So I got an order from a lady the other day for a cake shaped like a white tiger. She said it was for her daughter, and I assumed she was small, so I started pitching the idea of a lovable cartoony version of the animal. She seemed a little uneasy when I suggested it, so I backtracked and asked how old the birthday girl would be. She said 28. OH, well...I guess we have to go realistic then. Yes, she says. Her daughter is obsessed with white tigers and has an entire room in her house devoted to them. OH...shit.
I accept the challenge, hang up the phone, and proceed to freak the hell out because I have NO IDEA how I'm going to pull off a realistic white tiger for a person who stares at the animals likeness on an extremely regular basis. hmm... oh, and also she wants it done with red velvet cake so that when you hack into the animal, it looks bloody. So, hurray for that. :-D
I was going to make it out of the 3D bear mold pan that I have, make it standing. But the more I got to looking at my 3D animal pans, it seemed like the little lamb pan might be a better fit, after all...most four legged creatures bodies look similar while in the laying down position...I guess. So, I mixed up my batter, set the pan in the oven, and an hour later I pull it out and find out the damn thing didn't rise. WTF? I've made literally 60+ cakes at this point, and not a one, didn't rise. Batch two proved to be a better go, and filled out the pan to the needed shape. I talked with my mom, and decided it may be best to make the head separately from the body, so I could work on added detail with more range of mobility. I fashioned the head mold out of rice crisp treat, and began covering it with fondant. I had printed SEVERAL pictures of white tigers at different angles and just heads and so forth, and used those as a guide for the molding and shaping of the head. I trimmed some excess and height from the lamb body, beheaded the poor little thing, and draped the carcass in fondant as well. Slap on some fondant feet and a tale, attach the head via a pike, er, kabob skewer, and there you have it....
I also sat and painted on all the stripes. As well as indenting here and there on the body itself for contouring and effect. Here's an alternate view, where you can see the face better.
It's probably the best thing I've done in my meager career so far...don't ask how it came out of my hands, because I don't know. I don't even know if I could do it again...I told Matt that I'm scared now, that I may have just peaked...and it's downhill from here...let's hope not!
so these cakes are to bring you up to speed...in case you're too lazy to check my site. The first cake is one I just finished, a princess castle thing that I did by copying a kit that costs 12-20 dollars for about 5 bucks. Made the turrets out of craft foam and the princesses were printed on paper then laminated with packing tape. Whalla...
Next was the 48 cupcakes that were a last minute order on Thursday. The theme was "summer" for a little girl turning two. I'm really pleased with the way they came out, and for it being last minute, I think it was great!
Next was the butterfly garden frenzie. There were three cakes, and 4 dozen cookies to this order..all butterflies and such. The cake was decorated with whipped icing this time instead of buttercream, and I was really pleased with the turn out, since whipped doesn't want to hold color for shit. Yay.
Next was the Bon Voyage cake I did for a regular customer of mine. She was moving away to Hawaii. :-(
Lucky girl. So I did this sheet cake as a gift. Just for fun.
Next was obviously a Halloween cake, round mold for the eyeball, and gummy body parts to complete the creepy look.
Next was the dreaded Coach purse, that I worked really hard on, but didn't like the outcome. I also made the iPod and headphones myself out of fondant. And the tag with the birthday girls' names on it.
And last but not least, the Magic jersey I did for a lady to surprise her husband for his birthday. He turned 22, hence the number on the jersey, in case any of you are magic fans and know that there isn't a #22 on the team. Right, so..plus 12 cookies decorated like basketballs. Yay for cake, and all that. Have two more orders this weekend. Should be pretty cool.
R.
So, I haven't posted cake pics in a while, though last month was a doozey. Did 25 orders all together last month. A crazed amount. This month has been slow and mild in comparison, but the cakes I do have coming up are pretty awesome. I did get an impromptu order a couple days ago, from a lady in Colorado. Apparently, my little cake business is listed on a website called "The Gathering". I had no idea, until I asked her where she got my info from...so I checked it out, and it can be googled...I feel strangely out in the open now....
Anyway, she asked for a cake with a farm scene on it for her daughter's birthday. They own a farm in Colorado. So the animals were specific to the farm, and the colorings of the real animals. Everything else was up to me. She paid me $50 to do the cake, though I quoted her a price of $32. I am pretty darn happy with the outcome:
So, up next lots of tiered cakes. A wedding on the 20th, a baby shower on the 21st, an anniversary cake on the 24th, and a princess cake for twins on the 27th. All tiered cakes. I do have one Halloween order, a sheet cake with a cake eyeball on top and edible spiders. Then there's the alligator shaped, banana flavored cake at the end of the month...spooky, huh?
I had two orders due today. The first was the Baby Block cake for the shower. I was initially very excited about the order, because it gave me a good chance to try some decadent fillings, and try to challenge myself construction wise. Umm. so in MY opinion, it was a disaster. Block 1 was white cake with strawberry filling. The filling is awesome, and the cakes baked up pretty well, so I thought it was smooth sailing. I leveled everything off, added fillings and layers, all went well. But every time I tried to put the coat of buttercream on it, it would just fall right off, taking pieces of the cake with it.
