Mustang Cobra Cake

I was asked to make a Mustang cake for a friend for her boyfriend's birthday.  She also asked me to make the "cake" with brownies instead of cake, because he doesn't like cake.  I was a little nervous about it, but it worked out.

Using 4 boxes of brownie mix, I made two 11 x 15 inch brownies (by putting two boxes of mix per pan).  I let them cool.

I also printed a template of a snake and drew it larger on a piece of poster board.  I cut it out at the size big enough to fit on my "cake."

With the brownies stacked, I cut around the outline of the snake.  This is what it looked like.

Then, I covered the "cake" in buttercream and let it set.

Next, I covered the cake with gray MMF.  Then, by looking at the template I printed, I "drew" on the details of the snake with black buttercream.  I was pretty pleased with the outcome. :)

Guitar Cake

So, this is my first attempt at a guitar cake.  And I have to admit - it's one of my favorite cakes so far!  I had so much fun making this because it was so different.

This cake was made for my friend's boyfriend - who is a local performer.  I tried my best to make it look as much like his guitar as I could.  My friend supplied the cake board for the cake.  It's a laminated board with pics.

I wanted the shape of this cake to be right, so I used one of my boyfriend's guitars to cut out a pattern.  Then, I downsized it to cut out the cake.

Then, using another sheet cake that I cut, I added the neck of the guitar. Then some buttercream for a crumb coat and I was ready to roll!

The entire cake is covered in MMF.  Then, using vanilla mixed with gel paste food coloring, I mad edible paint and painted the cake.  It turned out great and it smelled sooooo good. Haha.  Finally, after I thought about it intensely, I decided to pipe on the strings with buttercream.  It was the most intense piping I've ever had to do.  All in all the cake turned out great!

Candy-Themed First Birthday

I was asked to make a cake for a 1st birthday using a "candy" theme.  After all was said and done, here is what I came up with.

The cake was also multi-colored on the inside to match the them.  All of the candy is real, even the suckers.

And of course, I had to make a smash cake to match...

I had alot of fun making this cake.  :)

Baseball Wedding

I was asked to make a cake for a friend of mine who is getting married on a baseball field.  She wanted white cake with red laces.  I also did oreo cake with oreo filling and decorated the cake with buttercream.

Neopolitan Rose Cake

So, the newest cake sensation online seems to be this Neopolitan Rose Cake.  I first seen this cake on IAmBaker.net and I just loved this cake.  I had to try it for three reasons: 1) I thought it looked amazing; 2) I thought the flavor would be delicious; and 3) I recently bought some cake stands that I still haven't had the chance to use yet.

Instead of using boxed cake mixes, I made everything from scratch.  I get more satisfaction out of my baking that way.  If you follow these recipes, you will have enough cake and icing for TWO of these cakes.  If you only want one cake, you can just cut the recipes in half, use the left over batter and whip up some Neopolitan cupcakes, which are equally delish, or freeze your other cakes for another day. ;)

The main purpose of this post is to share my recipes for these cakes and icings with you, and to show you this awesome cake.  Hope you enjoy. :)

Chocolate Cake

2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 1/2 cups milk

Using your stand mixer or electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs, one at a time. I also go ahead and toss my vanilla in here. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa, salt and pudding mix.  Starting with the dry mixture, add about 1/4 of it to butter mixture and blend it in.  Next, blend in about 1/4 of milk.  Keep alternating with the dry mixture and the milk until well blended.

This will make two 8-inch round cakes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

For this next part, I used the classic white cake recipe from wilton.com, with a few adjustments.  This is enough batter for both the white and strawberry cake.

White Cake

6 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
3 sticks butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons vanilla
12 egg whites

Using your mixer, mix the butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. In another separate bowl, add your twelve egg whites.  Mix with a mixer until nice and fluffy. With your two cups of milk ready, start adding the flour mixture to the butter mixture and alternate it with the milk until well blended.  Add in the egg whites.

This yields about 12 cups of batter.  In two 8-inch round pans, add three cups of the batter to each one.  Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 35-40 minutes.

We will use the left over batter for the strawberry cake.

Strawberry Cake

White Cake Recipe Above +
2 teaspoons strawberry extract*
pink food coloring, as desired

Add in the strawberry extract and food coloring.  If you want a more intense strawberry flavor, you can always add more.  Fix it how you like it. :)

To add the roses to the cake, you will need three different flavors of buttercream icing.  In all of my buttercream recipes, I use Crisco (shortening) instead of butter.  Alot of people don't prefer the shortening, so for these recipes the shortening can easily be replaced with butter.

Chocolate Buttercream

1 cup Crisco (shortening)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk

In a mixer, blend the Crisco, cocoa powder and vanilla.  It may take a few minutes to cream together.  Slowly add powdered sugar and milk.  You can always add more milk or sugar to reach the consistency you want.

Classic Buttercream 
*You need two of these recipes for this, if you are doing two cakes.*

1 cup Crisco (shortening)
4 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons vanilla extract
milk, as needed

In a mixer, blend the Crisco and vanilla.  Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until well blended.  Add a teaspoon of milk at a time, if needed, to reach proper consistency.

Strawberry Buttercream

1 cup Crisco (shortening)
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons strawberry extract*
milk, as needed

In a mixer, blend the Crisco, vanilla, and strawberry extract.  Add powdered sugar, one cup a time until well blended.  Add a teaspoon of milk at a time, if needed, to reach proper consistency.  If you want a more intence strawberry flavor, add more strawberry extract.

Once your cakes are cooled and leveled, you can start stacking them and adding the roses.

Start with the chocolate cake and add some chocolate buttercream.  Add the strawberry cake and some strawberry buttercream.  Then, add your white cake on top.  You can do a crumb coat of the icing first if you want, but it's not necessary with this icing.  It will stick just fine to the cake itself.

Now, using piping bags and a open star 1M tip, pipe on your roses.  It doesn't have to be perfect and it will only take a few minutes.

Cut, eat and enjoy! :)

It's Yo Gabba Gabba time!

My boyfriend's niece just turned 3 and she told me she wanted a Yo Gabba Gabba cake.  Foofa is her favorite, so this is the cake we decided on.

This cake is marble cake from a box mix and the entire cake is covered and decorated in MMF.  The letters with the name, Claire, are made of gumpaste.

Overall, I was pleased with the cake.  It turned out rather cute. :P

Angry Birds

My boyfriend's nephew, Connor, turned 6 and wanted an Angry Birds birthday cake.  He picked on out online and showed me what he wanted.

The cake is marble cake made from a box mix.  The entire cake is covered in MMF and the decorations are also made of MMF.

I made some of the angry birds, as well as some of the pigs. :P

Overall, I think Connor really liked it.