Bee Cake!

My daughter and her boyfriend have been dating a year.  So I decided to make them a little cake to celebrate.  He loves bees and she loves cake - a perfect match! Ahh, teenage romance.

Sweet, cute, and fun.

Just like this cake! Enjoy :)

If you live in the Vancouver WA / Portland OR area and would like a special cake for your next occasion - leave me a message!

Chocolate and Raspberries? Yes Please!

I found the loveliest raspberries this week at the grocery store.  You know the ones - they are ripe and beautiful and in season and CHEAP.  And you think - 'What?! I can buy a Half Flat for only $11?? In winter one of those tiny little trays costs me $4!'

And so I found myself with a plethora of fresh raspberries and no plan.  So I made a simple raspberry jam on the stove today and decided to use that as a filling for my next cake :) And since I have friends coming over on Friday - what better time to kill two birds with one stone?  Raspberries and Chocolate cake!

For this cake I decided to do a Chocolate cake that uses sour cream, coffee and almond extract instead of Vanilla.  YUM! And a decadent chocolate buttercream icing.  Filled with the aforementioned raspberry jam and topped with - you guessed it - more raspberries!

I had fun doing this cake - it was nice to take a break from Fondant for a while and get out the piping bag :) This cake is classic and simple and elegant - I love it!

If you live in the Vancouver WA/ Portland OR area and would like a cake for your next special occasion - send me a message!

FAQ's

I've had so many more questions and inquiries about my cakes that I am RE-POSTING! 

Thank you for your interest!  Here are some basic answers to the most frequently asked questions I've been getting - and please feel free to ask MORE!  

Every cake I make is unique so all special requests will be considered. Here is a list of my current offerings:

1)What flavors of cake do you make?

Every cake I make is Custom - so you choose what you like best! Here are some standard flavors to get your mouth watering but I can do almost any request!

Chocolate

Vanilla

Coconut

Lemon

Spice

2)What fillings can I choose from?

 

Every layered cake begins with Buttercream frosting - which can also be flavored to compliment your cake) Some examples of that would be:

Butter-cream (Vanilla, Chocolate, Lemon, Almond or Coconut)

I also usually use a Secondary filling for my layered cakes.  The most common of these would be: 

Raspberry/strawberry preserves

Lemon curd

Fresh berries or Chocolate Ganache (extra charge)

3)What will you frost my cake with?

 

Every cake gets a base layer of Buttercream icing. That is either topped with more buttercream or a combination of buttercream and Fondant.  MOST of my cakes are finished in Fondant.  I may also use candies, modelling chocolate or specialty gumpaste to complete your designed cake. (Extra charges may occur)

Here I want to make a note that I MAKE MY OWN FONDANT - it is not cardboard-y or tasteless.  It is a sweet, soft and mellow homemade confection!  Almost everyone who has tried my fondant has exclaimed that they have never had a fondant they liked until mine!!

4)How much do you charge?

 

My cakes are Very Reasonably priced for custom cake design! 

I start with a base price to cover my expenses and then use a calculation based on how many people the cake needs to feed and the degree of difficulty (i.e. how many hours spent decorating).  I know you all want a BALLPARK figure - so . . . The BEST information I can give you is that you can expect to pay at least:

 

$40-70 for a small cake that will feed less than 15 people 

$60-140 for a small party or occasion cake the will feed more than 15 people

$100 and UP for wedding cakes, cakes that need to feed a big group of people (more than 20) and large party and occasion cakes.  

I give an EXACT quote for each and every cake!

If you live in the Vancouver WA/ Portland OR area and would like a unique and personal cake for your next celebration - contact me by commenting on this post!

Daisy Cake

I had a BIT of a cake crisis this week.  I had asked my readers for advise and ideas.  I had researched cake ideas online and I invested in a few COOL tools for my ever expanding cake empire LOL.  The problem?? 

Now I have TOO MANY ideas!

What a problem to have huh?  I have been practising my fondant flowers and forms lately and also the art of drying, freezing and storing fondant.  So I've had these daisies for a couple weeks and needed to use them.  I also wanted to try a Tall cake and torte layering. 

So this is a Ten layer lemon and berry cake with buttercream and fondant.  I love how this cake finished.  Its cute, gorgeous, friendly and I cant wait to cut into it and see all those beautiful layers!

I can absolutely see this as a birthday cake, baby shower cake, anniversary, wedding shower cake or even a simple Wedding cake! Don't you think?

If you need a FUN, friendly, gorgeous and personal cake for your next event and live in the Vancouver WA / Portland OR area - message me for details!

I need your help!

Hi readers and followers!  I want your help!  I'm EXCITED to say that in less than a month of 'putting myself out there' - I've already had several requests for cakes!

BUT . . . in between orders I want to keep my skills sharp and I want to Keep LEARNING.  There is SOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo much more I want to learn and do as a cake decorator!  You can help!!

Please comment on this blog and tell me what kind of cakes / techniques you are interested in seeing.  I have a lot of ideas but I want outside input. What kind of cakes inspire you?  What sort of ideas would you like to see me try?

Help me expand my abilities and grow my creativity by posting your comments and ideas here!!

YOU are all the Best - thank you!!!

Rose Cake

Having tackled fondant roses last week with so much fun and success I dedcided to try to make this 'Rosette' cake I had seen on Pinterest.  This was SUPER easy once I got the hang of it.

A girlfriend of mine who also decorates cakes thinks this would be beautiful in three tiers as a wedding cake and I must agree - I think that would be stunning!

The on-line picture I saw had used edible colored spray paint to tint the roses and bring out the texture.  I only had silver paint left (left over from the drum cake I did a couple months back).  I think that next time I do this I will just use tinted buttercream instead of the edible paint.  I like them both - but you decide which you prefer :)

If you need a cake for your next party or event and live in the Vancouver WA/ Portland OR area - message me or leave a comment for details!

Fondant Roses!

I blogged earlier about wanting to learn how to do my own sugar flowers.  I must admit that roses are, have been, my nemesis. I've tried them in buttercream and I've tried them in royal icing.  In both cases they were cute - but soft edged and more like a rosette than a real rose.  That changed for me this weekend.

After reading up on fondant roses and the different techniques and variations I decided to just relax and play around with making my own.  I made up some fondant and colored it in some really pretty sherbert-y colors;  coppery peach, sunflower yellow, lemon yellow, orange and marbled combinations of all of the above.

These are time consuming and delicate.  They dry quickly and break easily.  They are finicky and fussy.  And they are SO PRETTY!!

I had so much fun making these that I threw a cake together to have somewhere to 'use' them LOL.

I love, love, love, love (yep x4!) how these turned out.  I will not be afraid again.  In fact I'm pretty sure I see more flowers in my future :)

 

If you are wanting a special cake for your next event or special occasion and you live in the Vancouver WA/ Portland OR area - send me a message!