work, work, work

This afternoon, my dear Amanda sent this quote to me:

From Ira Glass . . .

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through”

Very poignant considering my post last week on wanting to take more professional looking photos.  Whether it is a cake or a photo of the cake I make, I always have a clear picture in my mind, however something seems to get lost in translation.  I always want everything to be perfect, which sometimes leads to frustration.  I do acknowledge the fact that it will take awhile for my skills to catch up with the right side of my brain.  I do have faith that as long as I  have a clear vision and the willingness to continue learning and the dedication to keep honing my skills,  my hands and my eyes will catch up to my brain. 


Case in point: a picture of the Chai Latte Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream I made this weekend (which were a tad on the sweet side but yummy nonetheless - it was my first time making these so now I know what adjustments I need to make).  I must have taken at least 50 shots but only 1 came out close to my vision:

It's not perfect, there's room for improvement but definitely much better than the previous photos I've taken.

So, my lesson for the day is keep working! Practice does make perfect and as long as you allow yourself to learn from your mistakes and continue to work on whatever it is you are striving to achieve, you will get there!

Picture Perfect

One of the things I need to work on is taking nice photos of my cakes so that I can have an online gallery worthy of being seen.  All the pictures I've taken thus far are very amateurish and unfortunately aren't any I'd like to include in my portfolio.  The cakes are nice but the photographs aren't.   My cousin Leo who is an amazing photographer has offered to be my official photographer but I can't expect him to come over every time I make a cake - plus the fact that he wants a piece of the cake in exchange for every photo he takes.  Imagine me delivering a pretty cake with a slice in the back?  I guess I can always say, it was for quality control...LOL!


Over the next few days I'll be making cupcakes and mini cakes and I'll experiment with using backgrounds so that they look more professional and I can slowly start building my portfolio.  The problem is, what to do with the cupcakes??? Anyone who wants free cakes, come over! (but call first LOL!!)

Drumroll please....

Shut Up and Drive.  That was the phrase that got the ball rolling (see my post called Shutting Up and Driving).  Well,  today I confirmed my first cake order.  Yes, an official order.  I'm gonna get paid to make a cake!  Granted it's an order from a relative BUT it is going to be her gift to a friend's son.  So technically it's a cake for someone NOT related to me. Yaay!!

Amanda (To Live Lovely) and I have been working together to come up with a name for the cake studio.  For those of you who don't know (yes, that's you, my one non-relative follower), Amanda also happens to be a very talented and creative graphic designer.  She has graciously offered to help me with my logo and print materials.  It was through one of our SMS brainstorming sessions that we came up with the name.  She suggested Cake. and I had Caked! on my list.  We tweaked it a bit (actually she did) and came up with... drumroll please...

Cake'd!  

have you Cake'd! someone you love lately?

Jungle Fever

Last Sunday, a very special little boy named Angelo celebrated his 6th birthday.  Angelo is a special needs child.  He is my nephew, Louie's son.  I guess that makes him my grandson??   To some, having a special needs child is a burden but to our family, he is a joy and a blessing.  He has a smile that can literally brighten up your day.  Say his name and he'll turn to you with that goofy grin on his face.  Chat him up and he'll speak in his own special way.  He's actually quite talkative when he wants to be and is always cheery.


Normally his mom, Kay makes his birthday cake so I didn't even offer to make his cake as I knew it was tradition for Kay to make his cake.  The Sunday before his party, we got to talking and Kay asked me to make his cake.  The problem was we were leaving for New York on Thursday and his birthday party wasn't  until the following Sunday, which meant I had to have the cake done in 2 days so she could pick it up on Wednesday.  No problem I said, for Angelo I would make it happen!  I made sure to make everything non perishable since it would need to keep for a few days.  The cake was chocolate and the filling was buttercream.  I covered the cake in fondant to seal in the freshness and make sure it would still be moist and yummy for Sunday.

