Callie’s POP Up Gallery Birthday Surprise

Callie is an artist and so am I.  She turned 40 this year and her brother and sister wanted to do a Pop-up Gallery for her to display her art work and invite friends. It turned out really nice. I made this artist cake and painted the miniature paintings to put on it to resemble the gallery. The top is lemon with lemon filling and the bottom tier is chocolate cake and chocolate filling. 

Practicing butter cream flowers

 I am learning how to do butter cream flowers.  I watched You Tube videos to learn which is how I learned to make cakes and decorate in the beginning.  Anyone can learn if they have a desire and you don’t have to pay for school or classes.  However, I would like to go to a class or two eventually.

This cake was made from left over cakes I made for a wedding. I took it to our church potluck and it went fast! It is the white cake with raspberry filling.

Rose, Thin Blue Line Wedding Cake

A delightful bride ordered this small wedding cake.  She just wanted a cake to cut.  She had mini desserts to serve at her reception. Her new husband is a police officer so I put a black ribbon with thin blue ribbon for the border. It is a white cake with raspberry filling. 

White cakes can be dry and not cut well.  I soaked this with some simple syrup to help keep it moist. They loved it.

Lizzy’s Birthday

My granddaughter, Lizzy, turned 5.  She loves Paw Patrol.  So I made her a girly, flowery Paw Patrol  cake.  I was practicing my butter cream flowers.  Butter cream is more desirable now than fondant. It tastes better to me. 

I always like to put a toy on top of the cake so my kids have something to play with. Thus, Sky and her helicopter.

Davy’s Birthday

My Grandson, Davy, likes to fish.  I made this cake from a picture I took when he was at the lake fishing.  He is wearing a coon skin hat.

Secret Agent Cake

My Granddaughters birthdays are close together so they decided to have a Secret Agent party.  It was super fun. This Secret Agent brief case came out really cool.  The handcuffs are real but the res is cake covered in fondant.

Baby Showers and Birthdays

I made a baby shower cake for my friend Winona. She is a beautiful woman and her baby is going to be a stunning baby girl. So fun to make this cake.

I also made a cake for my granddaughter Lizzy.  She is so cute and just loves Paw Patrol.  I was practicing my buttercream flowers so I made this cake.  She loved it. I always put a toy on top of the cake for their present.

Graduation Cakes

These are some of the graduation cakes I did last year.  I hand painted on the school logos or what was unique to the graduate like the theater and music symbols.

Practicing Buttercream Flowers and Piping

I have been watching a lot of You Tube videos on making buttercream flowers and piping different borders and decorations on cakes.  Buttercream is back in big time.  I'm glad I get the chance to practice this skill. So here are some examples of my work. My recipe for buttercream is below.

Buttercream Frosting recipe:

2 sticks butter softened to room temp
2 cups vegetable shortening (white)
1 tsp Wilton Butter Flavoring
1 tsp Wilton Vanilla Flavoring
1|4 tsp Wilton Almond Flavoring
1 2-pound bag powdered sugar
2  tablespoons Wilton's powdered meringue
2 to 4 tablespoons whipping cream (you can also use half n half)

Beat butter in a stand mixer with whisk attachment until smooth, no lumps.  Add shortening and mix until smooth and fluffy.  Add flavorings and mix well. Add entire bag of powdered sugar along with the powdered meringue and cream.  Cover the mixer with a towel or plastic wrap so you don't send sugar all over the place. Start slowly mixing the ingredients together and then speed up once it is blended.  Mix on high speed for a minute or two until it is creamy and fluffy.

One recipe covers a 10 inch layer cake with frosting in the middle. I make two recipes when I am doing this size so that I have enough for flower making and piping.  I usually have a little extra but it keeps for several weeks in the fridge.