What I've Been Up To

It's been a long time since I've posted anything to this blog. A really, really long time. I've missed blogging about the cakes I've made but for about 2 1/2 years, there were no cakes that I made! So what was I up to for that time? Let's see... I quit my full time job with a health insurance company to take another full time job with a medical clinic. It's been great - I've met a lot of really cool people and learned a lot of really valuable skills. I credential doctors now, which is kind of awesome and has kept me in a constant state of stress and learning. I know that, to most people, that sounds terrible but I seriously love what I do and the people that I work for. They're all awesome. But - with a constant state of stress and learning comes a constant state of anxiety and insomnia. Sometimes it's seriously hard to deal with every day life when you're running on two or three hours of sleep. Despite how fulfilling and challenging and great my new daytime gig is, in addition to being a wife and mom, there was just something missing. I got into a rut of getting up, taking the kids to school, going to work, picking the kids up, coming home, feeding said kids and going to bed without ever feeling like I was really doing anything. That's a seriously sucky feeling. So fast forward to January of this year when I got a Facebook message from my friend, Greg. He said, "So I understand you can make awesome cakes. At least that's what Ricky (my hubs) has said. How much for this one?" In the next second a huge, four-tiered super hero monstrosity of a cake appeared in the message window and my heart stopped. I told him I'd retired. I told him I'd gone into retirement and gotten rid of most of my stuff. I told him I didn't think I'd be able to make it. Then I told him I'd dig around in the attic and see if I could find some of the things I'd need and make it for him. After all, his birthday wasn't until April. Surely I could pull something together by then, right? Well.... I did. He chose a Justice League meets Avengers style cake and asked for Batman, Superman, Captain America and Thor on his cake. So I dusted off the pans, dug out my favorite hat to bake in, found an apron and went to work. It took me somewhere between 30 and 50 hours to do it from start to finish... I was pretty rusty, after all. But I pulled it off. Of course I can see the flaws in it. Anyone who has ever watched CakeBoss or Ace of Cakes can probably see the flaws in it. Overall, though, I was really happy with the end result. What I'm even more happy with is that it was the boost I needed to come out of retirement and start taking cake orders again. Since then I've made about a dozen cakes for people, not counting the two that I'm working on this week. I go to bed tired. I go to bed sore. I go to bed much later than anyone with a full time day job should. But I go to bed happy and feeling like I've accomplished something. I'd forgotten how much baking truly is the best therapy for me. And man, it's great to be back! I've also adopted a kitchen assistant, Amanda, in the process and I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about her as my blog grows. She's fun and witty and creative and has the cutest baby boy, Lucas. He doesn't know it yet, but I'll be putting him to work some day, too. So - without further ado - here is the cake that brought me out of retirement. I'll always love Greg for giving me the boost I needed to come out of retirement and pick back up the hobby I love so much!

Fab 50!

I recently filled an order for my 50th cake! Yay! This was an army themed birthday cake for my friend, Paula's, son. Since I used store-bought army man toys for the cake, it was actually pretty easy to make without a lot of challenge or difficulty. Since the cake was a milestone for me, though, I thought I needed a way to commemorate it. At 33 years old I got my first tattoo, a cupcake on the inside of my wrist. Because I was afraid I'd never be able to sit through another tat, I had the artist incorporate a letter E on of the stars, since all three of my daughters' names start with E. However, I've already picked out a couple of designs that I like for my next tat. It's true what they say - body art is addicting! Maybe for my 100th cake I'll have a pic of it tattooed on my other wrist....or possibly beside the cupcake and I'll be well on my way to a 'sweet' bakery item tattoo sleeve.

Sure! I Can Make That For You!

Have an interesting idea for a cake? Let me know! I love a challenge, so if you ask me to make someting in cake, I'm going to give it my best shot. This cake was for the 50th birthday of a co-worker's spouse. It was a 5 layer German chocolate cake filled with coconut-pecan frosting and covered with marshmallow fondant. This was my first experiment working with fondant tools to 'texture' the fondant - the end result was a roll of 'toilet paper' that was quilted and perforated to mimic the real thing. I even added a paper-towel roll in the center, for a more realistic effect. All in all I was pretty happy with it, and I learned a few new fondant tricks for next time!

Everything Cupcake!

Everyone's guilty pleasure seems to be cupcakes right now. And why not? They're cute, they're full of yummy deliciousness, and they're small enough that we don't feel too guilty about spoiling ourselves. For me this translates into constant challenges to come up with unique flavors (and yes, I CAN make chocolate/bacon/cayenne pepper cupcakes that are to die for!) For my kids and my friends at work it translates into lots of taste testing! Some of my favorite flavors have been white chocolate peppermint cupcakes with cream-cheese peppermint frosting and white cupcakes with lemon filling and cream cheese frosting. I also make some peanut butter cupcakes dipped in dark chocolate ganache and topped with peanut butter cream cheese frosting...possibly even more 'to die for' than the choco-bacon cupcakes! That recipe is thanks to my oldest sister, Viriginia....baking is an exact science, and writing a recipe almost takes a chemistry degree....and she should definitely have a chem degree for as good as she is at throwing ingredients together and turning it into something that is super de-lish. If you have an idea for an interesting flavor combination that you'd like to see wrapped up in a tasty little cupcake package for your next birthday party/business event/snow day then hit me up at lainagrace2@hotmail.com....I'm sure we can work something out!

Birthday Bugs!

Twice within a month I made these two cakes for different birthday girls. The sheet cake, in each case, was traditional buttercream frosting with grass piped on the bottom half and the sun and clouds piped in the sky. On the first cake I did, I piped the caterpillars out of different colored frosting - on this one, I chose brightly colored jelly beans to make them out of. I'm really thinking I like them better this way.

