Shower Cake Help

Hey everyone i need your ideas and opinions! I just got an order for a baby shower cake. The only thing they gave me was that it is a girl and they want a plain yellow sheet cake with fondant. I have a few good ideas but wanted to get a few opinions from my girls (or guys) on what you like.

Idea #1:
White fondant covered with silver pearl dust for extra sparkle. A pink ribbon around the bottom and made to look like a ribbon on a package (kinda like a christmas present???). In stead of a bow i want to do a big flower as the bow and then lots of little flowers on the rest of the cake. The ribbon and the writting (It's A Girl) would be in pink and the flowers would be in teal.

Idea #2:
White fondant to cover. In big pink letters across the top It's A Girl. Also dusted with pearl dust for sparkle. In the center a bottle, rattle, and binkie done in pink. On the design i had brown polka dots on the pink "plastic" part but it seems like that would be a lot of added work and i am already going to be in a bit of a rush.

Those are my 2 best ideas. I had also thought about doing a stroller on the center or something of that nature. i have no clue what they are doing in the nursery and i dont know much about the girl other than she is a lawyer and very (and this is the way her friends put it) plain jane/goody goody.

So give me some idea's here! What did your shower cakes look like? If you have a picture share the link with me! Girl me what you think you would like or any other ideas that come to mind. I have til Thursday to come up with a final draft. HELP!!!

Playboy Bunny Cake

Here is the newest cake i did. It is a yellow cake with cream cheese frosting and covered with pink marshmallow fondant with purple fondant playboy bunnies. I need to work on my placement as the bunnies on top are so not centered lol. Glad i am getting all this practice with my friends orders lol. If you would like to see more of the cake you can go here!

Interview and Result

So i went for my interview this morning and i wont know if i have the job till Tuesday. So i figured i minus well tell you about it in the mean time. Even if i don't get the job it is a great product and something i know most of you will like.

Maggie (a friend of a friend) opened her own salsa business back in 2004. She makes fresh salsa and white queso dip. She just opened a new location to make her delicious salsa at and needed help filling orders. She recently secured a order from Whole Foods. He salsa is 100% naturally fat free, all-natural, and has a 45 day shelf life. If you would like to try some (and i recommend it cause it is yummy) you can visit her site Here. I think i will really enjoy this job and it will give me some insight into how running a business works.

I am still in the slow slow process of starting my own cake business. It is going to be an excruciatingly drawn out process. I need this job so that i can have the extra money to fund my cake venture. I did the cake for Jayden's Birthday. It didn't turn out as perfect as i would have liked. The icing we choose to use for the polka dots decided to run before drying and the frosting i tried to use for a ribbon, well lets just say there wasn't enough or a tip. How ever the pearl dust made it look beautiful and very sparkly and the batch of fondant i made turned out perfect this time. Jayden loved it and i think that is what matters. We live and we learn and i sure did learn some lessons with this cake. I was thinking about submitting it to Cake Wrecks but since i am not a professional i don't think they will take it lol. I am sure glad i can laugh at myself.

So i am not going to let anything get me down right now. I am still hoping that this job will come through as it would be perfect. I would work from 2 - 10 pm Mon - Fri. I would get paid weekly with the possibility of weekly team bonuses. I think i would have a lot of fun with the job as well as the wonderful people. I hope you check out Maggie's Salsa and support a small business who is offering fresh, healthy product! keep on praying that i get the job!

A Lot O Pics

Ok so today i don't have much to really say but i do have a lot of pictures to post. The first ones are of a family picture we had done. (Aunt Linda or Auntie Kay if you are reading this stop now! You are not suppose to see these!) I'm sorry ahead of time for the blurry appearance. My scanner is still broke so i had to take a picture of the picture lol!

My hubby, myself, and my handsome boys!

My niece and nephew and my boys.

The Whole Gang! My brother, his wife, his kids, my hubby, myself, and our kids! If you think that is a lot of people you should see my husbands family pic (Hint: His mom has 6 children and 15 Grandkids)

Ok so the second set of pictures is of a cake i did for a friend. It isn't the best cake ever and it has a lot of blemishes. I still need some practise with this marshmallow fondant and some more tools in order to get a good professional look. It looks ok! I cant say i am 100% satisfied with it though!

So there it is for today. Cake and family pictures lol. Great right! (did you hear the sarcasm) I am so hard on myself but i think i need to be.

Marshmallow Fondant

So i was looking around online for the cheapest price on 20lb containers of fondant. I came across several recipes for Marshmallow Fondant instead and decided that since it would be cheaper and obviously better tasting i would give it a try.

So today i spent 9 dollars and bought 5 bags of mini marshmallows and 3 bags of powdered sugar. I got luck and they were on sale at a local store. I got home and put a cake in the oven to cover with it. I bought a Betty Crocker Cake Pan set a long time ago that has all the different imprints. I chose to use the hearts and German chocolate cake. I melted the marshmallows, added the powdered sugar and poured it out on the greased table. I kneaded it like bread and ya know what.....it turned out great.

