Rustic, Country Wedding Cake

  

   

   This past weekend was my brother-in-law's wedding in Texas.  I offered to make the cake because the couple is not picky and the design was simple.  This was, however, a huge cake (200+ servings, 4 tiers).  The theme for the wedding was sort of rustic, country chic.  The space was decorated with burlap, lace, and country accents like mason jar centerpieces.  The wedding colors were teal and coral, so I decided to do little pops of color for this cake using the coral color (gumpaste flower detail and base ribbon).  The cake itself was golden vanilla with vanilla buttercream and triple berry (strawberry, blackberry, and marionberry) filling.  The groom's cake was German chocolate, with coconut pecan frosting.  I had found a picture of a cute groom's cake on pinterest that I attempted to copy.  My brother-in-law is an avid hunter.  My mom-in-law decorated the deer with bridal outfits, and I thought her touches (the garter on the bride's hindleg and the diamond ring on hoof) were hilarious.     Congratulations Cage & Melinda!  We wish you many years of happiness together...

Baby Elephant Shower Cake

I had so much fun making this sweet little cake for a baby shower.  I got to learn a new technique via youtube, for a ruffled edge.  The balloon is made of fondant and is floating by way of a thin bendable wire placed in the elephant's trunk.  I was so excited about how this turned out!  I usually feel disappointed with baby shower cakes, for some reason, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Red Carpet Cake for Teacher Appreciation Week

I forgot to post this picture during Teacher Appreciation Week back in May.  This is cartoonish cake for a Red Carpet Theme celebration chosen by the PTO.  My son, Spencer, had the idea for this cake.  He imagined a stage cake with a runway, the rope divider, and characters stopping to pose for pictures.  The characters were school supplies dressed in evening wear and all glammed up for a Red Carpet event.  It was a little out there, but I think it was a fun cake and the teachers got a kick out of it.

Julia's First Cake

This spring, Julia's 2nd grade class had a celebration for the state of New Mexico...a big fiesta party.  She, of course, signed up to bring the cake and was insistent on decorating it herself.  She was so proud!  She did a really awesome job of frosting it yellow and piping the red Zia symbol on top.  Perhaps she will follow in the line of cake decorators in this family...

NY Yankees Birthday Cake

I made this cake for a young baseball player, who is the brother of my daughter's best friend.  He is a huge Yankees fan, so I decided to take inspiration from that and create a little baseball cap (copying one of his) for the top using a jumbo sized cupcake and making the bill out of matching fondant.  Happy Birthday, Jack!

Littlest Pet Shop Birthday Cake

For as long as I can remember, my niece Brianna has loved the Littlest Pet Shop toys.  This year, my family was going to surprise her with a cake for her birthday (I couldn't go on the trip, so I made her a cake and sent it with them with her presents).  This was a cake that I came up with all in one day.  I had gone to Target to get her presents and found a cute, little stuffed LPS character (pictured below). I decided to turn him into a cake and do some good old-fashioned star-tipping work on it to bring it to life. I could not find an LPS shaped cake pan. I baked a big sheet cake and cut it out, then added cake to the muzzle area to give more dimension.  I made the eyes out of fondant.  I'm still not really sure what type of animal it is, though I'll bet Brianna does.  Anyway, I think it turned out cute & it was lots of fun to make.

Simple Cake for a Cabin Birthday

Last Christmas, my family & I gathered at a rustic cabin at Angel Fire for a ski trip.  While we were there, we had an impromptu celebration for my nephew, Jackson, who turned 17 on New Year's Eve.  This was a simple chocolate cake, thrown together with rudimentary supplies.  I tried to make it more special by dressing it up with some berries I dipped in chocolate, as this has been a favorite of his since he was a toddler.  The cake was very simple, but tasted delicious!