Sunday, June 29, 2008

Bill's half birthday




Snicker...

This one was fun and easy...an upside down heart cake and the sports ball pan from Wilton. Buttercream icing, because I didn't think this crowd would enjoy fondant. The fondant would have been awesome!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Stacia



Happy belated birthday to my baby sister. Hope you finally got your card!!!

Mandy




Happy Birthday!

Thanks for having faith in me!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Haylie's Fourth Birthday




Remember the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake I did? And the hand fell over? Well, the family trusted me enough to do another cake for their daughter's birthday, and this is what we came up with.

Happy 4th Birthday, sweet Haylie!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Baby Shower



I think this one turned out cute. It is for a boy baby shower. They requested blueberry filling...I had never done that in a cake, but it turned out yummy! I think that will go on my "make regularly" list!

County Fair Update #2

So I go to pick up my county fair cakes today...second and third place, and ask if I can see the scorecard and how they scored. The teenage girl helping me said there are no scorecards, the judge just writes down what place the cake is. Then she says, "I was there...I can tell you what she said..."

Oh please do.

Are you ready for this???

My third place cake...the crooked one...was painted fondant, and I wanted it to look like watercolor. The judge was displeased b/c she could see white through the paint. Um, no you can't. The paint is less in some places, just like in watercolor. She was also not happy with silk flowers. I like real flowers, but they sure wouldn't have held up now, would they? Also, the judge did not like the fact that I used a ribbon on the cake.

But here is where I am really, really ticked. The reason my dog cake didn't place first is b/c in the judge's opinion, all of that could not have been made in cake. Then she asked the audience if any of them could do it, and they all said no, so she decided it couldn't be done. Of the five audience members, one told me she was going to enter a cake, but it collapsed since it was her first time working with fondant. Again, THERE WERE NO OTHER CAKES ENTERED!!! Please tell me how ANY of these people were qualified to judge. I mean, seriously...I can't paint a Picasso, but it doesn't mean it can't be done.

Now, the house is actual cake. The dog, of course, is fondant, as is the mailbag. The hydrant, bone and ball are styrofoam, which is fine according to the rules as long as it is something that COULD be achieved with cake. I have in fact done all those shapes in cake. I did not choose to do that for the fair 1. Because I didn't have to, 2. The transportation would have been a nightmare, 3. I have seen what the cakes look like after being on display...people poke them and ruin them...I didn't want MY name on a ruined cake, with people saying it looked like crap! 4. Once you drop off your entry, it is out of your control. Trust me when I say that people who don't know cakes do NOT carry them properly.

I am just so, so irritated. I think next year I will make a three tier buttercream white wedding cake, sixties style, on the plastic columns, and since our county is so hick and conservative I will make the wedding couple be two dudes, just to mess with everyone. Maybe I'll put a big ol' rainbow in the background, too.

And with that, I will close out my drama on the county fair!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

County Fair Drama...Er...UPDATE #2




Here are Emma's FIRST PLACE ENTRIES! That's right...the cookies DID place, after all. Not sure what happened there.

When we went to the fair today, my cakes were way off to the side in the back, and my crooked cake was facing the wrong way!

These people's priorities are in the wrong place. There is something wrong when cows are front and center and my cakes are in the back!

Editing to add...for those who don't know my family, Emma is my five year old daughter. She loves to bake and loves to do any kind of craft.