Stephen and Matthew Huffman's 1st Birthday - 9/19/09

One year ago Stephen and Mattehew came into this world at only 1lb. 6oz and 1lb. 7oz.!  They were only 24 weeks along - born 16 weeks early!  They were so tiny and fragile - they spent nearly 3 months in the NICU at Memorial before being able to go home.  Looking at them now and thinking back, it doesn't seem possible that they are already 1 year old!  They are not quite developed to where a full-term 1 year old would be, but they are learning and growing every day.  They are just the cutest little boys ever!

Since they were born on "International Speak Like a Pirate Day" their parents went all out with a Pirate Themed party!  I have to apologize to Dana for going overboard on the cake. (no pun intended)  She ordered a gorgeous pirate ship cake from Publix (she'd been dying to order the cake for years!) but was afraid that there wouldn't be enough so asked if I would make an extra one.  I was just supposed to make a plain chocolate cake with chocolate frosting....but I couldn't help myself.  So, I'm sorry.  I promise to follow directions better next time!

Baby Jungle Animal Baby Shower Cake - 9/12/09

Just a little over a year ago I had the privilege of making my first ever wedding cake for Karla.  I was honored to be able to make her baby shower cake as well!  I was dying to get my hands on the new cake stand from Wilton so this was the perfect excuse!  I used the invitations that were sent out as my inspiration.

The entire cake is vanilla cake w/ raspberry preserve filling, iced w/ buttercream icing and covered w/ fondant.

Most of the decorations are plastic - I would have made them out of fondant but since I was able to find cute ones at the store I bought them to save time.

The palm trees are made of fondant leaves attached to pretzel rods w/ white chocolate that was tinted green.

The cake took waaaaaaay longer than expected because I really didn't know exactly what I was going to do for it...I was basically making it up as I went along.  If I had to make it all over it would take A LOT less time.  I am VERY pleased with the way it turned out, though!

Brownie Cake - 8/15/09

I probably shouldn't even be posting this picture because it's so embarassing, but what the heck, I'm not perfect and I never claimed to be!

Mike doesn't really care for cake so this year I thought that I would make him a brownie cake.  I had all these grand plans to cut the brownie into the shape of an airplane (one of his hobbies is building and flying RC model planes), elevate it and use oreos for the wheels, etc.  Well, as with most things I do I ran out of time and ended up with what you see above...I guess I need to work on my airplane drawing skills.

At least the brownies tasted delicious...especially b/c they were served with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and caramel and whipped cream!  YUM!

Birthday Cupcakes - 7/18/09

No gumpaste daisies this year for Diane and Dana.  They wanted simple yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting so that is what they got!

4th of July star cake - 7/4/09

Found a great recipe and tweaked it a little to make it my own.  Made 2 separate star cakes, both white cake, one with red coloring added, the other with blue added.

Made a powdered sugar whipped cream sort of icing, used it to fill the cake, along with strawberries and blue berries in the center, and also used it to ice the cake and decorated with more fresh berries!  It was very yummy for breakfast leftovers the next morning!

Rebecca and George Waranowitz Wedding Cake - 6/20/09

Boy does this cake have a story behind it!  The bride and groom who are friends of mine met here in Savannah.  She is from California so they decided to get married out there.  They asked me to make their cake and I agreed, that was the easy part...from there things only got harder!

I was late shipping my supplies out to CA from GA (my own fault for being the procrastinator that I am) so I spent more than I planned to ensure that they would get there on time...even then I had to say a lot of prayers and I kept my fingers crossed the whole time that the box would get there on time. 

