Cake Cred- Celeb Style

I've simply resolved that I just wont be over here nearly as much as I used to be. And that means that you guys have to pass your days without knowing every waking thought that passes through my tangled brain.
You're probably ok with that.
It's ok.
But, I do want to jot down the big stuff. The OMG I want to remember this moment and what it meant to me.
I had my first Ace of Cakes moment last week.
Thats right, I made a cake for a celebrity. And I know this is a big deal because my klout score climbed to 68. (Ok, I don't care about klout, its obviously really stupid. It must be if I'm 'succeeding' at it. But it makes me laugh.)
One of my really awesome clients found out that George Takei would be in town and touring their facility last Thursday and that Saturday was his birthday. So they called me for the cake. After a bit of discussing, it was decided that we must do the Starship Enterprise. (although a true Star Trek geek friend pointed out that it should have been this other ship that he was captain of. And yes, several other geeks later pointed that same thing out. Regardless, Enterprise, it was.)
So I went home and Brad and I made the supporting base Tuesday night. Wednesday I decorated it and they picked it up first thing Thursday morning.

I'm not going to go into the frustration of keeping those little thingy attached at the back. (I think I saw someone call them 'nacelles') We built the frame quickly and they weren't attached well. I was scared one might fall off. Thankfully, it didn't.
Thursday was a good day (totally making up for the frustration of the day before) And now, I have a cool photo to put into one of the many frames on my bakery wall!

SWW: Progress

While I've been busy in the kitchen making these:

They've been busy in my bakery putting up these.

The first set is cake dummies and the second set is walls, for those of you following along at home. 

Everything and a bag of chips

When I worked retail, I was bad about starting several projects and finishing them at varying rates. On any given day you could walk into my store and find a wall torn down, half rebuilt, a stack of shirts that I was tagging to go out, a drawn with the contents strewn everywhere in hopes that I would 'organize it' as well as something in the back of the store like last nights receipts.
When I started writing, I did the same thing, except it became my desktop littered with opened word document. Some had copy, some just had a few notes, while several others just had my header, so that I would 'eventually get started.'
Now that I'm at home, it's gotten worse. Yesterday I sewed a pillow, painted a picture for the [new] spare bedroom wall, baked a loaf of bread, worked on my book and brought home a table that needs to be sanded, primed and painted for my bakery.

The room will be yellow, grey and black.

Needless to say, I gave up on the fourth side of the pillow until I try to use a different sewing machine. I'm having problems and I don't know if it's a user error or the thirty year old sewing machine I'm trying to figure out (sans-manual). I did manage to complete a roman shade for the laundry room. (But it's sitting on the dryer, I didn't exactly install it yet.)
The cinnamon raisin bread came out yummy, if not a tiny bit overinflated. And, can I say, golden raisins are far more scrumptious than regular raisins?
The book continues to chug along at the rate of a paragraph per day. But, according to a story I watched on 60 minutes yesterday, it's not my fault. It's the internet's fault. It's broken our attention span down so much that we can't focus on large projects. Or at least I think that's what it said, I stopped listening.
My bakery colors are shades of white, pink and orange. And since the walls will be light pink and several of the accessories are darker pink, I should probably paint this table orange. (A pale sherbet kind of orange, not halloween orange) but I kind of want to paint it turquoise!  But that's not part of my color palate, so orange it is.

Table to be rehabbed. Better photos to come.

Today's tasks:
Pick the bag worms off my tree. Those bastards are killing it and frankly, I don't need any help killing my shrubbery, thankyouverymuch. Then, a trip to Home Depot to pick up orange paint for the table and gray paint for the walls of the spare bedroom. Yes, despite the whole 'not making any money at the moment therefore we shouldn't spend money' thing, I have a suspicion that we might be selling our house very soon. We tend to do these kinds of giant things on whims and we need the last room complete. Then I need to start baking. Come Saturday, a friend of mine will be in town and will photograph a bunch of my sweets! This will be used for my webpage, in-store photography and stuff like that. So I need to bake a few cakes, brownies, cupcakes, cookies and maybe a cheesecake, so that I have a variety of items ready to go. Oh, and macarons. They're just too cute to leave out. I'm really excited about this. And will probably spend way too much time prepping for it this week.

Not an example of my friends awesome photography. This is my lame photography.

