Cake Artist - Portfolio

I love to bake and use it as a form of expression with friends and family. ~ I like to push the boundaries of what know and see how far I can go, because there is always something new to discover! ~ This blog follows my creations as I teach myself the tricks of the baking trade. Click on the photos to see more; or go to 'archive' for an easier peek.

[baker-inabluebox]

Micky Mouse Cake

Vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream covered in vanilla and chocolate fondant. Script and edge decor in a yellow royal icing.

This cake required minimal carving and I simply followed gist of the image I found online. For the most part it was easy, just time consuming. So just a few things:

1) I had carved the head; which meant that the head was not as sturdy to support the mouse ears and they did start to weigh down due to the weight. Next time I think I would wait till before serving the cake to pop them on, or I would make them of thin gum paste as to avoid the weight. I could also just try to see how to make the carved cake head more firm for the ears. I only had flavoured toothpicks so I used some of the extra lollipop sticks I have for candy making for the ears instead. Lots of possibilities.

2) I used chopsticks as substitute dowels that were placed inside the red base to support the head to avoid any chance of it possibly sinking (If you are wondering what I mean; go look at the Tardis cake post). I had three cake boards in all: 1) for the head, 2) for the base 3) for the cake presentation. I think it worked out really well. I will however, keep assembly till I am on location because it is impossible to find cake boxes over half a foot tall. This cake was about a foot in height all together.

3) My tools are not very sharp and I found the blades would pull at the fondant as I tried to cut the eyes and buttons; so, I had to do some reshaping. I would have preferred if the edges had been smoother in the end. I made the black of the eyes and the nose more 3D-ish; which I found cute. 

4) I baked, carved, and crumb coated the cakes on Friday. I then finished icing them and then applied the fondant on Saturday. The fondant I colored manually; though, for the black I started off with chocolate fondant to cut down on gel needed. My red fondant was too think and started to crack; silly me I thought “water too smooth them out!”. Apparently not. Water makes it worse; lesson learned. 

Overall the reviews of it appearance and taste have been really positive which is awesome. So I am totally happy. If I can solve that darned ear problem...I’d like to make this cake again....so much less crazy than my creations cakes.

[baker-inabluebox]

Baked Fresh Daily

I spent about a week trying out bread recipes. I still have a few more to try; however, I feel like it is a good time to post some new stuff. All the recipes are made with activated yeast.

I started off with a no knead bread recipe that my Dad wanted to try. So some father-daughter bonding in the kitchen. It had a wonderful crust on the outside, but the inside was a little to rubbery. We had it with fondue the same day we made it. Really enjoyed it; though I am looking for a better recipe. Next, I made no knead bread rolls; which turned out really good, they had a nice crispy crust to them when they are fresh out of the oven. I did skip brushing them to have a nice finish as they were going to be eaten quickly.

I tried an no knead artisan loaf. Less rubbery, but it lacked the crust that I was looking for. The other day I was making burgers so I made a quick “Kaiser” bun recipe. They were too sweet for my taste; however with that slight adjustment they will be great! They are so soft and fluffy and stay that way for a couple days wrapped; which is longer than the no knead rolls.

HOWEVER! Silly me, burnt the bottoms of the Kaiser buns, but they were easy to trim off and did not ruin the buns as you can see above. Pretty much, either my oven is hotter than what the recipe usually needs or it could be a related the the sugar content as the burnt bottoms smelled more like burn sugar than burnt bread. An interesting observation, I will make the adjustments as needed. 

[baker-inabluebox]

Salted-Peanut Chocolate Caramel Apples

Caramel apples are easy to make though some tricks help.

1) Remove the wax from the apples and then dry them off and leave them at room temperature. 

2) Let the extra caramel run off or it will end up with a big caramel base. You can choose to dip the apples the a second time once the first layer has set.

3) Once chilled, brush the melted chocolate onto the apples and press chopped peanuts into the chocolate, and chill.

4) Leave SPCC apples at room temperature for 15-30mins before cutting and serving. You can try eating them whole, but they get a lil messy.

[baker-inabluebox]

French Lemon Tart 🍋

As per everytime I make this tart, the filling is delicious! Though the crust is a little trickier. 1) On the 1st I used the full crust recipe and it was too thick because the tart pan was the wrong size. 2) My tartlets were perfect, well, I think I could have tried a little thinner. 3) The 10" tart, made with the leftover batch of the tartlets, was too thin.

Conclusion: my smaller pan + tarlets should balance the crust, but I would still need to double the filling. Recipe is Dorie Greenspan

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Pokéball Cake

Chocolate Cake with mocha buttercream icing and a m&m center. Used up what was remaining from the Tardis and made a buttercream this time around.

