Megan vs Morgan - A Tale of On Site Repair

So only a couple of weeks ago I was telling you about my cake emergency kit and about all the things I did to make sure everything is perfect before I leave the shop.  You all remember that right?  Well, it would seem I jinxed myself.

I made this sweet 16 cake this past weekend.  It looks great right?  Except somewhere between reading the order and cutting the letters for the cake, some how Morgan's cake became "Megan's" cake.  I don't know where the mix up happened, and that's the point of this post - none of that really matters when you get to the event and something's wrong with the cake.

So I can tell you to read through those orders thoroughly multiple times, but the more important lesson is how I fixed it on site.

As soon as the mother told me the name was wrong, I started thinking of ways to fix things before she even finished her sentence.  I told her very confidently that we would take care of it and make it right.  The venue was an hours drive (round trip) so that was my LAST option.  I had also cut a second set of name letters for the back of the cake.  The cake was against a wall, so I removed the back set of letters.  I had covered the cake with sanding sugar to give it a frosted effect and I had also sprinkled the cake board with it too.  I took a couple of pinches and sprinkled it where the letters had been .  The back now looked great.

OK, so letters I took off are now what I have to work with to fix the front.  I  cut the "e" and fashioned it into an "o".  That worked well.  And then there's that extra "n".  Cut it at just the right place and it becomes an "r".  Alright, now I have the letters I need.  From there I swapped the old "e" with the new "o" and moved the "gan" over just a smidge to fit in that "r".

All that smooshing and moving took a little of my silver luster dust off some of the letters.  They looked a little mottled.  I didn't have any extra silver luster dust in my kit, but I had my small bottle of PGA, a small paint brush, and some (now) extra silver letters that weren't going to be used.  I put some PGA on the brushed and scrubbed the extra silver letters to collect of that precious silver dust.  Then I used this to paint over the letters, which evened things out pretty nicely.

So how did it turn out?

Not too bad, huh?

Now I fully realize that luck and ingenuity was on my side that day.  Things could have turned sour very quickly and these types of situations should certainly be the exception and not the rule.  But it's SO important to know what can go wrong, and what you would do if it did.

As always, I appreciate each of you that stop by to read my little 'ol blog - Have a great week!

... and Happy Birthday MORGAN!
 

Our Most Popular Display Cake Ever!

This display cake has long since served its usefulness, but at one time I carried this cake to so many shows and it always got rave reviews.

I initially made it because I wanted to play around with a wonky cake and I wanted to play around with a hot pink / lime color scheme.  Then I sold some cookies at a small art show (gee, that was a LONG time ago) and I brought it along.  Everyone wanted to know more about it, and I got lots of cake orders just because I brought that silly dummy cake along.

About a year later I did my first bridal show and even though I didn't think it resembled a wedding cake in the slightest, I brought it along anyway.  And I had brides raving over it again!!  Several said that it was the perfect cake for their wedding, although none on them wound up picking anything like it when we designed their cake.

That's when I learned that you should always bring a real attention getting cake with you to any show.  A bride might want a simple ivory cake with swiss dots, but seeing one won't necessarily get her into your bridal booth.

Think of it this way - the road is full of Hondas and Fords, but people line up to see monster trucks or the Batmobile at an auto show!  Have an awesome week!

Cupcake Themed 1st Birthday Cake

I stay so booked up with wedding cakes that it's a rare occasion that I get to do a birthday cake anymore.  There are times when I'm under booked, or I owe a favor to one of the many wedding vendors that help me from time to time and I get to do one.

I had fun making this little birthday cake for one year old Wynn!  I iced the cake nice and smooth with pink buttercream and then went to town with the fondant accents.  I cut out the cupcake shapes and the polka dots, and even made a gumpaste plaque and #1 for the second tier / smash cake!

And it was the first time in a while I have had the chance to make "doomies" for the cake.  That's the fondant balls on the wire for those of you new to my blog.  I;m sure they have a real life bakery term, but we've just always called them "doomies".  I don't know why!

Have a great weekend!  I hope you have all your Christmas / Holiday shopping done by now!

What are All the Words a 2 Year Old Can Say?

We have many great customers, but the ones that are "in the industry" are some of my favorites.  Many times, they let you "do whatever you want" or at the very least they understand the time involved so they don't take issue when they know you give them a fair quote.

This mommy goes all out for her sweet little man.  She designs 90% of the cake and then decorates the entire party to match the cake, which I have no problem with of course!  Her idea in this design was to do each tier with something primary and familiar to a two year old.  There are several animals on the other side of the cake because it was to be displayed in the middle of the room.  My favorite is the penguins because I have been watching a lot of "Penguins of Madagascar" on Nickelodeon lately.

The cake is iced in butercream and all the decorations are fondant.  The greens on the monkey tier are very different, but it didn't show up well in this picture.  The "2" is "busting out of the top" with the fondant peeling back.  I quoted 12 hours of art on this cake and between carving the cake, mixing colors, and 14 animals, I used every bit of that time and then some.  I HAD to have all four penguins in the cartoon!

After six years of making cake, I think I'm starting to get the artwork estimates down pat.  This is what you do.....estimate how much time the cake will take you after it's all smooth and stacked THEN DOUBLE IT!  I have given a little money back when I have over estimated, but that is a rarity.  Anyone have a better idea?  Happy New Year! 

Sweet 16 Cake

It's been a while since I did a Sweet 16 cake, and I had big fun making this one! Sam and Kelsie were having their big bash together, and I got to provide the cake!

This one was fun all the way around. Tilty-wonky cake with swirlies, harlequin pattern, and funky retro circles. Some fun little hot pink fantasy flowers made everything really pop!

Discussion question for all the bakers out there: You'll notice the crystals on the curled wires (sometimes we use fondant balls on the end). I know I'm not the first to think of or use these, but do they have an official bakery name? Around the shop we just call them crystal (or fondant) "doomies".

Well, y'all have a great week, K?

Brown Modern Wedding Cake

This is a cake I did this weekend. Another bakery in Torrance CA designed it, so I can't take credit for the elegance. I am so happy that a bride was so brave to go out of the box and do something completely different for Dalton, GA! We delivered it to the Farm Clubhouse in Rocky Face, GA. Her colors were pink and brown. She even made homemade apple butter as favors for the guests. It was packaged beautifully.

Anyway, to the cake. It was a 4-tier white cake with raspberry preserves (seedless of course!), my house buttercream and chocolate fondant. The lines and roses were made from white chocolate fondant. Super tasty, but I find it's very hard to work with, especially for these flowers. It is just so floppy even after I added some tylose. I found the crystals in the floral section at Wal-Mart. I attached wire through the hole in the crystal and built the simple rose around it. Not all had crystals. I had to let them dry in a clean egg carton so they would hold some of their shape. Another trick for a cake like this is that I made about a 1/4" well in the layers that help hold the preserves, that way they next layer sits on the outside 1/2" of cake and doesn't go sliding off. I don't think I'm explaining this as easy as I see it in my mind. Can you just get inside there? Well, maybe you don't want to do that! Anyway, if you just make an icing dam and fill it with the preserves (or other slick filling) your layers will slide. Some fillings don't ever change consistency with they get cold and that makes keeping the layers lined up a challenge. Lastly, my husband is still not allowed to lift anything over 25lbs and this cake was well over. It had 12lbs worth of fondant! My mom offered to help me and she tried, but she was so scared she was going to drop it that I ended up having to grab it and run. A little scary! She and I have learned that there are things she can help with, but at 67 with bad knees, carrying cakes will not be one of them. She did keep me very good company and made friends with all the staff while she waited on me to take pictures. We had a good time!