Where have we been...right here!

I know this is late. Some of you think we've given up on this blog like our other one. That is not the case. We have just been here...so busy...unable to update the blog. I tell myself that some of you wait for this to post. I wish that was true...so I will continue to make myself feel good, and pretend I have fans. So, now having said that, if you follow us on facebook you know our latest cakes were the Pumpkin cake and the Where the Wild Things Are cake. Here is the pumpkin cake-

This cake was for our niece Logan...thus the vine spells Logan, some people noticed and some people didn't. That's what I was hoping for :) Now to make this cake we baked two cakes, one chocolate and one vanilla. We baked them in a bowl that was oven safe. Once we baked the two cakes, we let them cool. Then, stacked them on top of each other like you would if you were using the Wilton ball cake pan. Then we iced it with a buttercream icing. We let the icing crust over for about 15 minutes. Then used a cornstarch confectioners sugar mix on our hands to press the lines into the cake, giving it the pumpkin look. Then we made the stem out of a dark brown and a light brown fondant swirled together. I doubted Baker Man on this, but he was right. I thoughted it turned out great...very whimsical....then we added the vines. Then after the cake was cut and served up...since the birthday party was on Halloween, it was only appropriate to turn it into a Jack-O-Lantern.

We also had another cake last weekend. When we were first asked to do this cake, we weren't sure it would be possible. Where the Wild Things Are. I keep having to ask Baker Man whether it's Where the Wild Things Go or Are. He corrects me every time. It's ARE WOMAN! Ok, ok, I get it. Gamebox, XCube, Playtendo. All the same to me :) So, we did some research, and found some ideas. And Baker Man executed beautifully, with help from his Cake Lady of course ;) So, the finished product...

Now, that's what we did last weekend. Recently, my sister got me addicted to Bakerella. She makes these things she invented called "Cake Pops." We have been dying to try these, and since I like to use the people I work with as my guinea pigs...we did. Although, they were someone elses idea, so we felt the need to put our own spin on them. They are a work in progress but, here they are. Chocolate cake strawberries on top of a chocolate cake...

I hope this was as fun for the three of you as it was for me. Until next time. Cake Lady out.

The latest...

I'm going to keep this one short...

So, there are a few of the latest...there is another one...but we didn't get a picture. So, we're hoping someone will send us a picture...we'll keep you posted!

"I Cannot Believe it"

When I was asked if i could make petit fours the answer was, "I've never done them before but I would be willing to try." Then I was asked for 100 of them. What in the world was I thinking?!?I googled tons of recipes, looked for youtube videos for a few "How To's" asked a couple "cake masters" (both of which said, "I won't do those, their too much trouble"). I started to get worried but the people on Youtube made it look so easy. So, Chris baked the first two sets. They came out perfectly! I was thinking things were going well. Then came time to ice the mini bites of goodness. So, you're supposed to mix the icing in a double broiler, constantly stirring to keep it from burning on the bottom. Don't forget it can't get too hot because it will burn and it must be warm enough to "melt" into itself. But none of the recipes gave a temperature of course. Just a "you better do it perfectly or you're screwed." Well, there was definitely a learning curve to these things. Then the next batch of baking for Christopher. These didn't go so well. And I'm starting to was to curse this icing! The baked 6 total batches. We only need about 3.3. If we had more time, I might have said, try baking one more batch. The things kept falling apart. Crumbs everywhere, lopsided mounds of mess! Finally I got 100 I was willing to let leave my kitchen with my name on it. By this time it's only 4:30 in the morning so I might just not be seeing clearly. Regardless, I don't have any more petit four energy left in my body. So, I bosed them up and stuck them in the fridge. Now the debate is...do I go to sleep? Or just stay up? Oh, I'm staying up blogging because I keep telling myself "You have to please the fans." Yes, that's right, I tell myself that I have fans. And even if no one is reading this...at least I make myself feel good about staying awake makng petit fours. So, will I ever do them again you ask...sure why not. There was so much more to this week that I need to fill everyone in on...but...I'm feeling as though this blog is getting a bit lengthy so to sum it up: Chris's niece asked us if we could do a cake for her and take it to S. Carolina (that's where his family lives), so, he made it and left this afternoon, I also did a cake for someone I work with. He wanted to surpris his wife with a cake and make it something she is passionate about. She is an artist, so I did a cake that looked like a paint pallet...spelling? I have no idea how to spell that. I will post picture later this week. Also, I wanted to make a correction to a post that Chris wrote...Linda, the one that recomended us to Kristen for her castle cake...has had our cake. Chris just didn't know because he wasn't there when she was able have a taste. Just wanted to clear things up :)

Our first compliments from our first legit client.

