PS4 Birthday Cake

My nephew always requests fun birthday cakes. Last year he decided he wanted a PS4 cake, with one of his favourite games sitting on top. Since I'm a terrible artist I got a local bakery to print a picture of the game to stick on the cake. It was the first time I used the edible picture printing, and I was quite impressed! Simple to use, saves copious amounts of time, and looks great!

The pictures aren't the greatest since the majority of the cake is black.

But you get the idea!

Paw Patrol Birthday Cakes

These cake were for twin girls last year. Their favourite show was Paw Patrol - much like very other toddler!! Kids just can't resist those cute puppies. My daughter just saw these pictures and now she is determined to have a Paw Patrol birthday cake! We will see how many more times she changes her mind before then!

I didn't want to make them exactly the same, so I reversed the colours and chose different puppies to make.

Marshall turned out a little better then Zuma, but I was happy with the end result!

Those streamers in the background were still up from my son's birthday party, which was weeks before. He didn't want them taken down! I haven't put his cake up yet, but will soon!

Make Up Cake

This was a fun cake to make. Bright colours and very girly! It was for my husband's niece. I was able to make all the pieces ahead of time so putting it together didn't take very long.

As you can see there is a 7 lying beside the cake. It got stuck in once the cake was delivered. I didn't actually make it to the birthday party - instead left the delivery and set up to my very capable husband. I just didn't get a picture of it completely finished!

The Master Sword Birthday Cake

My husband is a Zelda fanatic. I finally gave in and made him a Zelda cake in the form of the Master Sword for his birthday last year. I guess there are only so many fishing cakes I can make! I don't quite get what the Master Sword is, but from what I understand it is an accomplishment to earn/find/unlock? it from the rock it is apparently stuck in. And Link needs it. I know that.

It didn't quite turn out as good as I had hoped. The purple faded out of the fondant - this has happened to me before and I don't understand why. And it also looks a little lumpy, the fondant probably could have been put on a little thicker, but at the end of the day a Zelda cake is a Zelda cake and I don't hear anyone complaining!

Millennium Falcon Birthday Cake

Camron always has great ideas for birthday cakes! For his birthday last year he wanted this Millennium Falcon cake that has a LEGO feel. It was the first Star Wars cake I ever made. I'm a Star Wars fan so I was excited to make it for him!

Doc McStuffins Birthday Cake

So, it's been a while! I haven't done much crafting in the last year, but I have made a few cakes and I'm behind in posting them. I'll try to get caught up!

This is a cake I made for my daughters birthday. She wanted a Doc McStuffins cake so we went on Pinterest and she picked one out. I changed it a little bit to my liking and instead of making a Doc McStuffins I ordered her off Amazon.

I especially like the Lambie, the sheep!

Minnie Mouse Cake

Our daughter loves everything that is pink and girly, so it is no surprise that she loves Minnie Mouse! This is probably the last year I get to pick out her birthday cake so I decided I would take advantage of it and make her a Minnie Mouse cake.

I took a couple different ideas and put them together. Making Minnie out of a cookie was the easiest way I could think of making her, so that is what I did. After I finished Minnie's face, I couldn't figure out why she didn't look as cute as the picture I was copying. I stood there looking at it for a few minutes until it finally clicked...

I made her cross-eyed! Luckily it was a easy fix!

Once her bow was on she looked even better!

Minnie's Bowtiques is one of her favourite shows (or was until Paw Patrol recently took over!) so I made a big bow to wrap all the way around it. Some pink icing and sparkles and I called it done!

It turned out pretty cute and Victoria was delighted! Of course she wore her Minnie Mouse Halloween costume, complete with her Minnie Mouse ears, so she matched the cake!

Birthday Cake

About a month ago our neighbour stopped in, said his wife's birthday was coming up and he was wondering if I could make a cake on short notice. He basically left the design up to me, he just wanted something fairly simple and enough cake for 30 people.

I try to use these opportunities to do something a little different or try something I haven't done before - all while keeping it fairly straight forward so the cake turns out in the end!

