Purple and Bling 50th Birthday Cake

This is a 12-inch round cake frosted in purple butter cream icing with dark purple borders, swirls and roses.  There are silver dragees and custom wire swirls and a custom silver-glitter "50" cake topper for added "bling". For details on how to make your own custom cake topper, click "read more" below:

Captain America Shield

This was my son's 6th birthday cake.  I know, I know... most people assume my kids get the most awesome birthday cakes ever (HA) but I tend to be extra lazy when making their cakes!  Reason being:  1) cakes take a LOT of time to make/decorate, and I don't get paid for making their cakes... and 2) they really don't care what their cakes look like.... they are just happy they get to eat cake!  This one looks remotely like Captain America's shield, so my little man was really happy! :o)

Pirate Treasure Chest

This is the second time I have made this cake.  This is made from two 11x15 inch sheet cakes, and is covered in chocolate marshmallow fondant and decorated in marshmallow fondant and gold foil covered coins.  I included detailed written instructions on the previous blog entry, found here:
http://cakesbykristenh.blogspot.com/2011/01/pirate-treasure-chest-cake.html.   Click below to read more and see additional photographs:

Perry the Platypus

This is the second time I have made this cake :)  It is made from a single 9x13 inch sheet cake, cut in half and stacked. He is frosted in teal buttercream with marshmallow fondant eyes, tail, back feet, hair and beak.  The eyes were placed on the front of his face, rather than on top of his head as last time I made this cake.  This was a little tricky b/c the mmf balls I made the eyes of is heavy, so I had to support them on dowels that were secured in the cardboard base.  The sharpened dowels were inserted at an angle (about 45 degrees) and hammered into the base.  There was just enough dowel showing on the front of the cake on which to place the eyes.  I am much happier with this look :).

Volleyball Elephant

This is an 8-inch red velvet cake decorated in yellow buttercream icing and pink fondant dots and volleyball court.  The elephant and volleyball are hand made from marshmallow fondant.  The net is made from mesh fabric glued to dowels.

Farm Cake

This was for a little boy's first birthday party.  It is a 12-inch round, 6-inch round and 4-inch round stacked and displayed on an 18" board to allow room for the animals at the bottom.  It is covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant, with hand-sculpted fondant animals and pumpkins.  The haystacks are decorated in buttercream icing applied with a grass tip.  Click below for additional photos:

Beauty and The Prince Cake

This is a 6-inch round decorated in yellow buttercream with garland trim and red buttercream roses.  Belle and the Prince are handmade from marshmallow fondant.  I also made 36 cupcakes to coordinate with this cake.  They are decorated in yellow buttercream with a red rose on top of each one.  The roses on the cupcakes were made using Wilton tip #104, and each one has an unwrapped Hershey kiss as the center cone (they are firm and just the right size and shape for the center cone... and a yummy surprise inside the for the birthday guest!).  See Below for more photos of the cake.

Luau Cakes

These were made for a little girl's first birthday party.  The large cake is a 3-tier cake including a 10-inch strawberry bottom tier, 8-inch vanilla-butter middle tier, and 6-inch chocolate top tier.  The chocolate smash cake is about 4-inches round.  They are covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant with handmade fondant flowers, seashells and hula girls.  Happy 1st birthday Larkyn!! Click below to see more photos.

Superhero Cake!

This was a groom's cake for one of my husband's best friends.  He once said how much he liked a similar cake I made a few years ago, so his mother and I worked together to surprise him with this one at his rehearsal dinner. the bottom tier was a 10-inch round in chocolate, the top tier was vanilla-butter and was cut into a 2-layer Superman logo shape from a single 9x13-inch sheet cake.  It is covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant.  Congratulations Carrie and Dwaine!

Lego Cake

 

This is a 2-layer 10-inch square (yellow) topped with a two layer 8-inch x 5-inch rectangle (green) and a 3-layer 5-inch x 5-inch square (blue).  It is covered in marshmallow fondant with a yellow buttercream border around the bottom tier.  The lego pegs on top of each cake are fondant.  The figures and tiny lego decorations are handmade from marshmallow fondant.  General Grievous has an internal wire skeleton to hold his legs and arms in those bent angles.  Click below to see more photos.

