I'm not a baker; just a mom who likes making special things for the people I love. 15 years ago my mom and I took a cake decorating class at our local Michaels store. It was a fun experience for us and here I am, years later, still using the basics I learned so long ago.
When my daughter turned two I began my obsession with themed cakes. I have my own little process that I use when I make a cake. I Google search cake images, visit party sites and baking sites, and of course I check out the cakes on Coolest Birthday Cakes.com which displays thousands of homemade cakes made by moms just like you and me.
The process goes like this...I bookmark several cakes and choose elements I want to incorporate into my own creation. I never copy a cake exactly, but I borrow ideas and mesh things together to come up with something a little different. Occasionally I have to come up with an idea on my own but I always find something on the internet that I use as a guide to help me with my creative confection.
Here's a peek at some of the buttercream concoctions I've come up with...
Keely's "Purple & Pink Kitty Party". This one was tough! Lots of carving and stacking layers to get the 3D look. I've learned to stick to more basic shapes. However, I will say, this cake was a big hit with my birthday girl.
My little one, Gage, had a "block party" for his first birthday. His name fit perfectly on the sides of the cake. The inside was 4 layers (yellow, chocolate, yellow, chocolate).
Cash really wanted a bulldozer...a bulldozer!!! I was lucky enough to find a tutorial on-line. I used two loaf pans for this. Thank goodness for Google!
The bulldozer cake was too small for the whole family so I used the same idea as the "Cars" cake (see last post) and changed it to look like a construction site. The kids went nuts for the Oreo road.