I had some roses left from the wedding cake I make for my brother and sister-in-law, so I decided to use them. For the leaves I wanted to try making them from green dipping chocolate wafers. I dumped the chocolate in to a piping bag and traced out the outline of a few. I wasn't too sure about them, but figured if all else failed I could make buttercream leaves. With melted chocolate chips I made the letters for Happy Birthday, as well as some lattice looking things.

The only thing about using chocolate is that as soon as you touch the pieces they start to melt. Usually I'm so freezing cold so I'm not sure why my temperature spikes the second I started placing the chocolate pieces on a cake! I had to be super careful and actually ended up using my decorating tweezers to minimizing touch the chocolate.

In the end I was happy with how it turned out, simple and elegant.

I was really happy with the chocolate leaves. They brought a brightness to the cake and really pulled it together. I'm glad they turned out!

The Backyardigans Cake

I made this cake back in September for my co-worker's granddaughter. She loves The Backyardigans. I on the other hand weren't too sure who they were so I had to do some research. I'm glad they weren't the coloured blobs I had originally thought they were - I'm not quite sure what I was thinking about; maybe Teletubbies? Is that even a show anymore? I watched part of an episode of The Backyardigans, and while it helped with what the characters looked like, it really just confused me. They weren't in a backyard, but in a city - one was driving a streetcar, I think one was being a doorman. The streetcar probably lost control going down a hill and had to be saved. By the doorman. I don't remember - 5 minutes was enough for me!

I originally decided to make the character out of colour flow, however when I went to use them I found hadn't dried properly and some of them ended up breaking. I couldn't figure out why because usually colour flow turns out so well. It wasn't until a day or two later I realized it was because I used one of my plastic cutting boards instead of the 2 arborite ones I usually uses. There was moisture trapped under the wax paper which prevented proper drying. Another lesson learned! My kids were delighted they broke because then they got to make a fancy dessert with cake scrapes and broken Backyardigans. Luckily the letters for the name, and the 2 were okay.

I got out the fondant, which is what I should have done in the beginning and made the 5 characters.

I'm actually glad the colour flow didn't work because they turn out pretty cute. The moose is my favourite.

I haven't decided if the blue one is a penguin or just a bluebird, and I think the purple one is a kangaroo. I have no idea what the pink one is. No idea. Wikipedia doesn't know either.

I glad I made the flowers, it really brightened it up and made it more little girly.

There they are, hanging out in the backyard. Everyone getting along.

Kinley loved her cake and the characters were a hit. Although one of them fell victim to their dog - dogs get to celebrate too, right!?

Pontoon Boat Cake

My boss retired this spring and to celebrate this milestone, along with her husbands 65th birthday, they planned a party for this summer. She asked if I would make a cake that had her and her husband in a pontoon boat with their little dog.

Up until the day before I made the cake I was still tying to decided whether it should be a pontoon boat cake or a pontoon boat on a cake. I didn't think a pontoon boat would have enough cake in it for everyone so I decided to do both - a pontoon boat cake on a cake.

I was a little unsure about how big the boat should be (and since I doubt my people making skills!) so I was having visions of giant people in a little boat. In my mind, the most logical way to make sure this didn't happen was to make the people first and then make the boat. That way everything should be in proportion. Fortunately this plan worked out and I didn't end up with giants or a boat that wouldn't fit on the cake (which was my other worry!).

Since I wanted to make the boat as edible as possible I made the pontoons, walls and benches out of fondant covered rice crispy cake. The base of the boat was cake.

The dog was surprisingly not that hard to make, and is probably my favourite part of the cake.

Their pontoon boat is actually black, but since it takes so much food colouring to get black fondant I figured it would taste more like dye then icing and so I just left it white. I almost forgot the motor. That was a last minute addition.

Truth be told I was a little nervous about making this cake. Having never made a pontoon boat before I wasn't too sure what I was doing. I almost never got it done on time - but that is because I ended up going to a movie. Ant Man was in town! I couldn't miss it!

In the end the cake turned out pretty well and my husband even thinks my people make skills are improving! The party was lots of fun as well and the supper was fantastic. Usually when I make a cake for someone my kids have to watch it leave knowing they don't get a piece. They were delighted when I told them that they were going to the party too! Thanks for inviting us, and thanks for asking me to make your cake!