All Wrapped Up

This is an 8-inch square covered in pale pink marshmallow fondant with bright pink, light lime green and black polka dots, with a bright pink fondant ribbon and bow.

Zebra print with purple flowers

This is a 6-inch square on a 10-inch square covered in white fondant with true-black fondant zebra stripes, purple mmf pearls and faux daisies.  I purchased these daisies at Michael's.

Monster High Cake

This is a 3-layer 6-inch round cake.  It is covered in true-black marshmallow fondant and decorated in mmf diamonds and white buttercream "stitches" to make the argyle pattern on the sides.  The pink ball border is buttercream.  The characters are hand made from mmf.

Fondant Character: Olivia sun-bathing

This was requested by a customer who loved the Olivia figures on last week's cakes.  I am not available to make her a cake this week, so she requested I just make the topper.  This is the first time I have done this, but I really enjoyed it.  The character work is my favorite part of cake decorating!  She is sitting on a fondant beach-towel, white with red polka dots, that is personalized with the name "Olivia".  I made some tiny seashells to fill her little blue sand bucket as well.

Olivia Cakes

These are two identical 3-layer, 6-inch round cakes. Each is frosted in buttercream icing and covered and decorated with marshmallow fondant. Olivia is handmade from mmf. The roses and leaves are mmf, but the flower stems are colored toothpicks (half a toothpick per flower).

Mini Mario Cake

This cake is a little smaller than I typically make, at only about 4.5 inches.  I normally stick with 6-inch rounds at the smallest, b/c they are wider than they are tall, which makes them more stable and less likely to wobble or tip over.  But I wanted to make a little bitty Mario cake for a little one's 4th birthday party.  He loved the huge Mario cake I made for someone else in January and so I made this one similarly for him, although on a much smaller scale :).  It is frosted in buttercream icing and trimmed with mmf details.  The tunnel with the flower is a heavy duty paper tube (the ones that are inside a roll of plastic wrap are great for this!) covered in green mmf.  The flower, mushrooms and bullet are handmade from mmf.  The stars are mmf on lollipop sticks.  I wrapped the board in foil and covered it in green mmf for added color.  Happy Birthday Calvin!

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.

Mobile Pre-K Bus Cakes

These three cakes are made to look like the three mobile pre-k buses that serve Burke County, NC.  Bust'r is yellow, Betsie is white with black cow spots and Bee-Bee is lavender with a beehive on the side.  These cakes were carved from stacked sheet cakes, frosted in buttercream and covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant.  Each cake is 8"x4" and 4" tall, and serves 12-16.  For directions, click below.

Yo Gabba Gabba Cake

This is a Yo Gabba Cake for a little girl's 3rd birthday.  It is a 6" round on an 8" round covered and decorated entirely in marshmallow fondant.  Happy Birthday Addison!

Mini Slumber Party Cakes

This was the third time I have made these little slumber party mini cakes, and they get cuter every time!  This is my favorite color combination so far.  This is the first set I have made that included bedskirts beneath the blankets.  I think it adds a lot to each one and helps finish off that bottom edge of the cake nicely.  The headboards are cookies.  The four cakes are each about 3 inches by 4 inches in size,and were cut from a single 8"x8" square chocolate cake.  They were frosted in white buttercream icing and covered in mmf blankets and bed skirts.  The girls' heads are hand made from mmf to look similar to the real-life girl.

Man's birthday cake

This is a man's 46th birthday cake, and it almost just like another I made last year for a 50th birthday party.  This is an 8 inch round chocolate cake frosted in buttercream icing and covered and decorated in fondant.  The woman is hand sculpted from mmf.  The tires are cut and shaped from true black mmf.  The board is covered in red food-safe plastic.

Groovy Tie Dye cake

This is an 8-inch round cake decorated entirely in buttercream... the smiley faces and peace signs are fondant.  The cake itself is even tie dyed!  To see photos of how I made the tie dye design on the cake, click below.

Superhero Cake!

