Lightning McQueen Cake

Our family made a big move in August - from Clifton Park, NY to Richmond, BC (we never thought we'd be back in Canada!) Leaving our friends in NY was extremely difficult...and many tears were shed when we left. Many months of unpacking and settling in later...I finally felt ready to make another cake!

I met the beautiful Chary through a mom's meetup group. She was so welcoming and friendly, and funny! And at our 2nd outing, she brought a portable BBQ to make these yummy meat skewers with Mama Sita's Adobo sauce as her secret weapon...It was then that I knew we had to be friends! :)

When she found out I made cakes, she asked for a Lightning McQueen cake for her son Aidan's 1st birthday party. Fun! It would be a white cake with a mango filling.

I started my research online, and bought a little LM car to look at. I thought about getting an edible ink printer to print out all the decals on LM, but it was way too expensive...so I ended up getting some Americolor edible ink markers and rice paper instead.

I made the mango custard filling from a recipe in Food and Wine magazine (Feb.'09) and let it set in the fridge overnight. I baked the cake in an oval pan, then layered it with the mango filling before carving out the shape. Then I covered it with lemon buttercream and red marshmallow fondant (which took a loooong time, and a whole jar of red food paste, to get the right shade)

Unfortunately, I learned too late that a custard type of filling is not the best idea for 3-D cakes...The next day the fondant started to "weep" from the wet filling, and the stuff was oozing out from the weight of the fondant. I had to scrape off all the filling that seeped out, but the fondant in some spots became very fragile. Yikes!!! In hindsight, I would have just put mango puree or extract into a buttercream recipe.

The wheels were made of cupcake bottoms covered with lemon buttercream and black fondant, which I scored with a knife for treads.

I made the decals with my new markers and rice paper - only to find that rice paper warps with the wetness of the ink! So I lay the pieces flat in plastic wrap, and tried to squish them flat with some heavy books...which worked...a little.

All the decals worked ok, except for the "lightning bolts" on the side panels...the rice paper was much too stiff to flex on the contours of the car. It kept breaking apart, and did not sit well on the fondant. So, at the very last minute, I decided to rip both panels off, sent my poor long-suffering husband to the store for more marshmallows and icing sugar, made a new batch of fondant, traced out new decals on the fondant, painted and outlined them with food colouring, and phew! They stayed on and were a huge improvement!

During our rush to the party, I noticed that LM's smile was drooping. The darned mango filling was melting away the fondant under the smile! I pushed the smile up and just prayed it would stay up until the cake was cut...


This was probably one of the most challenging cakes I have ever made - mostly because of my insistence on making that filling work. I definitely learned my lesson, and will be sticking to buttercreams from now on!!! It would have made for easier decorating, and a much smoother surface. I also learned about using rice paper and edible ink markers, as well as using food paste and a drop of vodka (it evaporates, don't worry!) to paint fondant.

All in all, it was a great experience, and I'm certainly relieved that Chary and her family loved the cake in the end! Phew! (And we had a terrific time at the party - with wonderful company...and great food, of course!)

Hope you had a happy first birthday, Aidan!!

Noah's Ark Cake for Kiana's 1st Birthday!

Hard to believe, but our little Kiana is turning one!! The year has gone by so quickly...and our tiny bundle of long-awaited joy has grown into an adorable little charmer! (Of course, I could be a little biased...)

Our first daughter, Isabella, loves to read to her little sister...and one of her favourites is "Noah's Ark"! I was shocked to hear Bella reading it to Kiana the first time, cover to cover, complete with the booming voice of God! (She wasn't even five yet! But I guess we must have read it enough times to her...) So, of course, when it came time to choosing a cake for Kiana's first birthday, we thought of Noah's Ark...

Because we were showing our house (to sell for our future move to Vancouver), and needed to keep it immaculate, our dear friends, the Lees, allowed me to crash their kitchen to make the cake (and even hosted the party!) I brought over all of my materials (or so I thought), and started on the cake.

