Gruesome Twosome

This cake was made for some very dear friends for their Anniversary.  They were married on Halloween!  So this triple threat includes cake, cookies and popcorn balls.  This cake was so much fun to make and was inspired by a cake in Wilton yearbook...if anyone really wants to know what book it's in, I'll look it up for you.  Instead of making one skeleton coming out of the grave....I made a couple.  Now for the details:

I started with a regular 9 x 13 pan and chocolate cake (for the dirt).  Casually iced the cake in chocolate buttercream.  I used tip #233 to make the grass border.  The gravestones are cookies on sticks , iced in grey buttercream icing with black buttercream lettering.  I dug up two shallow areas that the gruesome twosome  would be exiting from and sprinkled some of it on top of the cake.    I made two proportional heads using a popcorn ball recipe ( I also insterted a cookie sticks for stability).  Other pieces of popcorn were used for the arms and fingers.  The elbow portion is two toothpicks with popcorn on them (glued with buttercream).  Eyes, nose and mouth are piped with buttercream using a tip #5.  The hat is fondant and attached using a toothpick and the veil is made of tulle (also attached with a toothpick). Each skeleton got a sprinkling of chocolate cake to resemble the dirt they came through. 

   

For my Dear Friend Sharen

Cake Decorating is all about making memories.  Watching the recipients face light up when they see the cake that was made just for them.  There are many people who want to help make those memories.  They accomplish this by taking cake classes and it's a good thing they do, otherwise I would have no one to teach.  My friend Sharen had wanted to take classes.  Like many of us, time gets away from us and we are pulled in different directions and it just isn't possible.  When Sharen finally did have time to take the classes, she didn't have the strength.  Sharen had stage 4 colon cancer, and she was losing that battle.  Myself and a few other friends spent  a lot of time at Sharen's house those last few months.  She was very independent, yet she needed round the clock care.  She hated that we were hovering over her or babysitting her as she liked to say, but we were as stubborn as she was.  I finally told her that we weren't going away, but as long as I was there I would do what she wanted.  If she wanted to talk, we'd talk.  If she wanted to sleep I'd let her sleep. If she wanted me to leave her alone, I would sit in a corner and read a book but I wasn't going away.  I wanted to spend time with her and if she was having a good day we would do whatever she wanted.  She kept asking about my classes and when the next ones started, but I knew that she wasn't strong enough.  The next time I came to visit, I was armed with cake decorating supplies and a student book.  I stood in her kitchen and baked a cake and then I taught her how to decorate.  Sharen collected lighthouses, so when it was time to do the piping gel transfer I pulled out the lighthouse picture and her face lit up.  When her son, Thad, showed up, he joined in (he had a knack for it and I still think he should take classes!)      

Sharen learning how to do a Piping Gel Transfer.



Thad and Sharen with the completed cake.

I'm a better person for having known Sharen.  She was an awesome lady and I know that she is with my mother in heaven and they are giving St. Peter a run for his money.  Her time on this earth was too short but I was blessed enough to have known her,worked with her and to call her my friend and casino buddy {another story for another time ;) }  This week it will be one year since she passed away and in the words of Toby Keith,  "I'm gonna miss that smile, I'm gonna miss my friend.  Even though it hurts the way it ended, I'd do it all again." 





Every cake has a story

Now whether the story of the cake is just to satisfy a sweet tooth, or to say Happy Birthday, Congratulations, We're starting a new family, We're having a baby...whatever.  The cake does have a story.  I'm going to share some of  the stories of cakes I've made.  I've often heard people say, "Why are cakes so expensive?  It's just flour, sugar and eggs!"  If only cake were just flour, sugar and eggs, bakeries would go out of business. A cake is a labor of love, a creative outlet.  The cake is the centerpiece of a the celebration.  It says something about the person that it was made for.  When I look back at the pictures of my cakes...they all have a story.  Some are happy, other's make me smile or chuckle, and other's make me just a little sad. 

My First Class Cake

OK, if this cake doesn't make you laugh, there is something wrong with you.  But let me tell you I was so proud of the cake.  I couldn't wait to put the 9-1-1 Mascot (Red E. Fox) on my cake using a piping gel transfer.  Now to all my students pay extra special attention to the crazy uneven zigzag border and the not too smooth icing job.  The story of this cake is all about learning a new set of skills yet still clinging to that which was comfortable (9-1-1).  My co-workers at the 9-1-1 center were the beneficiaries of this fine piece of culinary art. :) 

Have you made a cake with a story?  If so, I hope you'll share.

Cake Susan

Witches Brew

This is a Halloween cake I did for a bake sale. The pans used were the mini wonder mold (aka mini doll pan). I made 4 of the dome shapes, 3 for the witches and 1 for the cauldron. They are iced in buttercream an the hats are half of an oreo, minus the cream filling topped with a cone shaped mound of buttercream. Each doll pick is holding a cookie stick that is inserted into the cauldron. The cauldron is the remaining dome shape with the top cut off and inverted, then I scooped out some of the cake from what used to be the bottom to create the inside. The "brew" is buttercream with various gummy candies (frogs, worms, etc) inside.

In the beginning...

I've always had this facination with cake.  What's not to love?  It's sweet and delicious and the center of almost every celebration.  My Mother was an awesome baker.  She was known for all of  her cooking.  In grade school we used to sell her peanut brittle and fudge on the school bus, and every summer we got the community pool for free (as long as my mom would promise to bring her famous German Chocolate Cake!)  Mom's baking was always delicious.

I was always the one to try and make everything pretty and I always marveled at the bakery cakes with their sugar roses and shell borders.  But never really knew how to go about learning the skills to be able to create a beautiful cake.  In 2001, I saw a flyer for Wilton Cake Decorating classes.  There I met my first cake Mentor and Instructor Rhonda and I was hooked!  I took every class that was offered and still wanted to learn more.  Now I teach those same classes.  I like to share with my students and was asked by one of them to start this blog....Here you go Susan!! :)