The Latest in Cake

So, I've been asked to make the wedding cake for my friend Katie's wedding in June. Since my skills are still very limited I'm happy that she wants me to make only the portion her and Peter will cut into and not enough for 250 guests. : )

Katie sent me a bunch of photos from The Knot of cakes she likes. I asked her to narrow them down to 3 and she narrowed them down to...8. Haha. These are just ideas and I'm still not sure what route I want to take.

KATIE'S FAVES:

She thinks the cutest is the one with orange flowers in the bottom left corner.

 

 

 

LIZ'S FAVES (Not that what I think matters when it is her wedding!)
I like both the first one and the bottom one with buttercream the most.

 

So many ideas are swirling in my head. The cake will be either 1 or 2 tiers. I am leaning toward 2 small tiers. I am also one of Katie's bridesmaids, so that is the main reason I don't want to take on more than I can handle. I'm not sure if I want to do a finished-looking all frosting cake or attempt fondant. 

When I saw Katie's dress it gave me an idea for the cake that would mimic her dress. The cake would be an all shimmery champagne color on the bottom layer and the top would be ivory and mimic lace. Just an idea.

What do you think? Which cakes do you like? Do you have any cool ideas or amazing cakes you've seen that would be good inspiration?

In other cake/cupcake news:

• Using one of my many Michael's gift cards, I signed up for a beginning cake decorating class. It was kind of a process because I had to wait for them to print out all of the documents. I just kind of assumed the class was on Tuesday or Wednesday. When I got home I looked at the flier and the class is on Fridays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. I am not going to take 4 classes on a Friday night! Boo!
• My friend Sarah had a gathering for high school friends a couple weeks ago. She recently made her own kitchen island (crazy awesome) and joked about it being an Island Party. I took this as a reason to make island-themed cupcakes. I was also filled with longing for Hawaii at the time. Check out the results on Sarah's blog. Here is a photo Justin took:

 

It's Not All About Me, Volume II

I was in the middle of writing another blog for unveiling, but was inspired to slip in a different post first.

Last week I was contacted by a guy at our old building on Capitol Hill who informed me a package with my name on it was there. So considerate to tell me! Thanks, Steve. Anyway, I thought, "What fool is sending packages to our place from 2 years ago??" : ) I found out who the package was from beforehand, but just picked it up today.

Look what I got:

Okay, so far this blog does sound like it's all about me. It's not. The package came from my friend Jill who is currently living in the armpit of the world, Abu Dhabi. Don't be embarrassed if you don't know where that is, I didn't. I've included a map for your reference. Jill is on her second year of teaching in the deserty region and even though I do not envy her general location I am continually impressed by her many adventures.

Jill is the kind of friend you talk to other friends about. Maybe because she lives in the armpit of the world, which is always interesting. Or maybe because she is wonderfully unique, incredibly creative, always generous or super cute. Pretty much her only downfall is she keeps befriending Canadians in Abu Dhabi. Ewww Canadians.

Jill blogs about all the cool stuff she makes and her weekend vacays to India, Egypt and Jordan. Most importantly, she blogs about NOVELTY SNACKS. I love reading them and wish I could go on so many faraway excursions.

When I was doing some of my own traveling, she sent care packages that would be waiting at my hotels before I got there. She just thinks to do stuff like that. Here I am enjoying a mud mask sent to me. I've known Jill for a relatively short time compared to some of my other friendships, but I know she's a keeper. Not that I routinely throw away friends. Haha.

Anyway, thanks for the stuff, Jill! Sorry I publicly made fun of Abu Dhabi...and Canadians, but hopefully this makes you smile. Or smirk bemusedly? Anything?

Also, I have so many cupcake cups now! I really need to get around to making ALOT of them. I want to use the cupcake stands like whoa. I've looked on Etsy and think there is a serious market for individual cupcake stands out there. I think I might start with these as a template since they come in pieces and make some of my own.

Cupcakes, Cakes & Related Creations

So, a while back I posted a blog showcasing some of the cakes and cupcakes I've made. Here is another round of that.

I made cupcakes for a baby shower at my old job. Just basic cupcakes and frosting with "It's a Girl" toppers I made.

PROS: Toppers turned out pretty well

CONS: Don't use chocolate cake with white/ pink wrappers. Also, don't dump the top layer of your cake caddy on the bottom layer.

 Halloween seemed like the perfect excuse to make themed cupcakes. I poked around the internet, but ended up making something entirely my own. Love when that happens. Cupcakes are covered with fondant.

PROS: Everything! I really like how these turned out. Even more I like that it was my own idea and I had an excuse to use the tub of black fondant.

CONS: I'd like to make the pumpkin a little more realistic if I do these again. Otherwise, love 'em

I made a cake top and cupcakes for John & Tina's engagement party. This where my original idea came from - Cake with Green Fondant Circles

PROS: Good experience in what not to do and I kind of liked the topper - at least it was my own idea. Accidentally made a tasty buttercream frosting recipe when I botched my attempt at white chocolate mousse frosting.

CONS: EVERYTHING ELSE. Nobody asked me to make this and on Friday night I wished I'd never wanted to! I am not going to tell you how many hours it all ended up taking me because I am mildly embarrassed. Plus, we will also not discuss the cost of new supplies (although I can use them all again). In the end the cake looked pretty lopsided and no one seemed to be terribly impressed. I think John and Tina were even fairly underwhelmed. Haha. 

While coming up with ideas for the engagement cake I played around with making gum paste flowers. They are hard! Not sure what kind of flower this is - Rose?

I took a Holiday cupcake class at Sur La Table. They gave us great tips for recipes and decorating ideas. The one that is red swirled blew my mind. We cored the center and filled it with Peppermint White Chocolate Ganache!

PROS: Delicious recipes and a few new techniques.

CONS: I've told this somewhat comical story to a few people, but I was kind of the star of the class. You know when you don't think you're very good at something, but everyone else is much worse? A couple of times women from the back of the class came up to the front to see what I'd made and the instructor said (after I made the green tree cupcake) "Oh, you're just waiting since you did it perfectly the first time." This did not make me feel special - just awkward.  

Phew that was very long. If you have any ideas for something I can make let me know!