Cakes and things

You thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, didn't you?

Well the good news is that I did not fall off the face of the earth because the earth is round. Kinda like my bottom half.

It's that time of year again, cake time! I'm once again preparing for the sugar arts show in Austin and I am busy! busy.. busy.. busy... I am 75% of the way done with my first cake and have at least two more to go. I might throw one more in there when I get closer to the show. Who knows. I don't.

I always have these perfect cakes in my mind, planned and ready to be made. However I always change my mind on the design at the last minute and come up with something totally different. I don't try to do funny kitchsy cakes because I can do that anytime. I love the older more formal styles that you don't see that much anymore and so I challenge myself to learn those techniques for the show. They say you shouldn't use new techniques on a show cake but apparently they don't know me.

Princess Newbie has also been up a lot the past few nights. She has a doctor's appointment in the morning so we can get her ears checked for an ear infection. Princess Goofy also has a doctor's appointment because she keeps telling us that her ears are talking to her. The other day I asked her what her ears say to her and she replied, "iiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg."  Then I asked what it sounded like and she told me it sounded like a mommy, not like a daddy. Since I speak Princess Goofy's natural language of Goof Troop-ology, I will interpret. Basically her ears are making high pitched ringing noises.  We're going to discuss this with the doctor in the morning.

Since I got around 3 hours of sleep last night, please ignore all spelling mistakes. I could not even find spell check right now if I wanted too. As soon as the Super Bowl is over and His Royal Highness stops hooting and hollering like a barn owl, I am going to bed.

If you have any snazzy cake ideas, post a comment below! If you just want to say hi, post a comment. If you want a million dollars, post a comment. Not saying I can provide that money, just saying let me know. haha. I'm delirious from sleep deprivation.

Here's the Post that I wrote last year showing the cakes from the Sugar Arts Show:  Cake Show 2009
Go take a look!

In the Beginning.....

In the beginning there were cakes, and cakes were goooood!

In honor of the fact that I am having a horrible sinus attack and the fact that I am busy packing for a little trip tomorrow, I'm just going to post a few photos of old cakes. El Cakes are viejo y modelo. "The cakes are old and moldy." That line from the movie, Encino Man, was the first spanish sentence that I ever learned except they said that the cheese is old and moldy. Cakes taste much better, so I went with cake on this one.

These are a few pictures from the first year that I started decorating cakes. I look back now and can see how far I've come and it makes me kinda proud. I still have a lot further to go to live up to some of my cake idols like Ruth Rickey and Bronwen Webber.  Although the learning process has been fustrating at times, it is so fun to decorate a cake that people love. Most people won't notice all the flaws that I notice but I still need to do my best.

So here's a little walk down memory lane, also known as icing overdose.....

my first baby shower cake. Really cute but do you realize that you eat a baby?

I love this christmas cake. It is really easy for beginners. I might do one again this christmas and post a tutorial.

My first two tiered cake. The icing was literally melting off the cake. Yes, buttercream icing can melt in high temps and high humidity. Welcome to Houston, we have both those qualifications on a daily basis.

Another Dora cake. This was the first time trying to make my own fondant. Dora looked like she had just run a marathon and hadn't showered in weeks. Everything had a greasy sheen to it. I never tried that fondant again!

The first birthday cake that someone paid me to do. So many flaws on this one! Can you see the cake peeking through on the bottom left of the cake? You can't spot all the flaws, but trust me... I know they are there.

Apple Spice Cake with Caramel frosting and royal icing snow flakes. Yum-o. We couldn't even wait to take a picture before we carved that sucker up.

Another baby shower cake. I really liked this cake. I can see some beginner flaws but I had a lot of fun with it and that's what counts!

I'm sure there will be more cake triumphs and some more disasters but at least I love doing it!

Tomorrow I leave for DFW area to visit friends and family. I'll be gone a week. I'm planning on taking my laptop but chances are it will still be sitting under my bed when I pull out of the driveway. So if you don't see me for a week, I don't have the swine flu, I'm just having technical difficulties.