Bridal Shower Pig Cake

My daughter, Rebecca, fell in love with the kit kat 'pig cake' (or so we call it) from a picture we saw on facebook a few months ago.  When planning her bridal shower, she chose this cake and decided on two pigs sitting together in the 'barrel' of mud!

This was a really simple and quick cake to bake and make!  Joy and I made our pigs and flowers out of fondant while the cake baked and cooled. I also etched a wood-grain look on the kit kat bars to make them look more like wooden slats and to cover up the obvious words! We then frosted it with (don't tell anyone) a canned frosting and stuck on the kit kats, which actually stayed on better than I anticipated, until I was able to get the ribbon around it.

Crushed oreo cookies really make a nice rich-looking dirt and some mud puddles made from melting the frosting helps make it a really 'muddy mess!' The green buttercream grass and blue and pink blossoms definitely help to brighten things up!!   I especially love cakes like this one that are fun and that pull together so easily!!

We also made cupcakes to match!

Watermelon Cake

This watermelon cake was SOO easy to make and tasted even better!  A special self-made recipe using real watermelon gave this cake a unique texture and flavor!  Watermelon frosting, fondant covered, and painted with food coloring makes this cake look almost real!!  The shape of the cake also makes for great first cake covering it in fondant!!  Those  taking classes with Joy or me at Hobby Lobby will get the recipe and instructions on this awesome cake!  Thanks for stopping by!!

Wilton Cake Classes at Hobby Lobby in Moline, IL

I made this cake for a demo at the new Hobby Lobby in Moline, IL. A deeelicious chocolate cake with chocolate Bavarian Cream filling inside with ribbon roses and all techniques taught in Wilton's course 1 classes!

Classes start next week at both Moline and Betterndorf including a new specially designed Course 1 class for kids at the Moline store!!

Prices for September are $20.25 which includes 8 hours of instruction and a course book!  Be sure to sign up at a register!!

Moline, IL Classes - 

* Course 1 is on Thursdays, September 12, 19, 26, and October 3 from 6-8pm
* Course 1 for kids ages 8-13 is on Tuesdays, September 10, 17, 24, and October 1 from 6-7:30pm

Betterndorf, IA Classes - 

* Course 1 is on Mondays, September 9, 16, 23, 30 from 2-4pm
* Course 2 is on Tuesdays, September 10, 17, 24, and October 1 from 6-8pm
* Course 3 is also on Mondays, September 9, 16, 23, 30 from 6-8pm

Engagement "Stump" Cake

     Today my daughter Becca was engaged to Garrett Billings.  Since we knew in advance, my other daughter, Joy, and I prepared and planned an engagement 'stump' cake for them.  The chocolate cakes were baked before our trip to Michigan, as well as the chocolate frosting and ganache. These recipes were all made from scratch and made as an experiment for one of the cake layers for their wedding cake.  I am still waiting for the two thumbs up from Garrett and Becca, but I think we are close!

     Joy couldn't go on the trip, but helped me by making the two roses and blue and white blossoms. When we got to Michigan Garrett's mom, Lenora and I put the cakes in the freezer and frosting/ganache in the fridge.  It was tough to keep it all hidden from Becca, but Garrett and I stowed them away in a box labeled for Garrett's dad, Greg, and a few things in the center of my suitcase. Greg was also able to hide away all cake decorating stuff until the time needed!!

     Lenora had the perfect cake serving plate (something I had forgotten and kinda glad I did!!)  She also has a beautiful dining room and decor to add to the look of the cake!

 The heart is fondant with Wilton letters pressed into the fondant with also a little food coloring to help darken the letters and to give it a carved look.

I sure missed Joy's help decorating this cake today, she always has a lot of great ideas and the extra set of hands makes it go so much faster!  I actually had to call her for her ideas with one problem of messed up sepals (from traveling) on the roses.

Overall I am pleased with the results of this cake, although I have a few ideas to make it even better next time!!  Thanks for looking!

