Los Angeles Lakers Cake

Who loves the Lakers?  We do most definitely, especially with being so near to LA.  This was created for Blake who turned 10 and loved the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.  It's an 8 inch round, Chocolate cake filled with Italian Meringue Buttercream (IMBC) - recipe linked HERE.  It's covered and decorated in Marshmallow Fondant (MMF).

The logo was made using the same technique on my Boston Red Sox Cake (click HERE to see it).

The only difference is the "Los Angeles" font and the dashes around the "Lakers" was pipped (these were just too tiny to cut out of fondant).  In order for the purple piping to match the other purple on the cake, I diluted the MMF with a tiny bit of hot water and mixed it up really well until it was evenly melted.  I then piped it using a #1 round piping tip and a toothpick to help move each stroke into it's proper place as I tried to copy the logo as exact as I could.

Those wonderful basketball bumps...to achieve the basketball texture I used a #5 round piping tip and punched them one by one around the entire cake.  It took an hour alone to get the texture done - doesn't it look neat!

For the black striping along the sides of the cake, I first impressed the pattern on the sides of the cake using one of those tear drop shaped flower shaping tools (don't know the name for it), used an clay extruder to extrude the black "rope", then smoothed them "into" the impression on the cake so that the stripes were more flushed to the surface rather than protruding way out.

This is the extruder I like using - it comes with a clear acrylic box that conveniently keeps everything together:Walnut Hollow Clay Extruder Set

As for the base board, I was trying to achieve the basketball court flooring.  I cut out the individual panels, scored them with the thin tool to get the wood grain, assembled them on the board, then brushed it over with clear piping gel that I diluted way down with vodka that was mixed with a teeny drop of brown gel color.  The piping gel dries glossy and helps the board resemble the shiny basketball floor quite well I think.

I hand cut the Laker's Jersey's (one purple home jersey and one yellow away jersey) and added the birthday boys age to them using the FMM Tappit Cutter Set.

Boston Red Sox Cake

A 6 inch Boston Red Sox Cake with a wood grain board (to resemble the wood of a baseball bat).  Although simple, hand cutting the logo and font were time consuming!

I used a transfer method to get the logo just right that I adapted from Jessica Harris on how she makes perfect stripes on the sides of her cakes.

I printed the logo backwards and taped up it inside a sheet protector.  I then lightly rubbed the surface of the sheet protector with shortening to help the fondant stick.  Using a clay extruder, I extruded the red band around the entire logo, the blue outline around the baseball and the red stitches.  Using a tiny bit of water, I attached all the stitches to one another so they wouldn't move out of place (they were very tiny and thin).

For the "Boston Red Sox" font, I printed out the letters on regular paper, cut them out and used them as templates to cut out the fondant with.  There were so many angles and curves in the font that it was easier to use various piping tips to cut some of the parts rather than trying to use an exacto knife.  Once the letters were all cut, I lay then in place over the sheet protector template.  I did this a few days ahead and just let it air dry.  

After the cake was covered in fondant, I put it in the fridge for a few hours, removed it, let the cake sit on the counter for a couple minutes to get a little bit of condensation on it then flipped the logo template over the cake and carefully pressed and peeled the sheet protector off.  The little bit of condensation on the cake helped stick everything in place perfectly - I didn't have to mess with brushing water to the fondant to get it to stick.

With the cake being simple, I wanted to do something creative with the board and thought of a baseball bat.  I made the wood grain board by marbling fondant together then scoring lines with a thin tool and poking some holes in it.  I then brushed it over with a tiny bit of white gel color that I diluted way down with vodka.  It help give the board a white washed look and made the wood grain pop.

The entire cake is decorated in Marshmallow Fondant (MMF).  I did add Tylose powder to the pieces that I used to make the logo with so that they would dry harder and not be too stretchy for when I was cutting them out.

Hope you like it!

Korean Hanbok Dol Cake Toppers

I love making these figurines and luckily, I had the awesome opportunity to make 4 of them last year.

Each figurine is made out of gumpaste and stand at 4-5 inches tall.  All the little details on the hat and shirt are hand painted in gel colors and gold luster dust.  I also add pearl dust to the clothing to give the illusion of silk cloth.  To see how they're made, take a look at one of the 1st Hanbok Dol's I made HERE:  My first Hanbok Dol Figurine.

Ci's Hanbok Dol Figurine (June 2012):  My 2nd Hanbok Dol Figurine and custom made to match the little, birthday's girls traditional Korean dress:  She stood at 5 inches tall.  I also made a couple dozen flower blossoms and butterflies to decorate her own cake with.

Maddison's Hanbok Dol Figurine (Aug 2012):  She's a replica of the very 1st Hanbok Dol Figurine I made a little over a year ago but instead of standing at only 3 inches tall, this one is 5 inches tall.

