Fiddleheads are good, and I'm not even Veg

Talk about pressure. Libby had asked me to make a cake for her sisters wedding vow renewal ceremony/celebration or whatever it's called- a while back. I said sure, yeah OK... and like so many other times when people ask me to make a cake for a certain occassion- I didn't think it would come to fruition. But then it started to get closer and we actually started to PLAN for it- birch tree with ferns/leaves on it. She's such a gem she gave me picture inspirations too!

Truthfully, I kept sliding it to the back of my mind because I was a little scared. A cake that a lot of people would see and eat that weren't my family or close friends... They could give me awful reviews and I wouldn't be there to shame them into saying nice things even if they didn't mean it.

So, when it came time to REALLY plan for it, Libby was specific about flavors even. Lemon, lemon and lemon. Crap. I've never made lemon cake before... or lemon frosting! My mid goes into overdrive as I scour the internet for recipes and went to the grocery store to buy an absurd amount of lemons so I could practice making this cake.

And here it is:






This was actually shot before I added the finishing touches. I wanted Libby to see it before I made it "birch tree"-like and added the initials.
You can go see the FINAL product on my Facebook Page- Sweet Sandy B

DO IT, do it NOW and become my 'fan' :) please?
k, thanks

a better zebra...

My beautiful Libby asked me to make a cake for her sister-in-laws 18th birthday. She was so on it- gave me the color scheme and even gave me some sample ideas. It helped A LOT. I put a few different ideas together and drew this cake for her:



She approved and off I went....






I didn't do the fondant ribbon on the bottom as I had hoped I would (per my initial sketch) because it just didn't look good. I went w/ my old stand-by of the dotted border. I also just used the buttercream as the outside frosting on both layers. Initially I was thinking of covering the 2nd tier w/ fondant, but I was able to get the buttercream really smooth and didn't need to use fondant.

another fun cake, a BETTER way to do zebra stripes than when I did the cake for my friend O.G.'s 30th bday cake. I liked the color scheme and was pleased with the outcome.

I have a few cakes coming up in the next few weeks...actually, SIX cake orders in the next 3 weeks! wow... I'm going to be a busy girl...so I better get some rest. Good Night!

Dear Blog, I've been missing you!

A week away from my manifesto and I have been missing it so...
I have a lot of random thoughts that I'll put in the other normal spot- go look! But, have some quick pictures to get up here.

FIRST, here is a little tease of my bestie's 30th birthday cake:



My camera is M.I.A. and it has the real deal pictures of this cake. Silly Rebel, where did you run off to??

This was a BIG cake. Bottom tier was chocolate banana cake and banana cake w/ a malted chocolate ganache. Middle tier was ALL yellow cake w/ chocolate frosting (Bestie's FAV), and top tier was chocolate and yellow cake with the chocolate frosting.
All covered in Swiss Buttercream frosting and fondant designs. The top decoration was wire with beads on the end.

I drew up the design on a 'break' from my class last week, and got giddy excited to make it. It took quite a bit longer than anticipated- I felt REALLY out of practice, I haven't done a cake in a while... wait... scratch that-I DID make a cake last Tuesday! Yipes, how did I forget!? I had the FAIL with frosting. oooh, more on that in a hot minute...

You know how some people remind you of a color? (lol, remember the move Baby Mama where Amy Poehler says your aura has a color? wow I love that movie). So, my bestie's color is yellow. I don't know why- I think or brighty, sunshine-y yellow when I imagine her 'aura'. So that's how the color theme came about- sunrise colors.

Now, back to the frosting fail. We had a brief spring warm up last week. We got to EIGHTY on Thursday, and starting Tuesday afternoon/evening the house started to warm up. I didn't think it was that warm, but as I was making the buttercream I noticed it wasn't setting up like it normally does. Something was AMISS! But I kept whipping it and slowly it cooperated. hmph... I didn't give it too much thought.
THEN I started to frost the cake (I don't have pictures of this cake EITHER, as it's on the pesky little missing Rebel)... the dirty frost went on ok... It was a chocolate cake which I don't like frosting because it's so messy. But, it seemed to be going ok, and I put it in the fridge to set up.
queue music as I take a break to go and pack for my class for the rest of the week...
I come back downstairs, take the cake out and start to do the second layer of frosting.
THE FROSTING WOULDN"T STICK TO THE CAKE. It became too warm, the house was too warm, it didn't want to cooperate. I freaked out. I thought I did something wrong w/ the frosting. I took a big spoonfull and tasted it. It seemed fine, what was going on?!

I feel bad admitting, I seriously gave up on this cake. We got in a fight, the cake won. I did what I could, but I was in a rush to get it delivered- no excuse, I realize. But it wasn't my best work and not until I was packing it up did it all dawn on me that the temperature in the house played a huge role in the cake fail.

I totally blocked that from my mind. weird.

OK, wait here is something good to end on until I get the Rebel back and can post pictures of the Bestie Birthday cake:




Libby, I <3 you!! Didn't she do a great job? She is the cutest pregnant person I have ever been around, she was so sweet and I can't wait to do more business with her. We are crafting up an evil genius plan to help promote each other, and frankly- the idea is SWEET. PLEASE, go check her out: Elizabeth K Photography and become her fan.