Trailer Park Boys

I never thought I would find myself making a Trailer Park Boy's birthday cake! Never say never, I guess! I actually made it the same weekend as the Iron Man cake, and am finally getting it posted!

This cake was for a surprise 50th birthday party for my brother-in-law's sister-in-law's husband. I wonder if there is an easier way of saying that?

I struggle with making fondant people, but these guys actually turned out not too bad! My husband helped me get the details right!

Iron Man Cake

The first time I made a Iron Man cake was years ago, before the Avengers were really popular. I didn't really even know who he was - just that he was my husband's favourite comic book super hero. It didn't turn out so well. Now there are all sorts of Iron Man cakes ideas on Pintrest, which is exactly where I turned when I was asked to make this one. I put a few of the ideas together to come up with a cake that I thought little Joshua would like.

The best idea I came across was putting a LED light in the cake as Iron Man's arc reactor. I knew I'd seen them in the dollar stores, but wasn't sure if they came in red. As it turned out, luck was with me, they did! They also had blue and silver, in case you were wondering! I wasn't sure how long the batteries would last so I left putting it in until the morning of the party just to make sure it wouldn't burn out.

One of my favourite things to do on a birthday cake is to write their name out of cookies. I've done it a couple times, and it always goes over well - cookies and cake all in one! I had to squish Joshua's name together to make it fit, but in the end it was better then having the letters in a straight line. I also made Iron Man's helmet out of a cookie. The template I found on Pintrest, where else!

It was a fun cake to make, and I'm really glad the light idea worked out. My source told me Joshua was thrilled with Iron Man cake and knowing that one of my cakes brought a smile to someones face is the best part of it all!

A Castle Fit For a King

For my son's 7th birthday I was unable to make the cake he first picked out. I needed the dump truck cake pan to make a candy mold. I looked everywhere with no luck. A few days before his birthday I told him he was going to have to pick something else out. We started going through my cake pans, and I mentioned to him that I had a castle cake pan. He was pretty interested in finding that one, so I thought he might like to see the castle set I have. As soon as he saw that his mind was made up.

I think I've only used this set one other time... or maybe twice, so even though it was a little elaborate for amount of time I had, I was up for making it. Of course, he wanted it complete with a moat and drawbridge.

Each turret tower had to be wrapped in fondant, imprinted with a little square cookie cutter. It went a lot quicker then I thought it would, although by the end, had a stone layer guy in the mid-evil times laid the stones as unevenly as I was, he probably would have been executed. Never the less, I got it done, and it looked okay. Windows were cut out and stuck on. The castle was actually suppose to have several more windows on the side and back walls but it was getting really late so I skipped them.

Getting the top tower to stay was a little challenging. I ended up propping it up with empty paper towel rolls and left it dry until the morning. Luckily it stayed after that.

We had to move this cake around a bit since we were having the birthday party in the backyard and to my surprise the top tower stayed in place! One of the side ones fell off, but that was no big deal, it was just stuck back on. After Happy Birthday was sung they were all coming down anyway!

Transformer Cake

So, I'm a little behind on my posts! This is my son's birthday cake from a few weeks ago. He told me months ago he wanted a Transformer cake, more specifically a cake with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. And then he rattled of his birthday cakes for the next 3 years. I hope he remembers them because I sure don't!

I kind of mess this cake up - all my cake pans except a couple are still in the garage (the basement is getting closer to being complete! We are at the painting stage!) so I used the one I had in the kitchen hoping it would be big enough for both of the Transformers. But it wasn't. Never underestimate the size of a Transformer. I should have just gone to the garage and found my big sheet cake pan. Instead I ended up have to make 2 cakes, one for each Transformer.

To make Optimus Prime and Bumblebee I used the frozen buttercream transfer method. It is super easy and they turned out really well. I might have to start doing this more often.

He wanted Optimus Prime in truck form,

and Bumblebee in...Bumblebee form?

And then I tried to put them together so it looked like one cake and that is how it was suppose to be.

He was delighted with his 2 cakes, and wasn't at all upset when he found out his dad had eaten the last piece of his Optimus Prime cake because as he said - "It's okay! I have a another cake, right Mom!"