This is a 3 tier, 10-inch, 8-inch and 6-inch cake. It is covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant with buttercream bottom borders and buttercream web on the top tier. Batman is sculpted from mmf (the gray portion of his body has a foil center to make him lighter and hold his shape better). The spider, hulk hand and Superman logo are hand made from mmf. This was a very fun cake to make... it had a lot of steps to finish it, and I don't have time to blog them all right now. If you are interested in making a similar cake or have questions, feel free to email me. Click below to see more pictures. :) I will say the most difficult part of decorating this cake was the stripes for the web... string-work is not my strong-suit!

Transformers / Dora cake

This is a combination birthday cake for a brother and sister whose birthdays are very close together, so they shared a party.  It is a 10" and 6" tiered cake decorated in buttercream icing.  The Transformers logo, stars and Dora, Boots and Backpack are hand made from marshmallow fondant.  The Transformer on top is a plastic Happy Meal toy.

Call of Duty

This cake was inspired by another online.  This is an 8-inch square cake covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant.  The helmet is carved from cake, the grenade and gun were sculpted out of a cake and icing mixture (sort of like making cake balls) then frosted and covered in true black mmf.  The lettering is hand-cut from mmf.  For more information on how the camo print was made, click below.

Pink Roses

I made this cake for a good friend's birthday party.  It is an 8-inch round cake decorated entirely in buttercream icing.  I used Wilton's Rose icing coloring for the pink on the cake, and blended that with Red-Red and Pink for a deeper color on the roses.  The leaves were tinted with Wilton's Kelly Green.  For you fellow cake makers-- the best tip I ever found online for making roses:  use an unwrapped Hershey kiss in the center instead of piping a cone of icing!  The kisses hold their shape so much better and allow for taller, more uniform roses... plus a sweet surprise in the center!

Firetruck

This cake was made from a single 11"x15" sheet cake, cut in half lengthwise and stacked, then carved.  It is frosted in buttercream icing and covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant.  It is raised slightly to appear that the truck is sitting on its tires.  The headlights are working lights!  They are "Celebration Lights" I found in the wedding section of Michael's craft store.  I can't wait to use them in another cake!  To view more pictures and a link detailing how to make a car (or truck) cake such as this, click "read more".

Super Mario Bros. Cake

This is a Super Mario Bros. cake for my favorite 7 year old chickadee!  It is 3 tiers, 14", 10" and 6", and is frosted in buttercream icing with fondant accents and plastic character figures.  The mushrooms are hand sculpted from marshmallow fondant.  The tunnel entrance on top of the cake is a heavy-duty paper tube covered in mmf.  The #7 is a candle.  It is a surprise for the birthday girl... if you see it before she does, try not to rub it in!  :o)  For more pictures, click below.

Pirate Treasure Chest Cake

This is the second cake of this type I have made... the first one I made was for my oldest son  a few years ago.  This one is about twice the size, but came together well for me, after having practiced it that first time.  These are a little tricky to make, considering the top of the cake sits at an upward angle to make it appear that the chest is open slightly, click below to read how I did it.

Sodor Island Cake

This cake was made by placing two 11"x15" sheet cakes side by side, then carving it into the general shape of Sodor Island.  I carved them at an angle so the sides would look like gently sloped beaches.  I frosted the sides and areas under the lighthouses with sand-colored icing, then added the blue icing around the island, I pulled up on it with a spatula to make it look like water and waves.  I used some of the carved-off cake to build up hill sides on top of the cake.  The rest of the island was covered in green icing using the grass-tip.  The train track was piped on using the smooth side of a small basket-weave tip and brown icing, and a tip #3 and black icing.  The lighthouses, round house, castle, windmill, trains and helicopter were all hand-sculpted from marshmallow fondant.  The trains were about 1-inch in length.

Muscular Arm with weight

The arm portion was carved from a 2-layer 14-inch round.  It is almost 5 inches tall at the tallest point near the shoulder.  The weight is a single layer 6-inch round.  They are both frosted in buttercream and covered in MMF.    The cakes are placed on a 16 inch cake board, to give you an idea of overall size.  Happy 30th Birthday!

LIttle Mermaid Cake and cupcakes

This was so much fun... a handmade fondant Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian on top of a 6 inch round cake frosted and decorated in buttercream icing (pink... the birthday girl's favorite color!), with 36 cupcakes frosted in blue buttercream and each topped with a fondant seashell.  The cupcakes are arranged on a stand that has been sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs to look like sand.  Happy Birthday Madeline!