Happy Birthday, Korey!

Korey turned 10 on February 17th. She wanted her party decorations to be pink and brown. For her cake, she wanted chocolate with pink polka dots and a "K" in the middle, just like the one I put on Kasey's cake.

I baked three 8" layers of Devil's Food pound cake and used Bavarian cream filling between the layers. I frosted the cake with homemade chocolate frosting then decorated it with bright pink fondant polka dots. I finished it off with light pink pearls and a circular plaque with a large, bright pink "K" in the center.

Just as for Kasey's party, I displayed the cake on a glass cake pedestal rimmed in silver. It's the same one that was used for our cakes when we were kids, so it holds a special meaning to me.

She loved her cake and her friends were amazed. Now they all want me to make their next birthday cake.

Sunsets Are Like Snowflakes

Sunsets are like snowflakes - no two are the same. You could set up a camera in the same spot and shoot the sunset for 365 days in a row and never see the same thing twice. On a clear day with no clouds in the sky, you'll see a huge, glowing ball of fire. Throw in a few clouds and that's where you'll find the best action. It's like looking through a kaleidescope, the image is never the same. Sometimes the colors are magnificent; sometimes they are muted. Reds, yellows, oranges, pinks, purples, blues...and an infinite combination of them all. Some days the clouds glow golden like spun gold.

My favorite place to photograph the sunset is at Lake Martin in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. It's a large body of water so you get a large, unobstructed view of the sky, a tree line in the distance. You can include trees in the foreground of your photos, which will give you some wonderful silhouettes, which can create dramatic effects. Best of all, it's only five minutes or so from my home. I've been known to jump into the car and rush off at the end of the day because I just know the sunset at Lake Martin is going to be beautiful and I have to get some photos of it.

Not only do I like a beautiful sunset, but I love the golden light created by a setting sun. I often take photos of objects basking in the glow of the setting sun. The warmth of the light is very complimentary to everything it shines upon.

Here are some of my favorite sunsets and objects glowing in the sun.

Red Sky at Night, Sailor's Delight

It takes about an hour for us to drive to work each morning and then home again. My husband drives and I usually observe all the stuff I'd love to stop and photograph. But, alas, I'm not the driver. Probably a good thing, because I may never make it to work in the morning or home in the evening. Before you know it, you'd see my face on milk cartons.

Today, I noticed some wonderful clouds in the sky. As the sun started its decent I knew we were in for a beautiful sunset. And I was right. I watched it unfold through my window and the sideview mirror. I could feel my anxiety build. I hadn't been to the lake since January 30th. Of course I had my camera with me and my tripod was in the car, too. Maybe we could make a quick trip to the lake tonight.

As we neared the sitter's house, I could see the magnificent fireball building in the sky. Layers of clouds looked like spun gold...and I was missing it. So, I asked if maybe we could make a quick trip to the lake after picking up the kids...Nope. Not happening. Too tire...No problem, as soon as we get home I'll drive out...and I did...I was racing against the clock once again to beat the sun to its final destination...my five minute drive seemed to stretch on forever...my chances for catching today's magical sunset were fading as was that spectacular glow...eventually I drove down the lake road, parked at the launch, grabbed all my gear, got my camera mounted on the tripod head (my first time, I might add) and snapped away as quickly as I could. Time was of the essence.

By the time I got this picture, the brilliance had faded... and along with it the stresses of a Monday in the corporate world. This photograph won't win any awards, but photography has won my heart.

This is what it's all about. Feeling that moment of peace and tranquility. And capturing that moment to share it with others.

Photo taken at Lake Martin, Cypress Island Preserve, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, on February 16, 2008.

Fuchsia Gerbera Daisy Cake

This is another version of the cake I fell in love with on www.pinkcakebox.com. You can click here to see the first one I did, which was also my first fondant cake and featured peachy-pink flowers. This is my fourth try at covering a cake in fondant, but I'm still not sold on it. I guess I just need more practice before I can be comfortable with the whole process.

The cake is three, 1-inch layers of German chocolate cake. I made a traditional cooked filling with coconut and pecans. The outside of the cake was frosted with chocolate frosting I made from Ghirardelli sweetened chocolate powder, then it was covered in vanilla fondant.

The "pearls" around the border and the green stems are both made of hand-rolled fondant. The flowers are gum paste. The fondant for the stems was colored with Americolor Electric Green. I used a little bit of Americolor Fuchsia to color the fondant that covers the cake. I added a little more color for the lighter flowers and then added a bit more for the darker flowers.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the techniques I used to make this cake.

Purple Roses & Pink Fondant Cake

This is my second attempt at covering a cake in fondant. My first attempt at making gumpaste roses. This is definitely going to take some practice!

Thanks to my Wilton instructor, Geneva Breaux, for being such a patient and knowledgeable teacher.

Baby's First Birthday - My First Fondant Covered Cake!

My friend and co-worker, Belit, asked me to bake a cake for her daughter Bella's first birthday. She gave me creative license and I knew I wanted to make something special. As luck would have it I had a Wilton class the night before I had to bring her cake to her. In that class, we learned to cover a cake in fondant.

