Celebrating Graduates

Whew, I’m pooped!

Turns out graduation is a busy time of year for cake decorators. Here are a couple of cakes I did for seniors this year.

This first cake is more masculine in design.  Cause let’s face it, 18-year-old guys aren’t too impressed with neon, topsy-turvy cakes.

This cake was a 10 inch round, two-layer cake, filled and iced with buttercream.  It served approximately 30. 

The cap and book are sculpted from rice cereal treats and covered with fondant.  I crafted the diploma from gum paste.

Now for the ladies…

Once again the cap was made from rice cereal treats and fondant.

This cake was composed of 6, 8, and 10 inch tiers and served approximately 50.  It was filled and iced with buttercream.  All accents were made with fondant.

Next is a cake for a college graduate.

The Tech cake was made of 6 and 8 inch tiers and served approximately 30.  It was filled and iced with buttercream and decorated with fondant details.

Last, I wanted to show y’all a graduation cookie cake.

Love me some cookie cake!!  My standard cookie cakes are 14 inches round and are $30.

Lindsey

Fun, Funky, Flowers

Here’s a colorful cake any gal would love.

I’ve recently pinned several inspiration cakes that feature this flower-making technique, and I was thrilled to be able to try it for myself on this funky birthday cake!

This cake was made of 6” and 8” tiers and served approximately 30.  It was filled with buttercream and covered with homemade marshmallow fondant.  All details are made of fondant.

Lindsey

Ruffly Graduation

I see so many pictures of cakes online that inspire me to try new things.  One trend that is very popular right now in the cake decorating world is ruffles.

Whether it’s ruffles like this…

Or ruffles like this…

(Source:  thecakeblog.com)

Simply stunning!

So when I am given relatively free reign on a cake, I often try to incorporate a new decorating technique.  I was recently asked to do a cake for a lady graduating from nursing school.  I seized the opportunity to pump up the femininity factor and tried my hand at creating fondant frills.

Lemme tell ya’.  I’m in love with this technique!  No wonder ruffles are so popular among cake decorators.  They are relatively simple to create and the results are quite impressive.

Other elements I added to the cake were a graduation cap, diploma, and the school’s logo.

After filling and crumb coating the cake with buttercream, I covered it with my homemade marshmallow fondant.  That’s something else I’ve been working on lately – perfecting my fondant work.  I was really proud of how well I was able to cover this cake.  No wrinkles, folds, or creases in the fondant, and I was able to achieve a fairly sharp corner all the way around the top edge of the cake.

This was a two-layer, 8” round cake.  All decorations were made with marshmallow fondant.

Lindsey

Lalaloopsy Cake

I love getting the opportunity to make birthday cakes for the same children year after year.  I take it to mean that they enjoyed my cakes in the past and had to come back for more!

This week I did another cake for three-year-old Layla.

For her second birthday party, I made her an Elmo cake.

This year she requested a Lalaloopsy cake.

I confess, even though I’m the mother of a baby-doll-loving little girl, I’d never seen a Lalaloopsy doll.  But after doing some research for this cake, I’ve decided that they are so cute. I think I might get my little monkey a Lalaloopsy for her upcoming birthday.

This cake was 8” round, two-layer, and served approximately 20.  It was filled and iced with buttercream, and all decorations are made of marshmallow fondant.  As a final touch I sprayed all the fondant details with a light coat of pearl, just to give them a little special shine.

Lindsey

Forty and Fishing

This weekend I did a fun cake for an over-the-hill fisherman.  His wife contacted me weeks ago wanting to get a special cake to surprise her husband on his big day.  I think the birthday boy really enjoyed his cake.  What’s even better is that, completely by accident, he was dressed to match his likeness on the cake.  Too funny!

 

This cake was 8” round and served approximately 20 people.  The cake was iced and filled with buttercream, and the decorations were hand sculpted from fondant.  The tiny fisherman is seated on a rice cereal treat tree stump covered with chocolate fondant.  The only part of the cake that is not edible is the fishing pole and line.

Lindsey

Pretty Pink Castle

What little girl wouldn’t love having this princess castle cake for her birthday?

The base of this castle is a 12 inch, vanilla cake iced with buttercream frosting, and the towers were made of rice cereal treats covered with marshmallow fondant.

The queen of the castle was sculpted out of fondant.

One new design element that I tried out on this cake was airbrushing it with a pearl mist.  I think the pearl sheen really made a big difference in the appearance of the cake.  It just seemed to give it that little something special.

This cake served approximately 30 people, not including the towers.

Lindsey

Choo Choo

This train-themed cake was for 2-year-old Tripp.  In addition to the cake, I made 4 dozen cake pops shaped like railroad crossing signs.

The clouds on top were made with gum paste. Most of the other decorations were made with fondant.

Tripp’s cake had 8” and 10” tiers and served approx. 45.  It was filled and iced with buttercream.

Lindsey