Truman's 4th Birthday

Texas Cake - Farewell at the Pentagon.

Base (16x16) - PB Filling with fudge icing.
'Texas' - White 'funfetti' with red and blue sprinkles.

Vanilla Buttermilk with Almond Cream Filling

Adapted from Sky High.

Baseball Sugar Cookies. Help from http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/.

14 Layers of Joy

Art Smith's 12-layer cake. Ended up being ~14 layers. Could have been 15 if I hadn't eaten so much of the batter. Oh well...

Top 10 Five-Star Layer Cakes - Part Two

For Valentine's Day, I made the Blackberry-Raspberry Truffle Cake on SouthernLiving.com. I skipped the Jelly Bean garnish...not a big fan of Jelly Beans.

I came out, perfect. But, it took at LEAST three hours to make. Lots of steps...but worth it.

Chocolate Italian Cake

I'm a native Texan, but this cake had me cryin' 'Mamma Mia'!

I'm not a photog...I need some lessons.

Looking for a recipe? Perhaps a 'how-to' on poured fondant. Check this search engine out.

Holiday Christmas Party

In the spirit of Bakerella (bakerella.com), I made more cakeballs. If you scroll down, you will see I tried to make some for Halloween...they didn't turn out so well. So this time, I made them smaller, thinned out the chocolate a little, and added some sprinkles. They were a hit at my office holiday party. I also made a German Chocolate Cake...you can barely see it on the right side of the "store bought" green cookies.

November Birthdays

My office is really enjoying this cake decorating binge I've been on. They asked if I would do a cake for the November birthdays. As a November baby, I decided to take hold of my own destiny and accept the challenge. Can you tell which one is me on the 'Family Tree'?

Fondant

So, I completed the Fondant portion of the Advanced Wilton Class. Fondant does not taste as good as buttercream. Actually, it doesn't taste very good at all. Someone equated it to 'chewed gum'. So, I made the cake, took a picture, then pitched it...nothing to recycle.

Icing 101

I had some dear friends over this weekend for an intense icing class. We went from 10am to 5pm. Yes, there was much talking, and even more icing sampling. But, in the end, there was a fabulous cake and precious cupcakes.

Wilton - Advanced Course

Class #3 in the Wilton series starts on Tuesday...I can't wait!

Reach a new level of decorating sophistication with the beautiful flowers and techniques in Course 3. Begin with intricate accents such as embroidery and lace, stringwork, garland and ruffle borders. Discover the beauty of decorating with rolled fondant — for covering cakes with an immaculate smooth surface and shaping fun figures and elegant flowers. Add several new icing flowers to your repertoire, including lovely holiday blooms like poinsettias and Easter lilies. Complete your course by assembling and decorating a towering tiered cake with beautiful stringwork, flowers and borders.

Cake Balls

My friend Mary Ann told me recently about the latest fad to overtake the cupcake: Cake Balls. I was intrigued. So, I gave it a shot today. My plan was to make eyeballs for Halloween...red velvet cake, white chocolate, m&ms for the eyes, and red chocolate for the veins. My chocolate wasn't smoth like Bakerella's balls
(http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2007/12/red-velvet-cake-balls.html), so I need to work on my technique. And, they looked nothing like eyes. But, I had fun and they tasted great...I'm sure the office will like them tomorrow.

Tip - Wilton Flower Forms

Wilton sells a set of flower formers that are used to give your flowers a realistic shape. Suggestion: cut a paper towel roll in half...and save $6!

New Toys

To compliment my new hobby, we've added to the family. We had a GE Profile for ~18 months. After a series of repair visits, we have done away with the old, and brought in a new Kenmore Fridge. The full size fridge on top has already been a tremendous life saver with regards to sheet cakes...I look forward to putting it to more good use.

Longaberger - 'Eat' your heart out!

So, the final cake for Wilton II was the BASKET WEAVE decorated with Royal Icing flowers and a color flow bird. I'm not a fan of Royal Icing...I don't think it tastes great. And, because it dries quickly, it's not as forgiving...you get the picture. MAS FRUSTRATION! In any case, I took my basket weave cake to work on Friday...it was a hit. Someone asked which bakery I got it from.

Nothing like a little buttercream to boost your self-esteem.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

My aunt had 'Total Knee Replacement Surgery'. Poor Aunt Bernie. But, Aunt Bernie's poor health gave me a reason to try out piping gel again. I downloaded a picture of 'knee anatomy', traced it, and labeled the various parts. It was fun...and, got a good laugh from Aunt Bernie. She is now ahead of schedule on her recovery. Who needs chicken soup when you have Buttercream!

Dallas Cowboys - Piping Gel

During Wilton I, we learned how to trace with piping gel. So, for practice one Sunday, I tried my hand at the Dallas Cowboys Star on Redskins v. Cowboys Sunday.

I was happy with my first attempt at tracing...but, the Cowboys lost. So, I guess Buttercream is the new Jessica Simpson.

My portfolio begins...

I completed the 'beginner' Wilton decorating class: I give you the Sugar Rose Bouqet with practice writing...

I promptly sent my first cake to Mrs. Lang...she replied, "Keep up the good work. I love seeing your pictures."