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!

Lack of fridge space

When I started making cakes last year it didn't occur to me that my "side by side" fridge was going to pose a bit of a problem when it came to storing cakes.  When I prepare to bake a cake, I have to empty the top shelf to store the cake, which means everything else has to get shoved onto the other shelves. I have gone so far as to not buy groceries and have told James when he buys groceries to go light on fridge food and drinks! I have a wedding cake coming up in a few weeks and I think I may have to store it at a friend's house! One day, we will buy a second fridge that will have to go in Abby's playroom. Boy, I wish we had a garage.
Anyway, here are some of the cakes I worked on in July. I am missing one pic, as I forgot to put the camera card when I took pictures of it. Whoops!

(Top) This is a strawberry cake with buttercream icing

(Top) Abigail's 1st birthday cake. This was my first try at a topsy turvy cake!

(Top)This cake came to me already iced with cream cheese icing, and I just had to decorate it. I used my new Cricut cake machine to do the writing and the hearts. I love my new machine!

(Top) This is a three tiered carrot cake with cream cheese filling and fondant icing.

INDY!!!!!

I love Indiana Jones. Last Crusade is probably one of my favorite movies. So when I was asked to make an Indiana Jones cake, I was pretty excited. The cake is an 8" white cake with buttercream icing and filling. The hill on the side is made of rice krispies and  the little dude and the boulder are fondant.

Cinderella

My Cinderella cake is a 8" chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and fondant icing. This is the first time I've cut into a cake to make it 3D. I was a little scared at first to cut it, but once I removed the piece to make the steps and saw it coming together I could breathe again!

JMR Art Gallery and Hannah Montana

I am officially back to work! Which means I am now trying to balance, work, home, child and cakes. Wow! It's been busy. Work is going really well and I'm happy that Abby loves the babysitter. The house isn't as tidy as it used to be, but my wonderful husband is trying his hardest to help out with all the things I used to take care of. Cake orders have been rolling in and I'm completely booked up for June and July.  Here are a few cakes that I've recently worked on. The first is the JMR Art Gallery cakes. They were white cakes with buttercream filling and fondant icing. I had a lot of fun with these cakes. The second is the Hannah Montana cake. It is a 10" chocolate cake with buttercream filling and fondant and chocolate accents. This is the first cake I've done that has the chocolate work. I think I'm addicted now!

Tinkerbell and Cookie Monster

During the month of April I have had the pleasure of making a few cakes. First was my nephew Patrick's Number 5 cake which was a whole new experience for me. Next, I was asked by a friend/business aquiantance to make a Tinkerbell cake for her daughter. For this cake I borrowed a Tinkerbell figurine to put on top of the cake. I also used my flower cutters for the first time to make all the little flowers. I also had to figure out how to make the petals for the larger flower. To get the veins to look right in it, I washed a leaf from a fake plant to use as a press. I also laid the petals over a paper towel roll to get the shape. I used gum paste for the larger flower and the grass because it dries harder and keeps it shape better. I also used a shimmer dust on the cake to look like fairy dust.   The birthday girl and all her little friends loved the cake!

C IS FOR COOKIE. Another friend and business aquiantance asked me if I could make a cookie monster cake for her nephew. For this cake I traced out the face and cut it out like a stencil. I then laid it out on top of the rolled fondant and cut out all the pieces. I was told later that the cake was a big hit!

In other news, I have to admit that I absolutely hate writing on cakes freehand. My hands are shaky at the best of times and I get really nervous writing on cakes. If you have this problem as well, I suggest putting your buttercream iced cake in the fridge and let it harden so if you have to rewrite on your cake, the messed up writing is easier to scrape off. I purchased the cut outs for this reason. I couldn't afford the real deal, so I bought cut outs meant for Play-doh. They aren't as good as the real thing and I think I may need to upgrade and let my daughter have the play-doh cutters. In case you wondered why all my recent cakes have the same cut out lettering, now you know why!

Patrick's birthday!

My nephew celebrated his 5th birthday during the Easter weekend, and I offered to make his cake.  The theme was Lightening McQueen from the movie Cars. Patrick and I looked online at many pictures and what he wanted was a "number" cake with Lightening on it. I said that I could make that for him, even though I had never made a number cake before.  In the end it all turned out and this is his cake.

Logo ideas

With all the business I have been getting and all the potential business I could be getting, I thought it was time to look into having a logo made for a business card. My graphic artist friend sent me some samples and right now this is my favorite. It's also what I have been using on facebook to get the word out about the business.
This copy does not use our name or our phone number because it goes on the internet. I'd prefer for all the crazies out there not to be phoning us!

Newest cakes

Sorry, my blog hasn't exactly been all that interesting lately! I have however made two cakes this month. A Pittsburg Penguins cake for a young by named Scotty and a three tier farm cake for our friend Sandra and her little boy who was turning One! This was the first multi level cake I have ever made and I was a bit nervous about how it would work out. The peguins cake had a buttercream transfer on top and it's the first time I have attempted that as well. I think the next time I do it, it will look even better, now that I know what I need to correct. Anyway, here they are!

Cakes from mid 2009-February 2010

I will not be posting what kind of cakes these are, but if you have any questions about them, please write. From here on in, I will post what the filling, icing, and size of cake is being pictured.

Welcome to JLP Cakes

Welcome to JLP Cakes blog site! What you can expect from this site is mostly pictures and descriptions of cakes JLP Cakes has produced for friends, family and clients! Please enjoy, drool and order a cake for yourself!