We stay fairly busy, but until recently it has been for just friends. We had our first legit client when someone wanted a medieval castle for a "Medieval murder mystery" party, awesome concept by the way. We were referred to her from someone who hasn't even had one of our cakes, she had just seen our work! When we got the phone call, and made the cake, we had some serious butterflies. We delievered the cake, and the client's mom said she liked it a lot, and it was better than her "wildest dreams". To be honest, I didn't whole heartly believe her, I am my own worst critic. I would soon be proven wrong. Not only did the mother love our cake, but the daughter did also! She liked it so much, that she took time out of her busy work day to send us an email!! That is just awesome! I am so humbled by this whole experience. It really is something when you can be such a positive part of someones special day. Here is the email.

Hi Katie, the cake was AWESOME! The girls loved it and it was delicious. I gave out almost all the cards you left me so hopefully you will get some business from the party. We took some pics of Kristen with the cake and send them along later this week.



My youngest daughter has a b-day coming up in November so you can expect another order!!



Thanks again! Lynne


Wow. We are blessed, and very thankfull. Lynne, if you are reading this, thank you soo much for trusting total strangers with your daughters birthday cake! We will forever be blessed.

Tiger Woods meets Medieval

We have officially completed the first course of Wilton Cakes Decorating and we have certificates to prove it. Now if I mess up I can't blame it on never being taught. So this weekend we had two cakes...a golf cake and a Midieval Castle. First Let me share with you about the golf cake. It was for a couple that was doing a joint birthday party with a coworker. All they said was, "Do you think you could do some type of golf ball?" Of course we were up to the challenge! So, Chris baked the cakes...and Before we knew if Thursday was here and the cake had to be done by Friday...and I knew it needed to be done before I left for work. Soooo, Thursday morning Chris left for work. It just so happened to be my day off, so I got busy. I made icing...LOTS of icing. I iced that bad boy and made sand dunes and before I knew it, it was 4:30, I hadn't showered and my mom was coming over to watch the kids so Chris and I could go to our last night of decorating 101. AWWWWW!!! The kids were down for a nap so I hit the showers! I had time to dry my hair and put some possibly clean clothes on. At this point the piles are starting to run together and I can't tell what's clean and what's to be washed or what might have recently turned into the dogs favorite place to rest her head. They didn't smell bad so I went with it. Chris got home, my mom got here, and so off we went. By the time we got in the car I realized...I haven't eaten anything all day! No wonder my stomach was screaming. So, Chris, being the wonderful husband that he is, was gracious enough to let me eat his supreme baja steak chalupa that my mom was gracious enough to bring us. Got to cake class, learned how to make sweet peas, got our certificates, came home, Chris went back to work (Thank you Neglia for working for him so he could get in touch with his feminine side), I put Griffin down (who somehow got out of bedtime), and got busy on the golf ball portion of the cake. Oh my goodness! I finished! And it was only 2:00 AM!! Here is the finished product...

Now, the story of the Castle Cake...

We got a call on Tuesday evening about doing a cake for a 13 year old girl's birthday. She wanted a castle. But not a princess castle she wanted a medieval/mystery castle. She was having a Murder Mystery themed birthday party and wanted the castle to be dark. On Wednesday I spoke with her mom and ironed out some details. Thursday I got the picture they the birthday girl had drawn up to show me what was in her head. So, Thursday when I was home making icing I was also baking cakes and making rice krispie treat towers for the castle. Friday evening, once I got home from picking up the kids after work, it was hammer down on some castle cake! When I spoke to the birthday girl she said she was thinking we could put some grass around the castle and maybe a bridge...and possibly some flags on top...red and yellow. "Is that possible?" Sure! Why not?!?! So, we took her picture she sent me...and the ideas she told me and here's what we came up with...