I had so much fun making this cake.  The only guideline I had was that the theme was animals.  A jungle cake, how FUN! I had never made monkeys, lions or trees before so it was fun learning something new.   The monkeys all had their own fun little personalities which I hope all the little kiddies saw.

                                

Burgers and Fries Please

Last month (ok maybe it's been a couple of months - and I forgot to post pictures!) someone turned me onto Bakerella's site (bakerella.com) and I saw the cupcake and cookie burger/fries she made which inspired me to make my own.  It just so happened that it was my cousin, Ray's big 40.  I thought it would be really cute to give these to him as a birthday present since he loooves junk food.  Surprisingly, they were very easy to make, much easier than cakes, actually.  I took Bakerella's idea and kind of made it my own by adding a few more veggies and condiments on the burger.

 










Our friend Virgil kinda came a little later and was hungry. When he saw the "burger and fries" he said "Man, this party is hooked up!" and took a big bite, not knowing they were cupcakes and cookies.  Needless to say we all had a big laugh.  For me it was really satisfying to hear that he thought they were burgers and fries.  It means I achieved my goal of making the cupcakes and cookies look like burgers and fries.

Sometimes when I'm really tired or if something about a cake frustrates me,  I ask myself why I put myself through the stress and hassle of making beautiful cakes or cupcakes.  At some point during a project I say to myself, this is the last time I'm doing this...(probably because I am such a perfectionist and I always try and challenge myself to learn a new technique or make something I've never done before.)  At the end of the day though, when I see the finished product and I see the smiles on the faces of the people I give my cakes to,  I feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that I only feel when designing cakes.   

Inevitably I hear the excited little voice inside my head asking "When's the next cake?"

Shutting Up & Driving

A few days ago, my dear friend/cousin/niece/blogbuddy Amanda (whose blog you should follow - see link at the bottom of this post) wrote a post called "Shut Up & Drive".  While I was reading her post, I really understood her message and it hit home to me.  Basically she says we waste so much energy talking or complaining about certain things that if we just focus that energy into doing something about it, we would accomplish a lot more.

Over the last few weeks since I've started decorating again, I've been contemplating opening my own little cake studio.  I've joked about it and I've hinted to my family that it is something I'd like to pursue someday.  Nothing big or fancy, just a small home bakery for friends or friends of friends who have seen and tasted my cakes and ask if I take orders.  Well, why not?  Imagine baking and decorating every week and making a little money on the side?  It'll give me a chance to hone my skills on a regular basis...and hopefully prevent my husband from developing diabetes as he does end up eating most of what I make ;)

So I did a little research and all I need is a health inspection at my home and a few forms to fill out for me to get licensed.  The only major equipment I need is a separate refrigerator/freezer dedicated solely for the cakes I make.  The best part is that I can start right away as long as my application is turned in within 30 days of my first sale.  Sounds easy enough.  First things first though, I need a name.  If anyone has any suggestions (yes that's you 3 people currently following my blog), I'm all ears!

At the end of Amanda's post, she had a note there that said "This post is dedicated to one of my "girls" who needs to be reminded to just shut up and drive"  Whether or not this post was aimed at me (I'll continue to believe it was) -  THANK YOU, Amanda!

This is me driving!

** Check out To Live Lovely @ http://tolivelovely.blogspot.com/ **

Fruity Pops

If your family is like mine, you have boxes and boxes of cereal that never seem to get finished.  My daughter, Sophie loves cereal but she can never seem to finish the whole box before wanting something else.  We had half a box of fruit loops in the pantry so I thought I'd experiment and make some Fruity Pops.  I just took a recipe for rice krispy treats and replaced the rice krispies with fruit loops.  It turned out to be deeelicious!

Recipe:

3tbsp butter
1bag (10oz) marshmallows
6 cups fruit loops (or any other cereal you have on hand); loosely chopped

In a large saucepan, melt the butter.  Once melted, add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Add fruit loops and mix until fruit loops are well coated with the marshmallows.

