Some down-time from caking...good thing!

So I haven't had a lot of caking action lately which is good timing! My middle child has acquired a silly little virus that has left her puking for going on 4 days now! Bummer! Hopefully she recovers soon and can enjoy her upcoming 5th birthday (April 7th!)

The next cakes I have actually are for that very day - April 7th. 2 corporate cakes and then of course her very special 5th birthday cake for her party on April 10th. She wants Ariel on top of the 2-tiered cake surrounded by all of her sea friends and wearing her crown! Easy-peasy baby girl! Anything for you!

I hope you are all healthy & getting ready for some much-needed spring weather! Message me if you need a cake. Things are getting busy for May and June!!

TTFN,
Cynthia

In case you want to know about Caking & $$$

The subject of $ is always tricky when it comes to cakes. I started (like many other cakers) making cakes for my own family...then some extended family cakes which led into cakes for friends and so on. Charging is tricky b/c, really, how can you charge family & friends?

But then my cakes were being ordered by friends of friends...so I charge. I have to. We have 3 kids, a big ol mortgage on a not so big house, and we're both teachers...so you know we're not ever going to make HUGE salaries. But I never knew or know for that matter, what to charge. So I checked out websites, other local bakeries who do custom-cakes, and even talked to some ladies I know who are like me, working moms who love to create custom cakes.

I look at things with 2 different perspectives - what I do (even though I love it) can't just be bought at your local Fortinos or Costco. It takes a great deal of time, patience and skill (though some could argue that I have limited amounts of this). I have no formal training aside from a couple of courses from Michael's. I have oodles of cake decorating books, check out websites constantly, and have a small fortune in tools for the task. So I charge.

My husband's perspective (which I try to share b/c he is mostly supportive of me using so much of our family time for my cake passion) is that I don't charge enough. Do I consider our additional costs on groceries for supplies, our power bill, water bill, heating bill, wear & tear on our new oven or dishwasher, etc? Nope. I never really thought about it.

So I guess I can appreicate why a business that has a storefront (such as a local bakery) would have higher prices than I would...they need to cover a lot more costs than me. That being said - I need to make sure when I fill a cake order, that I'm definately paying for the cost of creating the cake (from ingredients to electricity needs) and a little bit for my artistry.

I hate coming up with prices...but I'm starting to understand that what I do is somewhat exclusive. That being said, I did a cake topper the other day which took limited supplies and a whole lot of time. I can see how that might work better for people who want a custom-cake without the cost of doing the whole cake, stacked, tiered & filled. So, if your special occasion is limited by a budget, perhaps a special "topper" for a cake that you buy at Fortinos or Walmart might just be the right answer. Message me and we can work it out.

Why I mentioned this topic tonight on my blog is because I was looking at a course that is being offered next year in Kitchener. It's by Rick from Cake Lava and they just had a very successful course this past month. It was very well attended by some great local cakers so I considered going to the next one...until I saw that it costs $825 for the 3-day course. The projects are TBA so if you don't like them and want to back out of the course, you lose your $100 deposit. Spots are limited and the first course sold out in 48 hrs. Gee whiz!!! I want to get better at caking, but honestly, I can't spend almost a grand on a course that I am not even sure will help me with any skills I currently need given my rate of cake orders.

So for now, I'll cake b/c I LOVE it and hopefully charge my clients a fee that is reasonable but also one that my husband is "ok" with. I can't please everyone, all of the time!!

Happy Caking,
C

Latest project - a cake topper!

So my neighbour & friend Brenda is a terrific baker and she's hosting a Birthday/Happy Retirement Party for her sister tomorrow! Of course, we talked cake and decided that she'd bake and ice a cake if I could make the "topper". She didn't want me to fuss, so I won't tell her how many hours I spent making it. But it was fun and very therapeutic. Also, lucky for me, yesterday was a snow day, so I had time to tinker! I'll post a pic here soon but I think it turned out ok. I wanted to incorporate some things that had meaning for her - such as she loves shopping (hence the shopping bags), likes to read (made her a gardening book & a Retirement for Dummies book), she worked for a cardiologist for 30+ yrs (so I made the stethoscope) and she's going on a cruise (bottle of sunscreen for this). The banner read "Happy Birthirement Bev". Hope she likes it! Thanks Brenda!!

Next up...2 big corporate cakes for Miss & Oakville offices! Yikes!