Flood? What flood?

We have recently been very busy. We have had an average of two cakes per weekend, and most of which were not little cupcakes. I'm talking monsters here folks. We had a "40" cake for our friend, downtown Wendy Brown. It was her sister's 40th and she wanted a cake that was the number 40. She sent us an invitation so we could figure colors and designs to be used, and that was no help. We had to dig a little deeper. We did find out that her sisters favorite colors were "fall colors", and we ran with it. We ended up doing a chocolate icing cake, with teal and orange icing. WB said she wanted it cute, but grown up. She wanted us to somehow incorporate the little phrases that were on the invite. Finished product care of some of the new techniques we have learned in our class we are taking.

After we had that cake to done, we had to finish another cake for someone at church. She was doing a joint birthday part with her daughter. They had some family coming into town so it didn't need to be super big, just super cute. She wanted "girly colors and some polka-dots" This cake had to be delivered Sunday morning, and I had to work Friday, and Saturday day. Needless to say, time was against us. I get home late Saturday night from getting the kids, put them to bed, and want nothing more than to crawl into bed. Alas, staring at me were these two cakes, plane and unfinished. Dang-it. I muscle up enough strength to channel my inner girl, and decorate this cake they way I would for my daughter. The finished product looked great, or so I am told, and I couldn't be happier. I know that most of you have heard the phrase, "If you don't use it, you lose it" right? That applies to cursive writing. It took me 7, count em, SEVEN attempts to get this "J" right. (the mother and daughter shared the same first initial)

Life is a Highway

Lightning McQueen has been quite a challenge. There is so much detail that goes into that character...WOW. First we started with two sheet cakes. Then we started carving. I again had to use my nephew's assistance. I borrowed his Lightning McQueen. Throughout carving the cake, all Griffin kept saying was, "What you doing Mommy? Why you cutting like that? Can I play with McQueen?" My respsonses were "I'm carving a cake. Because we want it to look like McQueen. No I need McQueen." To which the whole thing started over. Once we finished carving, we did a layer of butter cream. Then we colored our fondant and covered McQueen with a nice red coat. Then it was time for details. Lightning bolts, 95, Rusteze, windows, eyes...wheels. All the details came together. And here it is...

"You need a paint job man"

Today has been crazy. Work was non stop, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed! I came home to a smiling family...it made everything else better!  But, it's time to get down to business! While Chris was home today he was able to bake two sheets cakes that would eventually become Lightning McQueen. Once we got greetings out of the way we started carving McQueen. Just then Chris had a thought...which we all know can be scary at times. When we got married someone gave us an electric knife for carving turkey. How silly we thought, newly weds don't eat turkey unless it comes in a container and costs less than $3.00 and we have a coupon. So, it's been in a box in our attic becaue we knew we might use it one day when we have Thanksgiving at our house. Well, my genius husband figured if it could carve meat it could carve cake. And right he was! It worked like a charm. Why haven't we thought of this before?! So, anyways, now McQueen has shaped up but now he needs a paint job...just call me Ramone because I'm on it!

What was I thinking?