Spray a 9x15 ceramic dish (or any size dish will do as long as it is about 2'' thick) with Pam or lightly coat with butter so the mix won't stick.  Place marshmallow cereal onto the dish and take a piece of wax paper and smush (very technical term) the mix into place, making sure the top is as level as possible.

Optional:
Once cool, turn the mixture onto a cutting board and cut into rectangles.  Insert lollipop sticks into one end and place in clear plastic candy bags. Secure with ribbon and you've got the perfect anytime treat.  I had 4 within an hour of making these...shhhhh!

What's up DOC?

I had an opportunity to make a cake for our favorite doctor, who also happens to be my cousin.  He's a Nephrologist so I wanted to make him a doctor themed cake.   This was surprisingly easy to do, I just covered half a sheetcake in fondant and cut out the lapel, collar and tie with gum paste.  The stethoscope was made out of gum paste as well.

Daisies make me SMILE

About a week ago we received some sad news.  My cousin's husband, Hector passed away.  He was too young, he was only 57 and at the prime of his life.  Hector was like a big brother to me.  He was the cool guy you always wanted to be around.  He was funny and he always had a smile on his face.  My husband and I idolized him.  He worked hard and he played hard.  He had a new luxury car every couple of years and he liked the finer things in life.  In spite of his love of luxury, he was the most down to earth and sensible guy I know.  I clearly remember some 15 odd years ago when I broke up with my first boyfriend.  Hector and my brother Alex were there to console me.  Hector came to our house and went to my room, took a framed picture of my ex and laid it on the dining room table - next to the bottle of Tequila he brought along.  That night I forgot all my worries and just remember laughing and laughing.  I also woke up next to the toilet bowl but that's a whole other story.  That was Hector though, he had the ability to make you laugh no matter what and make you feel like life is only as complicated as you make it to be. 

As is customary in my Catholic family, for 9 consecutive days after a relative passes away, friends and family gather each night to say a novena for the departed.  As fate would have it, my cousin, Aleth - Hector's wife's birthday fell on the 8th day of the novena.  I knew how devastated she was and couldn't imagine the pain she was going through.  I also didn't know what to say to her as I knew no words would console a broken heart.   I decided I would make her a cake.  A happy cake.  I knew it would not be enough to console her but I hoped it would at least bring a little joy amidst a very trying time. 

No thank you's were needed, no oohs and ahhs were expected.  I just wanted in my own little way to share with her how much I love her and how much we loved Hector. 

Silhouette Machine

While at Linda McClure's booth at NCACS, we were able to watch a demo of the Silhouette machine.  For those of you who are familiar with scrap booking, it is a cutting machine much like the Cricut and Gazelle, only it has been modified to cut through gum paste.

Initially I wanted the Cricut Cake, before I knew about the Silhouette.  As soon as I saw the demo, I was in love.  Imagine a machine that can cut any design you want onto gum paste!! The possibilities are endless! 

The basic difference I learned about the Cricut vs the Silhouette is that the Cricut uses cartridges = expensive.  The Silhouette on the other hand uses a design program where you can basically load any image you want, whether it be a drawing or a clip art design you saw online.  Imagine never having to buy any more individual cutters! Petal cutters can cost anywhere from $9 each to who knows - and that's for each type of cutter! Yes the initial investment for the Silhouette is not cheap but  I can already see the $$ going back to my pocket. 

As soon as we got home from the cake show, I watched the instructional videos and made Linda's gum paste (recipe can be found on her blog, just do a search for Linda McClure).  It does need to rest for a couple of days in order to set up properly.  I also invested in a Kitchen Aid pasta roller in order to roll out the gum paste to the proper thickness.

A couple of days later, I was excited to test the machine.  I had problems at first - the learning curve as they call it, but a few quick emails between Linda and I put me back on track.  I only needed to cut a few letters and a border that was going to go around the base of a cake I was making later in the week.  After a few adjustments, success!  You can see the letters and border I cut using the Silhouette on teh daisy cake I'll be posting about next.

The next time I "play" with the Silhouette, I'll make sure to take a video so you can see this amazing machine in action. 

