1 party down

I think I suck at keeping this up to date. It's been a while, but I thought I'd share some pictures of my cake and cupcakes from the baby shower last weekend.

I made a total of about 85 cupcakes, but ended up giving a couple to my parents and my boyfriend's parents before the shower (I knew I had more than enough) so the photo below has the 78 cupcakes that actually made it to the shower. Reminder, it was my first attempt at fondant, so the cake isn't as nice looking (I think) as it could, but the cupcakes are pretty darn cute and it's definitely because I got the hang of handling the fondant.

It took 3-4 days from bake to finish decorating, but it was SO worth it :) --- and thankfully it was over my spring break week they all had to be completed. Otherwise there's no way I would have finished in time. Or I just wouldn't have slept.

YAY CUTE BABY CUPCAKES!!!! :D

until next time. have a fantastic day!

Ordered!

I finally did it....I ordered my cake pans. I ordered them yesterday and did 3 day shipping hoping to have them sooner than later so I can start baking. But I'm a little nervous because I want them to be good quality so I hope they are everything I need and a good product that will last me a good long while. I went with the 3" deep set, pan sizes are 6", 8", 10", 12", and 14". :D So as long as they're nice, I think they'll serve me well.

I was talking with my friend Jessica (I'm making her baby shower cake the end of March) and she decided that she wants one cake, then cupcakes. Very fun idea and I think it'll save me a little stress. Except for the decorating because she wants baby faces on the cupcakes, which should be fine, but still nerve wracking.

Anyway, I started writing this 6 hours ago (or so) and now I don't remember everything else I had to write. Oh well. I'll try to keep up and who knows, maybe eventually I'll change this to an, everything I cook blog, instead of just cake. We'll see. :)

--Happy baking!

Cake Pans

I am slowly running out of time to acquire a fine set of cake pans so I can start baking. However, I have found some that I am fully prepared to purchase online. Both are sets of 5 pans, 6", 8", 10", 12" and 14". The first set is 2" deep the second set is 3" deep. Although I may not go wrong with either one, I am stuck as to which set I should buy. What's standard? What would I need for the cakes I want to make? It makes me nervous because I don't want to buy the 3" and realize I wouldn't have needed that much, and I also don't want to buy the 2" and wish I had bought the 3". Ridiculous quandary.

On the plus side, I did find that they have ready-to-use fondant at Michael's in the town 25 minutes from me so that definitely helps. They even have it in 5lb. tubs, which I think is a lot, but in reality it's probably all necessary.

After all of this looking around for materials, it has made me realize I may be a little poor for my favorite thing, but maybe it'll all work out. ---Until next time, have a fantastic Valentines weekend!!!

The Basics.....

GOOD MORNING!!!

I have been reveling in baking for years and have always been extremely fond of cakes and making and decorating. Although I have never made an elaborate cake with fondant and ganache and all that good stuff, making layer cakes with store bought frosting is where I'm at in my baker-life. BUT, this past Christmas I received from my dearest friend and roommate Stacey a fantastic book called "Planet Cake". I have now read it close to 10 times and have a good direction to go for starting the almost-professional cake making part of my life. And I have 1, maybe 2 baby showers as well as a 25th anniversary cake to make this year, the first baby shower being at the end of March. Although it has been decided there will be a cake and then decorated cupcakes, I still think those cupcakes and that one cake should be the most fabulous creations ever because I believe everyone deserves fantastic cakes in their lives.

Now I know I am slowly running low on time before my first creation is due, but I have been looking into the basic supplies I will need, and although I have a list I acquired from my book, I live in a college town with not a lot to it, so I either need to drive a half hour and hope I find the necessary items, or I drive just over an hour and hope I know where to look! But I have been looking online and found cakeart.com and explored some options for round cake pans and decorating accessories. My goal is to get the essentials and make a test cake by the first week in March just so I can practice and get an idea of what I will need for the first baby shower.

ANYWAY, way longer than intended (I think), but bear with my while I get the hang of this. :)