Cake Walk

And now, for something completely different.

Making the birthday cake this week reminded me how much I enjoy cake decorating.  I took the Wilton cake decorating classes at Michael's a couple years ago, and really enjoyed it.  I don't do fancy cakes often, but I think I do a pretty good job when I do, for an amateur.

So, for today's post, I thought I would share some of the cakes I have decorated:

One of my first cakes, an 85th birthday cake for my grandfather.

Roses: easier than they look!

Basketweave: one of my favorite fancy techniques!

Color flow letters and tree: also a very cool technique.

This one I made to let my oldest know that she was getting a sister...the first of 3!

I love, LOVE how cornelli lace looks on a cake, but it is murder on the hand!

Basket of flowers cake I made for a school auction.

Love the two colors of chocolate on this one. 

House warming cake!  I used a house shaped pan.

This is one of my all time favorites!  My husband helped me shape Snoopy out of marzipan, and his dog house is two of the house cakes put together!  #2 was a huge Snoopy fan when she turned 3.

Ok, technically not a cake, but turns out I can do some neat stuff in gingerbread too!  My husband (the amateur architect) helped with the plans.  The roof is Necco wafers, and the stained "glass" windows are melted Life Savers!  (It is possible I watch waaaaay too many Food Network competitions!)

The second gingerbread house I made...this one I was aiming for a more fun, whimsical look. Both of these were for the annual ladies' dessert function at my church, which explains the steeples.

You can kind of see in this picture, I actually made pews and a lectern inside the church!  And no, I have no idea where I found the time...oh, yeah, this was when I only had two kids!

Fourth of July, pretty on the outside, but check out the inside:

I forgot I had the set to make checkered cake!  I should get that out again soon.

Bunny cake, with coconut fur and snowball cheeks.

My oldest has a summer birthday, so we had a "1/2 birthday" party in the middle of the school year.  10 girls, two 9" rounds cut in half, stacked, and covered in chocolate frosting...it was a long night!

I am particularly proud of the handwriting on this one. 

Monkey cake!  This was the banana cake I made for #3's birthday last year.  The monkey is actually cake, baked in a bear-shaped pan, with some adjustments.  The tail?  Edible playdough covered with frosting!  I love this monkey.  One of my all time favorites!

"Ice cream" cupcakes!  The cake batter is baked in the cones, I frosted with plain frosting, and then #2 and her friends got to choose topping to sprinkle on. 

Another bunny cake, with baby bunny cupcakes.  I loved how the coconut tail came out, so cute.  The flowers are jelly beans cut in half, and the baby bunnies ears are marshmallows sliced into triangles. The bunny shape?  I actually made this one up myself!  It's a 9" round cut in half and stood together on the cut side, and the legs, head and ears are all cut from cupcakes!  Wish I had a better picture, I'm pretty proud of how this one turned out.

Moly cow, that's a lot of cake!!  Hope you enjoyed, and if you have any questions about specific techniques, let me know!