Fashionable Cake

I’ve been slacking here with this blogging thing… just been so crazy busy as usual finding it really hard to keep on top of everything, especially since sleep has suffered in attempt to get it all done.  This entry actually isn’t about any cake, cakes or cake products that I have made myself, but rather is simply a tribute to some cake designs that I adore…

From Left to Right white cake: sweetandsaucyshop.com (they also have super cute cake stands), 

middle cake: superfinebakery.com,

right most cake by my Canadian Cake Hero thecaketress.ca

I do want to have it stated that I love making cakes for other people and learning new techniques with each design request that comes my way.  That being said, if I had all the money and time in the world and could just design whatever type of cake my little heart desired – this is definitely the style that I would follow.  Some would call it “Shabby Chic”.  Others would describe these cakes as “Vintage Inspired Couture”… call it what you may, I call these stylish cakes gorgeous!  These cakes mimic dress designs, fabric flowers, ruffles and lace that are just so perfectly “imperfect” – swoooooooooooon…

This is part of the reason why I am looking forward to my next cake order so much.  A simple, small, romantic, girly cake with flowers, ruffles and buttons…  cake art inspired by fashion – love it! 

That’s all for now.  Still looking for a commercial kitchen space to rent out in  the Minneapolis area that won’t cost me an arm and a leg – so keep me posted if you have any leads.  

Thanks for reading, 

Tam a Lam  

Cakeaholiccakery.com

Baby Shower, Beer, Baby Shower

They go together right?!?

Beckie had contacted me through a referral looking for baby shower cupcakes.  Sounds easy enough, except that this was my first cupcake order… I read up on cupcake frosting techniques (woo-oo, woo-oo… hear that?  It’s the nerd alert siren), sent her some design ideas and asked her for a bit of direction.

She went the safe route and decided everyone would like chocolate flavored cakes.  It was a perfect opportunity for me to test out a new recipe… holy moly, I kid you not, this recipe turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to chocolate cake – YUUUUMMM.  I will never use another recipe for chocolate cake… soooooooo good.  This comes from the heart of a self-proclaimed chocoholic.  If this is the safe route, I will hardly ever venture off of it.

Then, were the decorations to make my cupcakes unique.  She wanted the designs to include soft blue, soft green, taupe and brown.  Beckie leaned towards designs that included booties, bibs, onesies and circles.  Being such a small order (only 14 cupcakes) I didn’t want to over-kill the design, so I made 2 different types of booties (so stinkin cute), 2 different types of similar “Baby” and “Boy” plaques and a few cupcakes with round coordinating “pearls”.  They were a hit!

Next up?  A last minute order for a pint of Guinness to feed 20.  I love this beer and I was so psyched to make a large one [cake], though as stated in my previous post, a bit apprehensive about the tall skinny design.  In a word – supports.  This cake has a large dowel going down the center, and several smaller dowels throughout, not to mention cake boards inside to help with the support system and height of the cake.  I decided to try wrapping this cake in fondant, as I really could not come up with a different strategy for covering it.  With help from my husband, I was surprised at how easy this actually was, especially after reading so many people suggest against this approach.

I then hand painted the whole thing, added the logo in fondant (the harp is actually shiny gold) and covered the top with the beer head.  The base board is also covered in fondant scored to look like wood then hand painted to get the wood grain effect.  Finally, I wasn’t sure where to put “happy birthday” on this cake and thought a napkin would be a clever/playful addition.  I added a “ring” on the napkin to mimic the look of a wet beverage on a bar napkin and jotted “Happy Birthday” on it.  I am so pleased with the outcome of this cake. 

I later found out this cake was for a judge in the largest county of our state… to me that is kind of a big deal… (I think I hear that siren again)

And I kept on going with an order I had been dreaming/drooling about for a few months – CHEESECAKE, CAKE POPS.  Imagine, cheesecake bites dipped in a chocolate shell and displayed on a cute stick.  Soooooooooo goood that I am currently wiping the drool off of my face as I reminisce about these.  These too were for a baby shower.  I had a lot of fun playing with the display of these (including jelly beans, glass flutes and white platters), as well as taste testing a few – quality control ;)  I was a bit worried that the blue was too bright (they seemed to get only darker with time, and I didn’t have time to re-do them as the cheesecake has to be frozen when you dip the balls) – but I think they ended up matching the invite perfectly…

Thanks so much for thinking of me for your special events Beckie, Rebecca and Libby – I had a lot of fun with each of your orders!

In other news, I’ve been getting contacted quite a bit from different businesses etc and I am working on finding a larger commercial kitchen to work out of, so if you have any connections to one in the Minneapolis area, please let me know.  I have also been working on getting some promotional materials together – such as business cards, stickers, brochures etc… you all have been keeping me so busy I haven’t had time to get this stuff together yet – shocking!  I know.  Finally, I am currently in the process of getting my official Certification in "Kitchen Management" - becoming all official and what not :)

Anyway, I am booking up fast and having so much fun with this “hobby” that I had no idea would take off the way it has.

Until next time,

Tam a Lam
Cakeaholiccakery.com

Happy 21st Birthday William!

I received a request for a 21st Birthday Cake.  Playing on almost any American 21 year old’s eagerness to legally drink, his family thought a frothy beer mug cake would be just perfect.  William had spent a summer in Muchen and so the mug was designed around a popular beer in that area. 

I wasn’t quite sure how I would cover such a tall skinny cake with fondant, so instead, I cut out tall strips to cover the rounded pleats on a traditional beer mug.  I pulled a mug from my husband’s stash and used it as a model, for the size, the handle and the general look of a beer mug.

To make the actual “beer” I simply hand painted the fondant with a couple of different edible colors.  To make the foam/froth I baked up some merigne cookies and then topped the cake and sides with candy coating, making sure it created a small pool around the bottom of the cake as any beer drinker knows, when ordering a tall beer from a bar it often flows onto the table to make a bit of a mess.

The logo was a bit of a challenge, as I don’t have an edible printer so I had to make the small logo with the small gold crown and red jewels by hand.  But I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

Finally, I had the beer mug sitting on a “wood surface” to mimic a table.  The wood surface was fondant that I scored and again, hand painted to give it the look of real wood grain.

Happy Birthday William, I hope you enjoyed your beer cake and the beer that I am sure you enjoyed in celebration!  Cheers!

Tam a Lam
Cakeaholiccakery.com