What started as another "week off" turned into our busiest weekend yet. We had one cake to do for someone's first birthday and a cake to do for my mom which was going to be on display/served at her booth at the East Cobber Festival. So let me start at the begining of the week. Labor Day. I was off work and wanted to get something done. Since all cakes have to start with baking, I baked one part of my mom's cake (since at this time I didn't know I was going to have anything else to do). Then, that night we got a message on our facebook. Someone needed a cake for her son's first birthday. Of course! We will take all the business we can get. Not really thinking it was already Monday (since I wasn't working). My sister told me, you know you could say no. I know that I can...but I hardly ever do. So Tuesday, I got a few detail for the first birthday cake and Chris started baking some more. Wednesday baking the rest of my mom's cake, then since it was our anniversary, when I got off work, we went out to eat. Then Thursday, Chris was in "Diversity Training" and I was working...the kitchen is quiet. Thursday night we went to the Clemson v. Georgia Tech game (my present to Chris for our anniversary). Then, Friday morning, Chris got Lasik eye surgery at 11:00. We didn't get out of there until 3:00. Then, I got the rest of the details for the birthday cake (which is needed by Saturday-at this point that's tomorrow). So we rush home. Chris was instructed to sleep as much as possible. Right now...he says...just not possible. We've got two cakes to finish. So, we start baking a top layer for the birthday cake we didn't know we were going to need to do. Go to Walmart to get Chris' perscriptions for Lasik recovery and go to a dinner party. While we're there, Chris made a football for the top of the birthday cake. Then we try to get home, only...there's road construction. And we don't get home until 10:00 (I'm about to cry because I know how late I will be up). But Chris worked through the pain with me. And we got them done. So...he went to bed and I made some final touches...finally 2:00 AM and I get to see the back of my eyelids. I get up at 6:00 AM so that I can clean a little and we can deliver the birthday cake before Chris' post-opp appointment that is at 9:00. Taylor decided to wake up at 6:45 and I had to wake Griffin up at 7:15. Out the door by 8:00 delivered birthday cake...now to drop off my mom's cake to my sister just in case we are at the dr. for a long time. Stop by Chickfila to feed Griff breakfast and to the dr. by 9:15 (a little late but we made it). Done by 9:45...WOW, that was fast compared to yesterday's all day event (and all for a surgery that took 7 minutes). So, back to Kelli's house maybe I can make it there before she leaves. I could ride with her and leave Chris at her house to rest.---Driving driving driving---Nope, she's already gone...I peak through the window...Good, she got the cake. So, Chris is whooped, he has barely been able to rest. Call Kelli, "Where do I go?" Well, come to find out they closed the road off because of the parade. It's 10:15. I can either: A. Wait until 11:00 when the trolley starts shuttling people to the festival or B. Walk. Well, I know Griffin, we can either be miserable waiting because he gets bored like a cow makes milk, or we can get a move on and get miserable about half way...Get a move on! So we walk, a little over a mile. WOW, what was I thinking. I'll tell you what I was thinking, "I'm so glad I don't have a cake to carry!" Lucky for Kelli she got in before the road got closed. Then, we get to my mom's booth for The Jill Strap...what a cute cake she has there on display! But what did I forget?! My stinking business cards...there in my car...in my purse...which I didn't want to carry...like a moron! So, we hang out for a while until they open the road. I decide I'm going to take my mom's car back to mine, get my cards and grab some lunch for everyone while I'm out. Half way to my car...I forgot my keys!!!! I never lock my car, but I did today and I knew it. I guess I'll just be getting lunch. Back to the festival. Kelli took Griffin back to her house and my mom needed a little break from her booth, so she road with Kelli back to my car so she could drive it and park close so I wouldn't have to walk with Taylor when I left...BRILLIANT! And I got my business cards...finally. By the end, I felt successful but sleepy. Time to go pick up Chris and Griffin, back to the house so the kids can get a nap. 4:00 we're home, kids are visiting "Nappy's House" and we're cooking dinner to take to another friend's house because we have another dinner date this evening. 5:30...wake the kids up, load the food, we're out the door. Have I mentioned that I have only had four hours of sleep. Well, if you missed it...I'm sleepy. So, we get home at about 9:00 and get the kids down...why do I insist on blogging right now? Because with how today went I'm likely to forget everything. So...here are the cakes of the day:

The Sweet Aroma

I'm off today for Labor Day, but Chris is working. Isn't that how it all seems to work? So anyway, it's my turn to bake. For once it's my turn to do the cooking. Although, I have eaten more cake than I'd like to admit lately, the smell is filling up the house and it's so so sweet. Now, I see why they tell you to bake cookies or something of the sort when you're trying to sell your house. The aroma that hits you when you walk in the house is irresistable. And a little distracting. Maybe people wouldn't notice the hand smudges going up the stairs if all they could think about is that cake. Anyways, on to another one of the five senses. We always like to check with whoever we did a cake for to make sure they were happy with how it looked and tasted. So, as you all know, the most recent cake we did was a Transformer cake. "How did the cake taste," Chris asked. "Oh Keegan loved it," replied Lantz."Keegan? I thought your son's name is Kolton?" questioned Chris. "Oh it is. Keegan is our dog." So, the story goes like this...Chris dropped the cake off around 8:30 am, and after that the family had to run to the grocery store. When they got back...their dog had eaten half the cake. They said the kids still ate it and enjoyed it, but...let me just say, I'm glad my dog was not the one that ate it!!! I'm off...my cake is done!