Not having a miniature ball pan, I improvised when making the lady bug 'smash' cake for the birthday girls. I baked them in a glass mixing bowl, frosted them and put them on the board surrounded by buttercream grass. The heads were made from black buttercream fondant on each cake - as was the stripe down the center of the back. On one cake I piped frosting spots, on another I cut circles from the black fondant...I'll definitely stick to this method in the future because it makes the cake look more 'finished,' I think.

I'm really hoping that these are just the first of numerous first birthday cakes that I'll get to make - it's a lot of fun to be such a big part of a baby's milestone first birthday.

My First Wedding Cake!

It's a day that will strike fear and immense excitement into the heart of any home baker: the first wedding cake order. Luckily for me, this one was relatively simple. The roses were hand made from gum paste. Not the best I've seen, but I thought they turned out pretty well considering it was my first attempt at sugar flowers. The cake was a basic white wedding cake with swiss buttercream filling and crumbcoat and marshmallow fondant. On the night before it was due, my friend Shasta came over to help in the kitchen - she's definitely the best sous chef a girl could ask for! Everything went great and by 11:30 that night I was ready to put fondant on the tiers. And that's when the trouble started. For some reason it just didn't want to work out for me. After mixing, kneading, and rolling it out (not once but twice) just to have it stick to my work surface and tear to shreds when I tried to put it on the cake, we decided to call it a night. She went home around 1:30 AM and I went to bed by 2. The next morning I was up by 6 to make a quick trip to the store and then get back home to get it finished. By 10 I had made two fresh batches of fondant and had covered and stacked all three tiers. i took a break to take the kids to my mom's house and then made it home and had the cake totally finished and ready for pick up by 2:00 PM. I'd say in the week before the cake was due I probably spent 30 hours on it. That's no small task when I work 40 hours a week at a full time 'day job.' I think the lesson that I learned from this cake is that I need a fondant sheeter. Oh - and a commercial kitchen would be nice too...maybe one of these days. Oh - and the other lesson I learned was a delicious accident, and here's the recipe for what Shasta named a PattyCakes Peach Cooler: 1 bottle dry white wine, about 1/2 cup peach schnapps, 1/2 to 1 cup simple syrup - to taste. This drink proves that necessity is, indeed, the mother of invention since the only cold beverage I had in my house that night was a bottle of white wine I'd been saving for a chicken recipe (which I still have yet to make!)

The coolest thing about this cake? It was for a nearly 80 year old couple who were married on New Year's Day. I feel really honored to have been a part of their day, and I'm really hoping that it's the first of many wedding cakes that I'll have the honor of making.

Yay For Babies!

Have you ever met one of those people who is happiest when serving God by serving other people? You know who I'm talking about...Sunday school teachers, pastors, school nurses, counselors....unpaid coaches. Oh, you've never thought of it that way? You've obviously never met Britany Schmidt. Britany has coached Elaina's volleyball teams through the Boys and Girls Club, and Southside Youth Center, for three or four seasons now. She has put up with complete and total disrespect, arrogance, arguments and just plain meanness from girls and parents all of this time, and with a smile on her face. She didn't do all of this because she didn't want to let her daughter down or have her end up coached by someone else who may not teach her everything she needed to know....her daughter was only 3 when Elaina played her first season for the Lady Spikers. Britany has a true spirit of servitude and has spent her time away from her own family, and no telling how much of her own money, coaching these girls because she loves them. This past season, her sister Malerie Brady helped coach. These are two of the most amazing women I've ever met - you'd all be lucky to know them.

So now that the introductions are over - here's the story behind the cake: In the middle of the spring 2010 volleyball season, Britany found out that, to her surprise, she was expecting baby #2. At the end of the summer season, I got the priviledge of being part of Britany's announcement to her team that she was having another girl! The zebra striped onesie cake was designed to look like a Lady Spikers jersey, but with 'Baby Spiker' written across the volleyball. When the cake was cut, the restaurant was filled with squeals and giggles from excited volleyball players at the sight of the pink cake - letting them know that baby #2 would be a baby sister for now 5 year old Aniston.

Malerie had gone to work planning the shower almost as soon as Britany new she was pregnant and, once again, I had the great thrill and priviledge of making the cake for this too. Yay! I love a good baby shower - and Britany's was definitely THE BEST! Malerie and their Aunt Gillis worked so hard making this the baby shower of the century that shower hostesses everywhere should really be taking lessons from them. The cake was the biggest I had ever made - and it shouldn't have taken as long as it did, but I was making it during the Yankees/Rangers ALCS playoff series so I spent a lot of time in front of the TV yelling to the Yankees that I had seen Little League teams play better baseball than what they were playing. Despite the MLB upset, the cake came together remarkably easily. So easily that I just knew that something was bound to go wrong. Then shower day met us with cold and rainy weather and I knew that I was right. The minute we got in the truck to deliver the cake the weather took it's toll and the buttercream started cracking and 'weeping.' Luckily, by the time I had it fully assembled and added the ribbons and the floral cake topper, you couldn't really tell that I was having technical difficulties with it. It looked exactly the way I wanted to, and everyone was thrilled with it...it was so great to be a part of the baby shower for someone who means so much to us, and has done so much for Elaina - and countless other girls.

Baby Landrie Kay made her arrival this week - December 20th at 11:23 AM. Elaina and I can't wait to go meet her - and I can't wait to make her first birthday cake! It's been so cool for me to be involved in her life - even before she took her first breath. What an honor!