Cakes

On a completely selfish, non-Abagail note, I've had several people ask me about the cakes I've been doing. I took a buttercream decorating class before Abagail was born and am slowly teaching myself how to work with fondant. It's challenging, and something I would like to continue to work at, as I'm having quite a bit of fun.

This was a cake I did for a friend's baby shower. She did her son's nursery in sock monkeys. It was my first fondant cake. I made marshmallow fondant to work with. It tastes so much better than the store bought, ready made fondant. I was really pleased with the monkeys, but the cake was definitely rough upon close inspection. It taught me alot!

The same friend later asked me to make a cake for her daughter's birthday. They were doing a "Minute To Win It" themed party. If anyone has ever seen the show, the two girls on the cake are playing "Junk In the Trunk." If you haven't seen the show, you have a ping-pong-filled Kleenex box tied around your waist. Whoever can shake loose their ping-pong balls first wins. My "people skills" still need some work.

I was then asked to do a pink and zebra cake for a wedding shower. When I'd gotten done, I realized I should have done the whole cake in pink instead of white. That would have been alot more fun.

A friend was having a surprise birthday party for her husband. I volunteered to make a cake for the occasion. Mitch can take some ribbing, so I let Margie beat him at fishing. Notice Margie has the big fish and all the fish for the day. Poor Mitch has one little fish to his credit and (thanks to George's suggestion) a tire.

If I'd had more time, I would have written "Goodyear" on the tire, but just didn't get that far.

Last week was Vacation Bible School at church. We had a family night Friday night so the kids could perform the songs they'd learned all week and show off for their families. We fed everyone hot dogs, chips, lemonade, and cake and cupcakes for the conclusion of the "Big Apple Adventure."

This was my biggest project to date. I made a full sheet cake, so sandwhiched 4 9x13 cakes together. My hand resembled a claw and I was pretty stinking sleep deprived by the time I was done, but all in all, was really happy with how it turned out.

For all my projects, I am my mother's daughter. All the cakes are baked from scratch and the frostings are homemade too. I know the box mixes and ready made stuff would make things more convenient, but in my opinion, it just doesn't taste as good as scratch.