Luggage & Purse Cake

My customer sent me a picture from the lovely Pinterest & asked me to replicate the cake. I'm unable to credit the original designer of the cake because it was not attached to the photograph.

For the luggage, I did a 2 layered 1/4 sheet cake (chocolate & almond). The purse was carved from chocolate cake.

 I was very pleased with how my replica turned out!



Fondant Covered Luggage & Purse Cake

Fondant Covered Purse Cake

Stacked Baby Block Cake

Well, after hearing about the royal baby's arrival, I thought it would be fitting to share my stacked baby block cake! Each block was a 6" x 6" x 6" block, covered in buttercream and decorated with marshmallow fondant accents. I also hand molded the pink elephant topper. :)

 

Hunting Themed Groom's Cake

It's so exciting when a bride-to-be comes to me and asks for a SURPRISE Groom's Cake! ..This particular cake was going to an avid hunter and is probably one of my favorite cakes to date. The tree stump is iced in buttercream and all of the accents are hand molded from marshmallow fondant. I airbrushed "sugar in the raw" and placed it around the base as edible moss. :)



 

'Dirt' Cake

A few of my friends have asked me for my recipe for what we call "Dirt Cake". You may also know this as Oreo Dessert. When my children have the opportunity to take a snack to school, this is always their choice! While growing up, my mother always made this dessert and layered it in a flower pot. You can add gummy worms (the kids just love this touch) and stick a bunch of artificial flowers in the top for decoration. If you're like me and are fascinated with making 'all things edible', then you could always make vanilla pizzelles and form them into bowls as shown below!

Ingredients:
1 package Oreos, crushed
1/4 cup butter
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
2 small packages of instant vanilla pudding
2 3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. cool whip

Crush Oreos in food processor until very fine, set aside. Cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add vanilla pudding, milk, and vanilla. Fold in cool whip. Starting and ending with the Oreo crumbs, layer Oreos and pudding mixture in your serving dish. Refrigerate to set up and ENJOY!! :)

Dirt Cake served in  vanilla pizzelle bowls!

Just added: Cake Order Form!

The majority of my orders start online. To make this process easier, I typed up an order form for cakes. This will help minimize the time it takes to get back to each other and you'll know the exact information that I need when you decide to place your order.

 

CLICK HERE FOR ORDER FORM!

How to use this order form:
    You will need to download the form (choose DOCX for the Word document). Please insert your information (you will need to 'enable editing'), save it to your computer and then email it back to me at thecraftycouple@hotmail.com. This way, we both have all the information we need in one place and it will make the planning process a lot easier.

Thank you! :)

Happy Birthday Adam

Over a year ago, while attending a cake show in Ohio, I learned about a non-profit organization named Icing Smiles. As a mom and a baker, I love everything they stand for. Bakers volunteer their time and skills to create goodies for children who are facing critical illness. These goodies can come in the form of "fun" cakes, "dream" cakes, and even cookies. Icing Smiles also understands how siblings may feel left out, so they may receive an 'Icing Smile' as well. If you've never heard about it, I recommend that you head over to their website and check them out. While you're there, you can even sign up to volunteer! :)

I'm one of those people who tend to lose sight of the 'big picture' in life. I'm 27 years old and I've struggled with negativity my entire life. The sad part is, I never realized how negative I was being until a recently. A few years ago, our family had quite the challenge to get through. I don't feel entirely comfortable talking in detail about it, and I'm still learning to "deal" with it. I'm sure I'll eventually come to terms with everything, but I'm just not there yet. I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason, even if I don't fully understand that reason, it's there.

About a month ago, I received an email from Icing Smiles to do a fun cake for Adam's 16th birthday. I've been so excited to do this cake. It makes me feel as though I have some sort of purpose in life. I know, some people may think, "it's just a cake," but to me, it's not just a cake. It's the opportunity to make someone else feel a glimpse of happiness and hopefully forget their worries for just a moment. Adam is a huge Jeff Gordon fan and I've been itching to do a 3d carved car cake for quite a while. I get intimidated easily and tend to psyche myself out (I'm still working on that confidence thing). I wanted to do my best and not disappoint Adam...I wanted to make him an awesome cake because, well, he deserves it. ..I think about all of the issues I may have and with all honesty, they're not THAT bad. In the grand scheme of things, I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I'm glad that with my involvement in Icing Smiles, my eyes have been opened and I can look at my life with a new, more positive perspective! (If you want to read about the children, check out the Icing Smiles Facebook page! There are photos of each child along with their cake and story.)

When it came time to deliver the cake, I was so nervous, yet elated. I just didn't know what to expect. I threw on my Icing Smiles t-shirt that I purchased at the cake show more than a year ago and started on my one hour journey to Adam's house. Upon arrival, I introduced myself and thought , "Why in the world were you so nervous?" Adam's family was so kind and best of all, Adam loved his cake! He even gave me a hug! ..And, from what his mother told me, he doesn't give them out freely! It was such a blessing to meet Adam and to be part of his 16th Birthday celebration! I'm so proud to be a part of Icing Smiles and will do my best to spread the word about this awesome organization!

 

 

 

 

ICING SMILES.ORG

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day! After the cakes were picked up, we had a blast spending some much needed relaxation down at the cabin!






My 6 yr. old fiddler showing off his new 1/2 sized violin!
(We're so proud of him and I can't help but brag a little!)

 

 

 

 

 

I'm back!! :)

Wow, I really haven't been doing a good job with posting. Well here's the scoop....I took on a temporary full-time substitute position from January to May, so I took some time off from the cake world. My assignment has finished up, so I'm back in the kitchen and booking future orders!








Clarion University Graduation Cake

Recipe: White Bread

Most people who know me personally, know that I try to make everything I can from scratch. After doing some researching, I have made it my goal to provide my children with preservative free food! Those things are nasty and there are so many to look for. Currently, I'm trying to pull out ALL of the BHT, BHA, and TBHQ from our diet. There are more out there that you shouldn't be eating, but I'm starting with those three. Read your labels and you wouldn't believe how many foods have at least one of those 3 "ingredients". I had 10 boxes of cereal in my pantry. All boxes except for one was what I call, "contaminated". The generic Raisin Bran from Aldi was the only one without it. If BHT wasn't actually in the food, it was in the packaging...AND if it wasn't an issue, they shouldn't have to include it on the ingredient list of the product!

Barbie Logo Cake

Barbie logo cake - I did a buttercream lay on for the logo and I free handed the shoes and purse onto the cake. :)

 

 

 

Archery Birthday Cake

I love to browse around on www.cakecentral.com. While visiting, I discovered a painting technique used with buttercream. This is my second time doing this technique and was actually rather pleased how it turned out. In a nutshell, I base ice my cake, mix my buttercream colors on a painter's palette (used only for cakes), grab a paintbrush and start "painting" on my cake....   :)

THANK YOU!!

Well, I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday! I was crazy busy during the month of December and appreciate each and every order from my customers--new and returning! It was also nice to have a much needed break to spend some stress-free, quality time with my family. I am so excited to start another year with this business adventure and have big plans for 2013... :)