Ella's Modern Barbie Cake (Click any photo to enlarge).

Ella’s “Modern Barbie” party décor matched her invitation "spot on" - so it was only fitting that her cake match, too.  I thought it was so precious when I saw Ella the morning of her big day and after seeing her cake and taking a double look at her attire, she exclaimed, "I match!" 

I’d wanted to do a Modern Barbie cake ever since the first time I stumbled upon the theme last year. Ella had very specific requests in mind for her custom cake: zebra on the bottom, pink on top, a Barbie silhouette somewhere on the cake, and a crown or tiara on top. Her mom, Andi, let me put it together the way I wanted. Believe it or not, you could take those instructions and up with a dozen different looks. The Barbie silhouette was hand-cut with an Exacto knife and the tiara was hand-shaped from gumpaste.  I painted the tiara with edible silver airbrush food coloring (no, I don’t have an airbrush) (yet) and then dusted it with silver luster dust. Click the photo to see a bigger version if you want to see a close-up.  Thanks to Mayen for the hint on how to get a nice, realistic silver look on fondant.  If you don’t know Mayen, you’re missing out – she does wonderful Youtube tutorials and has built a lovely little caking community on Facebook (it’s one of my truly happy places). Meet Mayen here and then come find her on Facebook here and tell her “Peggy Does Cake” sent you. 

Have you ever seen Barbie in the flesh? Ella has!  Barbie made a special appearance at the birthday celebration and I’m 99% sure she was the real deal. Another “special appearance” that grabbed my attention was the little tables and chairs from Little Occasions. Here's a quick peek at the set-up, but you can see lots more about this quaint little company here on Facebook.

Happy birthday sweet Ella. It was an honor to make this special cake for your special day.

Oven's on - I'll be back soon!

~ Peggy

Kelli's Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cake.

I was so honored to be asked by Kelli to make her 40^th birthday cake. She told me that every year, throughout her entire adult life, her birthday began with the ringing of her phone and the sound of her mom’s voice bringing birthday wishes. The day ended with her VERY favorite cake in the whole world, her mom's red velvet cake with cream cheese icing.  Every birthday, same tradition: start the day with a birthday wake-up call, end the day with mom's red velvet.

People don’t usually order their own cakes, but Kelli lost her mom last year.  And she didn’t just lose her mom - it was as though she had lost her best friend.  They had that kind of “mother-daughter” thing that most of us can only dream about.  (I’m so lucky and blessed that I have a similar thing with my mom.)

In the spirit of keeping important traditions alive (and she didn’t say this, but also, since it’s not every day that you turn 40), Kelli decided to find herself the perfect red velvet/cream cheese birthday cake this year.  I don’t know about the perfect part, but I know I was honored and terrified to attempt to “fill in” for her mom.  I kept it simple using the rosette method from the brilliant "i am baker" tutorial which you can find here.

I don’t usually include this much personal story with my cakes, but Kelli gave me her permission to share a couple lines from a follow-up note she sent me.  I think this sums things up.

 

“Peggy, I just cut the cake and was flooded with emotion. It is really amazing how God works. You made a cake so much like my mom’s. Your icing is just like hers! The icing was great (cake, too)!  It was delicious! Thanks for making my birthday special.”

Talk about being flooded with emotion! Who would have ever thought that making cakes could be this fulfilling?

Oven’s on – I’ll be back soon!

~ Peggy

Gracie's Pink and Green Cupcake Stand

Gracie, at the ripe old age of 6, is a repeat customer! I was so excited to finally have a chance to create a "homemade" cupcake tower for her.  It's decorated with scrapbook paper and ribbon in hot pink and green, to match her cupcake color request.  This was so easy to make - but not cheap.  Luckily, it can be redecorated and reused over and over.  Edible pink disco dust finished off her extra special "6" cupcake at the top.  

 
Like Gracie’s pink and lime green polka dot cupcake wrappers?  They’ll glam up anything you put in them.  I was elated to find them here – and wow, check out that price!  If you've shopped for custom cupcake wrappers, you know they can be $1 or more EACH.  These are an amazing bargain and a really simple way to dress up your cupcakes at just $.07 each.  

Want to see these cupcakes up close and personal?  Click on either photo to enlarge. 

Happy birthday, Gracie!  Your cupcakes were so bright and lively - and your birthday cake from last year (seen here) was so bright and lively, I just can't wait to see what we can come up with for birthday number 7.

Oven's on - I'll be back soon!

~ Peggy

Blaire's Pink and Green Graduation Cake

Today's cake post will be another short and sweet one, as any extra time lately (between my "real" job [not cakes] and my "pretend" job [cakes] is nearly impossible to find.  

I learned a lot while making this cake, including the fact that you can never, ever, ever, no matter what, never ever turn Fondx “white fondant” into anything even remotely resembling hot pink fondant.  And as proof to that claim, I offer this soft, warm, "baby pink" cake which was born of my failed attempts to make said hot pink fondant.  Cake is WASC wedding batter, filled with whipped vanilla bean butter cream and covered in fondant.  

I was so flattered to be asked to bake for this sweet family.  The cake traveled 90 miles in one direction and was a surprise goody at the graduation celebration of the utterly GORGEOUS Blaire Jones.  I mean, really!  Doesn’t that name even SOUND like the name of a movie star??  I know this beautiful young woman will go forth and do many amazing and wondrous things in life now that her college graduation is behind her (and now that she's had a bite of my cake).  :D 

Oven’s on – I’ll be back soon!

~ Peggy

Molly Made It! Double Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Pound Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Drizzle

Reader Beware: I'm being "that mom" for a minute and bragging on my child. My little one baked this chocolate chip sour cream pound cake with chocolate hazelnut drizzle while I was at work (with permission, of course). I just can't help but wonder how many 13 year old girls can do that? Not only was it flawless in appearance, it was moist and delicious. When I got home the house smelled amazing. Ever had leftover cake? This entire thing was devoured. Molly is already quite the little cook and is really just a whiz with a stove; I think we can officially add the oven to her list. I'm so proud of her.

This is our favorite "go to" recipe when we want pound cake. In fact, I did a similar version of this cake not too long ago, but made mine a double chocolate chip cake (chocolate on chocolate) with a plain-Jane chocolate fudge sauce. See it pictured here on my darling little milk glass cake plate I got from Kirkland's ($40).


Click on either photo to see our cakes enlarged. Go on, I dare you! Molly might cringe and shutter at this comment, but here goes anyway: she and I are like two little baking peas in a pod.  

If anyone wants the recipe, I'm happy to share. Just holler.

Ovens on - I'll be back soon.

~ Peggy

Robert's Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate (Triple Chocolate) Cake

After Robert’s "21st" birthday cake I made for him last year (see it here or here), it’s just been made official: at the ripe old age of 22, he’s now too old for a “cutesy” cake. But he's definitely not too old for a “double chocolate chip chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, hazlenut-infused chocolate buttercream accents, and tempered dark chocolate curls.” And that is exactly what he got, courtesy of his mom and one of my best friends, Denise.  Short and sweet best describes today’s post and this delectable cake.  Just one little quote from his momma: "When did you start putting crack in your cakes? It's addictive!” Ahhh cake humor!  *knee slap*  How I DO love that girl! To see this choccy monster up close and personal, click the image to enlarge it.  Go on, I dare you!

Oven’s on – I’ll be back soon!

~ Peggy