Mermaid cake

 This was so awesome to make... having two little boys myself, I don't get the opportunity to make girlie cakes for my family (not until my niece turns one later this year anyway!!).  This is a 6" round on a 10" round sitting on a 14" cake base (important to have enough room for the decorations around the base).  Both were frosted in buttercream icing and covered in light blue fondant.  I doweled and stacked the tiers, then frosted the tops of both and the base lightly with buttercream icing, so the graham cracker crumbs (sand) would adhere.  I then piped the white shell borders around both tiers.  Fondant fish, anemone and shells were placed on and around the cake in aqua, yellow, lime green, orange, pink purple and white.  The mermaid was added last and is glued to the cake with a little icing and one toothpick stuck in in her tail to hold her in place.  The shells were made using a Wilton seashell candy mold.  For additional photos, click below.

Kung Fu Panda Cake

 This was so fun to make.  It is a 10 inch square, 8-inch round and half-sports ball pan carved to look like a mountain.  Po is handmade from marshmallow fondant.  For more info and pictures, click below :)

UNC Tarheels 40th Birthday cake

This is  3-tier cake, 10-inch square, 8-inch square, and hat carved from a 6-inch round.  I had never made a ball-cap cake before this, so I studied lots of photographs of similar cakes before ever starting.  It really wasn't difficult... the hardest part was tracing the stitches onto the brim... it is very difficult to draw 6 evenly spaced lines in a semi-circle (look at a ball cap to see what I mean... I neglected to take a close-up photo of this brim).  To read how I made this cake, click below:

Sheet cake with drum set

This is a 12 x18 inch chocolate sheet cake frosted with chocolate buttercream icing.  The drum set is piped on with buttercream icing.  The music notes around the edges are made from fondant.  I had trouble getting my icing super-smooth on this cake... I think it was the fact that it is chocolate buttercream and does not have any shortening in it... I don't have this trouble with my regular buttercream (half butter, half shortening).  Otherwise, I am pleased with how it turned out. :)

50th Anniversary Cake

This is a 12"x18" sheet cake frosted and decorated in buttercream icing with buttercream roses.  I decorated this one with cornelli lace, which adds a pretty design and texture to an otherwise same-old same-old sheet cake, and nicely frames the center "plaque".  Just beware... when piping the trim on a sheet cake, if your lines are not perfectly straight... it will show, as mine do, particularly when piping a dark color on a light color! :)

Pink and Lime green

This is a 6-inch on 8-inch round tiered cake frosted in buttercream icing, with buttercream vines and roses, the vines were hand-piped without a press, although I think if I had a vine-design press, I would have used it! :)  The "R" on top is made from salt-dough and is inedible.  It is painted with acrylic paint and trimmed with hot-pink glitter glue.