Enrichment Cake

We have the Relief Society Birthday Celebration enrichment tomorrow so I volunteered to make the cake for it. It was so much fun, although very stressful and lots of work, but lots of fun. It was fun because I had no set instructions or requests. I got to just go with something that I wanted to try. I'm sure they are expecting your typical sheet cake, so it will be fun to surprise them. My original idea for this cake was not very similar except for the stacked square cakes. But when I found the daisys it gave me a fun idea. I think this cake shows my personality better than any other I've been able to make and I love how it turned out. I am making 2 cakes next week. None as fun as this, but I am going to get a little more creative now that I kinda know a little more about using the frostings to my advantage and am getting a little less intimidated by it all.

My Wilton Level 1 class starts on Tuesday. Level 1 might not be that fun, but since I've never had any lessons I'm sure there will still be a lot to learn, and you have to take it before you take any others. I plan to take all the classes that I can find. I really want to be good at this. I've finally found a hobby that is so much fun and gives me a way to express myself, and work with my hands. I didn't really think I would be very good at it so it has really been fun to discover a hidden talent. I guess you never really know what you can do until you try.
One day I want to be one of those people competing on the Food Network. Give me 10-15 years.

Funny thing...well not really funny, sad actually, but the timing is funny...
Last time I had a cake to make for someone KC got an ear infection the night before I needed to finish the cake. Well maybe he senses that he doesn't have all my attention and hes trying to think of creative ways to get it. Today my mom took me to the craft store to get some cake stuff. We got done and had only been ion the car a few minutes when KC started to choke on something. Freaking out, well my Mom more than me actually, Mom reached back and tried to help him while I tried to get to a place to pull over. Out of his mouth she pulled a small silk flower. Hoe he got a hold of it Ill never know. We thought we were so careful to make sure he didn't get a hold of anything in the car. the only thing I can think is that maybe it was in the shopping cart and we didn't see it. Anyways... We pulled over and got him out of his chair and he was so upset. Gagging and coughing and all that. Poor little guy. He finally fell asleep in his Grandma arms and rode home snuggled up with her. (I know, I'm a terrible Mother because we didn't put him back in his seat. But you don't know how upset he was. It was really really sad. Plus we were scared he would start choking again the second we got him back in the chair and started to drive)
We got home and e had a bottle and cried and cried. Actually managed to sleep for a few minutes, but then just woke up and cried some more. You have to understand that KC is my mellow baby. Always happy and never has really cried much. So I called the DR. and in we went. All for them to say give him Tylenol in case he scratched his throat and call back tomorrow if he's having any trouble. but at least he cried a lot while we were there, I hate when you rush them in and then they act like they couldn't be happier.
Soon as we got home he was happy as could be and has been the rest of the night. Silly guy, but I'm glad he's okay. I hate when kids choke.

So hopefully next week when I am doing 2 cakes he will cooperate and stay healthy. And no one will have to go to the Dr.

Prices

Well, the Denver trip was so much fun and the cake survied the trip. By the time we ate it only the back fin had fallen off. Pretty good I think since I made it on tuesday and we didn't eat it until Sunday. Anyways, making Aarons office cake has already paid off. A woman the he works with is interested in having one made for her sons birthday. This is wonderful however it sent me into a panic over what to charge. I don't want to charge too much, expecially since I am a beginner, but on the other hand making cake with 2 little kids to care for and a house to keep is hard work and I want to make a little money. After all that is the point of it all. So finally I came up with a little price sheet. Its pretty cheesy looking but its a start at least. When I have more time to spend on it I'll make it nicer looking. I even made little order forms to go with it. This has been really fun, but I don't really like worrying about the businss side of it all like pricing, figuring costs, and making sure I keep track of everything. But I'm learning a lot and I like that. And next month I plan on taking a class so I can learn from someone else. Books are great, but I think a class will be lots of fun. Plus its an excuse to get out of the house and what mother doesn't need that every once in a while. I found another class from a bakery in SLC that specializes in wedding cakes. But the 300$ a day cost is a little out of the budget for now. Anyone want to invest in my little business? Just kidding, but I wouldnt turn it down. :).


I'm trying to get my Relief Society to let me make the cake for our R.S. birthday celebration next week. Well see what happens.

Momma Fish

I have the cutest little nephew named Max and this Saturday is his 3rd birthday. He lives in Kansas City but we are going to meet up in Denver this weekend and will get to celebrate his birthday. He has these stuffed fish that he likes to sleep with and are like his little security toys. He had one but they got him more, you know the idea that if you have more than one then you can have one to hold and one to wash. ( We cut Parker's blankie in half for that reason.) But Max likes to have all 3. They are the Momma fish, the Daddy fish, and the baby fish. So I decided it would be fun to make a fishy cake for his birthday. I used a sponge cake recipe that was a lot easier to cut and use to make shapes. It was really fun to make and I really hope that it makes it to Denver okay. Just in case it doesn't I took lots of pictures.

Strawberries

This last weekend I made a cake for my sis-in law Julie. I had this whole picture in my head of how I wanted the cake to look but it ended up totally different. It still turned out okay though. I made a white cake and wanted to try out a new recipe i found for a strawberry filling. It was sliced strawberries in a strawberry glaze. It was really good, the only problem was when I put in on the cake I didn't make the frosting dam around the edges tall enough and I think I put to much filling in it also. So then the filling was all spilling over the edges. So I though maybe when I put the crumb coat on it would help hold it in, but it was still just a mess. I refrigerated in for awhile and got it mostly under control. Then I put the fondant on. I wanted to do a squiggly pattern on the sides and then some flowers on the top or something, but the crumb coat was too thick since I was trying to hold in the filling and it all squished out the bottom when I smoothed the fondant, and then the bottom started to get some wholes in it. So I just put a strip around the bottom and made a little bow with it. It ended up looking like a hat kinda. I also painted on some white coloring. So it was okay. I still want to try to make one like I had in mind, but I think I'll have to use a thicker filling and a firmer cake. Its been so fun getting to try different things and learn new recipes. And I'm actually starting to get sick of eating cake scraps and frosting which is a very good thing.