The Greatest Show on Earth

No I didn't go to the circus...I went to the National Capital Area Cake Show.  All I can say is WOW! It  really was the greatest show on earth.  Imagine a whole auditorium filled with cakes...if I close my eyes I can still smell the fondant...mmmmm!  They had live cake challenges just like we see on TLC and this year they had a cupcake challenge.  Sadly we were not able to watch any of the live competitions but we were able to look at all the cakes that were entered into the competition and try out a lot of the new tools and gadgets.  My dear husband was so patient as I looked at each cake and marveled at how perfectly they were decorated.  Even my 7 year old daughter, Sophie got into the action by being my official photographer.  She must have taken about 200+ photos - what a trooper! We went from booth to booth visiting with all the vendors and playing with all their tools & gadgets.  I could have easily spent $3k buying all the cool toys I saw. 

The highlight for me was meeting Julie Bashore who is one of my idols.  She has won several of the TLC cake challenges and had a booth at the show, giving live demos.  She was super super sweet and patiently answered all my novice decorator questions.  I really wanted to have my picture taken with her but I thought it might be a bit much.  we must have spent an hour at her booth. 

I think next year I'll take some of the classes they offer...and save up to buy some tools.  They really are significantly cheaper at these shows.  

So at the end of the day, just as we were about to leave, my husband says to me "So, what are you buying?" Really???? I can buy something?? I decided on Linda McClure's Silhouette machine.  It. Is. Awesome.  I'll write a review on my next post.

Olivia's pig nosed cupcakes

My niece Olivia celebrated her 6th birthday on the same day as Noah's birthday.  Olivia's mom's request was simple, about a dozen cupcakes in black and hot pink.  Again I used my stencils to make the cupcake more interesting and I just cut out some flowers to lay on top of the cupcake with little "buttons" on the center.  They turned out to be super cute.  At the party, one of the little girls commented that the buttons looked like a pig's nose.  Too funny since the very first cake I made for Olivia years ago was Olivia the Pig!

I guess it was an indirect way of paying homage to Olivia the Pig :)

Olivia the Pig birthday cake

Captain America

My nephew Noah turned 4 a few weeks ago so his Mom, Ela asked me to make a cake for his birthday.  I was hesitant at first since I was out of practice and was afraid I would be in over my head.  On a side note, I made his sister, Julia's first birthday cake a few years ago and Ela made a picture book of Julia's birthday.  Julia loved her cake so much that she took her book to school for show and tell to brag about her amazing birthday cake.  Julia also never let Noah forget that SHE got a special cake and NOAH didn't.  Who knew toddlers could be so competitive???  WELL,  I couldn't let Noah down...I HAD to make his cake.  So in talking to his mom I asked her what he is into these days.  Without hesitation she said "Captain America!"  Uh-oh....that was going to be quite an undertaking. 

First things first, I had to come up with my design...pls note that drawing was never my forte, as proven by my sketch on the left.  My husband said Capt America looked more like a bat or a rat than a superhero....

Mind you, since I don't draw so well, my sketches are really just a guideline as to how I want the cake to look.  The final product didn't really look like my sketch, except for the "bat" jumping out of the cake.

I told myself that this time around, I would plan ahead, I'd start the chocolate mold of Capt America 4 nights before, bake the cakes 3 nights before, ice and cover 2 nights before and decorate the night before. 

Timelines and I don't see eye to eye.  The only thing I was able to follow was start molding 4 nights before and bake 3 nights before. 




This was my first time using modeling chocolate.  In hindsight I should have used gum paste or a 50/50 combination of modeling chocolate and fondant.  I discovered that I have very warm hands so even with gloves on, the chocolate kept softening and I had to stop every few minutes to let the chocolate harden again.  

The torso and face were the easiest part, this took me a couple of hours to make.  It probably would have been faster if not for my warm hands.  I thought it was pretty good though considering I had never done anything like this before and I wasn't following any "how to's" or tutorials.  Oh how easy this would have been if  there was a tutorial for me to follow!


