Mango Flower Cake

Well we  have just finished with the last unofficial weekend of summer, yet I still felt the need to decorate a cake with fruit.  The fruit du jour? Mango!

 I made some black gumpaste flowers.

The Ingredients:

(serves 12)

1 3/4c All purpose flour

1 to 1 1/4c Powdered sugar
1 1/2tsp Baking powder
3 Eggs room temp
1/3 c Butter room temp
1/2c oil
1c Fresh mango puree
1 tsp Vanilla essence

I cut up a mango and placed it into my grinder.

Then I pureed the mango

Place all dry ingredients in a bowl and keep aside. In a separate bowl beat oil,butter and sugar till creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Add the vanilla essence. Now mix the flour mixture slowly in to batches. Fold in the flour mixture by adding the mango puree in between.

Mix well till all the flour is incorporated well.

 Batter is poured into pans for baking.

Preheat the oven at 325 degree C for 15 mins. Grease a cake tin pour the batter to the tin. Bake the cake at 325 degree C approximately 45 min or insert a toothpick andmake sure it comes out clean. When the cake is done allow it to cool on wire rack.

After the cake is baked I made a butter cream icing.  I smoothed the icing on one layer, chopped another mango into small chunks and added it the layer.

Added another layer and icing the rest of the cake.

I did this also for the smaller tier that was to be placed on top.

Added fondant

And Voila!

Delish!

Jack and Jill Cake

Thank you to Lori-Ann who placed a request for a Jack and Jill Cake for Shane and Jodi. 

It was to be two tiered with the bottom flavour a two layered cookies and cream.  The top tier would be a two layered vanilla cake with the bottom layer dyed with a blue food colouring and the top tier pink.  Here is my recipe for the cookies and Cream Cake.

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
1 cup chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.

2.In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, water, oil, and 3 egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes. Gently stir in crushed cookies. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

3.Bake for 25 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans. Remove from pans, and completely cool on racks.

I decorated this cake with buttercream frosting and added fondant accents to bring the theme together.  I made the baby onsie and booties with gumpaste.

Coach Bag

Thank you to Sharon for requesting a cake for her sister Sophia.

The theme?  A Coach Bag.  Since Sharon would be transporting this after delivery, she asked if I could decorate this cake flat on a cake board.  Sharon is a fan of Pumpkin Spice... So Pumpkin Spice it was.  She also wanted it in turquoise and yellow.

I have posted this recipe in January of this year.  Here is a tip if you want to bake an eggless cake.  Replace your eggs and water in this recipe with a can of club soda.

Here are some pictures of the process.

Turquoise butter cream icing on the first layer.

Time to icing the top layer.

Crumb coat complete!

Let's add that icing again.

Fondant is placed over cake.

Oops.... I forgot to cake more pictures in between.  I did use two round cookie cutters to make the letter C.  One large one and a smaller one to cut out a hole in the middle.  I will add an update of this cake sliced, once Sophia has cut into it.

Southern Strawberry Cake

Thank you to Helen for requesting a baby shower cake.  She asked if I could bake a Strawberry Shortcake.  I'll be honest with you.  I tried my hand at one awhile back and let's just say.... it wasn't very pleasant.  So I suggested a Southern Strawberry Cake.  I found this idea by Joy The Baker.

This cake is so pretty, and I thought it would work for the occasion (great for bridal showers as well).  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients Cake
1 (18.5 ounce) box white cake mix (without pudding)
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry jello
1 Tablespoon self rising flour
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup fresh strawberries, finely diced.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
pink food coloring
4 sliced strawberries

Wash your strawberries, cut the tops off, and dice them up.  I put them in a large Ziploc bag and rolled a can over it to crush them.

To make the cake, combine to cake mix, Jello, flour and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition Add the water and strawberries and mix well.

Divide the batter evenly into two 8-inch round baking pans that have been oiled and floured. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the layers pull away from the sides of the pan. 
**I baked this cake using two 10" round baking pans.  For this recipe I doubled up on my ingredients and baked this cake for 50 minutes at 325 degrees F.

Transfer the layers from the oven to wire racks. Let them cool, still in their pans, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the inside edge of each pan, then unmold each layer onto the racks to cool completely.

Frosting
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
**I found the frosting to be a little sweet, so I added a teaspoon of salt to my (doubled up) ingredients.



I crumb coated the bottom layer and added some more diced strawberries on top.

I added the top layer and finished off my crumbcoat.

Put the coconut in a small bowl and sprinkle with two or three drops of pink food dye. Mix with a spoon to distribute the color.

Once the cake is frosted, decorate the top of the cake with the shredded coconut and sliced strawberries.

ENJOY!

Raptors Win!

Thank you to my friend Dale who requested a Toronto Raptors Cake.
I used the FBCT technique for this one and added red licorice as a border.

