Going to the chapel.....gonna have cake.....

With my business slowly expanding, I knew that along the way I would be asked if I could create wedding cakes. Tiered cakes are nothing new to me, but wedding cakes are a whole different type of cake. The tiers are bigger, the time involved is more, and the expectations are pretty much through the roof. No one wants to make a bad cake, but to not meet a brides' expectations is a horrifying thought.  When asked to do a wedding cake, I am completely up front. I do not have experience making sugar flowers, and I cannot do the intricate lace work with a piping bag. Just my luck though, many wedding cakes are now taking on a more simplistic design which has allowed me to jump into this part of cake decorating. Below you will see the wedding cake that I made for a woman named Sarah. She was having a medieval themed wedding, and requested the tartan and the Luckenbooth (two hearts with a crown). The flowers are fake and were supplied by the bride, as was the two swatches of tartan.  The cake is a vanilla cake with lemon buttercream filling. The tiers are about 5.5" high each, and are supported internally with dowel.  This cake took up most of my fridge and weighed a ton.  I had nightmares about transporting it around the corner to the Livery. I had someone sit in the back of my van with the cake while I slowly made the trip. I think I may need to get a sign made up that says "Cake on Board" That way people will understand why I'm driving so slow.
The cake made it in one piece, but did start to sweat a little due to the heat. The bride absolutely loved it, and hopefully James and the team of cooks at the Bedford Hotel/Paddy O'neils figured out how to carve the thing up!

Where has the time gone?!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything in the blog. I took a few months off of cakes to concentrate on my family and my house! I'm happy to say the renovations for the summer are nearly complete (new fence and paint job in the dining room).
JLP cakes is excited to say that we are now offering a new service. I am now able to create edible graphics for your cakes. Bring me your picture and I can design a one of a kind cake graphic for you. 
Also, I am now offering cake pops! What are cake pops you ask? They are cake mixed with icing, stuck on a stick and dipped in chocolate and fun toppings! If you're looking for a sweet dessert that isn't a slice of cake, this could be the dessert for you.
Check out my pics!

10" Justin Bieber cake with edible graphic

My daughter's birthday cake and matching tank top! I love that she will have the shirt as a keepsake!

Cake pops drying. These little guys are chocolate cake with chocolate icing, coated in chocolate and dipped in everything from Smarties, oreos and chocolate chip cookies!

Cake pops packaged for Easter

This is why I need a second fridge. When I work on cake stuff in bulk, we can't have any food in the fridge.  These were chocolate cake Easter eggs that we pre ordered for Easter. I think I made about 40 of these and about 40 cake pops.

February and March cakes

February was a big month for JLP cakes. I had my first order of heart shaped desserts for Paddy O'neils restaurant for Valentines day! These desserts can be made into any shape you would like.  They are incredibly decadent because I mix the cake with the icing and then top it with chocolate. A little taste is sometimes all a person needs.

Little timbit sized pieces of Heaven!

Yummy strawberry cake with cream cheese icing, and dark chocolate coating!

 Through February and March I made several cakes but the one I think I love the most is the Hello Kitty Cake. It's probably because it's so girly and the colours are cheerful.

The beer/hockey cake (what guy wouldn't like one of these) My favorite part of this cake is the maple leaf on the side.

This little piggy..... chocolate cake with chocolate filling and fondant icing

Another 1st birthday cake. For 1st birthdays, I include a small topper (cupcake sized) that can be used as your child's smash cake

Pittsburg penguins hockey cake with fondant icing.

My favorite cake in the last few months. Hello Kitty topsy cake with kitten cupcakes.

Early January Cakes

It has been very busy these last few weeks with cakes! Here are two from the past weekend.

This is the Andy's bed from Toy Story. All of the characters are store bought.

This is a chocolate Turtles cake. It is filled with chocolate icing and caramel and then topped with caramel.

Reviews

Have you ever wondered if a really cool looking cake actually tastes good? Here are a couple of reviews I have received lately to help answer that question!

"The cake was AWESOME! everyone loved it and thought it was very tasty! meryn had a GREAT time playing in the smash cake and was actually very dainty eating it! she hardly made a mess ;) THANKS again for the beautiful cake. i also used it as a centrepiece on our dining room table where we put out the munchies. i will recommend you to everyone and look forward to doing more business with you in the future."


"The cake was nothing less than AMAZING!!!! Everyone was raving that it was the best chocolate cake they had ever had! Thanks again! It was delicious and beautiful!"

December

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since August! Time sure flies when you're busy being a mom, a wife, working full time and having a cake business!
After a busy summer with cakes, things died down for a few months and then December came, and I was VERY busy. I had cake orders every weekend.  Here are some of the cakes I did from August-December

This is a good old fashioned chocolate cake with buttercream icing and fondant accents

For the hunter in the family! This is also a chocolate cake with buttercream icing and fondant accents

This is a half chocolate/half white cake, with complimentary "smash" cake for baby!

Chocolate cake with chocolate filling and fondant overlay. This one is meant to look like a dog bowl filled with smarties.

I now offer Two bite cakes @ $10 for 2 doz. Most popular are the carrot cakes with cream cheese icing and the brownies with fudge topping

This is a chocolate cake with chocolate filling and fondant overlay. The character is Upsy Daisy from the children's program "In the night garden" This is the first cake I have done where something was not edible. I had to use straws in the hair to keep them in place properly.

Cricut

In a past blog, I wrote about how I hate writing on cakes. I have purchased three different sets of cutters to cut out fondant letters, but I was finding each set had more negatives than positives. Either the fondant was sticking inside the cutters, or it was leaving a rough edge, or it was so cutting so thin and sticking that I couldn't even get the letter out in one piece. This became incredibly time consuming and I was almost ready to go back to hand writing on cakes!
Then came along CRICUT CAKE............
It was love at first sight. This die cut machine is just like the Cricut Scrapbooking machine but it cuts out fondant and gum paste. No longer would I have to cut out letters, not to mention it can cut out almost any design! It was a pricey purchase but I think it will pay for itself in time and efficiency.

Here are some cakes I have worked on in July and August.

This is a birthday cake for a lady I work with. She gave us a Winnie the Pooh quilted blanket for Abby. So I thought I'd give her a quilted birthday cake. It is a golden cake with lemon buttercream filling and fondant icing.

We had to say goodbye to about 10 people at work who were offered packages to leave. I was asked to make the goodbye cake. It's a slab, half chocolate and half white cake, with buttercream icing.

This is a 3 tiered white cake with strawberry filling, and fondant icing. The bride asked for horseshoes on the cake as they race horses.

I have no cakes on the books right now, which has left me some of my summer to just enjoy with Abigail and James. I have also been in the kitchen making mini-muffins, brownies and pound cake. I am currently toying with the idea of selling mini-loaves of carrot cake and banana bread, and possibly the mini muffins/cupcakes. Stay tuned!