Then our flight (on a Wednesday) was delayed leaving Savannah so we missed our connection in Dallas/Ft. Worth.  This pushed back our shopping for the rest of the supplies (by the way, the box I sent ahead got there mere hours before I did) by half a day.  Then it took longer than expected to find everything that I needed so I got a late start on baking (Thursday) - at this point we're behind by about a whole day.  The following day (Friday) there were 2 funerals at the church where I was making the cake and they were using the hall where I was for the receptions - now we were behind by almost 2 days.  So, we were up at the crack of dawn Friday morning (to make up for lost time) to work on the cake, we left while the funeral receptions were going on and went back to the hotel to sleep, and then returned late that afternoon to finish the cake!  The rehearsal dinner was that evening, which we were late for, and the Wedding was the next day.  We had to leave the hotel early enough on Saturday so that we could get the cake from the church hall, take it to the reception site, assemble it and put the finishing touches on it, get something to eat and make it back for the ceremony in time!  Whew!  I was completely exhausted by this point!

But that's not the end of the story!  The ceremony was wonderful, the reception was beautiful, and everyone loved the cake...there wasn't a crumb left!  We returned to our hotel late only to get online and book a hotel room in San Francisco for Sunday night.  See, Sunday was my 30th birthday and we had decided to spend it in San Fran with some other friends who had also made the trek from Savannah.  While at the reception we got to talking with our friends and one of them was staying the night there.  Since we didn't have anything planned for Monday we decided at the last minute to splurge and stay as well.  Great idea right?  Only problem was that I still had this big 'ol box of supplies that needed to be shipped back home...thank God for 24 Hour FedEx Kinkos!  We left early Sunday morning for San Fran (only about a 2 hour drive from where we were in Sacramento) spent all day Sunday and Monday there and had to turn around and drive back to Sacramento on Monday.  Got back to our original hotel around midnight and had just enough time to clean up the cake decorating supplies and get them packed, get all the luggage packed, doze for about 15 minutes when I made the mistake of sitting down on the bed, get the package to the FedEx Kinkos to be shipped, fill up the rental car with gas, return the rental car, and get checked in at the airport in time to catch our 6am flight!  By the time we got home I needed a vacation from my vacation!

Lessons learned from this trip:

1. Whenever possible, always take extra days off before and after a trip...especially when there's a 4 hour time difference!

2. When making a cake long distance - ALWAYS assume that everything is going to go wrong and give yourself plenty of extra time!

3. Don't ever make another cake long distance, ever again!  (I should have learned from the MI cake experience!) 

The cake was 8" = vanilla cake, 10" = carrot cake, and 12" = chocolate cake.  All w/ cream cheese icing filling, ivory buttercream icing and roses, and silk ribbons to decorate.  A seperate 6" square, pumpkin flavor "cake top" was made upon returning to Savannah for the newlyweds to freeze and save for their 1st anniversary.

Bartering for services - 6/4/09

My boyfriend and I were robbed back in March and all but 3 pairs of my earrings were taken.  I still had a lot of the necklaces that went with them because they were in another location, but the earrings were all in the jewelry boxes that were taken.  So, when a co-worker (who is also a jewelry maker) asked me to make a cake for her husband's 75th birthday party - we bartered for services.  It was a pretty sweet deal - she got a delicious cake and a dozen cupcakes, and I got 6 new pairs of earrings!

She had some extra decorations to add to the cake so my part was pretty simple.  It was chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and white buttercream to ice it.  I really need to practice my writing skills though...definitely not my strong suit!  Her husbands name is Jim but it looks a little like Tim...and that was after I had redone it 3 times!

Judy and Danny Lancaster Wedding cake - 5/16/09

This was a last minute wedding cake for some friend's of my boyfriend.  Another paying customer!

A simple yellow cake with buttercream icing.

Yvette and Quincy Pearson Wedding cake - 4/18/09

This cake was for a co-worker and was my first paying wedding cake.  I didn't charge her full price because she's my co-worker and I'm still pretty new at this.

The cake was supposed to be 6", 8", 10", and 12" - what I didn't realize though was that you can't do that when you're alternating round and square layers.  Luckily I realized it before I started baking!  This cake ended up being 6" round, 8" square, 12" round, and 14" square.  It was amaretto cake with buttercream icing, blue silk ribbon, and a handmade chocolate P on top.

Stars, Stars, and more Stars! - 2/29/08

I totally skipped over these suckers somehow!  These were made for the Coastal Empire R.O.C.K. Group's Annual Rock Star Awards Dinner in February of 2008.  There were over 100 white. milk and dark chocolate star suckers.  I donated the smallest basket for a door prize.

Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month - 4/3/09

April is Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.  Every year the Coastal Empire R.O.C.K. (Raising Our Children Kindly) Group holds a Blue Ribbon Campaign.  This year as part of it a Thank You reception was held for all of the DFCS case workers.  I made blue awareness ribbon suckers for the favors for each of them to have.  Wear a blue ribbon in April to raise awareness about Child Abuse!

Linda and Beth's Birthday Cake - 3/5/09

Each month at our office we have a birthday cake to celebrate whomever's birthdays fell in that month.  Usually we get a cake from Sam's Club, but if I have the time sometimes I make it.

Linda and Beth were our March birthdays and they requested a Red Velvet cake!  I had never made one before, but I found a recipe and managed to make a delicious one from scratch!  I even colored the cream cheese icing and decorated with it.  It was so smooth and easy to decorate with - I might just use it all the time!

Valentine's Day - 2/10/09

Made some white, milk, and dark chocolate heart suckers to share with the members of Safe Kids Savannah and with my co-workers.

Blue Award Ribbon Suckers - 2/10/09

Our Safe Kids coalition won the Safe Kids Georgia "Outstanding Coalition of the Year" award.  In order to help our coalition members understand that it wasn't just my award as the coordinator of the coalition, or the chairperson's award, I made some blue award ribbon suckers with white chocolate died blue. 

I put one of our Safe Kids Savannah stickers on the outside of the plastic wrapper and each of our members got a sucker at our February coalition meeting so that they could share in the celebration of receiving the award!

My first paying customer! 1/23/09

One of my co-workers commissioned me to make a birthday cake for her daughter.  She finished off the cake by adding candles that spelled out "Happy Sweet 16".  She was supposed to get me a picture of the finished cake but never did.

Baby Shower cupcakes - 1/11/09

My Sorority Alumnae Chapter held a baby shower for one of our sister's.  I didn't have time to make anyting fancy so I kept it simple with strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting.  It was also an excuse for me to buy the cupcake stand that I've been wanting to get!

Dana's Baby Shower - Chocolate Rubber Duckies - 12/7/08

As you can probably guess the theme for the shower was rubber duckies!  I made this arrangemant using a block of foam covered with a piece of water printed fabric and blue silk ribbon around the edge.  I put a large rubber bath ducky in the middle and then surrounded it with the suckers.  The suckers were the favors for the guests to take home!

Emily and Nathan Wittkamp Wedding cake - 11/1/08

Another "wedding gift" for a friend.  Chocolate cake with cherry perserves covered with fondant and decorated with brown silk ribbon.  Cake topper is a handmade chocolate W.

Laura and Brett Pipitone Wedding cake - 10/4/08

When my friends and family found out that I was now in the "wedding cake business" I got a lot of requests.  I no longer buy gifts for weddings - I make wedding cakes as gifts:)

Top (6") layer = amaretto cake with buttercream icing, middle (10") layer = carrot cake with cream cheese icing, bottom (14") layer = german chocolate cake with coconut pecan icing.  All iced and decorated with buttercream icing and silk ribbon. 

The cake topper was handmade by the groom's sister - she made it based on their Nintendo Wii Mii's!

MVC Welcome Cake

Had wanted to make the whole face of the cake look like the "We're Glad Georgia's On Your Mind" welcome sign but just didn't have the time!  The cake itself was half chocolate and half yellow and iced with buttercream.

Mike's Bowling Birthday cake - 8/16/08

My boyfriend wanted to go bowling for his birthday. So, me being the coordinating freak that I am, had to make a cake to match!

The ball was made using the round pan which bakes the cake in two halves.  The pins were made with a cupcake, a mini cupcake upside down and a donut hole on top of that.  They were held together with icing and then frozen to set-up.  Then white frosting was melted and they were dunked in to give the smooth finished coating.  Once the icing thawed though, the cupcakes started to fall apart and lean.  If I had it to do over I would dunk them in melted white chocolate.  The red accents on the pins were made by cutting up some fruit-by-the-foot snacks.  The whole thing was made up of both chocolate and white cake.

