...tool belt cake...

okay, so first let me say i absolutely reject the term 'tomboy'... having been called a "tomboy" for most of my life, growing up with a carpenter grandfather, construction/painting biz father, and stemming from a long line of very strong, capable women... i prefer "strong, capable, tool-wielding woman" :o) and with that, i present my version of a 'tool belt cake'...

a friend wanted a small birthday cake themed around a tool belt, a black sharpie, some red paint and oreo butter cream. by far a very rich choice, but if eaten in small doses, totally yummy.

i designed this cute little cake with sugar paste tools: a purple handled hammer (because her husband likes purple), a paint brush dripping red paint (because the red paint represented some sort of inside joke between the two of them...and i LOVE inside jokes...and the opportunity to drip sugar "paint" all over a cake) and finally a cap-less, black sharpie (because this is apparently her husband's signature trademark item).

The cake was a triple layer white vanilla cake, layered with a rich oreo butter cream, iced in a vanilla butter cream, and covered in white fondant, with a wood grain brown fondant.

Happy Father's Day (well, it was happy :o)

Okay, SUPER late posting this but...

my dad doesn't have a sweet tooth so for him, the father's day treat i made had to be something different. something still amazing. so my PASSION for fruit tarts took over and i knew this was one he'd LOVE! the fresh fruit tart with pastry cream and vanilla bean and creme d'amande (almond cream!!) it's like all the things i've ever loved to eat packed into a 10" round tart of perfection. oh, that's right, this one's for my dad. luckily, he and i share the same taste in desserts.

it's delicious, it's simple and it's beautiful to look at... and don't get me started on how amazing it smells...

Squiggle Cuppycakes...Old-School

That's right. If you're a child of the 80's you know what I'm talking about. BEFORE Hostess lost their minds and ruined the only thing they ever did well. I decided to resurrect my childhood fave: the Squiggle Cupcake. You know the one: Chocolate cake, filled with a never-ending center of marshmallowy yummy-ness, topped with an amazing chocolate ganache and then, decorated with the white squiggly line (this time, done in white chocolate.)

Anyway, this picture is terrible, but here they are - a thank you gift to some former co-workers.

Pizza anyone?

Fresh from the oven...sort of.

so my brother, for as long as i can remember, has LOVED pizza. for his birthday, we were traveling up to visit him in Rhode Island. i HAD to bring him a cake! SO, since everyone who knows me, knows i LOVE the Cake Boss, I decided to use Buddy's cake as my source of inspiration!

the cake itself was a two-layer vanilla cake. i filled half with a lemon curd, and half with my nana's FAMOUS chocolate filling. i iced it all in *drumroll* vanilla italian meringue butter cream and then the fun part - the decorating!!

i covered the cake in fondant. using the techniques i watched on the Cake Boss, i used various pieces of fondant in reds, oranges and yellows for the "sauce" and then made my first batch of white modeling chocolate EVER!! (which is SO YUMMY i might add). I made fondant olives and fondant pepperoni too! i used the steamer to melt the top just like Buddy and he's such a genius because it worked PERFECTLY! so thanks to him for his brilliant idea!!! it made for an awesome cake (if i do say so myself). i used various colors of petal dust to paint the dough and used a torch to caramelize the white chocolate. once again, thanks Buddy! (as if he's reading this! lol)

my brother opened the cake box and laughed. he was pretty impressed. i think one of the best compliments came next: "oh man! it's so cool. it's disgusting. it's cake but it looks like pizza! [more laughter] that's awesome."

Happy Birthday to the best brother a sister could have :o)

More pics:

Buffalo Bills Cake!

I've been SOOOO bad about blogging!

This is me trying to catch up!

Meet: The Buffalo Bills Birthday Cake!

A friend of my husband's needed a cake for her husband's birthday. He's a Bills fan and they wanted a simple cake: so behold, my simple triple-layer vanilla cake, filled and iced with vanilla butter cream. I then decorated it with white fondant, an edible Bills logo printed with my newest toy - edible ink on edible frosting sheets. Ahh, technology. Gotta love it. Anyway, I put some royal icing grass around the outside as a border. They absolutely loved it and from what I hear, they ate it all in one night! That's all the compliment I need :o)

Here are a few more pics:

Cherry on Top: Happy Mom's Feedback :o)

oh happy happy birthday to you!

YAY for feedback!

when you make a cake...when you're me... you really want it to be so incredibly perfect - though nothing can ever be PERFECT, it's gotta come as close a humanly possible. i was really happy with the look of this one! its got such a whimsical, happy face on (yes, my cakes have faces...they sometimes talk! ...just kidding...sorta! LOL)

anyway, L is an AMAZING photographer (who took AMAZING photographs of my wedding!!) and promised to take some shots of her daughter's birthday cake! here they are, along with my favorite part: FEEDBACK! :o)

"Everyone thought the cake was AMAZING!!!! It was delicious too!!! K loved it, got some great pics!! Thank you so much again!!!! ... More than I had expected...you are a GENIUS!!" *this is the part where i blush!*

so to some of my favorite people: L and the whole family! i love you guys and was more than happy to make your cake! i hope you loved it and ate it until it was all gone! :o)

Happy Happy 5th Birthday K!

xo

m

Bruins Puck Cake: Bride's Feedback :o)

i can tell you, the most nerve-wracking part of cake: the waiting... the waiting for the feedback. mostly because i'm always excited to hear about the cake. how'd it go? were they surprised? was it good? did you enjoy it? did you love it? what'd'ya think?? i LOVE when clients send me feedback!

M was so QUICK to respond! and would you believe i MISSED it?!? "new" facebook is more than a little annoying to me, with all its settings, notifications, etc. i haven't quite set it up the way i want it yet! so the night of her rehearsal dinner, she had posted the following note:

Mandy -

thanks so much for the groom's cake! i was so excited to see it and it looked terrific, just like i knew it would. everyone thought it looked great - and it tasted delicious too! you did a fantastic job with the detailing. Josh loved it and he was definitely surprised. thanks again - you were so awesome to work with!

~ M

that's so exciting to hear! thanks so much M for taking the time (the night before your wedding!) to send me that message! i couldn't be happier to hear it!

once again, congratulations on your wedding!

sending you my very best wishes!

m