Long time no update!

Technical difficulties have prevented me from updating these past few weeks. I've also been a bit down in the dumps. Last night, a former coworker lost her fight with cancer and passed away. RIP Tina, we love you.


On the flip side to all that, I also have been very busy getting ready for Dragon*Con! Less than two days away! *dances*

I'm also wickedly excited because the peeps from Cake Wrecks will be there and are holding a contest to find them. If you do and tell them the secret speshul word, you get awesome cake wreck themed prizes!


Anyway, on to the daily -or weekly- dump!



Can you say explosion? This is the background design for the G-Force cake that we carry. We did not have the kit for it, but the customer wanted it anyway. Also, they never picked it up. -RAGES-




I forget what cake it was in the middle, but this is the whipped icing. It rarely comes out that smooth with this humidity raping it into submission. It's either a frothy flatulent mess or soupy gunk. And for the record, I did say flatulant. The whipped icing is aerated so when it warms up, the air collects into air pockets and 'farts' when you squeeze the bag. It's caused many an awkward moment here in the bakery.




This is essentially the same cake as above. whipped icing, farts, chocolate, can't recalls the flavor of cake inside.















This is an army cake. For the army. -salutes-









I love this cake but hate what they made me do with the writing. For the record, this is to their EXACT specifications. Can anyone say afterthought? lmao

Step by Step

This is the new Disney Princess Signature Castle Cake. It's $49.99 and expensive for a grocery store cake. As such, I try to spend some time on them making sure they're worth the customer's money.



First you need cake. And icing. Also if this is your first time making this cake (as it was mine) then the instruction card is a good thing to have. Also, you'll need some dowels to stabilize the cake once you've carved and stacked. This step will save you endless trouble during the dirty icing stage.




Carve the cake! Because of the weird shapes, I had to actually piece in some cake to fill a hole left by the carving. I'm convinced the 1/2 sheet cake the people used for the instruction card is NOT the same dimensions we have. Luckily I caught the inconsistency with the size and adjusted. Hence the pieced in square.




Dirty ice the sucker. 'Dirty icing' or 'crumb coating' is when you take a cake that has been (preferably) frozen and coat it in a thin layer of icing to trap all the crumbs. This prevents any cake bits showing up in the final coat of icing and will give your cake a nice finish. After the crumb coat is on, throw it back into the freezer to harden up again.





And if you're a looser like me, remember to put in the ramp as dictated by the instruction card. Then you can put it back in the freezer.




Now that our cake is nice and frozen, it's ready for the final coat of icing! I'm using buttercream here. Because of the horrible humidity, the Bakery will not do any of the signature cakes with the whipped icing. It just doesn't hold up. Once the final coat is applied and smoothed, you can go back and create the desired textures. Here I created a hedge along the bottom border of the cake and then a cobble stone texture down the ramp.





Now we air brush! The colors we have do not 100% match the colors used in the original design (they use olive green, but I only have spring green) so I had to improvise.





Pipe on the bushes, flowers, borders, and cobble stones before placing the kit on the cake.

For the most part, signature cakes do not allow room for a name or message, but if a message is desired by the client it is an option to actually write it on the cake bored (assuming there is room).

Daily Dump

Another Daily dump! It's a small dump today. Not many orders and the case was pretty much full. Or it was ten minutes before I left and suddenly everyone needed a cake just before 3:00pm. Luckily I open tomorrow so I can fill it up when I get in!



This is the worst of the cake kits we carry. Hannah Montana. Not even mentioning the fact it's HELLA popular. I can't stand this cake. The design is awful and our airbrush gun is far too unwieldy for us to properly do that airbrush work. As you can see from my picture, it looks like shit. Plus, this ungodly hummidity does horrible horrible things to icing. Just look at those corners?! The icing got soupy and when I tried smoothing it out, it just pulled back making those horrible stretch marks. ANNA KATE'S CAKE HAS STRETCH MARKS!!!



Awesome cake. Yellow cake, chocolate buttercream, and a simple yet pretty design. I don't mean to sound like I am encouraging people to compromise with simple cake designs, but...ah, hell that's exactly what I'm saying. I'M NOT DA VINCI DAMMIT! And I have other cakes to do!




I like how this one came out. The border got a bit wonky, but really we're not suppose to use the big tips on the sheet cakes. They're actually cupcake tips, used to ice cupcakes. What a novelty, huh?








The Coca Cola vendors ordered this cake for a friend who is retiring.

Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea?

Sponge Bob Square Pants!




Absorbent and yellow and porous is he.





Sponge Bob Square Pants!





If nautical nonsense be somethin' ya wish.







Sponge Bob Square Pants!



Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish.



(*please note that this was not made by me. I accidentally delted the picture of the cupcake fish I did, but since this is pretty much the same thing I did, I used it. No copy right intended!)