Frozen Birthday Cake

When a friend asked me if I could make a Frozen cake for her niece's birthday the first thing that popped in to my mind was sparkly snowflakes. And Elsa, Anna and Olaf. But mostly sparkly snowflakes. I just thought they would look so pretty on a blue cake.

Making princesses out of colour flow is something I've only done once before, and since they turned out not too bad I thought I try it again. The trouble with making princesses is that they are so detailed and they have to big enough for the detail to show, but small enough to fit on the cake. It can be a bit of a challenge and sometimes the smallest icing tip isn't small enough. Anyway, I gave it a go (and I actually bought little plastic Frozen characters for back up in case of a disaster!) and in the end they looked like Elsa and Anna. With bad makeup. I need to work on that.

The snowflakes turned out beautifully! Although I did break a couple and had to repair them!

If I made this cake again, I think I'd do it a little differently, although I'm not too sure what I would change. Elizabeth liked it, and I guess that is all that matters!

Basketball Cake

This is the cake I made for my niece for her 14th birthday. She plays on the junior basketball team at her high school and just happens to be #14!

This is the third time I've used the ball cake pan. It always turns out good, but the getting it to stay in one place can be a little tricky! Even with a stick through it, it still wanted to shift. With some extra support underneath I got it to stay.

A little tricky to transport! I had to hold it on my lap and keep it balanced on the way to the birthday party. Luckily they only like a few blocks away!

Stampy Cat Cake

For his 9th birthday my husband's nephew decided to have a Stampy Cat themed birthday party. When they asked me to make the cake, I had no idea what a stampy cat was. Turns out it is a character in mine-craft.

The good thing about mine-craft is that everything is in cubes. The bad thing is that it ends up to be a lot of squares!

I made Stampy out of Rice Krispie Cake and covered him in 1/4" inch squares of fondant. For the cake I used 3/4" squares. When I was searching for pictures of Stampy Cake there were quite a few of him with a cake. I took that to mean he likes cake, so I also made a Rice Krispie fondant covered cake.

Carousel Cake

So, it's been a while since my last post! That doesn't mean I haven't been busy! My computer was down for a while and then I was working very hard on something for my sister-in-law, for which the deadline has now been removed, so I can take the time to write about the carousel cake!

A few weeks ago my little girl turned two, and I got to make her a cake that I've been waiting to make for a long time - ever since I bought the carousel horses and separator plate kit, which was years ago. Someone asked me where I got it and I can't even remember. I just know that it was 50% off!

The only problem with this set is that it doesn't come with a roof. (The carousel set Wilton sells now comes with a plastic one and you just have to decorate it.) The box had a couple of nice examples showing how to decorate the cake without a roof, but I really wanted it to have one. So a couple of days before Victoria's birthday I sat down and started cutting out triangles, trying to figure out how to make a carousel roof. After cutting triangles for a half hour with none of them lining up properly and getting no closer to getting it right, I decided there must be a more logical way to figure out the right measurements for the base and height. Now, I always was a pretty good math student, but that was mostly because I could follow a formula and use a calculator. However, I was never very good at geometry, once it got complicated, and all that sin/cos/tan stuff. And whatever Math C30 was all about (or was that trig too?!). I remember thinking, a time or two, that I would never use some of these math skills again, even though Mr. E insisted we would. I guess you were right, Mr. E! So for anyone sitting in a math class thinking they are never going to use math again - pay attention and learn it. You just might need it to make a cake.

So, basically, there was no way I was going to figure this out on my own. I send out a mass text with my math problem to my smart siblings. I knew someone would know the formula and tell me how to figure it out! It took about 4 seconds before a couple of my brothers answered, with the formula and then the answer. I should have went to them sooner! For future reference: For a 8 sided roof, being built out of triangles, on a round house that has a diameter of 10 inches, with the peak of the roof being 4 inches taller then the walls - your triangles should be 6.4 inches tall, and have a 3.9 inch base!

And look at how perfect it all fit together!

And the rest of it!

This cake was a little tricky to decorate because I didn't want to move it around too much because I was a little worried about breaking the roof and I hadn't made any extra pieces. The side panels on the top part overhang a bit, so it had to be lifted up to put them on. I decorated most of the top with the cake all assembled, which probably wasn't the best idea because I was using a cake stand that wasn't very stable. I didn't want to risk knocking it over, so instead of turning it around I ended up reaching across the table at awkward angles trying to get at the back of it.

