This is the 3rd time I have tried to update this post, I may end up moving my blog if I don’t start having better luck with pictures.
Here is the cake mentioned in the last post:
Baby Cookies May 17, 2008
I have shied away from royal icing for some time. In one of my Wilton classes, I was scared into believing that if any grease got in the icing, it would ruin the batch. It was advised to keep a separate set of tools for royal icing. I have only made one batch of royal icing since being told that.
I love the look of decorated cookies, but since royal icing was the best way to do these, I have stayed away. I didn’t even believe a non-domestic type made the cookies she once brought to a baby shower. I figured she bought them somewhere and claimed them as her own.
Anyway, to prepare for the birth of our best friends second daughter, I needed something special. There were some adorable cookies in my new “Pretty Party Cakes” book. I decided that they were too adorable not to try. I managed to find a couple baby appropriate cookie cutters locally and made a pattern myself for a onesie. I baked the sugar cookies adding some almond flavoring. It was a simple recipe, but the cookies were delicious. The rest of the day I nervously waited until I had several hours of free time to make the royal icing. In the evening I finally did.
Amazingly, the icing wasn’t difficult and even if I am not 100% sure the icing was grease free, I know it wasn’t ruined. My cookies turned out smooth and beautiful. I lined a shirt box with tissue paper and cut a piece of wax paper to fit the bottom. Then I gently placed each of the cookies in the box and tied it with ribbon.
Whenever I try something new, I know it won’t turn out perfectly. Usually I am disappointed with the results even if friends or my husband compliment me. This time I feel proud of my results.
We hand delivered the cookies to the hospital today. I plan to make more for another friend’s baby shower next week. Now that I have a better feel for royal icing, I think the next batch will turn out even better.
More Old Cakes April 28, 2008
I found some more pictures of cakes I made previously. I am still missing pictures of about 30 cakes, but as I find them I’ll post them.
Baby sleeping, shower cake. This is a design I did freehand for a shower in 2006. It is buttercream.
Cow Jumping Over the Moon. Buttercream baby shower cake from 2007. I based this on the Hi Diddle Diddle cake in the 1984 Wilton Yearbook.
Care Bear Cake. I made this for a 1st birthday in 2007. I normally use boxed mixes, but this cake was a dense oatmeal cake, almost like a bread. It was tasty! It is decorated as usual in buttercream. The pan was a Care Bear 3D pan from the early 80’s.
This is a fondant baby shower cake I did in the fall of 2007. At the time I was working VERY part time at a bakery, it is my first fondant cake. I used cookie cutters to make the circle shapes, and molds to make the charms at the base of the cake. The bow was made using loops of fondant. At the base is a buttercream rope border colored to match the fondant.
The Plan April 23, 2008
So I took the Wilton method classes a few years ago and learned that I love to decorate cakes. The problem is that I haven’t made enough cakes to get good enough to make a living yet. Yeah, I’ve made some cakes, but to get good, you need to practice daily.
My goal is to take steps to improve my skills so that by July of 2013 I can make a decent living designing cakes.
The cake I made last night turned out OK, but not great. It was for a baby shower. I made a Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix baked according to the instructions in 2- 10″ round pans. I iced the two layers with pink buttercream made according to the Wilton recipe, only I add extra vanilla. The borders, vines, and peas on the base of the cake are also buttercream. The pea pod, peas in the pod, and the baby are all Wilton fondant that I colored with gel colors.
