Pink, Black, and White Cake

Pink, Black, and White Cake, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

I loved the parameters of this week's Bridal Shower Cake: pink with black polka dots and flowers around the bottom! I designed the top layer to be slightly smaller than the bottom layer of the cake to place emphasis on the verticality of the cake. I also added an additional layer of cake to each of the top and bottoms layers to play with the proportions of the cake. Right now I am totally obsessed with tall cakes (it also means there's lots and lots of cake for my clients to eat)! The cake ended up being "girly" as the client requested, but also elegant and bold.

Vanilla

Vanilla Cupcakes II, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

One of my tasks this week was to create several vanilla cake samples for a customer to test. At first I thought that testing vanilla would be well... vanilla. But it turns out that I learned a lot from baking three different vanilla cakes and making three different vanilla frostings.

This is my go-to vanilla cake recipe, Buttermilk Vanilla. It is a butter cake that gets it's complex flavor from the buttermilk. In my opinion this cake is perfectly moist, not overly dense, and has wonderful texture and crumb for both layer cakes and cupcakes. This is also my favorite Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. My customer's love it. It is sweet and creamy and works well as a crumb coat and as my go-to frosting:

Next it was time to think a little outside the box. I made an interesting White Cake that gets it's light fluffy texture from whipped egg whites. This cake reminded me a little of a spongy angel cake. I paired this cake with a Fluffy White Frosting. This frosting is very marshmallowy and doesn't have any butter in it:

Last, I made a Yellow Cake that is slightly denser than the Buttermilk Cake. Interestingly, as the White Cake used whipped egg whites, the Yellow Cake used egg yolks. The cake itself is also nicely flavored and textured and just as moist as the other two cakes. I paired the Yellow Cake with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting. Traditionally this is a less sweet more buttery frosting. I took a small liberty and sweetened up the frosting so it would not be quite so overwhelmingly buttery:

All vanilla. All different. And as it turns out, not as... vanilla as I thought they were going to be.

A Wicked Awesome, Ode to New England Cake!

This cake just screams, "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd ." (Translation: Park the car in Harvard Yard).  It says we drink "tonic" not "soda." It begs you to drink from the "bubblah" not the "water fountain." In short this cake celebrates many many wicked awesome things! 

In New England you live and breathe by the ups and downs of the Sox and the Pats. Thankfully, there is a Dunkin Donuts on every corner! In New England you can enjoy a tasty Friendly's Fribble (an extra thick milk shake).

In New England if you have not enjoyed a Fluffernutter Sandwich, well, honestly, your youth has been misspent! As I explained to my southern born and bred friends this morning, the Fluffernutter is where it's at! It MUST be made on white bread, filled with a small shmear of peanut butter and a massive heaping of gooey sticky sweet marshmallow fluff!

This cake was ordered by a customer who is really and truly a proper southern woman for her husband's birthday! She wanted to celebrate his roots and incorporate a few New England favorites: the Red Sox, The Patriots, the Fluffernutter Sandwich, and Friendly's. I was stumped at first and then it hit me! They had to be all decked out in their sports gear sitting on a sandwich, it's just too cute!!! And of course, a proper southern lady never goes out without her pearls!!! And yes, those are lobsters on her skirt!

The cake itself? I almost forgot! This is the best part! Two layers of Buttermilk Vanilla Cake sandwiched with, wait for it... Peanut Butter Frosting and a layer of Fluff!!! The cake is covered with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Topped with Rolled Fondant! The figures are sculpted out of sugar paste.

Pink Flower Birthday Cake

Pink Flower Birthday Cake, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

This picture really says it all! A sweet pink birthday cake for a sweet pink girl turning seven! This birthday starlet is walking the pink carpet through a field of pink flowers! (I really lucked out with the pearl earring accessories! As she happened to be wearing hers when she came by to pick up the cake!)

Lamb Cupcakes

Lamb Cupcakes, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

These Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting were made to match these adorable crib linens! (I just went to find a link and oh my, those are the cutest sheep on those sheets!) These are cute cupcakes for a gender neutral baby shower!

Jungle Theme Baby Shower Cake

Jungle Theme Baby Shower Cake, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

This baby shower cake is a chocolate lovers dream! It is made with five layers of Baker's Cakes Signature Chocolate Cake, frosted with Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting, and topped with rolled Chocolate Fondant! The jungle theme palm leaves and elephants were hand shaped to match the shower invitation. This is certainly an adorable way to welcome a new baby into the herd!

Chocolate and Carolina Blue

Chocolate and Carolina Blue, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

My first cake of the new year! A simple Vanilla Buttermilk Layer Cake with Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting, topped with Carolina Blue Flowers!

Back to Work...

The Holidays are over and now it's time to get back to work!!!