Last minute cake

At the end of the work day on Thursday, it was determined that food had not been figured out for a co-workers going away party. I was not part of the party planning to begin with, but as I was leaving, as I usually do, I asked if we were all set for the next day. When the answer was not really - I began thinking what could I easily whip up. Sadly, the default was not a cake- I was thinking my strawberry dessert or fruit pizza…. Then it hit me, I had everything in the house for a cake and a ton of colored frosting in my fridge. So I cautiously said I could make a cake.

On days that I work I like to bake the cake the night before I need to decorate to give it sufficient time to cool, settle. Trying to do it all in one night is really pushing it and usually means being up half the night. Especially when you find out at 5 p.m. But since it was a dear co-worker, I agreed to scrap all my plans for the night to make a cake. On the drive home I thought about the design.

This is what I came up with for the top.

And on the sides.

I have to say I think it came out cute. It is by far not my cleanest cake – I knew when I was doing it the lines were off, but it was getting late and I didn’t care so much. My co-worker loved it and that is what is important.

Here is the whole cake.

I also put several of my cakes into an album. I thought having once place for people to be able to look through the different cakes I have done made some sense. Here is the link….

Two days, two cakes, two anniversaries

This weekend I had two orders for anniversary cakes for two couples who have both been married for over 40 years. Each of these cakes was a surprise gift for the couple.

This was the first cake. I added a ribbon of yellow on the bottom. This is the second cake. I have total freedom with this cake and wanted to try doing a pattern around the side. Here is one side. Here is the other.

These cakes topped off a busy week of baking, Congo bars, Turtle Brownies and Blueberry muffins.

Peace Cake

My oldest niece turned 10 and the in thing these days for tween girls are peace signs. They are all over clothes, bags, shoes, school supplies…. So she wanted a peace sign on her cake. I thought just a plan peace sign would not be very cute, so I decided to make a striped one with her favorite colors – hot pink, lime green and electric blue. I then decided to do stripes on the side of the cake. While it turned out really cute, it did take a while to do since the frosting kept getting warm.

Here is another view of the cake.

A birthday cake

A friend of mine was having a birthday party over the weekend and I made a cake. It was one of the few times that I was given freedom to do what ever I wanted on a cake. I always enjoy those opportunities so that I can experiment. I wanted to do something bubbly and cheerful to match the birthday girl. This is what I came up with. I tried a new boarder on this one, and really like how it came out. I think it is a keeper.I had some left over cake batter, so I think I might play around with some filled cupcakes. Will let you know how they turn out….