Decepticon-Emoticon...all the same to me

Can we do a Transformer cake? Sure, but I will have to ask my 4 year old nephew the difference between Decepticons and Autobots. My nephew has an alternate ego...he is Optimus Prime. So, when this task came to me...I had to take it straight to the expert. Optimus guided me through the cake designs and gave me his professional opinion. Now, once the cake got picked...it was time to plan our week. We had a little bit of short notice on this one, so there was not much wiggle room. Chris baked and we dirty iced on Wednesday. Chris finished icing it on Thursday. And I just cut out, assembled, and painted the Optimus Prime or is it Autobots mask...either way. It's done. I will post pictures tomorrow after we deliver. Stay tuned next week for the "Jill Strap" cake.

A Week Off.

We have a week off from baking this week. I am really torn about the whole thing. I REALLY enjoy this, and I am thinking about baking a cake just to give me something to do. There are so many things we don't know how to do, and stuff we haven't tried yet. Gum paste and modeling chocolate are both something I am very curious about.
I am really excited about trying to do a drum set cake. The whole kit. Bass drum, snare, tom, and a cymbal. I have it all played out in my head as to how it would look and word. I just can't think of a reason to make it yet. It would be a really big cake, and pretty expensive to make. I can't think when the last time I've been this motivated about anything. This is really fun. Thank you all for believing in us, and allowing us to be a part of your special days. -CH

Cakes on board

Ok, so today the first time I had to deliver a cake by myself. Every little bump in the road made me pinch my cheeks (and not the ones that blush when you're embarrassed) a little bit harder than the last. I felt like I needed on of those "Baby on Board" signs only one that says Cakes on Board: Please Don't Ride My Tail. Anyways, I'm pretty sure it took me about 25 minutes to get from my house which is about one mile off the interstate down to the birthday party which was one mile off the next exit down from ours. It was maybe a total of 5 miles...25 minutes--5 miles...man, I was driving slow. I'm sure Griffin thought I was crazy. Anywho, I've been so excited to post the pictures, so here it is...step by step (that makes me want to sing the theme song from that TV show. Step by step, day by day) Here is the GI JOE logo: The top is an image I foun online. The bottom is the one I made.

Now here is the top portion of the cake all carved up.

And here it is with the tracks and covered in fondant.

Now here it is with some of the details put on, such as the logos and "Happy Birthday" but it's still not quite done yet.

Here it is with all the final touches:

So, there you have it. A GI JOE army tank. We used a new technique on this one. We "painted" the tank to make it appear "dirty." It's kind of like when you play softball and you have a new pair of cleats...the first thing you do when you get out on the field is rub them in the dirt. When they look like their brand new, it makes you look like a rookie. Same with Army tanks I suppose. The cleaner they are...the easier the target. Ok maybe not, but for some reason that's what came to my mind. And after all, this is my blog. Thanks Christy for asking us to do this cake for you! It was so fun!

MISSION COMPLETION

Well...GI Joe is ready for battle! Or is it war? I'm not really sure which.

But before I continue I must make one correction from the post yesterday. I did not come up with the two peas in a pod all on my own. Actually Suzzy's sister came up with that as the theme for the shower.

Now that that's all cleared up...GI JOE. I can't post any pictures yet, just in case the person it's for is following...but it will be up tomorrow. Final touches have been made and I'm yet again a little sleepy. I will give details on the cake tomorrow after the picture gets posted.

