Guava cake revealed finally

I know it's been a while since my last post.  Things have been a little hectic in the past month.  I got a 2nd job (well 4th if you count my main job, my cake hobby, and being a PT SAHM) and added another day to my work week, signed up for several continuing ed courses, and was busy making cakes.  With all of that going on, I just didn't have any downtime to add to my blog.  But, tonight, I decided to just MAKE the time to create at least one new post. 


My last one was on how my guava cake had bombed and I kept meaning to post a picture of it, but life got in the way and a month or so later, here it is.

This was definitely not one of my better cakes overall.  The cake and icing combination didn't complement each other and my icing job definitely had many imperfections due to me trying a different technique.  It's called the upside down method.  Basically, you ice the top of the cake, put a cake board on top once you're done, then you flip it over and cover the sides.  This should help to even out the icing on top of the cake.  However, it appears as though the wax paper I covered the cake board with had numerous wrinkles and left marks in the icing (as you can see in the bottom picture).  It was also very uneven on top and the edged weren't very clean.  In addition, I decided to let my son help me put some of the flowers on and his contribution were his knuckle prints :-)


I did get to finally do the diamond pattern I've been so wanting to do for the longest time.  I finally got me a diamond impression mat and so I used it on this cake, along with the stitching/quilting tool to make it look like it was sewn .  That was one the one thing that I was happy with.  I can't wait to use it on a fondant covered cake to get the quilted look!


And an hour later, I'm finally done with this short post because FB kept pulling me away!  


Have a great one folks!

Guava Cake Bombed

Ever since the cake show last month, I've had the bug to make lots of creations in both flavor combinations and design.  Since I'm from Hawaii and I miss, miss, MISS the local flavors, I decided to try to bring some of that here to the DC metro area.  I found a place online that sells all my favorites: guava, passion fruit, and mango!  Yippee!!!

Now onto make some awesome, delicious cakes...or so I thought.  I LOVE and MISS the juices back home...passion orange, guava, passion orange guava (aka POG), strawberry guava.  That was my inspiration for my Hawaii cake.  I decided to do a guava cake filled with passion fruit curd and covered with passion fruit buttercream.  Sadly, the flavors were a little unbalanced.  The guava cake on it's own was fantastic and the passion fruit buttercream was divine!  But, when I put them all together, the passion fruit curd overpowered everything, the guava taste was lost, and the buttercream was mild, almost to the point of being bland. :-(  

I adapted the guava cake recipe from The Cake Doctor.  I still need to tweak it a little, but overall, I'm happy with it.  I just need to change the flavor combinations.  Oh well...back to the drawing board.  I guess that's just more cake I have to eat...I mean make. :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Yes, yes...I know.  It's WAY past St. Patrick's Day.  But, since I really didn't start blogging until after that day anyway, so I have an excuse ;-)


I've been doing a lot of fondant covered cakes and have been shying away from buttercream covered ones, mostly because it's easier to get a nice, smooth finish with fondant.  But, I wanted to practice/perfect/hone...whatever u want to call it...my buttercream skills.  St. Patrick's Day was coming up and what better way to celebrate than with a cake!  Plus, I've been wanted to test out some new flavors.


I decided to do a lemon cake.  I used Lorann's Lemon Emulsion flavoring.  It has a more intense flavor than lemon extract and doesn't break down during the baking process, thereby maintaining it's intensity.  

I used an 8" x 3" round and torted it.  Filled it with lemon/vanilla buttercream and covered it with vanilla buttercream.  Then, I added fondant decorations and below is the final result.  As with my son's cake, I didn't document my process so all I have are pictures of the final creation.

I created my little leprechaun from a picture I found on the web.  I printed it out, created a stencil with it, then went to work.  Several hours later, I finally had him finished.  I keep forgetting how long the little components actually take.  I looked at this picture and thought it was going to be quick and easy.  The length of time it took me to complete him could also be due to my OCD and the fact that I am a perfectionist, so everything I do takes double the amount of time a simple task normally would ;-)

For the four leaf clover, I did the same...found a picture online, printed it and created a stencil.  I cut out a number of them and placed them all around the side of the cake (see pic above).