So, have you seen any really cool food photography that we should try to emulate? I'm thinking it's going to be more scene-oriented. (If that's a thing) Some might be set up like the cupcakes are in the process of being decorated, with a spill of sprinkles and a piping bag of icing placed nearby. I plan on photographing the rainbow cake with a big slice taken out of it, showing all the pretty layers with the rest of the cake in the background. Stuff like that.
OH! And I forgot the big thing. I won an online auction for a mixer. It's odd in that it's a very old mixer (like way old), but bakeries and pizza places still use them. They're built like tanks. Regardless, I got one that says it works (fingers crossed, it's a gamble.) but instead of the $8,000 that they can cost, I got mine for $130. Yes. $130. I have to buy a bowl and the attachment, (which, I've already found locally for $150) so, total investment, less than $300 for a 30 quart mixer. But, that means I have to drive to northwest Arkansas to go pick it up. Tomorrow. Looks like that collection in the garage is going to be growing.

Lately

I've been a crazy cake-baking lady lately.

From a cute Cat in the Hat cake,

To clown shoes for a friend,

To a race car...

That lights up! I've been busy.

There have been matching car cookies,

And kites for Thing #1 and Thing #2 to match the cake,

There have even been Samurai Power Ranger cupcakes!

On the bakery front, things are moving forward. I think I'm getting my location. I want it to be official before I start announcing it. So as soon as I hear something, I will let you guys know. And when I do, I'll show you the logo, too! My house is slowly piling up with bakery related items. There are cloche jars in the spare bedroom, the pool table is covered in glass jars, little shelves and far too many paper straws. And in the garage? With my new car? A commercial oven.

What, you don't keep a giant oven in your garage? I thought everyone did.
The doors are taped up because we had to remove the handles to get it out of the back of the restaurant where it was being kept.
I kept telling Brad it was 'big.' He kept asking why I couldn't just use a regular oven. And I would say, "No, this is bigger than a regular oven. It's like five feet tall or something." And I don't think he ever really 'got' how big it was, until he was standing in front of it asking me how the hell we were supposed to move it.
:)
I won't go into the full details of how we [meaning he and the nice guy selling it to me] drug it to a back door and then how his truck couldn't get straight at the door because the alley was too narrow, and that they [now 4 guys] ended up pushing the [500 lb] oven across three boards into the truck. And that we had to drive with it [taller than the truck] for almost 70 miles. Truckers were passing us angrily.

Regardless, it was quite eventful but saved me over $1,000 on this [very slightly] used oven. So, I'm happy.

Wordless Wednesday

Lately, I've been busy.

Brad can't wait until our kitchen is no longer covered in sugar.

And I can't either.

The Rainbow Cake

I've been dying to make a rainbow cake. But I've never had a good reason to. Typically the cakes I'm asked to do are focused on something else-a birthday theme, a character, or the recipient just feels 'too old' for a rainbow cake.

But last week Kerri asked me to make a simple Thank You cake for some ladies at church that would be served to the kids in daycare.
Bingo.

I started with a double batch of cake batter and divided it equally among six bowls. I've seen other pictures where cakes like this are done with a fade (light to dark pink) or two alternating colors. So mix as many colors as you want.

I used whatever colors I had on hand (I have a lot, don't get me wrong) but some of the Wilton colors have been hanging around for a while. Honestly, I prefer the AmeriColor gels soooo much more. They are easier to work with (no digging it out with a toothpick) and the colors are great. The electric pink is my absolute fav.

I mixed the colors in. The cakes will bake the colors that you see. So if you want an intense red, add a lot of red. It's not going to get darker or lighter. WYSIWYG.

Once baked, level the cakes and start stacking! I really wanted to just leave the cake like this. So pretty! But where's the fun or surprise in that?
At this point Brad wanted to know if the layers were fruit flavored. He really wanted the cake to taste like Trix. It did not. BUT, it could have. A small amount of extract (or even juice) could have flavored these layers cherry, orange, lemon, lime, [blueberry?] and grape.

I covered it all in icing and topped it with colored jimmies. I liked the tiny hint of what was to come!

I could have left it just like that, but it was a thank you cake after all. So I wrote little happys all over it. 

According to Kerri, it was a hit. She said there was a piece left over and she said it could be thrown away. Another mom yelled, "NO! I mean, we'll take it home."

I took the left over cake and made colored cake pops. I didn't eat one myself and when I gave one to Brad to bite into so I could grab a photo, he shoved the whole thing in his mouth. I guess he liked it.

Notes about this cake. The layers were almost exactly what I needed to make six cakes. There wasn't much room for error. I had enough cake left over to make 12 cake pops. That's it. I use a cake saw to make sure my cakes are level and exactly the same. I recommend it always. This is a tall cake. Technically it's three 'normal' cakes tall. It can get cumbersome on an 8 inch cake. So be careful. If the cake got much taller, it would have needed internal support to keep it steady (IMHO) which would have taken away from the layers. Since there are so many layers and colors, it's OK if the layers are on the thin side. Mine were around 3/4 of an inch tall.

