It's the Holidays! Time for Cookies, Cakes and Candy!

Every year at this season, I tell myself I am going to cut back on the baking...one only needs so much sugar in the house. But, every year I seem to only bake more than the year before! Somebody stop me! We are all going into diabetic shock over here! Above is a frozen peppermint pie with a chocolate crust, and a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust. Below are some more goodies I made this holiday season.

Mockingjay Cake

I needed a quick, last minute cake for my 13-year old niece's birthday. It was a toss-up between a Harry Potter cake or a Hunger Games themed cake. After googling various images for cake ideas, I found one that seemed easy enough for me to pull off and that I knew would be still be a big hit. To save time, I used store-bought chocolate fudge frosting and melted it in the microwave until it was pouring consistency. This resulted in a smooth, shiny cake. For the Mockingjay symbol, I printed out an image of one to trace over. I taped the image to a cookie sheet and covered it with wax paper. I used melted yellow candy melts to trace over the Mockingjay, then placed it in the freezer to harden. The candy Mockingjay peeled right off the wax paper easily. Finally, I chose to paint over the Mockingjay with some edible gold shimmer before placing on the cake. Small dowels inserted in the cake at an angle helped prop up the Mockingjay, like a picture frame. For the flames, I colored one half of a piping bad with red-orange and the other yellow. The cake was done in a flash and was a huge hit!

Sweet 16 Masquerade

For my daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party, we decided to have a masquerade and murder mystery party. The color scheme is her favorite colors: purple and black. I do not have a lot of experience with fondant and still struggle a bit with it. I definitely had to hide the imperfections and the "back" of the cake, but overall, I am pleased with the finished product. For the black, I purchased Wilton packaged fondant because it is difficult to color anything homemade black. To save money and taste, I made marshmallow fondant for the purple. The texture is just slightly different, but not noticeable. To finish off the cake, I added feathers, a mask for the top, and painted on gold luster dust for the stripes and numbers. I also added a purple sparkly ribbon to the 2nd layer and fondant balls around the bottom.

Chicken Cake

Yes, it is a chicken cake. I made this cake for a friend and classmate who happens to LOVE chickens. She is also a vegetarian, but after this party she can say that she did indeed eat chicken! :)
I didn't have any instructions to follow to aid in my construction of this cake, I just had to "wing it."

So first, I had to sculpt the head out of chocolate fondant. I found some candy eyeballs to go with it. This was an interesting process that produced a lot of laughs. When I finally created a head I was satisfied with, I proceeded with constructing the cake.

For the nest, I used a single round cake, frosted in buttercup yellow frosting and covered in coconut tinted the same color. I rolled white fondant into eggs. For the chicken body, I used two layers of a football shaped pan. I shaved off the top of each layer and cut them in the shape of wings and attached them to the side with toothpicks. I covered the whole body in fudge frosting and then attached the head and tail I had made with chocolate fondant. I then covered the entire chicken in chocolate frosting with a leaf tip.

Although no one got up to do the chicken dance, this cake was a huge hit!!! :)

Baby Shower Cake with Candy Blocks

A baby shower cake I made for a friend. Buttercream frosting. The baby blanket is fondant. The blocks are made with Wilton candy melts. I used a candy mold and then glued the pieces together using extra candy.

Cake with Royal Icing Butterflies and Roses

Cake I made for my daughter's birthday! Cake is covered in marshmallow fondant...which is so much cheaper and easier than regular fondant. Plus, it tastes better. The butterflies were an experiment. They are made from royal icing and were made a day ahead.

Pink and White Cupcakes

Some cupcakes I made with the leftover batter from the butterfly cake for Madison's slumber party. Pink and white striped frosting.

Wedding Cake-Fresh Flowers

This cake is by far my favorite. A three-tiered stacked cake with cream cheese frosting. Decorated with satin ribbon and a cascading flow of fresh flowers to match the bride's bouquet. So pretty!

4 Tier Wedding Cake with Roses

I am very proud of this one. This was a lot of work but I think it was worth it. Stacked and pillared tiers. Buttercream frosting and Royal icing roses.

3 Tier Wedding Cake-Blue & White

One of my better ones. Two stacked tiers, one pillared. Blue satin ribbon around the bottom edges. Decorated with Navy blue buttercream roses and silver leaves.