On another note that is kind of related to the cake but not really. Yesterday while we were working on rolling out fondant and doing a few of the detail, Griffin really wanted to help. He is so good about watching and not touching anything, but this time he kept saying, "I do it Daddy." We couldn't resist so we gave him a small piece of fondant and he ran to his play kitchen (thank you Oma) and got his rolling pin. "Just like you do it," he told us. Cutest thing ever. He sat there for at least 10 minutes "I rollling fondant" he kept explaining. Now for any of you that know Griffin, 10 minutes is a long time. After we finished rolling fondant, we fed the kids as quickly as possible and made our way to the Braves game. Who would've thought the 50% chance of rain should've been 100% chance of flooding at Turner Stadium. We got there and waited in the car for a minute and then it stopped. How wonderful! We made our way into the stadium. This was Griffin's first time at a baseball game. He was amazed. That's a lot to take in for a two year old. We had awesome seats, thanks to PDQ Services. So, Chris took Griffin right next to the dugout to show him where all the baseball players sat. I guess since Griffin is so cute, one of the players tossed him a ball. It made his night. He held that ball through the entire game. And it just kept getting better. We all know, it is everyone dream to be on the big screen. Well, Griffin and Taylor made the cut. I mean, they were after all the cutest kids there ;) They were on the big screen waving and smiling. All we had to say is, "you see that camera that is right in your face (because he was literally, right there) wave to him." And they did just that. What a fun family night.

(Insert Wayne's World flashback intro here) Wee Ooo Wee Ooo

The next cake that was on the docket after the dog cake was Suzzy's baby shower cake. She is a really good friend of my wife, and our family. Such good friends in fact, we gave her one of my dogs. I wouldn't do that for just anyone. She was pregnant with twin boys at the time, and Katie really wanted to do something cute for her shower. Katie took the helm on this one, and came up with "two peas in a pod" theme. She wanted to make a cake that looked like there were two peas in a pod, not too far of a stretch from her original idea. (Sarcasim for those of you that don't know me.) We haven't had ANY experience with fondant, and thought this a good time to try it. I would like to add that when you are making a cake for someone special, trying new things will really make you an emotional basketcase. Not pointing fingers or saying names, but ---> Katie Hooker. We baked, what seemed to be, a million cakes for this one. I think this cake could have fed 9,000 people. We used Pyrex dishes for the little tykes heads, and a rectangle cake pan for the pod. We trimmed it down to make it kinda diamond shaped, and dirty iced it. For those of you that aren't in the know, dirty icing is the first layer of icing you put on a cake that prevents crumbs from getting into your final layer, also called a "crumb coat". We covered everything with the fondant and pieced it together. For our first time using fondant, I think we did a good job.

All American Hero

Today, Chris is at the fire department. We had Puggles at church with Griffin and now we're home. I knew I should get some work done on the GI Joe cake for Saturday, since tomorrow we're going to the Braves game. I went ahead and carved most of the army tank and made the GI Logo for the side. My hands are officially a color they shouldn't be and I am officially sleepy :) I know all night long I will be dreaming of the "All American Hero," but I'm just GIDDY about the whole thing. -Mrs.

A New Beginning.

Katie and I are starting on a new adverture with more vam and vigor than we have had about anything in the past. As you guessed, its a cake making company. We have email addresses, websites, facebook accounts, and now a blog. This is something we want to cherish for a lifetime and share with our friends.


Katie and I got into this whole cake making thing as a challenge for our son's first birthday. We made him a little green frog cake. It turned out quite well, if I must say, and the public opinion of the cake was great.

We took the compliments in stride and didn't think much of it.... Until... Our neighbor had a request for a cake.
The request didn't seem too difficult at the time, she made it sound like all she wanted was a "publix cake" with a dog picture on it. Katie and I are not big fans of the "PC" look. Its not that we think they are cheap, they are fantastic cakes in fact, we just like things a little more 3D. I wish I had half the talent of some of the Publix cakes makers. I can't spell my own name with icing yet, muchless Happy 50th Birthday Tammie, Tim, John, And Edgar. With all that being said, we underwent a huge task. It kept us up for nights trying to figure out how to make a cake that looked like a dog. With no formal training, and without ever watching any of the Fam Cake shows, this is what we came up with. The body is cake, the head is cereal treats, and the legs are twinkies. We knew we were on to something...