Strawberry Cheesecake Cake

 

I have been meaning to do another "cheesecake" cake since the very first time it was featured here on my blog.  I finally got a chance to make another version for my dad's birthday cake.  This time around, it was a strawberry cheesecake shortcake.  Cheesecake and stabilized whipped cream frosting was from my favorite cheesecake book, Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook while the white cake was from one of my go to recipes.

 Layer one - Half of a white cake layer + whipped cream frosting + fresh chopped strawberries

 Layer two - Strawberry cheesecake

 Layer three - More whipped cream frosting + chopped strawberries

 Layer 3.5 - Other half of the white cake layer

Lastly, cover in a stabilized whipped cream frosting and decorate as desired.

Desserts for a Bridal Shower

The week following my first wedding "cake", my sister, again, talked me into doing something I have never attempted to do.  I helped her put together SEVERAL different desserts for her friend's bridal shower.  The theme was Fall In Love sprinkled with Disney; given the wedding would be in September and the honeymoon in Disneyworld.  Over a span of two days, my sister and I worked together to make the following desserts:

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Leaf Shaped Fondant Toppers

Lemon Cupcake with Raspberry Frosting

Caramel Apples

Candied Apples

Candy Dipped Pretzel Rods

 Minnie-esque Sugar Cookie Favors (Pictured w/o the Personalized Names)

On top of all of this, my sister with the help of a friend also made all of the decorations; from the banner to the tissue pom-poms to the food label cards with Disney Characters on them.  She even went as far as making leaf shaped tortilla chips!  It was a lot of work but definitely a lot of fun helping put together a full on themed party.

Cupcake Stand Topper Cake

When my sister heard that her friends would be ordering cupcakes with no cake topper for their cupcake stand at their wedding, she offered my services to them.  It was a bit nerve wrecking thinking this was going to be at someone's wedding but it all came together without a hitch.  Cake was 3 layers of chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream frosting and chocolate buttercream frosting.  Entire cake was covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant.  I wish I was provided with ribbons but instead I made fondant ribbons.

In addition to the cupcake stand topper cake, I made over 50 fondant daisies for their cupcakes.  I love how everything looked after the professionals came and set it up with the stand and real flowers.

Elmo Cake

My nephew celebrated his first birthday over the weekend!  Of course, I had to offer to make a cake for the occasion.  When my cousin told me he loves Elmo, I was so happy to get the chance to redeem myself as I made one last year for a friend and the cake was a disaster for me.

This turned out exactly as planned, to a point, thankfully.  This was a standard white cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.  For some crazy reason, I thought royal icing would be a great idea to make Elmo's fur.  I should've stuck to buttercream frosting and a #234 pastry tip.  Also, when I carved out the shape of Elmo's face/head, because I used an 8-inch square cake, I had these straight sides.  So, I fixed that by adding some cake spackle - a mixture of cake and buttercream frosting.  After the crumb coat, you can't even tell.

Batman Cake (Cake4Kids.org)

I finally got a chance to bake another Cake4Kids cake.  I don't think I have made one since January!  This one was a doctored white cake mix cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.  I used a mix of homemade and store bought fondant to cover and decorate the cake.  One of my favorite cakes for this organization to date.  Simple and sweet.