I'm no professional...

Not even close. Hell, I scrape by with patience and swearing. Lots of swearing. BUT, the cake is done.

Here are the rest of the pictures!

Fondant is hard!

No, not physically. The marshmallow fondant I made the other day turned out quite pliable and nice... but I'm thinking that I rolled it too thin because lifting it from the counter proved to be problematic.

Still, I stuck with it and I have the first two thirds or so of my son's birthday cake finished.

I am very glad I baked the cakes last week. White cake with lemon! And I made the buttercream today. Just plain vanilla buttercream. I've discovered that lemon icing with lemon cake = too much lemon! Lemon is good and all, but this proves to be a lemon sensory overhaul!

So, anyway, I brought the cakes to the dining room table and held my breath as I carved it.   Little pieces, bit by bit, until it looked just right.

Then, to the kitchen.

Three hours later and I have something to show for my efforts, but it's by no means finished just yet.

Here are the progress pictures so far!

Just as a note: this is supposed to be the Lightning McQueen at the  very very end of the movie when he shows up with his racing mixed with Radiator Springs paint job. It's probably an easier design than his standard paint job but not too basic. I'm sure the kids will know who the cake is supposed to be :P

Happy Birthday to Me!

As a sort of warm up for my son's third birthday in June I decided to make myself a birthday cake. Today is my birthday,  so I sort of cut it close.

Now, just for the record, I'm something of a novice cake maker. I'm by no means professional, as anyone could tell by my gawd-awful piping, but I had fun with gum paste and some leftover icing from the last cake I made.

My husband gave me a hand in the kitchen last night in baking the cakes as I've had a sore back due to pregnancy, and together, with my neighbour's Kitchenaid stand up mixer, we got the job done quickly, efficiently, and with little to no problems.

I decided that since I had mostly blue icing I'd make an underwater/ocean cake.  The decals are gum paste and the rest is just plain buttercream icing.

The actual cake is yellow with lemon. Yum! Two nine inch cakes stacked on top of each other with buttercream in the middle.

We'll taste it tonight but I think it'll be yummy enough.

And now... Pictures!

Swag!

And so begins the real posting in the food blog.

There are birthdays coming up! My birthday is next week, my two year old is turning three in June, and our very good friend across the street has a birthday mid June.

Now, for the record, I am just about eight months pregnant. I don't really want to spend a ton of time baking and cooking, but I might just get on a roll. I might just park my arse at the kitchen table and do some neat stuff.

At the very least, I'm going to be making a Lightning McQueen cake for my son. I found some web tutorials and have purchased all the stuff I'll need. I also picked up something I wish I bought a year ago when I made his Thomas cake. I smartened up this time and just got it:  Wilton's Gum Paste Tools. Hell yes.

Just, swag in general. I could make everything I need, but really, who has the time? Though, I decided to veto my original plan on buying rolled fondant. Really? $30 for a tiny tub? I don't bloody think so. $15 makes more than that little tub. I say, DO EET.

 So, Michael's had a sale on cake items. Everything in the cake department was "Buy 2, get 1 free". I cashed in and took advantage. What baker wouldn't?

Here's some swag.

So, when I bake some rectangular cakes for Nick's party, I might bake a few round cakes for me. I've never made myself a cake and it might be good practice to figure out flowers and such. Maybe have a couple neighbours over for cake. We'll see.