Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Easter Cake Pop Contest on Facebook

Check out our great Easter Contest on Facebook. Email an adorable picture of your children, nieces, nephews and/or grandchildren to me at mcakesdesigns@bellsouth.net. That's all you have to do to enter. Your picture gets posted on "Our Sweet Bunnies" album on Facebook and then you have to get lots and lots of "likes" from friends and family. The pictures with the most likes will win.

I was only going to do one winner but it's been such a hit and so much fun that I decided to go ahead and have a 2nd and 3rd prize winner. I went shopping today and found these adorable little baskets to deliver delicious cake pops in. Aren't they cute?! Not as cute as all the children competing!!  :-)

Good luck everyone!




Sunday, March 25, 2012

The makings of a communion cross cake.

Several friends/clients asked me how I made my latest communion cake. I thought it would be interesting to show pictures from beginning to end and not only of the final product. So join me and let's take a mini-journey through the makings of a communion cross cake.

First things first, make your batter. This cake was red velvet so if you're going to make a red velvet cake, keep in mind that it will get on things, namely your clothes if it splatters, and it doesn't come off easily! The red food coloring used usually gets on things so don't wear your coolest outfit to make this delicious cake. Once you make the mix, it's off to the oven to bake (you can see me here taking the picture. I'm definitely not a professional photographer lol). As it is baking, you can start making your batter for the next level. Most cakes are 2-3 layers depending on depth of pan and on servings needed as well as client's order.


This was a huge pan and you have to be very careful with cooking times because if left too little time, you end up with a wonderful gooey center. Gross! Left too long, you end up with burnt outer edges.  Crunchy is not the way you want your cake described as. When you take out your pan, you should let it cool for a good 15 minutes then flip it over to a cooling rack. You need to let it cool completely. DO NOT flip a hot cake on to a rack. It will break down. Once on the cooling rack, let it cool completely!! A big no-no is leveling (making even) a hot cake. Not a good idea!!     



I leveled my cake which you can do with a serrated knife or other leveling tool. You want a perfectly level cake before you begin carving your design. This picture below shows one of my layers of the cake leveled and carved into the cross shape I wanted. Take your time when carving or you have to make an entire new cake. Big waste of time and batter!


Once you have carved your cakes, make your delicious frosting.  This cake was ordered with a cream cheese buttercream. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!  Here's my stand mixer whipping away.


Next step, frost your entire cake and let it sit for 15-30 minutes. This is often referred to as a "crumb coat" and it will help the crumbs to stick so your next layer of frosting covers the cake entirely. This is extremely important with lighter frosting and dark cakes such as red velvet and chocolate. 


During this period, I made my decorations and let them dry. This cake needed 24 fondant flowers that I made and set out to dry over night. The buds in the middle of the flowers were also made out of fondant and painted in gold. The next morning the flowers were applied to my finished cake to complete a beautiful communion cross cake for a special little girl.   


I hope you enjoyed this journey.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at mcakesdesigns@bellsouth.net or to post them here in the comments section.

Until next time, I'm off to bake again.....  What else is new?!  :-)

Monday, March 19, 2012

Cake pops, cake pops, and more cake pops!!

I hope all of you had a great St. Patrick's Day Week-End!  I delivered 150 cake pops!  WHEW!!  I spent all week-end making cake pops, coating cake pops and decorating cake pops with greens and blues and yellows, but these stood out and I'm including these pictures on the blog because they were so colorful and happy that they made me smile.  :-)

Coming up this week-end, a beautiful communion cake with golden accents.  I can't wait to get started on it!




Friday, March 16, 2012

And the St. Patrick's Day Raffle winner is.......

JACQUELINE TORRES!!

Congrats!!!!  You get to pick from a dozen cupcakes or a 6" cake!!  Contact me to discuss what you want!

For everyone else that participated, thank you so much and stay tuned for our Easter raffle coming up in April!


Saturday, March 10, 2012

Communion cake.

I prepared a communion cake for a sweet little girl.  I made a replica of the cross that was used on her invitations.  An inspiring tablescape was prepared by my good friends and you can see how beautiful the final outcome was!







Sunday, March 4, 2012

A cake for a walk.

Today I was lucky enough to be part of my good friend's daughter's team in the walk for autism. One word sums it up, WOW!  It was so incredibly inspiring to walk alongside thousands of people in support of autism awareness.  I am already looking forward to being able to participate again next year!

I took the below pull apart cupcake cake for snacks.  What a great day, what a great event, what a meaningful moment for my friend, her husband, their amazing daughter, her beautiful little sister and all the family and friends there.  You could feel the love everywhere.  What a great reminder for all of us to do more to help out.

GO SOFIA'S TEAM!!!!





  

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Beautiful button baby shower cake.

I just finished this gorgeous baby shower cake (design was inspired by web photo).  I love the combination of brown earthy tones and blues.  So classy and elegant, just like the mommy it is honoring!  May she have a wonderfully sweet day!!!