The first batch turned out so good that i went ahead an did a few more batch (it will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks) in pink, blue, and green. I got it on the cake and smoothed it out, trimmed it and although the design on top was not standing enough for the fondant to really work it did give it a pretty soft finish and it tastes much better than regular fondant.

This makes me wonder why in the heck don't more people use this instead of regular fondant. Fondant, if you buy it pre-made costs about $50 (give or take) for a 20lb container this stuff literally cost me less than 9 bucks for about 10 or more pounds of fondant. I had never heard of this till i stumbled upon the recipe. I am so happy i did cause in the long run it will save me a whole lot of money.

I would post pictures of the cake but it got cut and served before i even had a chance so oh well. It sure was yummy!

Meet the Testers

I made a new cake today. Playing around with some new flavors. This is a Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake with Raspberry Jam filling and Cocoa Buttercream. I think for still not having a real spatula and turn table i am doing pretty damn good lol. If anyone wants a more detailed recipe just ask!

And now for the Testers. Thank God i have 2 of the best taste testers in the world. Phabian told me that i am the "best cake makerer in the whole world". Ahhhh the sweet incouragement of a bias child.

Prime Example

This is prime example of why you need a turn table and a proper spatula when putting together a cake. Not to mention why it is always better to make your own frosting (this was a good frosting just wasn't the right consistency for what i needed it to be). I am so disappointed but i must say that i wasn't trying to create a master piece, just playing around with flavors more or less. I made a orange butter cream that is out of this world. I used Betty Crocker Whipped Butter Cream Frosting (which btw Betty Crocker is donating during the month of October to the fight for a cure for Breast Cancer so take into consideration with all you baking needs) and added pure orange extract and food dye to give it pop. Flavor wise it turned out spectacular. Look wise i am in desperate need of a cake turn table and a spatula. AHHHHHH put it on the list of things i need to get this business started. Anyways i am going to post some pics. Pls don't be harsh and remember this was about flavor not look. I do however think it would make an adorable snowman lol. If i did a mint butter cream and added some adornments. Just too cute!!! I think i will keep that in mind for Christmas lol!!!

Don't Know How To Act

For the first time in about a year i am home alone with my husband for the night. I know this may sound weird but i am sure some mommy out there in bloggy land can relate to this. I don't know how to act. I don't know if i should enjoy the peace and quiet, attack my husband, or do cartwheels in the middle of the floor. Hey maybe i will just do all three but either way i am kid free for the next 24 hours (well not that long probably til about noon tomorrow). So i am going to leave it at that. I am making a cake right now. They just came out of the oven and are cooling. I made an orange butter cream for the filling. It is a plain white cake with vanilla frosting so i thought it needed some flavor. I also put some food dye in it so that when i cut it the orange will pop out. I will try to take some pics when i am done and let ya know how it tasted. So i am off to enjoy my kid free night!!!

Business

I am a Creator of imagination businesses, I say this because i am forever coming up with new ideas for a business i want to start. I have had many ideas. Usually they are based off of a show i have watched or something that spoke to my interests. This time is no different and this also isn't a new idea just a revisitation of an old one.

I love to cook, but more than cooking i love to bake. Cookies, cakes, cupcakes, bread, i love it all! I have been watching this new show that comes on after Bridezilla, on Oxygen Channel, called Amazing Wedding Cakes. I have decided if i were to go into business for myself this is what i want to do. Since i love to bake and i am able to do it decently i would love to make amazing cakes for peoples special occasions. Here in WV i only know of one place that does these weird, kooky, or amazing designs and i have not heard rave reviews about them. So i think this would be a great idea to pursue.

Personally i think making cakes is a definite money maker. Even though the economy is slumping there are certain things that people will still go on with. Needing cakes is one of them. People will still be getting married, having birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries, and other celebrations. Most of these require a cake, and most people would enjoy a exiting, well made cake. Not to mention it doesn't hurt for it to be exciting and beautiful. This is a job i could really dive into and be happy with.

I have decided to start laying out a plan. Maybe start with making cakes in my home for family and friends for special occasions. Then maybe from there, just like many businesses, i can get referral clients. Eventually maybe i will be able to make some money and open a small business or just be able to afford advertising. I want to make a plan and start working on it. This is something that taps into my passion. I love to cook, bake and have fun. A friend of mine was talking about possibly opening a catering business so maybe i could attach myself with her. Usually where there is catering there is a need for cake right? So tell me what you think. Good idea, bad idea, am i insane?

I guess we will see. I need to so some practice runs on some cakes and maybe see what designs i can photograph and get a portfolio of cakes going. I am sure my kids wont mind eating a bunch of cake lol. I will keep you guys updated with my ideas about this. Hopefully i can do something with it.