:-O
I chilled it in the fridge, and came back to it, and it was still REALLY crumbley, but I did manage to get enough buttercream on it to overlay it with fondant. The batch of fondant that I made was awesome, it rolled out really well. I put the cake on the board, laid over the fondant, and it looked pretty good. But by the time I had the second block ready to put on the board, it had done a slide. Not a terrible slide, but a noticeable one considering the cake is supposed to be BLOCK shaped, not rhombus shape or whatever the fuck. I put the second block on, iced it fairly easily, and covered in fondant. I then inserted two support dowls into the cakes. These are pretty sturdy dowls, so I thought for sure that with a little kanoodling, Block 1 would shape up, and look like block 2. Block 2 was chocolate cake with an chocolate orange ganache filling. Block two ended up being the only block that stayed block shaped. I was up until 5 this morning trying to finish, and fix the cake. I took a two hour nap, and when I got back up at 7, the damage was done. The fondant was not completely adhering in Block 1, causing bubbling and cracking. Block 2 remained decent, but the top block was LEAKING vanilla cream, down the back of the cake. Through the fondant. I did a lot of paper towel dabbing, and soul searching, and a bit of crying before I called the lady. I told her over the phone that the cake had slid. She said she wanted to see it before she made her decision. She came, and absolutely LOVED the cake. She said it was a little droopy, but totally exceeded her expectations. The lady that came with her to get the cake also loved it and said it was "darling". I think it was quite possibly the WORST cake experience yet, and did not agree with either of them. She paid full price for the cake, and wisked it away. I DID NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF THAT HORRIBLE CAKE. I just wanted it gone away from me. But she said she would email me pics at some point...guh.
Then it was on to the next cake, which I had originally wanted to at least bake off last night, but the block cake took over the evening. Long story short, it wasn't done at 6 this evening when they came to pick it up, and the girl stood and watched me finish the cake. Did I mention Elora was screaming the whole time because she wanted to eat the cupcakes that went with the order? Nerve wracking enough without a total stranger standing in your dining room watching your every move. Holy shit what a day. So glad that the next thing I have to do isn't cake.
I will sleep well tonight. Cause I don't have to make a cake tomorrow. I need a break.
Another day, another cake. This time it's just a safe old birthday cake. Sheet cake, to be precise, chocolate with buttercream. The only interesting bit about this cake is the new strawberry puree recipe I came up with. 1 pint fresh strawberries, cut into chunks, put 1/4 of them in a saucepan with half cup of sugar. Start it at low heat until enough liquid is produced, then turn up the heat and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, mix up a thickening agent, consisting of 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch, and 1-2 Tablespoons of Chambord. In case you don't know what it is, it a black raspberry liquor with little honey undertones, it's fabulous. And even more fabulous with the strawberries. You mix the thickening agent with the strawberry mix just after boiling, return to boil and stir constantly for 2 minutes. After that, take it off the heat, and add the rest of the strawberries. It is knock-your-socks-off fabulous, and the best part is...the alcohol burns off, so it's good for everyone..even the kiddies. Try it sometime...put it over cheesecake...I dare you!
But other than that...run of the mill cake.
It was good to get back to the regular stuff. The next cake is ABC blocks for a baby shower, for Saturday. Wish me luck!
Dropped off the Barbie cake today. The lady had a happy but scared look on her face. I think because it's the equivalent of a half sheet of cake, in dress form, and apparently it's just for one little girl. No party, like I had originally thought. So, I hope they have some hungry family members.
I got home, and checked my email, to find another cake order. And I figured I would eventually get an order like this...but not necessarily these circumstances... An X-rated cake. For a lady's birthday. No problem. It's not unheard of...the lady who emailed me said it's for her boss's birthday on the 3rd of August. She goes on to tell me that the cake should be real kinky...whips, chains, what have you, because this special lady is a professional mistress in her spare time. She says the lady has a website, if I'd like some inspiration for the cake. I email back, and say sure! I figured I'd get a call for one of these eventually..no problem. Send me the link if you like. I tell her, the idea I had was to do a transvestite torso, with the phrase "Surprise! Happy Birthday" on it. I send the email off, and think to myself...how bad could it be? She lives in hick town Jacksonville, that's the size of a quarter.
The email back states that she is extra happy that I'm able to do it, and the idea sounds great! She says it's hard to find someone to take her seriously about this stuff, and leave the email with the link to the website.
www.mistressdiabolical.com
okay, I'm no stranger in the night here...I've seen my share of stuff. But I think the disturbing part is....A.) this stuff is happening here, in this little tiny town, and B.) there is an organized group you can join. Most of the contraptions were just hilarious...and the checklist was very thorough... I guess now, I just feel a little overwhelmed. I hope I don't let them down! I mean, you can only make cake so pornographic after all.
So, yeah....my first fondant penis and boobs...wish me luck.