Aside from the amount of time it took me to create the leprechaun, this was a fun and easy cake...not to mention delicious!  This will definitely be added to my menu of flavors.  I'll be making another lemon cake for Easter!  YUM YUM.

My New Tools!!!

A couple of weeks ago, the National Capital Area Cake Show (NCACS) in town, which I attended, and had a fabulous time!  Prior to the show, the number of cakes I was making dwindled, so I stopped purchasing supplies.  Plus, there were too many things I wanted to get and couldn't decide which ones to purchase first.  So, I opted to not buy anything at all, which my husband was ecstatic about.  However, my desire to build my cake supplies was renewed with much vigor after the cake show (much to my husband's dismay)!  Seeing all the beautifully decorated cakes there got me super excited to start caking again!  Some of the things I've been wanting for a long time are flower/leaf veiners, but I could never make up my mind on which ones to get.  Luckily, one of the vendors I saw was one of makers of these veiners.  I snatched up the ones below right away!  I can't wait to use them.  I'm going to do a "just-for-fun" cake just so I can use them :-)  I'll add that post later, when the cake is completed.  Until then, have a great day!

Happy Birthday Son!

My son recently turned 3 in February.  He was the initial reason I got into cake decorating.  I asked him what he wanted on his cake and he said Thomas the Train and Spiderman.  I asked on three difference occasions...thinking he would change his mind...but no, he stuck with his original request.  So, I went to work researching and designing a cake for him.  My husband also had a great idea to include his two best friends as his cake toppers.  The final design was comprised of Thomas on the bottom tier and Spiderman on the top tier.  I didn't take any pics of the process, but here is the final product.

The cake flavors were your basic yellow and chocolate cake.  For each tier, I did 1 layer of yellow and 1 layer of chocolate filled with a cookies and cream buttercream and covered with homemade marshmallow fondant.  This was the first time I made marshmallow fondant and it was GOOD!  However, the jury is still out as to whether I want to convert 100% over to homemade fondant, since I do have a little toddler running around the house.  Sometimes it's just easier/quicker to use commercially produced fondant.

As for the figurines (Thomas, Spiderman, the blue dog, orange bear and the tree) they were all made out of fondant/gumpaste.  Thomas took the longest...6 hours!!!  As I researched how to make him, many people said that he is deceiving in that he looks simple, but once you get started, you realize how many little details there are.  Boy...they weren't kidding.  6 hours later, Thomas was produced.   Now yes, I am a novice, so those more experienced in crafts than I probably wouldn't have taken as long.  Nonetheless, I was pretty satisfied with him.

The pine trees were really fun to make.  I actually got the idea from watching Cake Boss.  His staff was doing a Sesame Street cake and they showed clips of someone making Big Bird's feathers by cutting the fondant with scissors.  I thought that was so clever.  As I searched for more tutorials, I found another video demonstrating the same thing.  So, I made my gumpaste ball and took off.  It was really easy and came out great...a little lopsided but I probably didn't add enough Tylose to make my fondant sturdy.  I make two in case one got damaged.

Next, I did the orange bear.  I took pics of my son's stuffed animals and had them in front of me as I molded it.  The body was easy, but it was the little details of his face that took the longest.

On to the blue dog (aka Patches).  He has been my son's best friend since he was 4 months old.  I had a lot of fun making him.  I used rice cereal treats to mold/create a base for his "body", covered it with buttercream, then draped the fondant over it to make it appear like a blanket.  As with the orange bear, it was the little details, such as his decoration and bow, that took the longest.

This was the first time I've attempted to make any sort of figurine and I was pretty pleased with the results.  I've never considered myself artsy or crafty, but I think I may have found my hidden talent :-)

First time for everything!

Well, as the saying goes "there's a first time for everything" and this is my first entry into the blogging world.  I've never really been one to keep a journal, although I've thought about it many times, especially now that my memory is waning!  But, things just keep getting in the way...or more like, I just kept finding excuses not to ;-)  But, now that I'm getting more and more into cake decorating, I figured why not give blogging a try.  It's a great way to get the word out about my cakes and just to get into the habit of "journaling" on a regular basis.  So, thanks for stopping by.  I hope you stick around to see more of my baking and cake decorating escapades!