Perhaps if they were always baked a cake on game night, they just might win?

(Friday Oct 29/10) Toronto Raptors roasted the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-81. 

Coincidence?  I think not!

Spyro The Dragon

Thank you to my friend Kelly who thought of my cakes as her daughter Madyson's birthday neared.  Kelly requested a cake with Spyro the dragon.  Yikes!   I had never done a dragon before, but as usually as was up to the challenge.  Hmmmmm..... but how was I going to get the image of Spyro on Mady's cake?  I'll get back to that in a bit.

So Kelly wanted a marble cake to serve over 20 people.  We decided on a 10" two layered, that would end up being almost 5" high.

So here are the ingredients I used for my Marble Cake recipe:
- 2 cups sifted cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 egg whites 1 1/2 0Z. (1 1/2 sq.) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
(found on ifood.tv)

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Cream the butter with extract; gradually add sugar, creaming until fluffy.
Beating only until smooth after each addition, alternately add dry ingredients in fourths and milk in thirds to the creamed mixture.
Beat egg whites until stiff, not dry, peaks are formed.

Fold beaten egg whites gently into batter until thoroughly blended.
Turn one half of the batter into a prepared 8x8x2-inch baking pan.
Lightly, but quickly, stir a mixture of the remaining ingredients into batter in bowl.

Spoon chocolate batter into pan. Gently lift white batter through chocolate until marbled effect is produced.
Spread batter evenly to edges of pan.

Bake at 350°F 40 to 45 minutes, or until cake tests done.

And now let's bring on Spyro the Dragon!

I went online and found a black and white drawing of Spyro.  I taped it to the base of a 9" square pan, and then taped parchment paper on top. 

On top of the parchment paper, I traced Spyro with a mixture of black buttercream icing and piping gel.  I used a #2 tip.  This gave me a nice thin line, but I still applied the lines a little thick.

I then applied the colours needed to make Spyro come alive.  I filled in colours in layers using a round tip. Make sure to use medium consistency frosting.  Using a knife dipped in hot water (and re-dipping as needed) I gently smooth frosting from the back to push down into crevices.  

I Filled in around pictures with my green background colour.  I chose the same colour I was using for the cake. 

I filled in the rest of the top and smoothed the icing out. I measured mine to a slightly smaller size than the diameter of the cake to place it on top of my already decorated cake.  I covered this with wax paper and lightly smoothed it with my handshands.  I then placed it in the freezer for overnight.

I removed the wax paper from the back of FBCT and placed it on top of the cake that had been completely frosted.  I peeled the wax paper from the front of FBCT, added boarders and wording.

And here we are!

Family and Friends

I always hold my family and friends in high regards. However this was a week when I cherished them too the max!

This week I discovered that my Tiffany my niece (an avid blogger herself) posted pictures on her blog Sasha Pulker....With Mum & Dad. Here this proud mom posts the adventures of her daughter Sasha as she grows up.

I was excited to learn that Tiffany blogged about Sasha's 3rd birthday. Sasha is turning out to be quite the little lady, and I was honoured that she entrusted me to make her a Little Mermaid Cake in Red Velvet. Thank you Tiffany for showing my cake creation in action.

Today I was invited to a Friendship Brunch involving the important women in my life. MY GIRLZ!

My friends Angella and Janice set it up outside on the patio. Catered West Indian Food and I was asked to provide the cupcakes. Angella requested Red Velvet.

Thank you Ann, for sharing my talents with the group.

A wonderful week indeed!

Want to make your own Red Velvet Cupcakes? Here is a quick and easy reipe for you to follow:

1 Box of golden cake mix
1 Tbsp Cocoa
1 Tbsp Milo
3 Large eggs
1 1/4 Cup water
1 oz red food colouring
1/3 Cup of vegetable oil

Follow mixing instructions on box

A Very Naughty Cake

Well, I guess it was bound to happen. A friend of mine referred me to someone who is having a 40Th birthday party this weekend. Within her theme, she wanted the party to have a stagette feel. She wanted to have a cake which would transcend her theme. She wanted -- (wait for it) -- a PENIS cake.

I decided that I could take on this hard (ahem), I mean difficult task. I wanted it to be tasteful. (Is it just me or do many of my words have a double entendre in this post?)

Here is my PG posting. I do hope for many to read my blog, but I am not sure of the age of my readers. If you are 18 or older, you can email me, and I will send you a full frontal image.
My interesting take on this penis cake was created using a boxer short theme with fondant. The cake, is vanilla. The recipient's name is Juanita, and her nickname is Chola.

Little Mermaid For a Three Year Old

My Niece's birthday cake. She Loves anything with The Little Mermaid. The 3 year old diva insisted that it be red velvet. I really enjoyed the making this.

Once the cake is cut, the contrast of the red velvet colour against the blue fondant will be striking!