Wordless Wednesday

The general consensus is that I did not charge enough for this cake.

Also, rice krispie pillars can be a bitch.

3rd times a charm

This weekend I made a cake. It's a cake I've made before, based off of a cake that's been made a bajillion times.
It's an engagement cake that features an oversized ring in a box. And since I'm not in the mood for a 'big reveal' and because I want this cake photo to show up as my thumbnail and not the original. Crazy yes? Do I care, not too much.

Here it is in all it's pretty glory.

I'm not going to lie, it didn't start out this way.

OK, it sort of did. The more cakes I do, the better I get. Practice and all.

One of the things I tend to run into is not having enough fondant of a certain color. Since every color is a custom mix for a particular project, I hardly ever use the left over. But really, fondant drapes over a cake better when there's more of it than less. That wasn't exactly a problem this time.

The problem with this cake was the ring. (Now I show you my original)

This ring was done in the fall, so the colors were more fall inspired. (I'm sounding sooo smart right now, I'm fully aware of this. I blame Starbucks having no power. Yes, I will talk about it all day.)
The difference is, this one had a paperweight in the cake for the ring. I love the idea of the bride being able to keep the ring after the cake is long gone. We (meaning I recommended it and the Shower thrower MOH? got it done) had the ring engraved with the couples names. Awww.

For the cake this weekend, I mentioned I could make it out of fondant, instead of the paperweight.
That was the option selected. Confident in myself, I made the ring. Frankly I thought I was pretty damn clever. I used some older [read: hard as a rock] leftover fondant from the predator head cake a few months ago. I warmed it in the microwave to make it pliable and then, took the 'band' part and draped it over a 4 inch springform pan. The 'spring' part helped the pan stand up on its side without rolling around. Then, I baked it in the oven. I read this trick on a blog somewhere recently. But I can't remember the temperature they recommended. Or the time.
Based on what came out of the oven, I was very wrong on my guess of 350 degrees and 10 minutes. The fondant puffed up really thick and smelled like cotton candy. I decided the puffy band would work. I cut it to a perfect half circle, added the top part of the ring and painted it silver.
I was getting ready to go out Saturday night and 'propped' the ring on the cake, thinking it would just stand there, not pushed into the cake.
I was wrong.

It fell while I was in the shower. It did not survive the 4 foot fall to the hard wood floor.
For shame.
I rushed around and made another. I didn't turn the temp as high. I didn't leave it in as long. It did not puff up.
I left it on the springform pan to set overnight.
Fastforward to Sunday. MOH was 45 from showing up. I placed the ring in/on the cake. Curled up not feeling well [read: hungover] I glanced over that the cake.

Son of A!

I made a THIRD ring. Luckily, the top part survived as this ring did not topple off the cake/table, it just imploded upon itself into a tired little heap. A sad, tired little heap.
A pitiful, sad, tired little heap of overworked fondant.
I cranked the oven up high, left it in as long as I could, considering I had already gotten a text that the MOH was en route. Painted (And supported with some wire inside the ring), this one survived.
Thankfully. I was almost completely out of predator head.

The MOH (maid of honor, in case you're wondering) texted me and said that it made the trip. I breathed a sigh of relief.
And? I will never make another ring out of fondant. Not that I can't, just that this cake tapped me out.



And, since you stuck around, here are some cookies I made. Pink peacock feathers. Aren't they presh?

Wordless Wednesday

Recent Cakes:

Adorable pea pod cupcakes (for a woman having triplets)

(Original inspiration came from Pink Cake Box)

The Cookies

For a 5-year old's birthday party

For his other birthday party

(This is THE yummiest cake-chocolate cake soaked in raspberry, 

layered with chocolate ganache and covered with more ganache. 

A tiny sliver will do.)

Wordless Wednesday Cake

It's Predator.
It's a cake.

It's a Predator cake.

And it was requested by a 10 year-old. His Stepmom (my friend) told him I couldn't do it so the cake would be a surprise. Upon my arrival the first words out of his mouth were, "I told you she could do it!"

Kids have faith.

I like big butts and I can not lie

OK, sorry, that song was in my head the weekend I made my sister's birthday cake.
I guess I should explain. Nikki does roller derby and her nickname is "Sandra Buttock." Apparently she's come to be known by her ass. (Must run in the family. For white girls, we kind of have some booty.)
So, I was asked to make her a cake of - yes, her ass.
I tried to offer making a pair of skates. It was politely declined. (which, was probably best, I had too much going on with the 700 cookies to really focus on a pair of skates.)
Nope, she wanted an ass.
I told them that body part cakes were 'cheesy.' (I was being nice. You can read how Aud feels about body part cakes and know that I share her sentiment.)
They said yes, they wanted cheesy.
OK, fine. Ask and you shall receive.