Anyway, the hardest part for me was Capt America's arms and gloves.  They had to be proportional in size to his body and he had to have muscles! I think it took me another 3-4 hours just to do his arms and of course, I was so over it that I forgot to take a picture so you'll just have to see it on the final cake. 

Since this was my first major cake in how many years, I was a little rusty and the cake was still frozen when I iced it and covered it in fondant so as the cake was coming back to room temperature, I was getting a lot of bubbles on the fondant....there was nowhere for the air on the evaporating cake to go!  I had to poke holes in random spots thus the change in design.  I had to cover all my toothpick marks!
I had debated whether or not to put him on top of the cake as soon as the cake was done or wait until a few minutes before the party started.  In the end I decided to go ahead and place him on the cake as Noah's mom was coming in the morning to pickup the cake and since we had another birthday party to go to before Noah's, I wasn't sure if we'd make it in time for me to stick him on the cake. 
Bad idea.  I didn't consider how heavy he was so about an hour after I placed him on the cake, the cake started sagging....nothing terrible but you could definitely see that the front of the cake was getting squished from the weight of the chocolate.  I repositioned him and hoped for the best.  That little mistake was also my farewell bid to at least a couple of hours of sleep.

The day of the party, Noah's mom came to pickup the cake.  After the oohing and aahing, I gave her strict orders to not let the cake sit in direct sunlight or sit in heat as it might melt and sag more that it already was and off they went.

30minutes later, I get a frantic phone call from Noah's mom, Ela...."Captain America's arm fell off!" What in the world??? I was sure the cake was stable when they had left.  The arms were not only dowelled with toothpicks but I made sure there was enough chocolate on the seams for the arms to hold onto the body.

After talking to Ela, I had to laugh because things like this only happen to her.  Apparently she didn't realize the dual climate control on her car was on and it was blowing 70degree air directly on the cake.  Well of course it melted!  All the decorations on the side of the cake were also now on the bottom.  They were able to stick his arm back on so alls well that ends well.  I suppose I should have been upset but at the end of the day, Noah was happy and that's all that mattered.  He didn't care that his cake sagged, all he cared about was that Captain America came to his birthday party!

The village in the background is very fitting, don't you think?? Captain America has come to save the day!

P.S.
Noah and I have a funny relationship.  The kid hates me...well maybe not hate but he does like to tease me in his own funny way.  Everytime I ask him if we are friends, he says "NO!" and runs away.  After seeing his cake, it was the first time he said we were friends, and he said it with a smile!  Of course an hour later, after he's had his cake, I asked him again if we were friends and he said (with a smile) "NO!" and ran as far away from me as he could.  I love you, Noah!

Pretty cupcakes

My daughter Sophie's friend Leila turned 8 a few days after I had decided to start baking and decorating again and I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to start "practicing".  I had too much batter from my Captain America cake so I used the extra batter to whip up a dozen cupcakes and a small 4" smash cake.  The cake itself was vanilla with fondant decorations.  After rolling out the fondant, I decided to use stencils to stencil on designs on the cupcake toppers.  Once the cupcakes were decorated, I applied some luster dust for a subtle glitter effect.  Yummy...and pretty!

Whirlwind

It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since I've last posted.  Time certainly flies when you're having fun.  I've neglected my little blog so today will be a day dedicated to catching up.  In the last 3 weeks, I've made cakes and cupcakes for 6 different birthdays, attended the Nat'l Capital Area Cake Show, looked into getting licensed as a home baker and sadly, laid to rest a cousin who was like a brother to me.

While the past few weeks have been busy, I've been thinking more and more about the format this blog should take.  I'd like for it to be a journal chronicling my transition from a hobbyist to a serious sugar artist.  I'd like to show the cakes I've made, share pointers on techniques and perhaps even post video tutorials or "how to's" and of course share recipes that I've been successful with.  This is a work in progress, so bear with me.  Any tips or suggestions are always appreciated!