I stacked the cake and since one piece already had the center cut out so I filled it with all blue (and one yellow) m&m for the “Pokémon” center. I then cut a piece out of the next layer to fill more m&ms into the center. Once it was together I set it aside to chill. Then carved it and crumb coated, I didn’t have enough frosting for a full outer layer beyond the crumb coat so I left it like that. Chilled again to let the cake firm up since I used pieces of cake instead of whole pieces, I wanted it to be firm. I smoothed out any bumbs, and then I applied the fondant. Do the red & white first, then the black strip and button, it covers up the seams. I used a little gold to dust the red half to add a little shine to it. That was it. Easy to make, took me an hour, I posted it online and a friend claimed it for themselves. 

This cake I liked. Well, I like all my cakes, but it be frustrating when the image in your mind doesn’t become a reality. I guess I need to make more cakes and learn some new tricks! I am a huge Doctor Who fan, so I was a little sad I couldn’t do better, but meh I will get there. 

[baker-inabluebox]

A little Tim Burton with your Doctor Who anyone?

Devils food chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, filled with m&ms. Decorated with Cakepop Planets (dipped in coloured white chocolate)

As you can tell the cake is really wonky, I had this idea in my mind that I really wanted to do and I ignored some structural rules that would have helped. Here are some tips if you try it yourself. I will be sure to follow them myself next time.

Make sure that you are using a sturdy cake and frosting/buttercream.  Proper structural support is important, remember to add in supports into the cake and to consider making the cake a two tiere set-up.

Don’t skimp on ingredients, use the right amounts for what you are trying to achieve. (I was short on frosting after the crumb-coat, hence the lumpy uneveness and I was rolling the fondant quite thin because I didn’t buy enough.)

Take the time to prepare your measure templates ahead of time because it will make a huge difference when tackling the cake, even marking them so the top and bottom line up. (My top and bottom cardboard squares were not aligned properly, so my cake was crooked)

Temperature & Humidity control, fix it if you can or wait till its cooler.

 If you are going to do a candy fill, double check your structure plans to see if its reasonable. (Don`t do like me and ignore them because you really wanted the candy inside. I did insert 4 dowels into the cake, but it needed the split support.)

Consider using gum paste for certain details or creating the windows ahead of time. (I used royal icing to write police box and for the stars and planets)

Double check your tools beforehand and if you are lacking tools, instead of trying anyway, see if there is another way to do it. (I had an extra useless layer of fondant on because I lacked a tool and had to adapt. It was excess unneeded fondant.)

In the end, my friend loved it, I hated it. It was for sure a learning experience. I felt slightly defeated so I went ahead and made a Pokéball Cake (which I will post next) Will for sure do a redo of this cake, and it will be better. Maybe no candy inside and definitely a firmer cake. lol

[baker-inabluebox]

Natural Environment Disasters (with cakes)

Once again I have had a combined day of high humidity and temperature levels. As I work in a not temperature controlled environment this causes so many problems. Trying to balance temperature and humidity is ridiculous. So I am utterly frustrated with my cake results because not only did I make mistakes because I lacked the right tools, but then my fondant got wet and sticky and the colors were bleeding into one another. 

The person I made it for, says it reminds her of the Tardis from the Van Gogh episode, I got a lil Tim Burton-esque vibe from it. So it is okay. But I hate it, because it is not what my goal was. I will post photos of it, I will not go into much detail because there are a lot of how-to make a tardis cake online and it is pretty much the same concept, but a few things I will mention once I receive the feedback from my friend. Cheers!

[baker-inabluebox]

Lemon Cakes Not much to say on this one.I tried a new recipe, was not a fan. I did however set aside the simple syrup that the lemons were boiled in....resulting in a lemon jelly which is good for scones,it has a nice zing. The recipe said to drain and set aside the lemon 🍋, but I was curious so I kept the syrup. The candied lemon didn't workout. The cake base is good and has potential.

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Chocolate Meringue cookies

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Bring a Cake? Nah, I’ll Bring a Dragon!

I made another dragon! #3 to be exact.

Chocolate cake with mocha-buttercream, chocolate fondant and candy pearls. Claws = Werther original soft chews.

Okay, so right off the bat: Gum paste/tootsie rolls are better for claws and accents on the cake. As you may notice there are no spikes along it’s spine...the caramel is too soft and alas I had no tootsie rolls and no gum paste. 

This was a really rushed cake. I got a invite to a potluck and then went straight to baking with what I already had in my kitchen. No plan, it was fun. lol

I used three 6″ pans and one 8″, a 10″ cake board, my fondant tools, a cooking brush, and round cookie cutters (Only had 2, but should work with at least 3 sizes of scales.)

The tip of the tail and part of the head is make with cakepop filling. I  usually use carved Rice Krispie treats, but since its rushed I used what was left of the cake and went it. In hindsight, I think it would have been better to bake another small cake or make the dragon slightly smaller to have more to work with. 