They wanted her signature purple 'derby skins' (AKA booty shorts) and some kind of fishnet leggings with her nickname on the hiney. (Also, let's not discuss what the heck was going on at my house that in the background of the hiney cake is a bowl of grapes and a screwdriver.)

So, then like I usually do, I tweeted it.

And, I mentioned cakewrecks, because, well, I think Jen rocks and I prefer to acknowledge that the cake is crazy. That was sometime Friday night.
I woke up Saturday to this:

Hello! Cakewrecks retweeted me. (Granted it was totally a gimme, but still!) So, her 1.4 million followers saw my name.
Briefly.
At, like, 8 in the morning.
On a Saturday.
So, you know, I'm famous now. But I'm not letting it go to my head.

Anyway, if you want my autograph, just let me know. I'll send you one. You know, if I have the time.

Cookie hell

Alternatively titled: The longest post about cookies ever.
Alternately-Alternately titled: 300

Because that's how many cookies I made this weekend.
Yes, you read that correctly. Also, I made a birthday cake, petit fours and another 40-something cookies.

Because I must hate myself.

How does one cram all of that into one weekend? Glad you asked, here's the breakdown:

Thursday night:
After work come home and make 2 double batches of this cookie recipe. (Would have made 3 but I didn't have enough eggs or butter. Because I apparently can't multiply)

Bake 5 cakes (should have been 7 but I ran out of cake mix. Yes, I use cake mix. But I 'jazz it up a bit.')

Friday night:

5:15 Stop at grocery store to buy eggs, butter and cake mix.

5:45 Get home and make dinner.

6:20 Bake remaining 2 cakes.

6:40 Start baking cookies. Beginning with baby shower cookies.

8:30 Finish baking 45 baby shower cookies and 200 of the 300 cookies. Switch to cake.

9:20 Finish assembling and icing 3-tier birthday cake.

9:35 Decorate 20 petit fours.

10:00 Text Brad to see where he was (See, I knew that since I had taken on far too much that he would be 'concerned' so I sent him away with our friend Scotty)

10:05 Make small batch of icing for baby shower cookies. Decorate.

11:00 Call hubs who still hasn't answered. Call Scotty (also no answer), call Scotty's wife, Heather and see if she's heard from them.

11:15 Decorate more cookies.

11:30 Frantically call hubs again. Not because I was worried, but because I was exhausted. He finally answers his phone.

11:45 Wrap up petit fours.

12:00 Brad comes home. I go pass out.

Saturday:
7:00 Wake up early because I know I have a ton to do. Put flowers on the birthday cake.

7:45 Begin baking remaining 100 cookies.

9:20 Make the world's largest batch of icing ever. (OK, probably not ever, but it felt like it.)

9:45 Start piping the outline of circles onto cookies. Continue until noon.

12:00 Begin flood filling the cookies. Get about 12 cookies in and realize that the grey is a bit lighter than the CJRW logo. Remix and darken the icing.

12:15 Wash out mixer. Realize that icing is still too light. Curse and darken again.

12:30 Flood fill 90+ cookies.

1:50 Get cake ready to deliver to friend at our 'meeting place.'

1:55 Get a block from the house and realize that the cake is going to fall over. Turn around, come home. Try not to cry.

2:00 Take cake apart (bottom tier was not holding up well), curse buying a different brand of cake mix. Curse Walmart for being out of the kind I usually buy. Suck it up and make two cakes.

2:30 Turn back around and go to meeting place.

2:40 Be grateful for really cool, understanding friends.

3:00 Decorate a few more cookies.

3:30 Meet up to deliver petit fours and baby shower cakes.

4:00 Decorate more cookies.

5:00 Rest.

6:00 Get ready for Christmas party. Don't think about baking again until the next morning.

Sunday:

8:00 Get up early. Realize exactly how much my back hurts. Decorate more cookies.

10:00 Finish flood filling all the cookies. Begin piping letters.

2:00 Finish piping 75 Cs, 75 Js, 75 Rs and 75 Ws. Text Nancy and complain about her choice of typeface for the logo.

2:30 Go to Target to return Christmas gift and 'let the cookies dry.'

5:00 Make dinner (Um, I forgot to make any lunch).

6:00-8:30- bag cookies individually.

8:30 Place bagged cookies into boxes.

9:00 Swear that I will never, ever commit to that again. Pass out, glad to have that behind me.