Gotta love making people happy!!

So I managed to enjoy the March Break with my family - outings to the maple syrup farm, swimming and even Disney on Ice! I also read a book (The Secret Daughter - excellent by the way) and did numerous loads of laundry! So what does this have to do with Cake? I managed to squeeze in 2 custom cakes this week too! Some serious time management skills going on here!

I dropped the Toopy & Binoo cake off this morning to the Bielby family and was very happy to see the birthday boy's brother's expression! He loved it but wanted for it to be a surprise for his 3 yr old brother so we kept it a secret. Then he quickly mentioned that for his upcoming 5th birthday he would like a Super Mario cake! Another fave of mine! Can't wait Marshall! Thanks to the Bielby family for using BABY Cakes for every birthday during the last year (+).

Then off to deliver Harry Potter! A few notes about the creation of this cake - well, it was a labour of love for sure!! I was in the "zone" yesterday as I hand-painted 2 potions using an old style script I found on microsoft. I specifically picked the Shrinking Solution Potion b/c I wanted a mini Harry to sit on the edge of the Potions book! And then I chose the Polyjuice Potion, just because. Ironically, once I was finishing Harry's face (the last part as I created him from the legs up), it was apparent that Harry had also dipped into the Polyjuice Potion...his lips/mouth weren't working for me. But alas, I figured it was as good as this self-taught caker was going to get! I was quite pleased with the outcome in general. The wand is completely chocolate fondant with engravings to resemble Harry's real wand. The Golden Snitch is a combo of gumpaste/fondant and coloured with gold lustre dust.

This cake smelled amazing and I was working on it, it was hard not to salivate. The whole thing is chocolate - chocolate cake, chocolate ganache filling and covered in crusting chocolate buttercream!! I couldn't taste anything as I made it b/c I've given up chocolate (among other vices) for Lent...so my kids helped me out! "Mmmm, delicious Mommy" my 3 yr old proclaimed! The client requested minimal fondant as her bday boy is not a fan (though my homemade marshmallow fondant is pretty yummy) so I just topped the book with a fondant page in order to create the potions page. I used my airbrush (best Christmas present ever honey!!) to make the book edges as gold as I could.

So check out the pics and feel free to email me with any requests, questions or comments. Oh, and the delivery of the Harry Potter cake was my FAVOURITE to date. Kaden's mom Angel was in tears and said "Oh my God, Kaden is going to sh*t!!". She was so emotional and just kept imagining his expression when she presented the cake to him. I can't wait to hear about it!! Thanks so much Angel! Hope I get to make another one real soon for your family ;)

Happy Caking!!

My cutest cake yet!

So I am pretty sure that I made my favourite cake today...Toopy & Binoo on their blue couch, complete with colourful balloons and Patchy Patch! Since all 3 of my kids went through this stage (obsessed with T&B), I really enjoyed creating this one for Haydain's 3rd birthday. I'll get a picture up here soon enough although there is one on my facebook page that I uploaded from my cell phone.

Can't wait to get started on my Harry Potter cake, also for Saturday! I just made my first batch of modelling chocolate that I'm hoping is easy to work with. It was 11oz of chocolate (I used white chocolate wafers from Bulk Barn) melted and then mixed with 1/3 cup corn syrop. Sounds pretty simple right? Cake Boss is always using modelling chocolate so it's gotta be easier than gumpaste I figure. Gumpaste dries quickly & very hard whereas the modelling chocolate seems to be more pliable yet firm.

I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks for checking in!

Toopy & Binoo today

Since I have 2 cakes due on Saturday, I thought I'd start off with the Toopy & Binoo cake today. So it's "dirty iced" and in the fridge now. I planned on doing fondant accents such as Toopy & Binoo with balloons, party hats, etc. Oh and don't forget Patchy Patch. But I just might make some homemade modelling chocolate and see what all the fuss is about. They use it a lot on Cake Boss for sculpting. If anyone knows where I can buy it, let me know. For now, it's melted chocolate & corn syrup...or at least that's what the recipe says. I'll let you know how it goes!

Mmmmm smells good in here!

Had a good productive day of baking! Made a chocolate cake, a vanilla cake, and a batch of cinnamon rolls (my Dad's recipe)! Smells so good in this house. But almost too good - I think I need to go for a run or workout! Weekend cakes include Toopy & Binoo and Harry Potter! I'm pretty excited to do both of these!

