Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fore!

Lucky young husband gets a new set of golf clubs from adorable wife for his birthday present. Adorable wife orders golf bag cake to match the present. How lucky IS this guy, right?

And what's a golf bag cake without ...

Golf ball cookies!

Princess Tea party


A princess cake for a darling 4-year-old who loves to play Princess with her little brother, and calls him her frog prince. How cute is that? The frog prince is perched on the right side of the cake, holding a big pink heart for his sister. Bottom layer White Princess Sour Creme, top layer Chocolate.

Denise


Ordered by a sister for her sister's surprise birthday party. I'm loving this black-and-white theme. White princess sour creme cake with buttercream icing and fondant.

And now, scroll down to read further about the background story on this cake ...

Lest you think ...

... that my decorating life is an easy, peasy piece of cake every day, I invite you to scroll down and see my latest ...

Cake Disaster!

Yup. This is it. An official Cake Disaster. This was to be the bottom tier of the "Denise" cake above. Had it all iced and covered in fondant the night before it was due. Got up the next morning to decorate it, and found THIS! Total collapse.

Had to run to the store, buy ingredients, rush back home and bake two more 10" layers, ice them, cover them in fondant, then assemble the entire cake ... all before noon.

Oy vey.

But I did it. And now I know that it can be done. But I'd rather do without the stress, thank you.

School Fundraiser


While I very much enjoy creating these cakes for various school fundraising events, I'll truly be glad when all schools are generously funded simply because every American recognizes how vital an excellent educational system is to the future of our country.

Boss's Birthday

So there's this boss. Who absolutely loves wedding cake. Who had a birthday. And he owns his own company.

So what did his employees get him for his birthday? This fancy little two-tiered wedding cake decorated with the swirling greens of his company logo.

That boss must be a really nice guy, and he sure has employees who love him!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

A Fairies-in-the-Garden Party

Complete with gerber daisies, toadstools, butterflies and fairy atop. White Princes Sour Creme cake (what else?) iced in buttercream, covered in fondant. The party favors are below ...

Fairy Wand Cookie Favors


Star-shaped cookies on-a-stick, wrapped with ribbons in the party colors. For all the little fairy princesses to take home.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Turning 50

A pink champagne cake (for 60) iced in buttercream for a guy who's been a dancer/choreographer/director all his adult life.

The sides of the cake featured marquees for musicals that he either starred in or choreographed, the #50 was bursting with crystalline fireworks, and that freckly-looking stuff on the top of the cake is actually edible glitter.

I obviously needed daughter #1's photog skills to make that glitter look sparkly rather than freckly. Oh well. It was pretty.

I think I want a piece right now ...

OH NO!

Sorry, Lauren!

This OU grad's birthday falls right around their battle with UT every year. Last year the Sooners not only won, but they won with the exact points of her age. This year -- not so much.

Bummer.

And yes, those are "Longhorns turned upside down" around the sides of the cake. And none of the players from UT even showed up on the field.

At least in the cake version. I tried.

Have a happy birthday anyway, Lauren.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Roberts Elementary

This is a teacher-appreciation cake for a local elementary school. The parents wanted to do something nice for teachers and staff after all they had been through, post-Hurricane Ike. They requested a cake that looked like the school did on that Monday after Ike blew through town.

Thus, the messy school grounds and the downed branches, trees and leaves. If you look closely, the bottom right hand corner of the front of the cake features an orange hurricane symbol -- named IKE!

The actual school is a blond brick building with a red front door and blue shutters at the windows. They fly the American and Texas flags inside that little round sidewalk-enclosed garden space at the front door. And the international flags out front represent their upcoming International Festival.

I'm hoping there won't be a crumb left.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Fiona

Don't you just love this little princess's name? She has two darling older brothers, too. Fiona loves pink, princess-y, chocolate, raspberry and the prince-charming frog. I daresay she got it all with this cake. Plus a tiara she can wear forevermore!

Cookies for an art opening

A friend of ours celebrated the opening of her one-woman show in a local art gallery last night. Her paintings are absolutely exquisite. These cookies were designed after one particular piece of hers, entitled "Conception." While my cookie form of the art doesn't hold a candle to her actual piece, it was close enough for at least one person to exclaim, "Those cookies look just like the art!"

I highly encourage anyone in Houston to make a beeline to the Rotunda Gallery at St. Luke's Church on Westheimer to see her fabulous work. Her art will be on display there throughout the month. Hours are 8-5 M-F, 8-noon on Sundays. You will be quite taken with the rich depths of color and the organically flowing form of her work. It is gorgeous.

Henry

This little boy loves chess (and yes, he's only six years old). He also loves chocolate cake and chocolate icing. So he got it all for his birthday this year (the chocolate is under the white fondant). And that Number Six cookie on top was all for him. I hear he was quite the excited birthday boy when he laid eyes on that cake.

The chess pieces are plastic, but the chess board is fondant. Yes, I DID cut out 32 1" square white tiles, and 32 1" square black tiles. For any of you who know me, precision is not my forte, but I think this turned out rather well. Except for the fact that the bottom left hand tile should have been black, thus I messed up the entire board. Dang it. But I never did learn how to play chess ... hopefully Henry will forgive me.

Another Mom Turns 50!

You know you've done something right as a mom when your kids get you a glamorous gold-and-white party cake for your 50th birthday celebration. White princess sour creme cake with buttercream icing. Royal icing decor, painted with gold luster dust.