Thomas the Tank Engine Cake

 When we went to South Carolina to visit family, we had a birthday party for five people.... since my great nephew was the youngest and was turning 5 (or maybe 6), we let him and his mother pick the cake.  It is a double layer sheet cake - half white cake and half chocolate.  We did our transfer technique that I teach for Wilton course 1 to get the outline of Thomas. Then a quick outline and star tip with vibrant colors to make Thomas.

 The smoke and tree tops are dimensional decorating.  The tracks are also made with frosting and a basket weave tip, the rocks are made with tip 7 and of course we forgot to bring the grass tip to make grass. The flowers we added were for my Mom, who LOVES flowers, her birthday is April 1st!  Happy Birthday Mom, Dad, Alijah, Becca, and Andy!  Love you all!!

Quick Simple Birthday Cake for Becca

This year I had to make a really simple birthday cake for Becca.  Her birthday was on the same day as when we had to leave for vacation.  Between packing, cleaning, and making lunch for her, her boyfriend, and a few Fareway friends, the cake was made pretty quick... I didn't even get her name on it!!  Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Brown and blue are her favorite colors, so at least I got that right!!  I always tell my students to put an odd number of flowers on your cake, I kinda messed up there...  It looked too few with three, but after I got the fourth one on, I was worried 5 might be too much.  A small one at the bottom may have worked, but I was also crunched for time. Hopefully my students won't all give me too hard of a time with that one!!

Ladybug Birthday Cake

Lilly wanted a lady bug birthday cake for her birthday.  Her favorite flavor is strawberry so the main cake is strawberry cake with strawberry frosting.  The lady bug cake is white cake.  The lady bug is covered in fondant and sprayed with Joy's new airbrush.

The daisies are made with gumpaste and the ladybugs are made with fondant.  The ladybugs and flower centers were also sprayed with the airbrush.

The tall grass is a mixture of fondant and gumpaste and the short grass is buttercream tinted the same color as the tall grass.

Lilly chose this design for her personal cake because she loved the cupcakes around the cake.  Joy made this cake and mini-cupcakes, and covered them in fondant. She added a few accents to match the larger cake.

Happy Birthday Lilly!!

Hobby Lobby Valentine Display Case

Joy and I decorated the display case at  Hobby Lobby for Valentine's Day.  It was so much fun to be able to go through the store and pick anything we wanted to use!!  We then made some heart cupcakes and a simple heart shaped cake.

I have a course 1 class starting on February 12th (6 - 8 pm) if anyone lives in the QC area and is interested in signing up!!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Birthday Cake

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cake

 Jessika asked me to make a birthday cake for her 4 year old son, Jaxson.  He wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake for his birthday.  We had a lot of ideas, everything from a 3d cake to a simple sheet cake that is star-tipped.  Jessika wanted something in between. So, we did a two tier cake with a white butter cake on the bottom, and a double chocolate cake on the top covered with a butter cream frosting and fondant accents and also had fondant covering the board.  The silver color is a new color of edible spray paint by Wilton.

fondant bricks and buttercream grass

I have never watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so it took a lot of research.  We looked at cakes and pictures online.  The only thing one of my sons thought it still needed was a piece of pizza!  LOL!!  This cake was a cool cake to make, but took longer than expected... It was a good thing we didn't do the 3d cake!! 

Chocolate Cappachino Cake

 I taught a Wilton Course 1 class on Saturday and during this first session, I have to teach them how to make frosting and frost a cake to make it look more professional.   I tried a new twist on the Wilton recipe adding unsweetened chocolate and instant coffee. 

I made the cupcake cake you see to the left for class and let the class eat some and then left the rest for the employees to finish off. It really needed a red cherry for the top, but I didn't want to mix up a small amount of red and dirty up another bag for just one cherry!







Since we only use one layer of a cake mix for class, I decorated the other one for my family.  The picture to the right is the cake I made for my family for Sunday's lunch. Eight frosting roses around the top, each with three leaves and a vine coming down. 





I am not one much for coffee, which does not put it on the top of my list of favorite cakes.  But, my boys seemed to like it today for lunch.  It was simple to add a little instant coffee to the chocolate cake batter, the frosting, and the filling...  although to me it seemed to make the chocolate taste bitter... I guess those that like coffee will love it!!

Thanks for looking!