Decisions, decisions....

With all the changes that have been going on I've been exhausted. Exhausted and I've been thinking.... I'm thinking about taking a break from the baking business for a bit. I've felt like it's been taking over my life for a while. I love my customers and I love making the cakes but I'm missing out on time with my kids. It kinda hit home when my son got home from school this week and said, "mommy will you play with me?" and I had to sigh and then say "mommy can't right now, she has to go make a cake." It's like this every week. And I just am thinking to myself, "how much longer is he going to want to play with mommy?".... probably not much longer. My husband works hard so I can be home with the kids and I feel like the point of him working is so I can be here for the kids, so what am I doing? I'm going to take a break and focus on the family for a bit :) Before I know it both kids will be in school and I'll have more time on my hands to bake....and I'm not quiting completely...just slowing it down a lot :) 

Butterfly & Roses Cake

I did this cake this week and thought I'd share it with you guys. It was a very symbolic cake since it was a cake made for a family who lost a loved one. They get together and remember her on her birthday. It was a very touching cake to make and I put as much love into it as I could. 

Sometimes when it gets really crazy and busy it's easy to take it all for granted. I think it's good to take a moment to slow down and think about the important people in your life. And it's even better to tell those people that they are important to you... 

Every baker has her day...

Yes, I create cakes as a job. Yes, I always deliver my cakes on time. Yes, I'm proud of my work....but it doesn't always go as smoothly as it seems. If you've ever watched "Ace of Cakes" or "DC Cupcakes" then you've probably witnessed their stress or one cake collapse. It's just part of the business. When you work with sugar it doesn't want to stay- it wants to pull away, separate, melt, etc. So here I am admitting I've had my fair share of mishaps, forgotten steps and fondant failure. When that happens it ends up like this: 

But as I've told myself hundreds of times, "it's just cake. It's not the end of the world". Go ahead and get any tears out you need to. Give yourself a little break. Then come back and start over. I know it's not what you want to happen, but it just does. And it's ok. This is why I watch cake shows - as horrible as it sounds it's nice to see them stress out and see their $1,000 creations collapse. It makes me feel better :) 

But it's usually fixable. In this case my fondant didn't go on right....grrr...yes, still a lil bitter about it. But I went back and removed all fondant and cut the cake underneath (a crucial step). This is what it looked like- a bit bare:

But it turned out like this:

Hopefully this will inspire someone not to give up. Everyone has challenges, but you can work through them....even if it keeps you up till 2 am multiple nights in a row. In the end, it'll all work out and maybe it'll turn out beautiful. 

It's done!

Phew.... once I stepped back from the table and admired the wedding cake I had just assembled I wanted to jump for joy. There is a lot of work and a lot of stress that goes into a wedding cake. And this cake just happened to be delivered on Friday the 13th.... (insert twilight zone music here). 

As you can imagine the stress goes beyond the date on the calendar. It's from the being up late at night baking the cakes, filling, icing and trying to make them look perfect. It's from the bumps and turns on the road while the wedding cake is in the back of the car. It's from those late night calls from the bride worrying over the table cloth being under the cake properly. All of which is totally understandable....and yet it all went smoothly.... thank goodness. 

The venue that the bride picked out was gorgeous. The room had 2 full walls of windows that looked out onto the marina. Absolutely gorgeous. I really hope this couple has a very special day. And I REALLY hope they like their cake :) I already got a text from the bride saying it looks amazing which totally made my day. Now, I think it's time to relax, at least before tonight, when I start on a chocolate cake.

Jet Cake

Tonight I have a "jet cake" due. A neighbor of mine has a boyfriend who flies jets and wanted to give him a special birthday cake. So.... she asked me if I could make a jet cake and I said I can make a jet cake however you want it. We decided on a small fondant jet that would sit on top of the cake. The cake would be decorated to look like the sky so it would look as if the jet was flying.

 I must say it made me nervous that this guy flies jets for a living and here I am sculpting one from scratch. I hope it looks somewhat like what he flies. But more than anything I hope he likes his cake and I hope my customer does too! 

I literally just finished it. Last night when my family and I got home from a work BBQ we put the kids to bed and I heated up the oven. I must say I was pretty impressed with my multitasking. I had the cakes cooking in the oven while I was on the elliptical- something I don't usually do- but I know the baking time on this cake like the back of my hand, so I wasn't worried. Usually I finish all cakes and products the day before they are due -- just in case anything goes wrong.... which happens frequently when you work with edible product. But the customer is actually taking this cake on a little road trip to Vegas! So I wanted it to be as fresh as possible when they cut into it. How awesome is this cake? Not only does it have a cool jet on it- but it gets to go to Vegas as well! This is one lucky cake! 

Wedding Cake Tasting

With wedding season comes tastings! And most of them start off like this. I've made mini cakes and a whole lot of fillings and icings. It may not look like it at this step in the process but it took hours of work just to get to this point:

After the "assembling" is complete it's time to cut. It's very important to have straight, uniform pieces. I start with a tall, well stacked cake. Then I take an apple corer and remove a small circle of cake from the middle of the cake. Then I make about 1" pieces. They are approx. 2  inches long and 4 inches deep. This is the standard size for wedding cake pieces. And yes- there is a method to cutting wedding cakes. For ex. a 6 inch round cake can easily feed 8 people and could maybe feed 10. 

After cutting the cake comes the plating. Which means I'm almost done! This is my favorite part because I get to see the final product. I must say I really enjoy seeing all the uniform pieces of cake layed out. Maybe it's my OCD or just my love of cake. Hmm... anyway- the bride and groom seem to like this part too :) 

 In the above picture: 

*Oreo cake with vanilla buttercream 

*Amaretto cake with almond buttercream

*Bananas Foster cake with a rum/brown sugar caramel layer and vanilla buttercream

*Lemon cake with a lemon cream cheese frosting and a layer of strawberry buttercream