Roses and loops

For my daughter's birthday I asked her what she would like. She said a pink cake, with brown roses and swirls (while making a loop motion in the air) When I asked her if this was what she had pictured she said "no, not really but this is good too". I guess that means she liked it.

Birthday Candle Cake

I love how fun this cake is. I needed a bday cake for a young girl who's favorite colors were green and turquoise. I had seen a cake with the cherries and candles on it and had wanted to try them. I figured this was a good time to use them on a cake. My husband said it looks like a cupcake with the black background so I took a few other shots on a plate to better show the size.

Soccer Cake

I made this for a girl turning 12. When I asked her what she wanted she told me she likes soccer and her favorite color is orange. So you here you have it. Soccer and orange. Turned out to be a good combo. I have to say though, the soccer ball was a struggle. I really wanted to try the ball shape and I am glad I did. But I am also glad that part of cake decorating is covering flaws. On the back of the ball is a big 12. Not part of the original plan but it worked.

Another 2 cake day

My aunt called and requested 2 birthday cakes for the day of her daughter's wedding. Her mother and nephew both had birthdays the day of the wedding. They had decided to set out bday cakes at the reception.

Crossword Cake-

My aunt was not sure what she wanted for her mother's cake other than flavor. Fortunately she called back with an idea. Her mother loves crossword puzzles. The rest she left up to me. I wanted to stick to a black/white sort of cake just as a crossword page would be but threw in some red for a color pop. I decided to stick to a more casual flower since crosswords are not typically thought of as an elegant thing.

Army Boy-

My aunt requested something army/camouflage for her nephew turning 8. He had recently made a wish through make a wish foundation for an army jeep so she wanted to stick to that. I decided to sculpt the little boy in an army outfit. I also made a little toy tank that he would be playing with. Unfortunately, I think my picture of him was not very good but I was happy with how he turned out. I ran out of time but I would have liked to have something more around him, oh well. I made the sides of the cake camouflage and then did a border at the bottom of pebbles and rocks. I was able to meet him and his family at the wedding and they seemed to be pretty pleased with it.

Brown and Pink Cake

Another small cake for a birthday girl in my church class. I had seen pictures of these roses and decided to give it a shot. I think they turned out adorable and I loved the stripes with it. Another really fun one to make. I love girly cakes!

Chocolate and Mint.... what a yummy combination

I had considered making a cake for the many June birthdays we have in the Rich family since most of them were going to be together this year. My sister in-law called shortly after and asked if I would make a bday cake for her while she was there. It was her first pregnancy and she requested a baby themed cake to announce her pregnancy to everyone. That lasted about a week until she couldn't wait any longer and told everyone she was expecting. So we went back to plan A for the June bday cake but I added a special surprise for her in the box on top.

I had seen a picture of a cake I wanted to try but I did not have the same equipment to make it exact. So I used what I had and got creative. I also added the chocolate box on top for the surprise. This was the first time I had tried modeling chocolate and I had fun with it. Very easy to make, only two ingredients. The top layer was a chocolate mint layer, the bottom was a cherry chocolate layer.

Saxophone.... hmm

Ben's co-worker ordered a cake for her father's 90th birthday. She asked for a saxophone cake. I wasn't sure at first how to make a sax. I figured I either needed to sculpt an actual sax or make a figure playing a sax. I was fairly comfortable with figures by now but knew I would have to stretch myself to sculpt and cover a sax. I decided to try out the sculpted sax. It was not as hard as I had imagined it to be but it did take a lot of time. I ended up making two sizes and having to cover the sax several times to get the color right for the gold. I had to adjust my design in the end a bit but I was happy with how it turned out in the end. I think I would rather not see peoples reactions who I hand the cakes over too. It makes me too nervous. She seemed to like it though.

Butterflies

My second daughter for some reason always ends up with butterflies. I don't know if it is because she really likes them or it just ends up that way but she is usually seen with butterflies on. So she was all for a butterfly cake this year. I used a stamp for the butterflies and then cut them out by hand. Yes, it took awhile.

Gone Fishing

I had an order for a 60 yr old outdoors man's birthday celebration. I went with fishing. I had a near disaster with the fondant, for some reason it was not working that day. Fortunately my mom was visiting that day to lend an extra set of hands!

Chocolate strawberries anyone?

