Graduation Cakes for 2021

The above cake was made for an Alamosa High School graduate. I hand painted the logo on a thin sheet of  gum paste. I used food coloring for paint. It took awhile but I did it.  Turned out great.

 This cake was done for a high school graduate who is planning to go to Texas Tech.  I hand painted their logo on gum paste as well. 

Sebby’s 8th Grade Graduation Cake

Seb likes Andes mints.  This is a chocolate cake with Andy’s mint filling.  His mascot is a knight and I used mint candies to make it look like a castle.  He loved it.

I used a triple chocolate boxed cake mix.  I soaked it with a bit of sugar water (1 sugar to 3 water) to keep it from drying out as buttercream tends to do that to cakes. I melted the mints and poured them into my buttercream frosting.  I whipped it up pretty and it acted like a mousse.  Tasty!

 

Gracielyn’s 2nd Birthday Cake, Hedge Hog Cake

My little friend is turning 2 and requested a Hedgehog cake.  It is a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. I soaked my cake a little bit with sugar water so that it wouldn’t dry out.  I have to say it was pretty tasty,

I have clients send me a picture of what they like and the colors and flavors.  They found this one on the internet at littlepeachcakery.com. Mine turned out fatter but still really cute.

I used a 2 boxed cake mixes and made my own filling and frosting. Recipe below:

2 sticks of softened butter

2 cups white shortening

1 tsp Wilton butter flavoring

1 tsp Wilton vanilla

1/4 tsp Almond flavoring

1 pound powdered sugar

2 tablespoons of Wilton Meringue powder

1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream (more for softer frosting)

Place softened butter in mixing bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy.  Add a cup of shortening at a time to butter and beat well. Add flavorings and mix well.

In a separate bowl sift a one pound bag of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of Wilton Meringue powder (and salt if needed). Add by the spoonful on low or stir at a time until half is added.  Add 3 tablespoons heavy cream and mix well.  Add remaining powdered sugar.  Scrape bowl until blended and then turn up the speed and beat until fluffy.  Make sure you scrape sides and bottom of bowl. 

Frost and fill 8 to 10 inch round two layer cake.

For strawberry filling chop a cup of fresh washed and diced strawberries.  Add to two 1 1/2 cups buttercream.  Add two tablespoons of your favorite strawberry jam.  Mix well and fill cake.

 

Music Box Cake

A neighbor of mine is moving and gave me this cute music box.  She thought I could use it as a cake topper.  You can use anything as a topper.  As you can see from many earlier posts I have used toys for my grandkids cakes so that they have something special to remember their day by.

This particular cake was requested of me by a nine year old friend of mine.  I have lots of kids call me Grammy Sue.  She asked if I would make her cake for her.  She loves horses and has a couple on a small ranch. This music box was perfect.  Unfortunately it is all made of wood not sealed.  I had to figure out a way to set it above the icing so that it would get grease spots on it.  I used a plastic that was the perfect size.

Butter cream frosting has made a big comeback.  Fondant is used less and less.  There are so many creative ideas out there for butter cream.  I wanted to try the multi color look. I took my time to make sure I got the layers even and smooth. Watching YouTube really helps me see the different techniques used to achieve this look. In any case, it turned out adorable and my little friend was ecstatic.

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.