Death by Chocolate

I've wanted to do a fun cake like this for a while now and after seeing one recently I decided my next do-whatever-I-want-cake was going to be Death By Chocolate!  However, after hearing what happened at the party where this was served, I do feel compelled to tell you you should warn your guests that it is NOT a candy dish! :)

8" round...Chocolate cake, chocolate ganache filling, chocolate frosting, KitKat bars and M&Ms.  *Ribbon is customizable.   $30.

Paint-themed Sheet Cake

I was asked recently to do a cake for a church fireside with the theme, "Paint A New Beginning: Becoming More Like Christ."  I had a girl wearing a painter's smock and holding a paint brush, a framed piece of art, an unframed painting and a blank canvas on an easel.  I used a thin royal icing to look more like paint to write the words. I kept the icing white so that when you cut into it the colorful swirls would stand out  and be a fun surprise! This was a vanilla cake with a traditional buttercream. 

Costco-esque

Doesn't it seem like thirty is the real birthday for crossing over to 'adulthood,' more so than eighteen...or is that just me?  Anyway, as part of my birthday present to my husband I promised a "minimal" mess in the kitchen, which let's be honest is 80% of the perk of ordering a cake--no mess! 

But since there wouldn't be any super-dazzlingly-decorated-awesomeness, that meant I had to rock the taste. My husband likes cake as much as the average person but isn't a cake-aholic and since he's tried a lot (probably too many) of mine, it's a big deal when he comments on a good cake. So the only cake I can remember him really really liking, besides mine, was Costco's chocolate cake (although I've got to say the cake itself is pretty dry).

It's really hard to surprise someone with a cake who lives at your house so my husband knew and got to give input on what he wanted.  He likes the Costco cake but the one thing in particular he wanted different was a little lighter icing. So the filling was nice and RICH and fudgy and the icing was a lighter although, still rich chocolate italian meringue buttercream. Chocolate comas were induced!

Jason

This cake was fun because one, it was a repeat customer--love that. And reason number two, the woman who ordered it spent a lot of time coming up with things that were significant to her husband, from his alma mater down to the logo of the place they met! I hope it made a special birthday that much more enjoyable. :)

This was a 6" white and an 8" chocolate, both with cookies'n'cream filling.

The Island of Misfit Toys

A good friend asked me to do a cake for her daugther's school fundraiser auction, the fundraiser theme was "The Island of Misfit Toys." My three year old loved watching Rudolph several time while I did my 'research.' :) It was just the thing to get me into holiday mode! It was a 10" chocolate cake with strawberry italian meringue buttercream. 

Princess cake

I have the privilege of working with a group of amazing young women and recently we had a night to honor them and some projects they've been working hard on accomplishing. The theme was "Daughters of a King" so I did this princess tiara cake to remind them of their divine nature and how special they really are!

It was a triple chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge buttercream filling and chocolate buttercream icing, all covered in fondant.

Bridgette

This amazing lady ordered a cake for a hospice nurses meeting she was attending. As my family recently had need of hospice this was a little more personal for me and I was so glad I got to do it! It was a fudge marble cake with chocolate buttercream. The center decoration was fondant.

Baby shower cupcakes!

Side Note: If you haven't heard yet, I stink with a camera. I don't have a super nice one because my skills consist of aiming in the general direction and clicking, and that's all she wrote.  Plus, a couple years ago when our old camera was thrown off a table by our then one year old we got a new one and it takes forever to actually take the picture. This usually results in pictures with smiles that have faded, cute poses gone awry and off center photos. But my main problem is that I simply forget about it. I pack the diaper bag with every necessity under the sun and I haul everything I could possibly need to a cake delivery.  Yet when I get where I'm going and think it would be the perfect time for a picture that darn camera is nowhere to be found! Sigh.

Anyway, to the point...I forgot my camera when I took cupcakes to two different baby showers, but luckily the same sweet girl was at both and snapped pictures for me.

The first was for a mom-to-be who was having a girl! They were lemon cupcakes with strawberry buttercream and chocolate buttercream. Some had white and pink gumpaste flower decorations and others had pink sprinkles.

The second was a double baby shower for moms that were both having boys! They were white cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. The circles said "Cute-As-A-Button" and had blue and brown fondant buttons.

Dinosaur Cake

My life has been a bit chaotic for the last couple of months but one thing that does not stop--even if your world seems to have--is time, and that means birthdays come no matter what!  My baby celebrated his first birthday recently and even though there was no party I thought he still deserved a cute cake. The head, neck and tail are rice krispie treats and the center is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

RM Luggage

I was recently in Utah for a family reunion of sorts. While we were there my husband's nephew came home from a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We had a cake in honor of his home coming; his mother requested the Book of Mormon, tie and shoe with a hole in the toe (I decided to have them be in luggage).  This was a chocolate 12 x 18 sheet cake with A-hint-of-mint chocolate filling.

Eli

This Handy Manny show lover was turning 5! They couldn't find a grocery store that would do a Handy Manny cake so we put one together for him. It had Handy Manny on top with his eight tools all around and as a 'nod' to Mr. Lopart and Kelly we did their store signs as well. Again, it's apparent my camera skills are lacking because I didn't get pictures of the tools at the right angle, but you get the idea. The 6" round was white cake (because the birthday boy wanted to make his brother happy--how sweet is that?!) with a cookies'n'cream filling. The bottom tier was a chocolate 8" square with cookies'n'cream filling.