Done!

What a crazy day yesterday was. KC did end up having an ear infection, but was surprisingly calm about it all most the day. Parker was another thing though. He was supposed to be sleeping but it was one of those days when he thinks he doesn't need a nap. And instead he was super cranky. But it all worked out and I got the cake done. For my first sheet cake I think it turned out alright. It took about 4 hours to finish including making the filling twice because it turned out funny the first time. I realized that 1% milk is not necessarily the best for fillings so the 2nd time I used heavy cream too and it was much better. Then I was going to put chocolate frosting on it, but couldn't find the recipe that I wanted and being afraid of messing it up and then not having enough ingredients to start over I opted for regular buttercream. So it was alright. And I know, how hard can it really be to make chocolate frosting, but I just wasn't sure what to do and I didn't want it to taste funny. So the cake is kinda interesting because one side has flowers, (the pink were the ones I made, the yellow from the store) and a lighthouse and water because one person who's b-day it was for likes the Oregon coast. So I looked up some info on the internet and found a picture of a lighthouse in Oregon and decided to make that and then the other side has a snowmobile because that's what the other lady wanted. I couldn't really think of a way to make it go together so I just put them in separate corners. It was fun to do and I learned a lot about what I would do the next time to speed up the process. It was fun to be able to frost it and actually have the icing look pretty good. I sure hope they liked it at the office, Aaron took it to work with him so we'll see when he gets home. Making cake while trying to entertain kids is exhausting, especially trying to keep little fingers out of the frosting. I think the most important thing I learned was not to give a 3 year old a large frosting flower to eat so he'll leave you alone. I paid for that mistake the whole rest of the day..

Ready to go

So the cake is baked, split, and in the freezer waiting to be frosted tomorrow. I got my roses from the bakery and am feeling much better about my own. I think I worry to much about my own abilities. When I compare theirs to mine(flowers) I actually like my own more. But I am excited to get it all together. Hopefully I can do it during the day during the kids naps. KC might have an ear infection so we'll see how much he lets me get done. We go to the Dr. in an hour so well see what they can /will do for him. Poor guy he's so miserable he's cried almost all day. I am so grateful that I don't have to work outside the house right now so that at times like this I can be with my kids and not worry about them. They love their Daddy, but I think most would agree that when you don't feel good you just want your mom, I even still want my mom when I feel yucky. So I'm glad that I can be here for them.
Tomorrow I'll post the pictures of the final cake. I decided I also need to make a little flyer or something with the kinds of cake, filling, frosting, etc. that I can do for cakes so that if I get to do another one for Aaron's office they can pick from it what they want and I don't have to worry about having to come up with something I have no idea how to do. Well that's all till tomorrow...

Yikes

Okay so the carrot cake was pretty good. It cooked forever though! Like almost 2 hours! So next time I'll try my grandmas recipe, according to my mom its practically famous in Millard county. Anyway, so I'm making this cake for Aaron's office and starting to stress about it a little. It's totally different making them just for fun vs. for somebody else, let alone a whole group of somebody elses. I think it will be okay I just wish I was a little better at it. But I've been practicing my flowers all weekend, without a whole lot of luck :(. So I'm cheating a little and paying a bakery to make my frosting flowers to put on it so that I can have some more time to learn and not worry so much about how they are going to look. I think the rest will come together pretty good. So Cory I desperately need you to come and teach me some stuff!! i also need to make a trip to Delta so my grandma can teach me all her tricks. She says she doesn't really remember, but I bet she does better than she thinks. So now that the pressure is on I am looking into taking a few classes to help me feel a little more confident and then I guess I just need to do lots of practice. I'm just not a very patient person and I really enjoy doing things a whole lot more if I can do them well the first time. Just ask my mom. Me and piano lessons were a joke. Its that whole practice thing, I just don't like it that much. But oh well, I guess we all have to start somewhere right. oh and next week I'm going to make a fishy cake for my cute little nephew Max!! I am so excited about that. I really think it's fun making cakes in different shapes. I have to take it to Denver though so I hope it travels well. That could be tricky. Anyhow everything else is going good and I'll let you know how the cake turns out this week.

Carrot Cake?

So I decided I better expand on the type of cakes that I know how to make so that I can make some that actually taste good and aren't straight from a box. I found really easy carrot cake recipe in a book. Its baking right now so we'll see how it turns out. I hear my Grandma has a super good recipe so I'll have to get that one and try it next time. Aaron went to the library the other day and I asked him to pick up a few decorating book for me but I think he pretty much got all of them. So sorry for anyone else looking for some at the Orem library, they're at my house. There are some great ideas in them and it will be fun to try some. I just need more people to help eat the cakes when they are done. I am finding that all this cake doesn't really help the baby weight come off. In fact today Parker came up to me and tickled my tummy and said "chubby chubby". Nice huh. Gotta love 3 year olds. They are so brutally honest. Guess it's time to break out that elliptical machine Aaron got me last year. By the way, does anyone know any good filling recipes? I don't really like just using frosting. It's okay, but I love when a cake has a really yummy creamy filling. And who wants cake if it just looks cool but taste like crap? When we got married we paid a bunch for a fancy cake, and it was alright, but the sheet cake we had at our open house in Idaho was tons better. So I want to try to make the cakes taste as good as they look. And for now I think they will probably taste better than they look, but we'll work on that. Anyway that's all of my rambling today, I let you know how the carrot cake is later.