The ark itself is made of two halved vanilla sheet cakes (4-tiers total), filled with vanilla buttercream, then carved into shape. I made the "house-like" structure on top with what was left-over from the carving, to make it look more like an ark. The whole thing was then covered with buttercream.

I made the marshmallow fondant, and then discovered...I had left all of my food-colouring pastes at home!!! I needed to cover the cake with the fondant ASAP to keep it fresh underneath, but I couldn't make brown with regular food colouring (it would have ruined the consistency of the fondant). That was when my friend, Linda, came up with the most absolutely brilliant idea...of putting cocoa powder in the fondant! I decreased the amount of icing sugar in the recipe, and added Ghirardelli cocoa (quite a lot of it, actually!) until I got the dark brown I wanted. Finally, I could seal up the cake, and worry about the details another day!


Making the animals was so much fun for me! I loved making each pair a "boy" and a "girl" by adding little details like long lashes, or a pink bow, a little hat or scarf...

Every once in a while, our kids would stop mid-play and come around to check out the progress on the cake. The biggest hit by far, with the kids, was Monsieur Pig with his funky little moustache!


I had made scales on the snakes with the edge of a straw, but couldn't think of anything to make the pattern on the turtle shells. That's when Linda came up with Brilliant Idea #2...use an Allen Key (with the hexagonal cross-section)!

I just loved making all the animals, although I did get frustrated after dropping the bunny's tail / nose/ eyes, for the umpteenth time! Those itty bitty pieces of fondant sure were finicky!

Because of the number of people coming to the party, we decided to make another sheet cake for the base (water) of the cake. Unfortunately, this was AFTER I had started on the ark, so you can imagine the pain it was to move the cakes into position. (Many animal body parts were lost in the move...) I stuck a number of straws into the base for support, but it still ended up a little smooshed after all the repositioning. (My sweet husband, Paul, suggested helpfully that it made the ark look more like it was riding on choppy waters.) The whole process was nerve-wracking, to say the least.

At the end of it all, we all loved the cake...and Linda couldn't wait to get it out of her fridge (where it was taking up an entire shelf)!


The birthday girl was a little perplexed by the whole party, and eyed the cake rather suspiciously.


But as soon as she got her hands on a piece of it, she quickly decided she loved it too! :)


Happy Birthday, Kiana! We love you soooo much!

Bouncy Castle Cake

My impossibly beautiful and sweet friend Ally asked me to make a birthday cake for her adorable twin daughters, Camryn and Kendall (who also happen to be in Pre-K, Sunday School, AND T-ball with my daughter, Bella!). Since they were having their 5th birthday party at the Malta Bounce, she asked for a bouncy castle design.

I wish I had taken a picture of the mess I made when I first tried to bake this cake! I made a double batch of chocolate cake in one 9x13 pan - thinking I would be saving myself the prep and clean-up of another pan... Well - you can imagine what happened next. (I only clued in when I smelled the smoke...) The cake had bubbled and glopped out of the sides of the pan... and welded itself onto my oven floor. Yummy.... I stuck another pan underneath to catch the drips, but by then, it had gotten too smoky and messy. So much for saving on prep and clean up... hahaha! (NEVER cut corners when you're baking!)

After that fiasco, I was able to finally start on the cake - four layers of devil's food cake with chocolate buttercream in between, then iced on the outside with vanilla buttercream. I used the twins' favourite colours throughout the cake. Bella helped to colour the fondant. It was a big job for little hands...but she felt sooo good making her contribution to the cake! (Don't worry - she washed her hands very well before, during, and after!)


My favourite part of the cake was molding the girls, and their outfits. Ally always has them matching in these gorgeous clothes...I thought I'd match their colours, but vary the clothes a bit. Their faces were fun to do...although I had to throw out the first attempt. I had used fondant for their features, and they ended up looking a little freaky (clown-like...shudder!). I decided to scrap that idea, and used a toothpick to draw on their faces instead. Aahh...much better.

For the finishing touches on the bouncy castle, I added stitch details, and ridges (to make the castle parts look "poofy"!) Then I molded the words on the sides and back of the cake, and a "5" for the top - leaving room for the candles to go on the roof.





