Making Cakes from Printed Material

There are times I get requests to do a cake based on a particular theme of the party that is being given, etc. This particular cake was for a 50th birthday and they had bought the party supplies, napkins, etc. The client brought me the napkin and asked if I could duplicate the napkin on top of the cake. Here is the cake.









Here is another cake I did from an invitation. It was for two children who were turning 1.  I did two of the cakes for the babies to play in and a cake for the party.

This cake was done from a printout I was given by the customer.

This cake was for a customer's 83-year-old brother in the nursing home. She was having a party for him and as a young man he loved to fish.

Royal Icing

When I was taking my Wilton classes we had to make royal icing flowers of many kinds. I have since used this skill several times. These flowers are very realistic. This is the cake that was created while in my class.

Bridal and Baby Showers

Another fun event is showers. I've done several bridal and baby showers and retirement teas. It's been a lot of fun to come up with creative cakes that you don't see at every shower. I hope you enjoy the pictures. The wedding shower with the "M" in the middle is done in a grid because they asked me about petit fors and I haven't really got those down pat yet, so I made the cake in a way that it could be cut easily in the size of the petit fors and it worked out great. You will also notice on a couple of the cakes I use real flowers on the top for added color.

Children's Cakes

Many times I get to do children's cakes which are just a lot of fun. But it also requires some planning and thinking to figure out how to make it look realistic. I've had two requests over the last couple of years for SpongeBob. I have to say, he is probably one of my favorite cakes of all. He is covered with the Star Tip and I used foam hands attached to pipe cleaners to give him some dimension.

Another coworker requested a cake for her daughter's birthday. They absolutely LOVE Mickey Mouse and so of course that is what they wanted on her cake. Here is the cake. It was a lot of fun doing this one as well.

An old friend asked me if I would do a cake for her daughter's 5th birthday. I was so excited. This person grew up beside me when I was young and I was so happy to be able to do a cake for her child. She wanted a "My Little Pony" cake. Here is my attempt.

Dora and Boots cake I did for a 3-year-old's and a4-year-old's birthday.

Also one of my godchildren, of whom I do cakes for, when asked what he wanted on his 3rd birthday cake said he wanted a "worm". So I thought about it and this is what I came up with. When he saw the cake I asked him if that was what he meant by a worm and he said "EXACTLY."

I've done cakes for my nephews, friends' children, I've lost count at this point. I've attached some just to show a sample of the variety of themes and ideas.

My latest children's cake is a Hannah Montana guitar cake. I was asked by a girl at work to do one for her granddaugher's 5th birthday, couldn't find a pattern of any kind, and then a friend of mine on Facebook posted one she had done for her daughter's birthday. (Thanks Donna!) So I used her design and made this cake. I've now had two more requests for this cake.

Here is the latest children's cake I did. My first frog, which I thought turned out pretty cute. The polka dots were colored to match the plates they were using at the party.

This cake was a request from my hairdresser for her son. He loves baseball. I used a cupcake and cut the top off of it to make the "baseball" on the top. I found the cutest bobblehead baseball player for the topper.

This was a very cute dinosaur cake for a little boy turning four.

This was a request for a cake with a road and a tractor.  Thought it turned out cute.

Creating a Fondant Bow

I have a frequent customer that sends me pictures of cakes that she wants me to replicate. Well sometimes I can, and sometimes I can't! Her daughter was having a birthday and she sent me this beautiful picture of a cake that was a "present" and asked if I thought I might be able to do it. I felt I would have no problem with the cake itself and doing the "present" but when it came to the bow on top, I had never worked with fondant other than in my Wilton classes (which by this time was over five years ago!). So I did some research, talked with my friend who has done cakes for years, and got some instructions on how to do the bow. It actually wasn't as hard as it seems. I had to cut strips of fondant and then curl them and twist the ends and let them harden for several days (keeping in mind to always make extra due to breakage). Then when you begin to assemble the bow, you melt white chocolate and assemble the bow in a small bowl and begin to alternate the loops, shaping into a bow. I have attached a picture of the finished cake.

5-Tier Birthday Cake

A few months ago, someone here at the office asked if I would make her a 5-tiered birthday cake! Well at first I was like are you sure you want five tiers? This was the biggest cake I had done since starting my cakes and it seemed rather daunting. She simply told me her colors, hot pink, black, and silver. She left the rest up to me. So I went home and started sketching out the cakes. She wanted each one to be different but yet have them to all tie together. I used several new techniques that I had never tried before, such as the pink curls on the top tier. They are made with royal icing that I had to make a week or so ahead in order to harden. I used straws to place them in the cake. I also placed ribbon roses on the second tier, again this was the first time I had tried these and I really like the look of them. They were really very easy to use and I will probably use them again. I also used cornelli lace on two of the tiers which I have to say I really like the look of and plan to use in the future. I've attached some photos of the finished product.