Field Trip

This morning my husband accompanied me to the happiest place in Virginia - Fran's Cake and Candy.  I as like a kid in a candy store...there were baking pans, molds, cutters, fondant, chocolate wafers, flavorings...I could go on and on!  Today I was smart though, before going I drew the cake I was going to make this weekend and made a list of the things I was going to need.  Since I hadn't done this in a few years, I had to stock up on the basics.  Granted we walked out of Fran's with about 5 bags full of supplies but it could have easily been 10 bags had I not practiced some restraint.



The store moved to a bigger, more accessible location a couple of years ago  so this was my first time visiting the new store.   It's still nothing glamorous, in fact it looks more like a warehouse but they are pretty well stocked.  Sallee, the owner of the store was just as sweet as I had remembered.  If you have a question about a technique or a certain tool, she's always got the answer.  If you're ever in the Fairfax area, I highly recommend stopping in and experiencing a little slice of heaven.

http://www.franscakeandcandysupplies.com/

Sabbatical is over!

After a four year sabbatical, I am finally going back to cake design.  What prompted me to stop? What prompted me to start again?  Lets see...

There were a couple of reasons why I stopped.  First of all, my husband and I started our own business so that consumed all my time.  Now that our business is fairly established and I can manage my time better, I'm able to go back to cake design (notice that I use the term cake design not cake decorating - "design" seems more upscale and boutiquey... LOL!)   The other reason, truthfully, is that it got too expensive.  I'm one of those people that once I get into something, I really get into it.  When I saw all the "toys" that came with cake design, I had to have them all...IMMEDIATELY! Which really is a huge problem.  Half the stuff I have I don't even use on a regular basis.  I have tried to use my tools at least once though.  That reasoning seems to justify the gadgets, tools and ingredients that clutter our cupboards.    A friend once said I should charge for my cakes but really, how can you charge a friend or a relative for a cake? I make my cakes for the sense of accomplishment I feel when I finish a design.  The oohs, aahs and the smile on someone's face when they see the cake is really just gravy.  

Why did I start again?  My 7 year old daughter, Sophie and Buddy Valastro from the Cake Boss.  Huh?!?!?!   Buddy ain't no Justin Beiber but somehow he has managed to capture my 7 year old daughter's attention.  Apart from the usual pre-teen Disney Channel shows, Buddy and his show, Cake Boss is the only thing that will keep her attention.  That got me thinking.  Maybe Sophie wants to learn how to design cakes...maybe she can be the next Elisa Strauss. Seriously though, watching Cake Boss has really re-ignited the passion I had for designing cakes.  This time around though, I'll be wiser and be more stringent when it comes to buying my "toys".  I'll only get the things I absolutely need and only if I will be able to use them on a regular basis.  Although I'm sure I can find a use for that new Cricut machine or the Agbay leveler or that airbrush kit i saw.....

All things cake

All things cake...just like the post title, this blog is all about cakes and my obsession with cake design.  For those who know me, this is probably the one thing no one would ever think possible.  Me??? In a kitchen??? Creating edible anything???  My name and cooking have never really been together in a sentence, unless the word terrible is being used as well.  Baking, on the other hand, seems to be a different story.  Perhaps it is the scientific nature of baking, there's really no guesswork involved and making yummy desserts is really about measurement, temperature control and timing. 

Along with making yummy desserts, I like making them look pretty.  That's really where the obsession comes in.  I've never been a particularly creative person, at least not on the outside.  I always have a million and one designs in my head but somehow I've never been able to put them on paper or any other artist's medium. The images on my head seem to get lost in translation, thus my absolute joy when I discovered cake decorating.  Mind you I am not an expert, nor do I claim to be.  I am, however one of those people that spends hours and hours doing research, trying to learn everything I can about a particular subject - especially one I am obsessed with.  Most of what I've learned in cake decorating has been through research and of course, trial and error (with an emphasis on trial and error).   Hopefully through this blog, I'll be able to share what I've learned and learn a few things along the way.  Enjoy!