Honey Bee

A honey cake for one of the sweetest little bees I know. This was a vanilla almond cake with a honey butter cream frosting. I used an 8'' pan and let the center bake to a mound. Usually I would cut off the mounded top and level the cake off, but for this cake I left it to give the beehive the dome effect. 

To create the beehive,  I first colored a tiny bit of frosting black and frosted a small section of the side of the cake. I then used a number 12 tip and piped a yellow ribbon of frosting in a circular motion all the way up and around the cake. I used the same tip to pipe the bees, I just added a little bit more yellow dye. To complete the bees I piped tiny black stripes and eyes with a number 3 tip. And last but not least I used a number 102 tip for the wings and flowers. 

Happy Birthday Day Natalie!

This is a Devil's Food Chocolate cake with a chocolate almond frosting. I started by filling and frosting the layers and letting the frosting dry and become slightly hard. I then gently pressed the stencil against the side of the cake and spread the cream colored frosting on top. To get clean lines and avoid the frosting seeping under the stencil in all directions, I started the dollop of frosting at the left and spread in a left to right motion until I had applied the desired amount. Then ever so carefully pulled the stencil off leaving the design on the side of the cake. To add the finishing touch, I framed each side of the cake in a pearled boarder.

When I delivered the cake I was walking down one of the quaint streets of Balboa Island and two different couples stopped to admire the cake. I just got my business cards in this week and my friend Lauren, who was with me, said, "Here have one of her business cards." We joked that I should promote my business by walking up and down the streets with cake and business cards in had. Spreading the news on Lolo's Layers one slice at a time.

Buttercream Ruffle

          

This was a two tiered chocolate cake filled with carmel filling and iced in a two tone white and pink buttercream. I separated the icing into to colors, 2/3 pure white and 1/3 a soft pink color. I added both colors of frosting in the piping bag to create the two toned effect. I used a 2D drop flower tip to create the ruffle design.

The flower faceted to the side is actually a tulip. I gently bend the pedal back so that the flower would fan out against the cake. I love that this exposed the beautiful colors on the inside of the pedal.

Lisa Ann was so surprised and excited about her pink ruffle cake, and I think it's fits her personality perfectly.

Happy Birthday Lisa Ann!

Painting the Roses Red

Adriana was Queen for a day as we celebrated her wedding at a surprise Wonderland Tea Party. This Alice theme wedding cake was one of my first using fondant for more than just an accent. I learned a lot about fondant and why so many people love to work with it to get just the right feel for their cake.

I started with one giant ball of white fondant and individually colored smaller sections green, red, and yellow.  To color fondant, you add a drop or two of gel coloring and kneed until you have a smooth distribution of the color you are looking for. 

For the leaves I rolled out a ball of fondant about the size of my fist to 1/16th of an inch. I then used a leaf cookie cutter to cut out the individual leaves. I let the leaves dry over night, which is not necessary but helps break up the work. I then placed the leaves around the cake in sporadic patterns and in three layers to give it the proper texture and depth. 

The roses are handmade out of fondant as well. The cake is covered in "painted" red roses, the dreaded white rose, and toned roses that are in the process of being painted to be presentable for the Red Queen. I made the roses different shapes and sizes and scattered them round the topiary cake.  For the last royal touch I placed a fondant heart crown on top. 

I am so glad there was a royal occasion so I could paint the roses red!

Pink Ombre Cake

The very talent Shelly Collins had a garden fairy vision that would make you feel like you were attending a tea party for the Queen of the Fairies. This was the sweetest little girls party I have ever seen, which was only fitting as it was for the sweetest fairy I know, 

the newly 3 year old Gwen Collins. 

Her mom Shelly had everything planned to a T and recruited my help to decorate an ombre cake for the festivities. If you don't know what ombre means, that's ok neither did I, it just means a gradient of color. It took some trail and error to get the perfect colors but it turned out perfect in the end, and even matched the ombre napkins on the table! 

  

Of course the cake was topped with sugar pearls lightly covered in pink pixie dust. You know, all you need is faith and trust, and... 

a little bit of pixie dust!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom is a pretty special lady so I wanted to make her a pretty special cake to celebrate the day when one of the most wonderful women in the world was born.

Her birth flower is the daffodil so I knew I wanted to incorporate in into the design. As I thought more about it my thoughts turned to spring, and vibrant colors, and fresh berries! I frosted the cake with a ribbon ruffles in a spring purple and topped the cake with 4 fresh daffodils I bought from the market the day before, so they would have a chance to bloom.



The cake it self was DELICIOUS!!!! I used a yellow cake mix and added a thawed bag of frozen mixed berries. It was such a simple addition to the batter and is probably one of my new favorite cake recipes. We served it with two creamy scoops of raspberry chocolate ice cream. It was the perfect combination.

Happy Birthday Mom, I sure love you!

Luck O' the Irish

What better day to "taste the rainbow" than Saint Patrick's Day! There were three main elements to create the look of this cake, the rainbow, leprechaun and pot o' gold. 

To create the rainbow I bought 3 large bags of skittles and and separated the colors in to bags. It sounds like a tedious job, but I was watching a great movie and it went really quick. When applying to the cake I followed the patter of the rainbow for color blocking. 

The little leprechaun's body and face are made of fondant and his hat and suit are out of butter cream. I rolled up little balls for his hands and just piped a large rod of frosting from his hand to shoulder to create the arms. For the rim of his hat I used a flat tip and then just kept piling up the butter cream to give the top hat it's height. 

The pot o' gold was baked in a coffee mug and cover with black fondant. I piped a big glob of frosting on top and cover it with gold tinted sprinkles. Finally I dusted the pot with gold luster dust to finish it off.

This was a fun colorful cake that I think was perfect to celebrate the luckiest holiday of the year.