Mountain Sunset Cake

Mountain Sunset Cake, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

This cake was a surprise for my client's wife. He asked if I could create a custom birthday cake from her tattoo, a setting/rising sun behind two mountains. A cake based on a tattoo? Why, yes. That is right up my alley! He emailed me some reference material, but I really wanted to see an image of the tattoo. After I finally convinced him to send me a picture, we nailed down the design.

I began fondly calling this the Bob Ross Cake! When my clients wife finally saw the cake she was thrilled! She said when she saw it she wondered if the Ace of Cakes had made her cake? They also reported that it was the best cake they had ever had. I think that hearing that makes me the most happy! It's so nice to hear that not only is the artistry of the cake appreciated, but it tastes awesome too!

Coin Collector Birthday Cake!

Coin Collector Birthday Cake!, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

The world of custom cakes shows us that there is more to a birthday party than Spiderman or Princesses for kids these days! This cakes was based off of a 1955 Double Die Penny! Apparently collector coins are displayed on a white card and that's exactly how this 8 year old birthday boy wanted his cake to look!

Adorable Pale Yellow and White Wedding Cake

Adorable Pale Yellow and White Wedding Cake, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

This wedding cake was such a pleasure to create from start to finish. The bride and groom were so sweet to work with from our first meeting and cake tasting. They came to the tasting with a very fun request, "Could I make their cake with 'Funfetti' Cake?" I loved the idea from the start! How much fun would it be to have a classic elegant cake on their cake table and then cut into it and serve a moist cake flecked with confetti sprinkles?!?!! And thus I whipped up the Butermilk Vanilla Confetti Cake! Which has since become one of my regular cake flavors! The couple also opted to go with buttercream frosting and I love how the bride said it, "It looks more like real cake!" Totally! It's so easy to get caught up in trends and a certain "look." Simply said, sometimes cake should just look (and taste) like cake! While flipping through pictures the bride spotted the graphic flowers that she ultimately chose for the cake. They turned out to be perfect for this simply adorable sweet cake!

Baby Shower Barbecue Cupcakes!

Baby Shower Barbeque Cupcakes!, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

These cupcakes were so fun to create! They were ordered for a Baby Shower disguised as a barbeque! The party was a surprise for the expecting couple! I wanted to use the little bears with bows for the baby shower party of the theme and then made coordinating hot dogs and hamburgers (or veggie dogs and veggie burgers if you prefer). I loved the red and white picnic table cloth inspired cupcakes wrappers and tied that back into the bows and barbeque condiments!

Virgin of Guadalupe Cake

Virgin of Guadalupe Cake, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

In February I donated a gift certificate for a cake to a fundraiser at my son's school. The gift certificate was placed in a raffle, which meant that anyone young or old had the chance to win a cake! Often cake gift certificates are put into silent auctions where only the highest bidder wins.

In March a teacher at the school emailed me to tell me that one of her students won the cake. He knew exactly what he wanted: chocolate cake with vanilla frosting with the Virgin of Guadalupe! His teacher was so sweet, she wondered if he didn't want a soccer cake or a Spiderman cake, but no, he was sure, he wanted "La Virgen."

I loved the idea! It turned out this cake was the perfect opportunity to blend several different artistic techniques. I used some relief sculpture to create the figure and roses and some painting behind her and on her dress, robe, and face. I think the tattoo style "Happy Birthday" banner added the final element of cool to the cake!

40th Birthday Golf Cake!

40th Birthday Golf Cake!, originally uploaded by bakers-cakes.

This Chocolate Cake with Peanutbutter Frosting was created for a golf lover's 40th birthday! It is a celebration of golf and frosting! Because we went with the peanut butter frosting I needed to cover the entire cake in green vanilla rolled fondant and then add Vanilla Buttercream for the "rough" grass! The sand trap was crushed vanilla wafer cookies and peanut butter frosting! My husband jokingly refered to this as a "Chia Cake," he's so witty!