big cake, just a small celebration cake over dinner, so I decided to go with a captains hat!

(I had some fun playing with the iPhoto filters on these pics.... Thoughts?)

I think it turned out pretty cute! Congratulations on your retirement!


Happy baking and Happy Easter! (I have been off sugar since feb and Sunday I get sweet treats! For my first treat on Sunday I'm thinking slutty brownies! Not very easter-y I know... But they look SO GOOD! Stay tuned for some food porn this weekend!)

Chelsea

Billiard Engagement Cake!

This weeks cake is pretty special to me, it's an engagement cake for a good friend of mine! These love birds met a bar called 'The Billiard Club' so for an engagement cake we thought that a billiard theme cake would be perfect! 

 This cake is a Guinness chocolate cake with whipped Baileys frosting and a chocolate gnache filling, Yum!

To make it stand my awesome guy built me a little stand! Here is the base uncovered! (Don't worry... I wrapped it in saran wrap before putting the cake on it!)

I then trimmed the cake and smothered it in bailey frosting!

The covered it in tinted marshmallow fondant! The balls are gum balls with some fondant decorations!

 Cute right?

 To make it a bit more 'engagment-y' I added a veil to the white ball and a top hat to the 8 Ball!

 I also made some cupcakes to go with the cake (I wasn't sure how many people were going to be at the party) and decorated them with gumballs as well! The numbers on these balls aren't random though.. they are the date of the wedding!

Looking forward to making your wedding cake in July guys! Congrats again!

And Happy Baking!

Chocolate Ganache Tutorial!

Alright... first tutorial of the year.... or ever actually... not sure I've ever done one! Anyway... On to the tutorial!

Here are the things you need:

8 Ounces Semi Sweet Chocolate
2/3 Cup Cream
2 Tbsp Butter

Start with your 8 oz of chocolate....

 Chop the chocolate finely and put it in a heat proof bowl. (I use my measuring cup... works like a charm!)

 Next heat the cream on medium until it begins to simmer... be careful to not over cook the cream, it will not taste good and the pot will be almost impossible to clean!

Once the cream is heated, pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let the cream/chocolate mixture sit for one full minute.

 After a minute stir the chocolate and cream until all the chocolate melts. (If you still have some chocolate chunks heat it in the microwave for a couple seconds but watch it closely!)

Next add you butter and stir to combine...

Yum... licking the spoon is the best part!

 Let the ganache stand until thick enough to pipe through a piping bag, or to spreadable consistency, depending on what you are using the ganache for! If you need to speed up the thickening pop the ganache in the fridge... stirring it every 10 mins.

 I was using this batch of ganache to fill cupcakes. A nice surprise for the cupcake - eater!

Ganache is a great for pretty much anything you need it for! It is a good cake topping, a good filling, or a good base for fondant!

Stay tuned for St. Patrick's Day cupcakes!
Happy Baking!

Baby Shower Cake!

Sorry for my (too long) absense! I have a whole list of excuses... bought a house.. moved in... Christmas... Birthday... Work... etc. etc. etc. But back to the cakes!



This weeks cake was made for a friend leaving on Mat leave... her and her hubby are big packers fans and the office wanted a baby belly cake... this was the perfect compromise!

Thanks and Happy Baking!