So, I decided on a design, which was actually inspired by a cake I found on Flickr. It was a cake made for a wedding shower by Pink Cake Box, of which Anne Heap is the founder. She is a graduate of the Pastry Arts Program at the French Culinary Institute in New York City and completed an apprenticeship with Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City (OMG!). She is a spectacular cake artist. You can click here to see the cake that inspired me.

I covered my cake in class with fondant colored a very pale shade of pink. But, instead of adding all the other stuff that was included in the class curriculum, I waited until I got home to decorate it.

I colored gumpaste in a shade slightly darker than the fondant on the cake, then I made an even darker color, adding a little orange to it so that it was sort of a shrimp color. I used a daisy cutter to make gerbera daisies and then rolled bright green stems and tendrils. I used a darker shade of green to make the centers of teh flowers. Then I used a small round cutter to cut circles from white fondant. I rolled two circles together to form a pearl and did this until I had surrounded the entire cake. I then brushed the pearls with pearl white shimmer dust for a finishing touch.

Since fondant isn't "mushy" I decided Bella needed a "smash cake" that she could dig into. So I cut a small circle out of cardboard and covered it in silver paper. Then I used a biscuit cutter to cut the center out of an extra cake. I frosted it in pink buttercream and covered the entire cake in pink sugar crystals. I finished it with a gerbera daisy on top.

Belit was ecstatic when she saw the cake and I was thrilled that I could deliver two cakes to her that I was quite proud of.



This was Bella's little smash cake.

Pink Petals Birthday Cake

This is a carrot cake that a friend ordered for her own birthday. It's a triple-layer carrot cake filled and frosted with cream cheese frosting. I was free to decorate it as I wished, so I took the opportunity to try something new. I found this Lilly Pulitzer-style cake created by Laurie Lucov Wedding Cakes . I liked the pink and green combination and the whimsical design. I thought I could interpret it in a single layer cake.

But...the fates had a different idea. The chocolate transfers turned out horrible and my latticework looked even worse...I had to scrape off the latticework and re-smooth the cream cheese frosting...hence the marbled sides. I made a batch of royal icing and made the flowers, let them dry until they could be handled and arranged them on the cake. Once the cake was finished I thought something was missing, so I brushed it with shimmer dust.

Most importantly - Tallie loved it! Happy Birthday, Tallie!

Testing the Boundaries of Friendship, or Teaching a Friend How to Decorate Cookies

Want to learn more about someone? Try to teach them something.

My girlfriend Sandi was telling me about a baby shower she was going to host. The color scheme was going to be pink, brown, and white. Fun!

She tells me all about her ideas for decorating the venue. And, since I'm always looking for an excuse to try new cookie designs, I thought this was a great opportunity, so I offered to bake some cookies. We were discussing this on a Wednesday, or so, and the shower was the coming Sunday so I told her I couldn't make any promises, but I would try to get them made by Saturday evening.

But Sandi had a better idea. "How about if I come over and help you?"

Uhm..."OK. Yeah. That could be fun. Maybe you could help me."

Now I'm an easy-going, patient person, but there are some things that I am particular about. The words "bossy" and "control freak" have been used lightheartedly by friends and coworkers. And I'll admit that I have my quirks. But, I know that whenever Sandi and I get together, we always have fun. The cookies were just for practice and no one was actually paying me for them, so I figured, what the heck? Let's do it. We agreed to get together Saturday since her son and my daughters had been invited to sleepovers, so we would be kid-free for the evening.

Sandy arrived at my house at 5:30 Saturday afternoon, with enthusiasm and excitement, ready to take on the world of cookie decorating.

Long story short. I am a very patient person. Sandi is not.

I have rules when it comes to some things. Sandi does not.

But we pressed on. We agreed that I would outline and Sandi would flood. And she did pretty well for it being her first time. Once the flood icing had crusted, we began to apply the detail outlines to the cookies, which brought them to life.

By the end of the evening, make that 3:00 Sunday morning, Sandi made it very clear that I was a much more patient person than she was. I, in turn, made it clear to Sandi that if the day ever came that I was baking and decorating cookies for a living, we probably wouldn't be working side by side. We had a good laugh.

In the end, the cookies were very cute. Well, most of them were. If you didn't look at them up close.

I asked Sandi how the shower went and she said that everyone loved the cookies but when she said that she and a friend had made them, everyone looked at her suspiciously...

On a serious note, we did have fun. Sandi learned something new and I got to spend an evening with a dear friend. Something that doesn't happen often because while we are not only friends, but coworkers, we don't spend much time together at work or otherwise.

I think the next time we get together it will be to sit on the patio and drink adult beverages while my husband does the cooking!

Cookie Notes: I own cutters for the onesies, baby buggy, and baby bottle. The shoes were inspired by Susan Caliendo's shoe cookies found on her website, Rolling Pin Productions. They were handcut from a template drawn on cardstock. The striped onesie is also inspired by one of Susan's designs.

My sugar cookies were baked using the cookie dough recipe found on page 120 of The Flour Pot Cookie Book by Margie and Abbey Greenberg. Not only does it perform well, but it tastes great, too, which is very important to me.

I use royal icing to decorate my cookies and the recipe I prefer is known on Cake Central as Antonia74 Royal Icing. You can visit her website, Marmalade Cake Company.