• WEDDING CAKES & MUD BOG TRUCKS…

Cake – 07.26.08

Margaret contacted me earlier this year about doing her wedding cake. She wanted it to feed around 200, be multi-colored with luster dust and be an off-set square cake. So I drew up a few sketches and went for a simple yet elegant cake with a bright fun look. She brought me the color swatches and topper which was a Willow Tree Angel. When she delivered these to me earlier this week, she showed me a photo of her fiance’s mud bog truck and wanted me to do a grooms cake that matched it. Without thinking, I quickly agreed because there always has to be a first time for everything and it seemed like a fun challenge.

The cake was french vanilla with a strawberry filling and buttercream icing covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The cake was to alternate pink and yellow with angled tiers. I made up a batch of fondant for each color and placed on the four tiers. I used pink, yellow, and white luster dust to add shimmer to the cakes. I then added the white dots to the yellow tiers and an elegant scroll design to the pink tiers where the corner of the tier above it would be placed. I placed a white satin ribbon with accented ribbon in the middle and added royal icing pearls as a base border. I then took the remainder of fondant and shaped bows to be placed on the corners of the first and third tiers. I stacked the bottom three tiers and left the top tier off until we arrived at the church just to be safe.

The Groom’s cake was Chocolate with buttercream icing. Ben helped me sculpt the mud bog truck from cake. After getting it just right, we placed it in the freezer to toughen up the cake before applying the buttercream icing. We then followed up the buttercream with fondant. I hand painted the truck black and cut out the windows, grill with logo, bumper, license plate and tail lights from different colors of fondant. I then piped Just Married on the back glass, Chevy on the tailgate and Gregg on the license plate for their last name. We took Oreos and covered them with black fondant. I then made treads on the tires by adding a  pattern with a knife. I piped grass around the mud bogging hole and placed the truck on top. I flatted down the mud and grass behind the tires as if it were tracks where the truck had travelled. I then used the remainder of the brown buttercream to smear “mud” on the tires and truck.

After 20 hours total (6 hours baking, 8 hours decorating wedding cake, 6 hours decorating grooms cake) it was finally complete. It took four of us to deliver the cakes to the church. My mother and I went back later last night to cut and serve the cake. The cake was to feed 200 and there were well over 250 guests there. We believed Jesus worked a miracle because we still had cake left at 10 PM when the guests began to leave. But we had a great time and enjoyed a beautiful wedding. Congrats Margaret and Mitchell. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to play a part in your special day.

To my helpers: Ben you are an amazing sculptor and I look forward to the many projects to come. And Mom, you’re still a trooper. Thank you for sticking by my side and supporting me in what I love to do. God Bless.

• MICKEY MOUSE CAKE…

Cake – 07.22.08

I received a call last week about a Mickey Mouse Birthday Cake. This was awesome to hear because I rarely receive a cake order based on a character I really know, or should we say, know from my childhood. I was booked with a baby shower, wedding and grooms cake this week, but I’m always happy to do a cake for someone new, especially when the cake is a new adventure and a challenge. So she decided she wanted a large Mickey head to feed around 50. We went with a Vanilla cake with buttercream icing and marshmallow fondant.

I began by baking three round cakes. I first carved the face and then carved the ears to fit into place. I put a layer of buttercream on all three sections and then made up the fondant. I dyed all the colors needed and began by putting the base color on each cake. I then cut out the black to be placed on top of the flesh color fondant followed by the eyes and mouth. I then rolled up a large oval nose and placed it on top. I mixed up some black buttercream icing, added small details to the facial features and then added a black bead border around the cake. After six and a half hours of baking and decorating, I finally completed the classic character. So thank you Brandy for the opportunity and Happy Second Birthday, Charlie!

• RUBBER DUCKY CAKE…

Cake – 07.20.08

I was asked to do a baby shower cake for a young man that attended our church for many years ago. He is now a preacher and has just adopted a newborn son with his wife. Our church decided to have a shower for them after tonight’s service so they went with a Rubber Duck Theme. I’ve done a few sheet cakes with rubber ducks before so I wanted this one to be completely different. I sat down with a notepad and came up with this design and knew it may be difficult and time-consuming, but there’s no other way I’d have it. It had to feed 50 people so I did a two-layer 12″ and two-layer 6″. The base cake is covered in buttercream icing including the grass. I then wrapped the ribbon around the side, tied the bow and added cattails. I then rolled out Marshmallow fondant to cover a layer of buttercream on the 6″ cake. I tinted a piece of fondant with blue shade to give the water a ripple effect. I used another piece of fondant and tinted it many shades of brown, cut them into planks and added creases into the wood to make it look natural. I then attached the water to the top and added one plank at a time. As soon as as the wood was in place, I rolled out a long strip of fondant to go around the top and bottom of the bucket to act as braces. I hand molded the bar of soap and ladybugs and then draped the baby towel over the side of the tub. I added buttercream bubbles, cattails and finally placed the duck on top with a matching bow around its neck. After a little over six hours of baking and decorating it came together just like the drawing I had envisioned in my mind. I was very happy with the outcome and now know you can do anything you put your mind to. So congrats to you, William, Glenna and Isaiah!

• FLYER DESIGN FOR A FRIEND…

Graphic Design – 07.14.08

So I received an email from a high school friend stating he needed a new flyer to advertise his landscaping business. He sent me the info and a photo of his work. The photo was beautiful, but had a washed-out sky, so I did a bit of photo manipulation and added a bright blue sky to his original photo to make it pop. I made a quick logo to incorporate the blades of grass he had used before since we couldn’t get our hands on a large quality file. We worked with three different layouts, but we went for the one below. Best of luck to you and your business, Kyle!