Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I'm getting excited thinking about the cake I'm going to make. You know you love what you do, when you can't wait to start doing it. So I only have a set of 4 round pans that have 2 inches difference between them, so I know the cake is going to be round. 3 tiers. Vanilla cake/Hazelnut mousse (have to find a good recipe, but she said "chocolate pudding" and I think I can do better than that). I know I definitely want to do cascading fondant roses and I think I should start on those pronto, because they are really time-consuming. She said gold and silver, but I think I'm going to stick with Gold, because the silver might take away from it. I don't want to make it a white cake, because it will look too much like a wedding cake, but something light would be nice...I'm thinking light pink, maybe kind of dusty, so as not too look too baby shower. I would like to mix each tier's texture up a bit: alternating. I like quilting, so I'm definitely going to try that, and maybe gold striping, with one tier just a solid color. So check it: (pic uploads are disabled)

Pink cake
cascading roses
alternating stripes and quilts (one tier will be solid pink)

tell me what you think?!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My First Paid GIG!

So today, I received the news that my grandmother wanted me to make her cake for her bday coming up. My dad has offered to pay me, though I was willing to do it for free and I'm super excited because I'm going to be doing gold and silver and I've already started looking for references, so I'm going to post some ideas. I definitely want to do some roses and maybe play around with each layer, I think I want to combine quilting with striping.
Gold Wedding Cake
 

Monday, October 18, 2010

Cakespirations?

The anorexic girls post pictures of thin models/celebrities on their blogs and they call these pictures "thinspirations", to strengthen their resolve and give them hope; this helps them to hate their bodies more, so that they can continue starving themselves. I know that was a long explanation, but it's a long sleepless night and I have just gone through a really awesome cake gallery from a lady named Colette Peters, a world-renowned pastry artist (cake baker just sounds so blah) and I have been...cakespired as it were, but it has also made me feel bad about how far I have to go :( I just wish I would magically awaken to be AMAZING! So that long explanation in the beginning really did serve a purpose, to let you all know that posting pictures of cakes, or looking at cakes that are beautiful can serve as inspiration, that also makes one to feel bad, just like a thinspiration. So scroll the pictures with caution and remember that legends weren't born over night and the Great Wall of China wasn't built in a day...or something.

Here are some of my personal faves from Colette Peters' gallery



Apparently a larger pictures does not exist, but what little you can see is amazing!


Saturday, October 16, 2010

My Work Thus Far Chronologically...

don't know why I felt the need to capitalize each word, but it just felt so right hshshsh!

Feb. '10
My 1st time making a double layer cake and my first experience with fondant. (Marshmallow)
Truth be told, it didn't taste so good, I didn't know what I was doing.


Feb '10
Made this one a week later, tasted much better; the flavors were cohesive
but I made it in a hurry, so there's an obvious defect in the lines

March '10
Cherry pie used my brand new lattice maker, redeemed the terrible lattice work with a homemade flower.
Didn't make it from scratch though: comstock cherries and marie callenders crust, the heroes of an amateur.

March '10
Utilizing my newfound knowledge of how to make fondant ribbons and my wonderful new copper jelly mold, I made this beauty. Still using MM Fondant at this point and figuring out how to dirty frost.


March '10
Probably the most delicious cake I've made to date: Red Velvet and Cream Cheese, but this is what happens when you start thinking you can use just any jello mold. As you can see, it didn't come out of the tin well. It would have been beautiful if it had. Pity.

April '10
I got tired of working with MM Fondant, I hate marshmallows and I didn't have any luck with the flavored MM. This was the product of a wonderful fondant recipe I found and still use to this day. A perfect ball of fondant. I'm inlove ♥ Also found that parchment paper makes for an easier clean-up (worst part of baking).

April '10
To tell you the truth, I didnt't love this one, but I wanted to experiment with different textures and flowers. I would have preferred nicer flowers, the rose was definitely too big, and the bottom wasn't cut right, but it was delicious nonetheless.

April '10
Wanted to make something playful and fun, but it was definitely missing something

I decided to get crazy with the sprinkles and change up the ropes. I'm aware that the balls were still too big for how small the cake was, but we learn through time, right? I think this one is my favorite.

May '10
Mother's day cake. To tell you the truth, I got the idea for flowers when I hated the way I had cut the top tier (tried to make a pentagon, with no cutting skills). It turned out to be very cute. Caution: Buttons are not edible!

July '10
This is my latest creation. Definitely took the most time. I utilized the marbling technique and used electric color (hint at the theme). Kind of psychodelic, I ended up scraping off the green fondant, I didn't like the way it marbled, but it might have made it look more manly. Guitar took forever to make and was disporpionate with the amp, which took the least time to make. There's a mic on the floor by the guitar and on the side are records of psychodelic rock artists: The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin (mostly from the '70s). There's also musical notes.



So there you have it folks. I've made a little progress in between, but I'm definitely planning on getting better, so don't be too harsh in your criticism.

Musings of cakes and treats

I'm not much of a blog surfer, but I've always wanted to be, I just didn't know where to look. I am jealous of those who can find amazing blogs that provide hours of entertainment. So here I am, new to blogging, creating a blog, which I doubt anyone will read, to document my journey through pastry creation. I am a noob to the core, but thirsty for knowledge. I would love to meet other people who have the same passion as I do for cake decorating and baking and swap tips, recipes and pictures. I've seen some amazing stuff out there and just want to be a part of this awesome creative world.