This is the cake I made for my mom and sister's graduation. They both had a graduation from SUU that day. I had fun trying new flavors for the cakes but the funnest part was working with my brother on it. He worked as my "assistant" for the day. We were in the kitchen that day from 9am until 9pm. Then again the next morning for a few hours for assembly. What a trooper he was!

Hamburger and Fries

Another boy in my class had a birthday. He was celebrating his birthday with 2 of his cousins so I added their names to the cake. I think this was the most fun I have had making a cake. His mom said the kids all had fun eating the hamburger and fries off the cake.

Easter baskets

So I had the great idea to make a few cakes to hand out for Easter. I planned on much more but ended up making 5 of these cakes. One may have been fairly simple but 5 took a lot of time! I was happy with how they turned out but glad when they were all done.

BYU... go cougars!

Another church class birthday. I was having a harder time coming up with boy ideas but I knew he liked BYU so decided to go with that. It is a little hard to see in the picture but it says BYU in the front.

Bumble Bee Cake

I decided to make small birthday cakes for the kids in my church class. I thought this bee cake was adorable and very appropriate for a 9 yr old girl. My cousin came over that night and helped me decorate it. I have to say, her bees (pictured) were cuter than mine. It is fun to make these small cakes because they are fairly quick.

2 in 1 Day?!

I almost bit off more than I could chew planning two cakes for the same night. Fortunately, I bit and was able to not only chew but swallow. My son was born the day before my brother's birthday. So when we invited them for my son's bday party I thought I should make a small cake for him as well. Unfortunately I had picked a rather complicated cake for my son which left very little time for a second cake. But I was able to complete both of them by the morning of.

My son, like most 2 yr olds, loved Elmo. He is also OBSESSED with balloons. Even more than most 2 yr olds. So I decided to attempt my first sculpted cake. Whew, it was a lot of figuring out and work. Just like all my other firsts, I learned a lot and wished I could change a lot but I was happy it looked like Elmo. And what was his favorite part about the cake? It was the balloon Elmo was holding:)

For my brother I decided to make a suitcase since he had recently returned from Europe. I was not a real big fan of eating fondant so I decided to try a recipe I had found for marshmallow fondant. The texture was a bit different and not as easy to work with but the taste was much better.

Modest Mermaid?

My daughter was fairly obsessed with Ariel at the time of her birthday, so she of course asked for a mermaid cake. I wanted to give figure sculpting another shot so I came up with this. The hardest part was figuring out how to make a mermaid modest. I have have concerns about putting half naked figures on my 6 yr old daughter's cake so this was my solution. I was much happier with this figure and got a lot of practice sculpting while working on this one.

Give him chocolate

My husband is very boring when it comes to his birthday. All I could get out of him was chocolate cake. I was planning on making a simple chocolate cake and slopping some frosting on, not even taking it out of the pan. However, when the time came I couldn't resist doing something just a little nicer. He said chocolate, so I decided to give him chocolate! For some reason the frosting on top looks two tone in the pictures, not sure why.

Picnic Ants

I needed a cake for all of the May birthdays on my side of our family. So I thought a picnic feel would be appropriate for May with a check print, strawberries, flowers and ants.

Baby doll cake

My second daughter has told us for as long as she has been able to talk that when she grows up she wants to be a mother. So what did she request for her birthday cake? A baby. I looked and looked for a cute baby cake idea without it being a baby shower cake. Nothing, so I came up with my own idea. I was feeling brave and decided to attempt figure sculpting. Again, the first is always a learning experience. I made my daughter holding her baby doll. I also made a decision to do fondant for the first time in about 7 yrs. Another learning experience. Over all she was happy with it but I was eager for the next cake so I could apply all the wisdom I had just gained.

Ducky Cake.... the one that started it all!

I was looking for an idea for my son's first birthday. I saw a picture of a duck and bubbles cake. I knew there were things on it wanted to change but decided to give it a shot. I gave myself a week to work on the different pieces. Baking cake, whipping buttercream, baking gingerbread and painting. As a result I ended up with a fun, cute and fairly low stress cake. After this I went "cake crazy" and couldn't wait to try the many new ideas sprouting in my head.

My Blog

After several request for my blog address I decided I had better get with the times and put something together. This is very new to me but I am excited to have someplace to put my cakes. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoy making them.