Sigh...finally cake-free for a few days!

Don't get me wrong! I absolutely LOVE doing my cakes. Sketching them, colouring the sketch, even the baking and the making of fondant. My favourite part of all is seeing the happiness when people get what they asked for...or even more sometimes! But since I'm a fulltime highschool teacher, mother of 3 young kids, wife, and fitness enthusiast, sometimes I can get easily overwhelmed with my "to do" list when I add a few custom cakes onto it!

I just finished a very quick Montreal Canadiens jersey cake for our friend "Buddy"'s birthday and now I plan on relaxing for the rest of the day...well, once I get the risotta made for my arancini!! I saw the Cake Boss (actually the Kitchen Boss) make them on his show the other day and they looked fabulous! So, I'm going to start my arancini (Italian rice balls) while the meatballs simmer in the crock pot. Enjoy the day everyone! Kiss your kids! Life is sweet!

OOPS!

Well so much for that last comment about not having any cakes to do this weekend!! Going to my nephew's birthday party this afternoon and sort of feeling like "the bad aunt" if I show up without a cake. I wasn't asked to do the cake, but how can I not bring one? So I was puzzled as to how to pull off a quick, last-minute yet meaningful cake for a 10yr old boy! (or maybe he's 11! Good Lord, I AM the bad aunt!). Thank goodness Mylana is a 3 yr old genius...she said "Mommy do a rock & roll cake for Dante!" and inspiration struck. An electric guitar it shall be!!

And another big oops - our family best friend who the kids have endeared as "Buddy" has a birthday this weekend - tomorrow in fact. Not sure if we'll even be seeing him then but Roman wants a Canadiens Jersey for his best friend's birthday. So I'll tackle that one tomorrow after church!

Happy Saturday y'all!

Teddy bear cake status

So I finished the Teddy Bear cake at around 11:30pm (which for anyone who knows me is 3 hours past my bedtime!) and I wasn't quite sure about it. Lots of issues with the arms falling off, the "fur" looking real, etc. I awoke to find the poor little guy's chin on his bowtie (head had slid forward). Seriously, everything that could go wrong with this cake went wrong. Frustrating too b/c I had made a teddy bear cake about 2 years ago and it turned out fine. If only I could remember how I did it!!

But the delivery went okay and the birthday boy's mom messaged me on facebook to say that she LOVED it!! Yay!! I'm my own worst critic, I know. I'll post pics here in a bit.

No other cakes on the plate this weekend which is awesome! March break!! I have 2 big but small one's for next Saturday though! Super excited to do Harry Potter for Kaden and Toopy & Binoo for Haydain!

Enjoy your Friday night everyone!! Thanks for checking in. Please continue to share the cake love!!
Cynthia

OMG!!

So I'm working on a teddy bear 1st bday cake...truth be told, I have been picking away at it all day (home with my girls b/c caregiver in Australia - but that's a whole other story!!)...Anyways, made the "present" cake and now am on the actual bear. This poor kid's bear hasn't done a lick of cardio all winter and is about 40lbs overweight. Plus, his arms won't stay on his body! This completely sucks now that it's airbrushed b/c everytime an arm falls, I need to stick it on again and then re-airbrush. FRACK!!!!!!

I'm working on glass #2 of Shiraz but so far, no edge off this cake boss! I'm losing it! What to do? Can I make the kid's bear without arms? He's only 1! What will he know? LOL!

To be continued...hopefully with a better ending!!

More BABY Cakes Photos in a gallery! Click on the link!

http://cid-cd07a0fd547aece7.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/B.A.B.Y%20Cakes
Click on the above link to take a look at a photo gallery for more BABY Cakes. They are arranged in order by date, with the most recent cakes I've made actually at the end of the gallery! Thanks for looking! More cakes available at http://www.cakecentral.com/ if you search by my username on this site (cyncamp).

Working on a cake

My latest BABY Cake is for a little boy's first birthday. His mom sent me a photo of his favourite brown teddy bear and then just said "go for it"! She's giving me free reign to create something wonderful for his special day! So, I have made a present cake (colours are Sesame Street-ish; reds, blues, yellows with the bow being red) and another cake which will become his brown teddy sitting beside the present. His teddy has a big red bow! Now if I can figure out how to make this look like his actual bear...I'll be at it for a while! But don't worry, I will post a pic once I'm done!