The best part about the cake, is the stand! Which is why I used it, despite it being tippy. It actually rotates - very slowly, has flashing lights around the plate, and it also sings 'Happy Birthday'! Perfect for a carousel cake! It is always a huge hit with the kids! And Happy Birthday gets sung about 15 times because everyone needs a turn pressing the button.

It was a fun cake to make and I'm glad I saved it to make for my baby girl!

Cute Pink Birthday Bear

This past weekend I made a cake for my coworker's granddaughter's 1st birthday. She brought a card to work of a cute little brown bear wearing a pink skirt and asked if I could make a bear like it. I said I would try!

Using the 3d teddy bear cake pan always is a little nerve racking. I'm never certain if it is going to turn out, but once it is in the oven there is nothing you can do but wait! I always put in a more cake batter then it says to a make sure it fills the whole pan. Luckily it turned out pretty good even though I had to bake it a little longer, because the cone inside was a bit crooked and it wasn't baking evenly. It is hard getting that cone in there! You have to put it in, and then twist it around to be able to get the tabs caught under the pan so that it doesn't rise out with the cake.

Despite the challenges it is one of my favourite cakes to make and I get to use my favourite tip #233 that makes the bears looks so fluffy! It takes a little time, but it is worth it when it turns out looking so real.

I had to recruit my husband to help with the skirt. He's such a good sport! I had this really long piece of fondant and I couldn't hold it with out it pulling apart and attach it to the bear at the same time. He held it for me while I stuck it on, trying to bunch it up to create a ruffled look. I was really happy with how it turned out, I was a little anxious about it!

Such a pretty pink cake for a pretty little birthday girl! Thanks for asking me to make it and I'm happy you liked it!

Three In One Birthday Cake

My neighbour asked me a little while ago if I would make three birthday cakes and combine it into one. Her birthday, her dad's birthday and her daughter's birthday are all within a couple days of each other and she wanted a cake to celebrate them all.

I decided against a tier cake because I wanted to make sure each person was equally represented. The idea popped into my head of making a cake that looked like a table top with three cakes sitting on top. The more I thought about it the better I liked the idea. I still think it was a great idea, but it turned out to be a little more work then I anticipated! My neighbour is a quilter so it was easy to come up with a theme for her cake. (She makes amazing quilts. I can only hope that one day I'll make a quilt like the ones she makes.) Her dad is an retired farmer. That was simple enough. I struggled a little with the daughter, but then found out she likes to cook, so I went with a cooking theme.

For just about all the cakes I make, I will draw it out in Paint first just to make sure it looks the same as the image I have in my head! In this case there was so much going on and so many different colours that I was having a hard time putting it all together. So, in Paint, I drew it out and experimented with the colours and came up with something that worked.

It helped!

I did all the colour flow on a couple different evening earlier in the week. Friday rolled around and I got to baking cakes. Three little ones and a big sheet cake. It was a lot of cake. I started decorating after the kids went to bed. My brother and his family, and my sister were visiting so we chatted as I decorated. Then, as it got later, they went to bed and soon it was just me and my sister. She offered to help, so I put her to work.

The first cake was for Lorne, the farmer. Since it is harvest time I made a red combine (he drove International) and wheat stocks on a nice sunny day, perfect for combining. Because I didn't want to cover the whole cake with tiny wheat stocks I stuck some grasshoppers on the back!

The second cake was for Colleen, my neighbour. I wrote her name with a spool thread, got my sister making fondant quilt and put a sewing machine on the back.

For Kimberley, I need to find a recipe that would fit on my tiny cookbook. I came up with shortbread cookies. When I was leaving home I copied as many of my Mom's awesome recipes as I could and I only wrote very basic instructions. This is the shortest recipe I have! On the back of her cake there are a set for measuring spoons.

I put it all together, and here is what it looked like...

...the Happy Birthday sign is a fondant napkin. The only thing was wasn't happy with was the "table". The table cloth didn't really turn out. I should have did it a little differently.


Top view...

Back view...

All in all, I was pretty happy with it,

And more importantly it went over well with my neighbour and her family!