Jenn's Hanbok Dol Figurine's (Nov 2012):  2 Cousins celebrating their 1st birthday together.  Each one was custom made to match their traditional, 1st birthday Hanbok Dress.  Each is 4 inches tall.

A Painted Curious George Cake

Where have I been?  Life has been busy, very busy that I haven't had time to keep up the blog or do many cakes.  This years resolution (and with it being February already), I'm going to try to post more stuff.  2012 went by in a flash and I'll post a little recap on the few 2012 cakes that were done.  I've also got the painting itch back and started, on New Year's day, to paint a mural along one wall of our dining room.  Although I had originally planned to take a couple days to complete it, it has turned out to be a unfinished project - where has the time gone already!

A couple weeks ago, I got the opportunity to take my painting itch and paint a little cake - at least this one was completed.  The theme was Curious George and with one of my favorite scenes in the movie being the one where he paints the room walls with palm trees, giraffes, and butterflies, I knew it would perfect on the cake and cupcake toppers for a little boys 2nd Birthday.

And how exciting was I to find my cake was picked and featured on Cake Central's Friday Faves (Feb 8, 2013) - giddy as can be!  Curious George is a cutie!

Here is a 360 degree view of the cake, a 6 inch Red Velvet covered in MMF and painted with AmeriColor Gel colors.  I also made 4 dozen Funfetti Cupcakes with matching MMF Toppers.

The inspiration for the cake - A scene from the movie - Curious George's painted wall.

Bumble Bee Baby Shower Cake and Cupcakes

A few week ago, I got to make such an adorable cake for my Dad's friend.  I was given a picture of the invitation and given free reign to do as I wished for the cake and cupcakes - LOVE IT!  My favorites cakes are always the ones that I get to design and create and it's, for the most part, a total secret until delivery.  Type A and OCD-me would go insanely crazy if you were to do this to me, but when it's the other way around, I thrive on the unknown and love the surprise factor.  But, I do spend hours upon hours sketching and contemplating the design for days upon days too and usually, well, nearly always, change up something about it during the process.

The invitation design is so cute and one that you can find on Etsy by Note-able Chic.  I fell in love with the invitation and was completely inspired.

Baby Shower Invitation by Note-able Chick (Etsy.com)

I made 2 dozen cupcakes and a 6 inch round cake to match the invite.  There was so much involved with making everything for the cake and with staying up late (into the wee hours of the morning) working on it, I didn't get a chance to take photos of each step but here are the few that did make it into the camera.

Making the Marshmallow Fondant (MMF):
1) To make the Yellow MMF, I used Americolor Electric Yellow Soft Gel Paste
2) To make the Black MMF, I used Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and AmeriColor Super Black Gel Paste.  Follow my steps HERE on how to make MMF using Candy Melts (super easy to get dark colors with).  You can use Black Candy Melts too but it also works with using any type of brown chocolate.  If you really take notice, the Black Candy Melts is really a dark brown so don't fret if you can't find any.  Any brown chocolate will work.

The Baby Carriage:
Cake Fixation has a lovely tutorial on how to create the carriage that you can follow HERE.  So I basically followed her instructions and then made my own modifications.  For starters, the piece of Styrofoam I used was very soft so I ended up taping it a couple times in shipping tape to keep in all together and since I couldn't "stab" the 18 gauge wire into it, I taped up all the wiring around the base of the stroller using lots of tape all over the place to make sure nothing moved and everything was secure and in place before covering in fondant.

Baby Stroller structure - all taped and secure.

I covered the entire stroller with back MMF that I attached to the stucture with piping gel.  I then added the stripes separately using Jessica Harris' (JessiCakes) technique found HERE.  To get the perfect shape I needed for the canopy, I lay a piece of paper over the canopy and outlined the shape and used it as a template (see the polka dot piece above, it was sort of an "eye" shape).

To get the polka dots on the canopy to look smooth, I added the yellow dots onto the black fondant, then rolled it out flat before trimming it to size and attaching it to the stroller with piping gel.

The flying bees are sitting inside coffee stirs inside the cake.

The Wheels:

I cut out the tire ring using 2 round piping tips close in size (1 to cutout the outside, another to cutout the middle).  I then added the spokes so that they fit snugly inside the tire ring and punched a hole in the middle with a #1 piping tip.  Brushed it all over in a thin layer of water front and back a couple times throughout the evening to make sure the MMF melted and fused to each other so they wouldn't come apart on me once dry.  You could also use gum-glue or tylose glue for this but water works fine too.

The Finished Stroller:

I painted the legs and handle with black gel colors and then bent the bottom 1 inch of the stroller legs so that they pointed straight down into the cake and not at a 45 degree angle.  Since the wires were not long enough to support the stroller securely, I pushed coffee stirs straight down into the cake and wrapped up the bottom part of the wire with an extra layer of floral tape to make them thicker and fit snugly into the coffee stirs - the stroller didn't budge and wasn't going anywhere:  It was as snug as a bug!