Brenda and Butch Rybicki Wedding Cake - 7/26/08

My mom and her boyfriend after being together for 16  or 17 years decided to get married!  I went up to MI for the wedding and also made the cake!  I borrowed most of the supplies from one of my mom's co-workers and took a few of my own things with me in my luggage.

The layers of cake were lemon, strawberry, and chocolate flavors.  The icing was buttercream (as you can see it did not exactly cooperate with me up there in MI - I didn't have my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer with me) and the flowers were made of royal icing.

Had extra batter so made some cupcakes to go with the cake.

Lessons learned from this cake:

1. Always make sure to have a GOOD mixer to make the buttercream.

2. Even the slightest bit of humidity causes buttercream icing to not come together very well.

3. When borrowing pans - make sure to have the instructions for how much batter will fit in the pan and what temperature and how long to bake for.

Diane and Dana's Birthday Cake - 7/18/08

My boyfriend's mother and sister-in-law have birthdays one day apart so we were celebrating them on the same day.  I decided to practice my gumpaste daisies a little more!  The cake itself was lemon flavored iced with buttercream icing.  Also was good practice for the square cakes...they're harder to ice than the round ones!

Bridal Shower Cake, Laura Lukasik - 7/18/08

I took my newly acquired fondant and gumpaste skills and used the invitation for the shower as inspiration for the colors and flowers.

The theme for the shower was a Southern Garden Party - and yes, this time I did intend for the cake to look like a hat!  The cake itself was strawberry flavored.

4th of July - 7/4/08

Forgot to take a picture of the inside when it was cut - the layers of cake were died red, white and blue!  Cake was iced with whipped cream and decorated with strawberries and blueberries.

Wilton Cake Decorating, Course 4 final cake - 7/1/08

This was the final cake of the final Wilton class...four long months of making cakes and learing all kinds of new stuff - I had a blast!  But I'm glad to have my Tuesday nights back!

This again was fondant and gumpaste.  I didn't intend for it to, but it kind of turned out to look like a hat!

Wilton Cake Decorating, Course Four 1st Cake - 6/17/08

This cake wasn't anything special.  We were learning to work with fondant and gum paste.

We learned how to cover our cake boards with fondant to match our cake and learned a bunch of other techniques!

First Wedding Cake Ever! Karla and Shawn Summe - 6/7/08

The whole reason I started taking the Wilton Cake Decorating Courses was to make this cake!  It's didn't exactly turn out perfect because I miss calculated how much batter I would need for each layer (they're a little small) but it tasted delicious!

The cake was covered in buttercream and the flowers and leaves were made of fondant.  The top (6") and bottom  (14") layers were vanilla cake with raspberry preserves.  The second (8") layer was almond cake with white chocolate pudding.  The third (10") layer was amaretto cake with cheesecake pudding.  And the fourth (12") layer was marble cake with chocolate pudding.

Wilton Cake Decorating, Course Three final cake - 5/29/08

This was my first tiered cake - I liked the simplicity of it before the flowers were added.

The cake is covered in fondant, and the flowers are made out of fondant.  The ruffle around the bottom of the layers is buttercream.

The cake itself was almond flavored with white chocolate pudding filling in one layer and cheesecake pudding in the other.  I was practing for the upcoming wedding cake!

German Chocolate Birthday Cake - 5/22/08

Made this for a co-worker's birthday - she requested German Chocolate Cake.

Not your traditional German Chocolate Cake because I iced the sides and decorated it with some left over royal icing flowers that I had from Wilton Course 2.  The cake was 3 layers tall!  I need to work on my icing penmenship skills...they are terrible!  It looks like a 5 year old wrote it!

Wilton Cake Decorating, Course Three 1st cake - 5/13/08

This was my first time working with fondant!  The cake didn't exactly turn out as I had planned and I didn't have time to finish it (there were supposed to be polka dots on it) but it still tasted good!  Vanilla cake with strawberry preserves.