My 2nd Mater cake and I've learned that there is much to learn!!

It was a 4-cake week and from that I've learned that I JUST CAN'T DO THAT! I'm pretty sure my husband is ready to move out and my kids are going to have rotten teeth. Enough!

That being said and as awful as the pressure was this week, I think I put out some pretty decent work! My Mater cake was quite an experience...and here I was thinking "oh heck, that's easy. I've already done a Mater. I can do it in x minutes and time to spare!". NOT EXACTLY!! I've learned that the really impressive cakes out there in the world of google must be done by teams of people. Or at the very least, perhaps a mostly self-taught cake/mom like myself but with mad carpentry skills (or a husband with said skills!). I was able to improve upon my construction a wee bit from the last Mater I did...but still ended up with a droopy rearend and needed to prop up the wimpy little cake board that Mater sat on with chocolate bars covered in fondant. I was happy with my idea to use a big mass of RKT as the main support under the cake board though. Next time I know I will put Mater on a sturdier board and select something even stronger and more stable to support this board. Now if I had a handy husband, he could make me something like this structure I speak of...but alas, that's a whole other issue and not for a blog about caking!

Another little tidbit I walk away from this week with...transporting cakes is tricky and the inevitable will happen! Like Alice in Wonderland WILL lose her legs on her way to East end Hamilton! Next time - leave all fragile parts OFF of the cake while travelling and construct on-site! And always bring emergency tools!!

This week sounds a bit slower and I like that. I have a Hello Kitty cake for Saturday and potentially a 30th birthday cake for Saturday night though all details are TBD. So if you're reading this blog little sister, I'd appreicate knowing sooner than later!!

Thanks for your support! Anyone want to share any other caking secrets about fragile deliveries and creating support structures without a handy husband?
:D

Busy days of September!

Is anyone else struggling with the concept that it's officially fall? That September is almost over? That pretty soon we'll be talking about those 2 dreaded words...Christmas shopping? Yikes!!

My life has suddenly spun into fast forward and I have no remote to control it. Up early and thick into chaos as I try to get myself, my 3 children and my husband out the door for school with full tummies and clean faces! Ok, I don't really care about my husband's face!! That he can at least do right?

The life of high school teacher is never dull especially when you combine that with being a mom of 3 and one who takes on more cake orders than she can handle! I just can't say NO...but I'm learning. I actually said it today. So there!

This weekend is a nutty one and I've already completed a cake for Thursday which was a "donation" to a school fundraiser. It's the Bulldog cake (once I actually get pics loaded, you'll be able to see it) and I'm happy to say that my hours of school-night fussing were worth the fact that the School Council sold lots of tickets to raise money for a family in need AND that the winners of the cake were the Special Needs students of my school! WINNING!!

Tomorrow morning I'll be delivering 2 cakes to the same location - school! Our head secretary ordered a custom cake for her dad's 85th birthday (loves golf and lawn bowling) and a former student ordered an Alice in Wonderland theme cake for his girlfriend's 20th birthday! I'm pretty happy with my designs and have about 1.2 cakes left to do out of 2! It's going to be a late night!

Then on Sunday I had to break my "1 cake/week" rule (already had at this point) because Ty's mom emailed me and requested a special Mater cake for her boy's 2nd birthday. I made Ty's 1st birthday cake so how on Earth could I refuse?  So needless to say, my Saturday will be cake-filled from morning til night with delivery and creating Mater! Whew!

How are you spending your weekend? Any other cakers out there who have a hard time saying NO? Please advise!!!

Cake Flavours, Buttercreams & Fillings

Sometimes I get cake clients who are very specific about what they want and exactly how they want it. I like these but truthfully feel more pressure to meet each & every pre-conceived expectation this client has.

Then I have people who just love what I do and know that I will satisfy them no matter what happens - even when it comes to choosing the flavour of cake & buttercream they want. :) YAY!

At any rate, I thought I would post a quick note on the types of cakes that I have had experience in making (and in some ways perfecting) along with the buttercream flavours I have done and any fillings. Hopefully this will help you think up some reason (big or small) for a custom cake from me!!

CAKE FLAVOURS:
Vanilla, French Vanilla, Chocolate, Lemon, Coconut Pound
Vanilla Cream Cheese Pound
Coconut Cream Cheese Pound
Chocolate Chip Pound
Decadent Chocolate
Carrot Cake
Red Velvet

BUTTERCREAM ICING FLAVOURS:
Traditional vanilla or chocolate buttercream (BC)
Vanilla bean BC
French Vanilla BC
Cream Cheese BC (can flavour orange or lemon for a twist)
Rich chocolate BC
Peanut Butter BC
Assorted flavours - cherry, raspberry, lemon, apple, coffee, bavarian, orange, lemon, bubblegum, tuttifruitti, red licorice, anise, root beer, champagne

FILLING IDEAS: (not all cakes can handle a filling due to structure)
Fresh fruit - strawberries, raspberry, blueberry coulis, etc
Lemon curd
Bavarian cream
Cannoli cream
Cookies n cream
Broken chocolate bars (like Reese PB Cups, Skor, Crispy Crunch or your FAVE)

Let me know if you think of anything else that's not on my list! I'm happy to have more ammunition to make people smile!!