I used tooth picks to hold the horns in place and I usually do the same for the claws, but it was a little too cramped, so I just pushed them on. I forgot to leave the “Treasure” till the end.

I used edible gold spray and then sprinkled purple edible dust. (realized after the splatter on the tail that it wasn’t the best distribution method) I finished it about 15 minutes before I had to go, I underestimated the time it would take. I literally glanced at the clock, cut the wings threw them on, sprayed the cake, and set it aside to chill.

In the end everyone thought it looked awesome and the chocolate lovers of the group particularly enjoyed the treat. So yay!

Next time... I want to design a new position, use what I know works, and try a few new techniques. 

[baker-inabluebox]

End of Semester Baking-Spree

Almost Fudge Gâteaux

Devil`s Food Chocolate cupcakes 

Vanilla cupcakes

Chocolate chip cookies

Vegan Chocolate chip cookies

Raspberry-Lemon Vegan Cupcakes

Simple Truffles

 In April I had an awesome opportunity to bake lots of tasty treats for some awesome people and I had a blast making everything. I even made my own raspberry-buttercream which was just perfect...well it was vegan, but I plan to figure it out for a non-vegan version if it. I just loved the fresh raspberries in it. (The photos are a little blurry, my apologies, I only noticed later that they weren’t great photos)

[baker-inabluebox]

St. Pats & Cupcakes

In March I went on a cupcake baking spree! Typical recipes and all, but I tried out some St. Patrick`s colours and different piping styles. I also filled the cups less as I wanted smaller cupcakes without the hassle of the mini cupcake tins, which worked out well. 

The only thing I would change is have the piping tip bases so that I can switch out the tips. I have a couple but they don`t fit my larger piping tips so I make do without. Other than that, they were beautiful and tasty!

[baker-inabluebox]

Wrapping up some treats for a couple of besties. Swiss apple cake, white & blue chocolate-cherry biscotti, chocolate chip cookies.

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Are ye ready for some Ship-shaped cake?

Devil’s Food Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Virgin Ice fondant, Wilton food coloring (Kraken rum for painting). Edible gold spray for the brass look. Dowels for the mast and for the tip of the ship.

For the first time I decided I wanted a funky 3D cake for meself... arrrgh! Feeling all pirate-y this month I decided on a pirate ship. However, I did not have a solid plan or written notes which would have made this a lot easier and faster to me. So if anyone is ready for some pirate-y goodness here are some tips:

Once you have your theme, pick the kind of ship you want, find it online and use it as your guide. I just could not decide on a specific boat and then I had to wing it.

If you can do a drafted plan, do it! Makes a big difference if you have a scaled plan to follow. Decorations can be made in advance.        

 Breakdown the pieces that you need to make depending on how detailed you want to go.

When you are taking on a bigger plan than before, write out your steps in order you need to follow them in.....because at some point my cake looked like Noah’s Ark from a 5 year-old’s book....was not pretty...well it was okay, but not what I desired.

Figure out the best way to apply the fondant to minimize the seams, I had a big issue with that and had i planned them a couple inches over I could have covered them up or blended them into the design. For a thrown together cake, it came out well. Spent one day baking, carving and crumb coating, and the next day I did the fondant, decorations, mast, and painting. (With a brush, I own no airbrush thingy, though buying one is tempting)

I tried to figure out how to do the sails, that actually was the biggest stress on this type of cake. A lot of the ship cakes online had paper sails and I wanted something more. lol I used fondant but simply made the sail appear rolled up. Looks pretty good. Remember to only put the sails in once you are on location; so much easier to transport!

[baker-inabluebox]

Holiday Baking

This past winter, I went a more traditional route in my baking and made a Drekönigskuchen with the little white king inside (the person who gets the king is “king for the day”), 

Profiterole & éclaires filled with pastry cream and covered in an espresso chocolate glaze. There were a few profiterole with ice cream and a regular chocolate drizzle.

Pecan Biscotti, Swiss Apple Cake, Apple-Custard tart. (01/2017)

[baker-inabluebox]

When Life Gets your Running

Since this past winter life has started to go on a roll and I realized that I have not updated my blog in quite some times, which is a shame. So to update you, this past some I started playing with colors. As you may have seen my Gaitor cake that was a later on run, before that I made these. The top one was a “Psychedelic” Strawberry-Lemonade cake (bottom-left photo) I had made it in June for my sisters Birthday. It also had melted toblerone drizzled on it as per my sister’s request. The rainbow cake on the bottom right was for an Alice in Wonderland themed camp. (06/2016)

[baker-inabluebox]

Colorful Fun for a Potluck

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream, Vegan Devils Food Chocolate Cupcakes, and Pride Flag Sugar Cookies. 

The cookies were actually supposed to be rainbow hearts in the center but my heart cookie cutter was too big, so I made little flags instead. Used the extra frosting and icing as cookie dip. Was delicious! (10/2016)