Stork cake

I made this cake back in the spring. The client got a super good deal because it was an order I got right spring break. I had been so busy with school before that week that I had not had a chance for months to do anything cake related. So even though she gave me $40.00, I went overboard and make her a $120.00 cake! When I explained this to her so she would know that normally that is not what a $40.00 cake would look like, unfortunately she didn't seem to appreciate it. Oh well... I at least got to make a beautiful cake!

I think my favorite thing on this cake was the stork's hat!

Jacqueline and Duane's wedding

A week ago, my husband and I had the privilege of attending a wedding for which I made the cake. From the first time I met the bride and groom to talk about their cake I like them! Just very nice people! As can be manifested by the fact that they invited us to their wedding! And what a wedding it was! I have to say this was one of the most beautiful weddings I had ever attended. The trip there was a little ways and there were times that the road was pretty rugged and I was holding my breath that the cake would make it through in one piece.

But when we got there, the cake was in one piece and venue was worth the trip! It was an outdoor wedding... and the grounds were beautiful!!!!! A beautiful pond with ducks, flowers, fountains, shady groves, even peacocks wandering around! Take a look at this place!

These three struck a pose for me!

Greg on a little bridge across the lake...

Flowers like this all over the place!

Such beautiful table settings!

From where I sat this is what I saw of the bride and groom... I wish I got a better picture of her dress... it was breathtaking!

First kiss...

Jacqueline truly made a BEAUTIFUL bride!

Duane will make a great husband... Here he is holding Jacqueline's bouquet for her. I caught glimpse of him several times holding the train of her wedding dress for her so she would be able to walk without tripping over it.

And then they changed and came back for the reception... They look SOOOOO happy!

And finally... the cake....

This bride and groom were soooo nice. They made sure their guest were well taken care of and kept thanking everyone for coming. The food was EXCELLENT!!!! Catered by "Always Perfect Catering" which certainly lived up to their name! 

Oh! And the name of the venue is "Lac de' Fleur Gardens" in Washougal, Washington.  Really nice people there too! There was not a moment at that wedding where I felt like I didn't belong. They are an amazing couple and I feel so blessed to have been their cake person! Heartfelt congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Duane and Jacqueline Noack! Such beautiful people! It was a lovely, amazing time! If only all weddings were like this!

Ashton and Nate's Wedding cake

A nice lady from my husband's work told him her daughter was getting married and they were looking for a wedding cake... would it be possible to meet with me to talk about it. Of course I said sure. Ashton, the beautiful bride, had the design of her cake already in mind. She wanted black scroll work, dot flowers and leaves around the sides of her cake with a sort of cranberry red ribbon border on each tier. She wasn't sure what she wanted for the topper to be so I suggested a peony in the same color of the ribbon. She said sure... she liked peonies. This was her cake... Three tiers, all vanilla. Top tier with vanilla buttercream filling, second tier with cream cheese filling and the bottom tier with chocolate ganache filling.

The peony topper from above...

I never met or saw the groom for this wedding but both the bride and the mother of the bride were thrilled with the cake. I'm glad they were because this wedding took place when it was very hot! There is always some worry when delivering a cake in hot weather that things might start to melt or slide or something. Thankfully, this went really well!

Ladybug cakes

I got this call from one of my teachers' niece... she needed a cake for her daughter... in one week! There wasn't much time to prepare! And because her aunt was one of  my favorite teachers, I wanted to do the cake for her regardless of the short notice. All she said was that the theme was  summer theme. I thought of the easiest thing I could come up on such short notice, yet still have it look decent... this is what I came up with...

She also wanted a candle cake... a little cake that her daughter can blow out a candle on. Sorry for the bad picture... I was in a rush when I took these pictures.

So, then, the very next day, I get a message from a good friend of mine who needed a cake within 6 days because someone who was responsible for ordering a cake for a welcoming party for her niece flaked out and didn't get cake, food, nutt'n! Could I make the cake for her? At the time I as going to summer school 4 days a week, 4 hours in the morning, and 3 in the night. There was no time to think of something original, so I mentioned to her about the cake I had just made and if she thought it would be OK to make one with the same theme. She said "SURE!" It turned out that her niece's room just happened to be decorated with ladybugs as well! There you go...perfect! A "no thinking" cake.  Apparently the new theme of nieces is now ladybugs? LOL!!! Anyway... this is the baby shower version of the ladybug cake...

COOKIES

I have tried to, but no matter how often I do, it always turns out that I still like shortbread cookies way more than sugar cookies. So I started to decorate them the way a sugar cookie is normally decorated. These are what I came up with:

Non-wedding cakes

Back in February it was my cousin in Indiana's birthday. I had been toying with the idea of making her a birthday cake and shipping it to her  for her birthday in the hope that it would get there in one piece. But I wanted it to be a surprise to her, so I didn't say anything. I packed in up snuggly and sent it to her via usps two days before her birthday. One her birthday I wrote on her FB page... " Hope you get some good cake.", to which she jokingly replied that she was waiting for the fedex man to show up with a cake from me. I remember thinking to myself that little does she know she will be getting a cake delivery from me, just not through fedex, and hoping it got there in one piece. By 1 pm it was there! And she was sooooo surprised.  And amazingly... it got there in one piece and looked almost as good as it did when I sent it!
This is her little birthday cake....

Last week was our last day of winter term. We have two classmates who are pregnant so we decided to make our end of term get together one dedicated to them. I made a special cake for the ceremony as the loved it. I'm so glad they did....

This cake is just a cake I made for the fun of it... no fancy decorations or anything like that! Just luscious, smooth, silky dulce de leche Italian Merengue Buttercream. It is so good! Just looking at it makes my moth water and my hips grow!!!

Jamelyn & Andy's cake

When I first came to this country, 7 years ago, none of my education was accepted anywhere, and it was very difficult to get a job. So I started housecleaning. One of my very first housecleaning clients went by the name of Jamelyn. I cleaned 3 different houses for Jamelyn as she moved over the years. About two years ago, she decided to quit her job and hence didn't need a housecleaner anymore. So for about two years, I didn't clean for her. Then she emailed me last August and asked if I was willing to come back. I did... but had to quit a few months later because of the hectic pace of nursing school. She did, however, ask me to make her wedding cake as she and her very kind and friendly boyfriend were getting married. They got married this past weekend and I was fortunate enough to make their wedding cake. They really liked the idea of a topsy turvy cake, so this is what we came up with...

The top tier was banana with white chocolate ganache for filling, middle tier - coconut with white chocolate ganache and the bottom tier was chocolate with chocolate ganache. It was all covered in fondant and then buttercream scrollwork in the same white as the fondant.

I made all the flowers out of gum paste. There were roses, peonies and tulips...