Sponge Bob Square Pants

Sponge Bob Square Pants

Sponge Bob Square Pants

Sponge Bob Square Paaants!

The Cake Corner

This is my cake corner. Well, it's not so much MY cake corner as the Bakery corner. I do share it with two other people, but I spend more time in this corner then anyone else, so I guess it's OK to call it my corner.



Today is August 10, 2010 and here is the first post of the Daily Dump!




Here we have a chocolate whipped cake. It was a cake I made for the case and this design of the corner roses and reverse shell border is a common design and is kind of the 'standard' feminine cake. While whipped icing is fairly temperamental and can be hard to work with if it isn't just at the right temperature, I think the whipped icing makes the most gorgeous roses.




I love love love this kit! We don't carry it here in the bakery, but a customer brought it in for us to use and I think it's so adorable! And it has pirates! The only way this cake could be any more awesome was if she has asked for a ninja too!




I had no clue how I was going to do this cake. The customer wanted a Tee-Pee cake with designs around it. So I essentially wracked my brain for any and all Native American designs or imagery I could recall. I'm fairly pleased with how it came out.



Pathetic cake is pathetic! This is a 1/8 yellow buttercream cake for Bob. His wife just wanted balloons, which is fine. I like simple cakes. They are easy to do and take less then five minutes to crack out. And when you're closing the Bakery, the last thing you want is a long list of detailed, complicated cakes.

Send in the Cake

Here are some of my favorite cakes that I have done.

The Do's and Dont's of ordering a cake...

This list is a basic compilation of things people should know when ordering a bakery store cake.

1. This is not Burger King.

-There are limitations to what a bakery can do so you may want your cake to look a certain way with elaborate pipping, but be forewarned it will cost you. With small bakeries such as those found in stores, they are required by company policy to spend a certain amount of time on each cake due to labor costs. Some decorators have as little as 10 minutes finish a cake. If your cake takes more then the allotted time, from then on you will be paying the labor costs of the cake. Be smart, stay simple, and you will get a nice, clean, finished cake that won't break your wallet.

2. Don't procrastinate.

-The center piece of most events, be it a birthday or BBQ, is usually the cake. Always order ahead of time. Minimum, give the bakery a 24 hour notice. Better if you order three days or even a week ahead of time. This not only gives the bakery time to plan and organize, but it guarantees you a cake in the event of a rush. Do not go to the store expecting to be able to get a custom cake made for you on the spot. 90% of the time you will be forced to choose a cake from their case and run the risk of having to settle for a cake you aren't happy with. Do the leg work and make sure you have your cake ordered. Everyone will be thankful you did.

3. Whipped Icing.

-When I was little, I would scrape off half the icing off my slice of cake. The icing was too sweet for my tastes and would overpower the cake itself. Many people I have come to learn have the same problem. That is where the whipped icing comes in. It's a wonderful icing for those who don't want their cakes overly sweet to the point where all they taste is sugar. But with whipped icing come limitations and conditions. It melts, the colors bleed out, and it does not have the same range of color as the traditional buttercream.

4. Not everyone can be Walmart.

-It is a common complaint I hear on a near daily basis. "These cakes are so expensive! Walmart's cakes are so much cheaper!" Unfortunately, the economy is forcing many people to keep very close watch on their wallets and as a consumer I completely understand. However, I do recognize the difference between being thrifty and being frugal. Complaining about overpriced cakes in an attempt to get a discount is not only futile, it is insulting to the bakery workers. I will say that Walmart's cakes are cheap for a reason and leave it at that.

5. We will work with you.

-Most decorators will work with you to come up with a cake design that not only pleases you, but it something that they can actually make. It is best, however, that you have some semblance of an idea. Bring in pictures or patterns you like, give the decorator ideas. Because, believe it or not, cake decorators are artists and like most artists, inspiration helps in the creating of any work.

The Cake is not a lie

You all have been told a devious lie, a lie that has found its way into every nook and cranny of the Internet through the digital phenomenon of the Meme. The Cake is a Lie. From our first infantile steps -wobbly and unsteady- through the tangled webs of the social medium we know as the Internet, we were told the cake was a lie. That its velveteen layers of cakey goodness were but an illusion and it's decadent folds of frosting were but a bitter tease to cover the horrible truth that the passionate scrawl of 'Happy Birthday' and other well wishings were for naught.

The Cake is a lie.

Well I say nay! Nay, I say. Nay nay and a bushel of hay! A bushel of hay I say!

I have come to learn through a series of brutal trials that the cake is no lie, no phantom, but a chameleon: An ever changing form of sweetness and delight. From the classic yellow sponge and buttercream to the decadent Devils food and whipped cream with all the colors and combination you can think of!

The Cake is.

I do not claim to be a cake expert. In all truth, I am a novice. My experience is limited to what a grocery store bakery can do. But you would be surprised at what a grocery store bakery can do when there is a passionate decorator behind the counter.