 This cake was a mile high devil's food cake with brown sugar buttercream. Each tier was covered in fondant.  The cake was for an alumni reunion and student get-together for an arts and entertainment management program. The cake board was covered in a royal blue fondant and topped with gold fondant stars and AEM lettering. The cake board was wrapped with a royal blue and a hot pink ribbon.  The pièce de résistance for me on this cake was the marquis sign on the top tier. It was made with gumpaste. The edging, lettering and drama mask are dusted with lustre dust.  The top tier was covered in yellow fondant and decorated with fondant records and music notes. The curly Q's are made with gumpaste and dusted with various colors of petal and lustre dusts.  The middle tier was covered with white fondant and wrapped in a fondant "cuff" made to look like piano keys.  The bottom tier was covered in raspberry-colored fondant with lilac-colored fondant "theatre curtains" placed over top.The lettering on the front of the cake is gumpaste sprayed with a bronze lustre spray and the top border is also sprayed with bronze lustre.  I absolutely LOVE how this cake turned out! I wasn't as crazy about the Vancouver traffic during the delivery - what should have taken me about half an hour (to get there) took two and a half hours and I spent the whole time worrying about the cake in the trunk. Once I finally crossed the bridge, it started pouring and I was fearful the cake would be late for the party. Thankfully, 3 blocks away from the venue the rain slowed to a drizzle and there was a car accident on the corner right after I parked which I am very grateful I wasn't involved in too!... I think it's going to take me awhile to make a cake that I'm going to like better than this one! I hope it was a great party!
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4/27/2010 0 Comments Blown and Cast Sugar BelugaThe instructor decided not to do blown sugar lobsters last night as he felt they might have been too challenging... If they're harder than making whales, I definitely agree... this piece was very hard to make!  The base and the coral were not at all difficult to make... but blowing sugar?! Well that's another story. My first few attempts, I couldn't get any air into the sugar at all and when the air does start to go into the sugar, it's more difficult to work it into the shape you want than you might think...  I burned the fingers out of several pairs of gloves and I have several rather nasty burns on my hands this morning as a result of this course...  Now if only I could get the equipment at home so I could practice... I have sourced out a marble slab and a silicone mat but am still looking for a heat lamp and an air pump... Next week, we may be trying the blown sugar lobsters... wish me luck! I think I'll need it!
4/26/2010 0 Comments Pulled Sugar CourseI had signed up to take a sugar course last fall and then it was cancelled. Luckily, this time around, the course was not cancelled and so last Monday night was my first night of the course - pulled sugar that time!  The instructor for the course (which I'm taking at VCC) is fantastic and has an unbelievable portfolio! I had seen examples of his work before we started but I was questioning what I would manage to pull off on my first attempt!  I'm very glad in retrospect that I've taken gumpaste flower classes before attempting this as with pulled sugar, there are no cutters for these flowers and you form the sugar into individual petals by hand. I found it helpful to think about what my gumpaste petals would have looked like when forming the sugar petals! The pulled sugar is very hot to work with though and it gets uncomfortable in a hurry!  I was very happy with the finished product for my first attempt. The comical highlight of this class was getting it home... I had taken transit to get to the class to avoid parking downtown and they don't give you a box or anything to carry it in. So at 10pm, I went walking through downtown Vancouver holding this sugar sculpture. The heat from my hand caused the bottom of the base to melt adhering to my hand. I got some very odd looks on the Seabus and by the time I got home I had to use a butter knife to pry the sculpture from the palm of my hand!  This coming week, we will be making lobsters using blown sugar. I am planning to bring a box with me so I won't be out running around the city with a lobster stuck to my hand... I was very fortunate last week that it wasn't raining for once in Vancouver or that sculpture might never have made it home!
In the coming weeks, we will be doing cast sugar and pastillage in addition to the blown sugar. Can't wait!! 4/17/2010 0 Comments Disney Princesses Castle Cake I love making girly princess cakes like this one! This was a pink vanilla sour cream cake iced in a vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream covered in buttercream fondant. It was my first time working with buttercream fondant and it definitely tastes a lot better than the fondants I've used before. On the down side, it is more expensive and not as easy to work with.  The windows are made from fondant brushed with pearl lustre dust and the borders and leaves under the windows were piped on with royal icing.  The window box was made with rice cereal treats covered in fondant. The pathway was made with rainbow nonpareils and the border piped with royal icing. I really love the lime green color of the fondant on the cake board too! The turrets were brushed with a purple lustre dust. All in all, I'd say this was a cake fit for a 4 year old princess' birthday - Happy Birthday Peyton!  4/15/2010 0 Comments Brownies and NY Crumb Cake Muffins It's been years since I last made brownies. These were SO good that I doubt it'll be as long before I make them again! Quite possibly the best brownies EVER!  The recipe was just New York Crumb Cake Muffins but added blueberries to the batter since I had some on hand. The muffins were fantastic... I wasn't as crazy about the crumb topping so I would probably change that somehow if I make these again...
4/4/2010 0 Comments SpongeBob Birthday Cake This cake was so much fun to do! But let's start with what's inside it... it was a vanilla cake filled with a banana mousse and iced in a vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream. I made up the recipes for the cake and the mousse and both worked quite well, although I plan to fine tune the cake recipe a bit further still!  The cake was not covered in fondant but iced in a turquoise tinted buttercream, which I love because it tastes so much better than fondant! The figures are made from gumpaste and let me tell you that you just don't understand how detailed SpongeBob SquarePants is until you try to make him out of gumpaste!  The pineapple was made from rice cereal treats covered in fondant with assorted gumpaste accessories scattered around the cake in the SpongeBob theme... I really loved how this cake turned out! Happy Birthday Naima!  4/4/2010 0 Comments Red Velvet Cake This cake was quite an accomplishment for me... from the time I found out I was making it until the time I got in the car to deliver it was under four hours! And that involved doing a grocery run to pick up ingredients too!  I had never made this recipe before either... and I will definitely be doing it again... so yummy! I love getting the chance to try out new recipes, especially when they turn out as good as this one!
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