Happy Birthday, girls!

Pirate Cake

I met the sweet and delightful Clarisse through my friend, Cela. Her beautiful daughter, Nia was turning 4 and having a pirate-themed birthday party.

I baked a dark chocolate sheet cake for the water base, a cupcake for the treasure chest, and used a casserole dish for the boat. After chilling the cakes, I then carved the shapes of the chest and the boat, and covered everything in vanilla buttercream.


I covered the treasure chest in a layer of dark brown fondant, then went over it with paler pieces of fondant that I used a toothpick on to add the texture of wood. Then I placed some dragee balls and yellow sparkle sugar in it for the treasure.




The boat is covered with fondant - again I used a toothpick to create a wood grain and plank look. I added fondant cannons and a steering wheel. I thought it was too brown overall, so I added a little fondant bird to cheer things up, some yellow portholes, as well as Nia's name in bright red on the side.


For the pirate girl figure, Clarisse sent me a photo of Nia with her pirate costume, and I tried my best to replicate it with fondant. I think it ended up looking pretty cute...although the scale with the boat was way off. Oops! (Huge treasure chest and pirate...little mini boat...um...I was trying to add perspective? haha!)

The sails were made with wood chopsticks and fondant squares that I affixed with fondant and toothpicks, and left in the fridge to dry (with chopsticks behind them to add a slight curve).

Lastly, I used various shades of blue buttercream to make the water. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Itty Bitty Safari Cakes

I made these cakes for Brianna, a girl at my church, who loves animals! She really wanted little cakes as individual favors for her birthday party guest, and I was thrilled to try something different!

I found a Noah's Ark cookie cutter set with the mini shapes perfect for the cakes. I covered each cookie in royal icing, and let them dry before adding all the details. They were labor-intensive, but a lot of fun to create.


Brianna's favorite colors were green and yellow, so I decided to cover the cake base with yellow fondant and green fondant leaves. My little assistant, Bella, helped punch out the leaves. Each cake was crumb-coated in apricot preserves before being iced with chocolate butter-cream, with finally the fondant, and the cookie on top!


I found the clear take-out containers at the Party Store, and just added a few decorative touches - a green and yellow polka-dot ribbon on the side, and Brianna's initial stamped on a piece of paper glued to the front. The packaging really helped to finish the look of the individual cakes.


They were super cute, but I still couldn't resist eating the extras!

Safari Cookies!

These are cookies that will go on top of individual cakes for an upcoming birthday party!

I'm really excited - these will be my first individual cakes. I used a Noah's Ark cutter set to cut the little animals (elephant, zebra, and giraffe - the birthday girl's request), and used royal icing to cover them. I used a toothpick for all the details. I think they're pretty cute. (ate quite a few that didn't make the cut...mmm!)

Monkey Cake

Our little Bella just had her 5th birthday party! How time flies...

She was born in the year of the monkey, and just loves monkeys! (She was a monkey last Halloween, and her favourite blankie since she was a baby is from Auntie Ingrid, and has little monkeys all over it). So - of course, she had to have a monkey cake.

The body is banana chocolate chip (appropriate for little monkeys), and her head is chocolate (for other non-simian children...)

Bella helped me colour all the fondant (took a lot of kneading - especially that brown!), and do the flowers. I loved doing her little face and dress.


After a swift, painless decapitation, the girls at the party devoured the head in complete silence...Nothing like cake and ice cream to bring on peace and quiet!

Happy Birthday, Bella! We love you!!!

Guitar Cake

My lovely friend, Jen, asked me to do a guitar cake for her daughter Katelyn, who was turning 7 and having a High School Musical party. She got a picture online of a Fender to use as a model.

It started as two chocolate sheet cakes. I traced and cut out the shape after it cooled.
The toughest parts about this cake were: coloring the fondant (literally took hours of kneading the paste color in until I got the vibrant red and the dark brown), and doing the strings and knobs.