I then attached the wheels to the sides of the stroller legs using black royal icing and added the little baby head and hands.  Notice, I added lashes and a red bow to the baby to make it girlie vs. what the actual invitation had (all the little details really do make a difference).

Bumble Bees:

I made a couple bumble bees out of fondant (mixed the MMF with some tylose) and lay the bees with wings over various piping tips to dry so that they would have a natural curve to them.  Used thin wire wrapped in floral tape for the antennas that I later painted with black gel colors.

The wings, once dried, were painted over with piping gel that I thinned out with vodka and sprinkled with Rainbow Disco Dust.  I also brushed the entire body with yellow luster dust.

Damask Toppers:

This was my very first time using a stencil and I was honestly stressed out on how I was going to do black royal icing over white fondant - it's so unforgiving and unfixable if it doesn't work.  So, I Googled for help and found that Lesley from Royal Bakery wrote up the most informative tutorial on how to Damask a cake.  See it HERE through her Facebook Page.  The stencil I used is by Designer Stencils (link below).  I did practice on a couple pieces of fondant first before attempting it on white:  Roll out the fondant, rub it lightly with shortening to help the stencil stick to it (and help seal the stencil tightly against the fondant) then spread black royal icing over it, scrape off excess, carefully lift stencil off, allow to dry for about 10 minutes then use a round cutter to cutout the topper with.  Phew!  They turned out so lovely and I love the contrast between the black and white.

Here is the link to the Damask Stencil I used:

Black Royal Icing:

To get the royal icing really black, I always make it at least 1 day ahead to give it time to mature and darken.  Make your Royal Icing...

1)  Add a couple drops of AmeriColor Super Black Gel Paste

2) A drop of Americolor Burgundy Gel Paste

3) And a drop of Americolor Royal Blue Gel Paste

Black alone has a slight green shade to it and the burgundy helps remove the green while blue helps deepen the black.  Hope that makes sense.  It took some experimenting but this works for me every time without fail.

Rather than repeat what other great Cake Decorators have done already and explained so well, below are some links to some tutorials you can check out and also a quick recap on everything I did...

Cupcakes:

1) Damask pattern made with, Designer Stencils Damask Cake Tier #2 Cake Stencil.  Used Royal Bakery's Facebook tutorial to find out how to use a stencil.

2) "baby" stamped lettering made with, FMM Lower Case Block Alphabet Tappit Cutters Set

3)  Handmade Bees - I need to make a tutorial on this one day for you all.  I tried to use my iPhone to record a tutorial but it was bad, really bad.  I need to borrow my brothers camcorder one day and make you all a real video.  It'll be a first for me and we'll see how that works out.

4) Yellow/Black stripes on the bows were made by following JessiCakes Striping Tutorial.  The actual folding of the bows was made by using Royal Bakery's YouTube tutorial, Satin Fondant Bow.

5)  Smooth Polka Dot Toppers:  I rolled out the fondant, added the polka dots to it, rolled it out again so the dots are flushed with the rest of the fondant, then cutout the circles using a Double Sided Round Biscuit Cutter.

6)  Lately, I've been flat-top-icing the cupcakes (not sure on the exact term used) and I'm loving this look.  I fill the cupcake liners 1/2 way with batter so they don't grow taller than the actual liner.  I then fill the tops of the cupcakes with buttercream and with an offset spatula, scrape off the extra frosting straight across the top of the liner.  Add a small swirl of buttercream to the middle of the cupcake about 1 inch tall and top with the toppers - I just prefer to have the toppers "floating" above the top rim of the liners.  The toppers should be made a couple days prior to allow plenty of time for them to dry flat and hard.

Cake:
1) Baby Carriage Topper made by using Cake Fixation's, "How to Make A Stroller Cake Topper" tutorial.

2)  The white bee wings and white scalloped circle on the cake were brushed in piping gel thinned out with vodka and sprinkled with Rainbow Disco Dust.  I used a Double Sided Round Biscuit Cutter for the white, round, disk on the side of the cake.  

3) The "baby" stamped lettering was made by using, FMM Lower Case Block Alphabet Tappit Cutters Set

4) Petal Ruffle along the bottom border will be a tutorial coming soon.  I was trying to come up with something different rather than leaving it plain or using ribbon or piping something around it and after playing around a bit, came up with the ruffles.  I think they worked perfectly on the cake - don't you think?

Well, that's it for now at least.  The year's almost over and hopefully, LIFE won't have me super busy so I can do a better job keeping up my blog.  I'm so sorry for being MIA for so long and thank you all for sticking by me during my absence.

Happy Holidays!  Ya know, Christmas will be here before you know it.