CRICUT CAKE

Okay, so I just found out about this crazy cool machine by Cricut. You can roll out your gumpaste onto this mat and stick it into this machine. It will cut letters, designs and much more for you. It's sooooo cool. I'm in love with this machine!!!!

DECORATING TIP #2

It can be a challenge to get a really smooth finish to your cake. One tip that might be helpful is crumb coating. Basically you are going to frost your cake with a very thin layer of your frosting. Use an offset spatula. It works best. I like to clean off my spatula evertime I go to put more frosting on it. I simple use a bowl to scrape off the edge of the spatula. This will ensure that you do not get any crumbs into your unused frosting. Once you have put on a very thin layer (you will be able to see your cake through the frosting a little bit), go ahead and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. This will allow the frosting to harden just a bit and the crumbs will remain in this layer of frosting and not in your final layer.

LEAH THE BALLERINA

My sister-in-law, Leah is in dance. She has been doing this for years and a few years back, she made to point. This cake was made to celebrate her great accomplishment! The dress is made by wrapping different colors of fondant around the cake. Then I sculpte the figure out of fondant.

LAUREN

This was Lauren's birthday cake. She loves animal print, so I came up with the idea to paint zebra stripes all over the cake. Both the leaves and elephant are made out of fondant.

EMILY'S SWEET 16

A coworker of mine had asked me to make this cake for her daughter's sweet sixteen birthday. She loves music from all eras. There are edible records all over the cake and hand-painted musical notes.

decorating tip #1

To create the flat top you see on professionally decorated cakes, take the cake out of the pan and, using a long bread knife, slice off the rounded part of the cake. Then flip the cake over onto your serving tray so that the bottom now becomes the top. You will have a perfectly flat top to your cake to which you can decorate to your hearts content. You can layer this cake by slicing your flat cake in half. But always use the bottom of your baked cake as the top. This will also help control the crumbs when you go to frost your cake.

Heather and Todd

Heather, my best friend, had me make her wedding cake a few years ago. This was one of my first attempts at using fondant. Fresh flowers seperated each of the tiers to create a stunning cake.

Barnyard Baby Shower

One of my first topsy-turvy cakes! It was for Coby's babyshower. The three tiers were covered in fondant. The top had fondant cirlces. The cow print on the second tier was "painted" on. And the bottom had overlapping strips of fondant in multiple colors. All of the blocks and animals were hand-made using fondant as well.

Simple and Sweet

I made these cupcakes for a lady at work. She always brings in sweets to celebrate birthdays. It was high time somebody made some for her. We love you Kelly!

Mike and Maria

Mike and Maria had a beautiful outdoor wedding with peacocks as a theme. This cake is draped in ivory fondant and decorated with white fondant appliques and royal icing "lace". A large fondant bow and small fondant flowers add even more elegance to this cake.

Little Miss Faith

Faith turned one this year and she absolutely loved this cake!!!!

Wendy and Jason

This is the wedding cake I made for my sister, Wendy and her husband Jason. It is a 7-tier cake covered in white fondant. Royal icing swirls and fondant bows adorn this cake, along with their monogram and a cascade of flowers that matched their color scheme. Thanks Wendy and Jason. This is my largest cake to date!