My first attempt using dry spaghetti for strings was awful. They stuck out at all angles, and I couldn't get them to line up...So I gave up, slept on it, and thought of using real string. I ended up using embroidery thread! All six threads for the first string, five for the next...until the last string - which was a single thread. It was a challenge to get them to line up with all the knobs, etc. but after a few hours of playing with them, they finally looked right.


You can actually tighten each string with the knob, like a real guitar! The knobs were made with fondant stuck in the side with toothpicks, then brushed with silver powder.


My friend, Linda, who is a shopper extraordinaire, found some High School Musical stamps that I used on pieces of fondant to surround the cake.


I was ecstatic when Jen told me how much Katelyn loved her cake! It was so much fun to make, and I was relieved that the birthday girl and her friends enjoyed it!

Abby Cadabby Cake

Just made this cake for my dear friend Cela. Her sweet little girl was turning 2 and loves Abby Cadabby!

I was a little nervous doing this cake, because there were a number of challenging elements - carving the shape, getting the face to be recognizable (characters are always tough!), doing the pigtails and the wings.

I started with a 3D teddy-bear mold, which I used for the first time. My first effort was a disaster. I hadn't greased and floured the mold enough, and the cake completely ripped apart. But when life hands you messed up cake...you just make...strawberry trifle!

The second time I greased and floured that sucker until the whole inside surface was completely white. It came out beautifully. Phew!

I carved the ears off and shaped the rest of the face and body. After I put the fondant on the cake, I noticed that the molded arms were barely showing, so I ripped off the fondant, and sliced off the arms. I shaped the arms out of fondant instead. I used a leaf cutter for Abby's skirt and wings. I also put shimmer powder on her wings, then let them dry in the fridge. I used toothpicks to hold the wings in place. For her hair, I stuck two straws into the top of her head. Then I rolled out sheets of pink and purple fondant, cut them into strips with a pizza cutter, and stuck them on alternately onto the straw. I let the strips droop here and there until they looked like pigtails.

The birthday girl and her family loved it! Yay!! They had a hard time cutting into it, so we ended up eating the body, and saving the head (imagine that face looking at you every time you open the fridge or freezer!! Eeks!)

Pregnant Belly Cake

I made this for my friend Kelly's shower, when she was pregnant with her son , Tyler.

The belly was baked in a mixing bowl, her head and...um...chest area...was created with cupcakes. I carved her arms out of scrap cake.

Her belly looked like a big blue expanse, so I thought I'd add a little pink heart to break it up.

There was (and still is) a lot of love for that little baby. He's now almost 1 year old! Maybe I'll get to bake him a birthday cake...

Baby Pram Cake

I made this for my friend Jen's baby shower.

The toughest part was the handle of the pram. I tried everything from licorice sticks to popsicle sticks. Ended up using wooden skewers held together with fondant. Took several tries to get it to stick out just right (and stay on!)

I loved doing the baby peeking out of her blanket. Like the wheels, her head was made from the bottom of a cupcake. Then I carved out her little body from scrap cake. I thought she looked nice and cozy!

Princess Castle Cake

This cake was for my dear friend, Kelly's daughter, Brooke. She was turning five and having a Princess Birthday Party (of course!).

For the turrets, I used swiss rolls for the columns and ice cream cones for the roofs. I made and dried all the fondant flowers and leaves ahead of time. (Bella helped me punch them out and shape them - not bad for a four-year-old, huh?)

My favourite part was making all the little faces peeking out of the windows! They had to be multicultural...haha!

Hello Kitty Cake

I made this cake for Bella's 3rd birthday. I don't know who loves Hello Kitty more - my daughter or I.

I made the body by baking the cake in a mixing bowl, and her head is made of two cakes baked in smaller bowls. My friend, Linda, helped carve out the arms and ears from leftover cake. It took a few tries to get the eyes and nose positioned just right so it looked like Hello Kitty.

Bella loved it - it was worth the effort!

Ariel Cake

I made this cake for my daughter's preschool friend, Sarah. I based it on a beautiful cake I found online.

It's a dark chocolate cake with a mousse filling and marshmallow fondant over top.

It was my first time using glitter powder (for some sheen on the starfish and coral), and I love how pretty it looks!