Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Holiday Caking

I had about a million cakes to make (and cupcakes to make!) Between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some of them turned out okay, other's not so much. Sure, they tasted good, but when it come to decorating, I'm somewhat of a perfectionist....making me way harder on myself than I probably need to be.

However, I have one that I was kind of proud of. It tasted great and I thought it looked pretty cool, even though it didn't exactly turn out like I wanted it to.


I started with a recipe called Midnight Chocolate Cake. It was in one of my Cake Mix Doctor books that I got from my D-OC Secret Santa last year, the lovely Kathy. It was described as a dark chocolate cake. A co-worker of mine described it as tasting kind of like an Oreo Cakester.


It really was a great tasting cake. All of the recipes I have used from any of the Cake Mix Doctor books has been great. And easy. They've become my "fall back" recipe books for a fail proof, great tasting cake (or cupcake).


I wanted something Christmas-y. So I went with holly. I had bought a set of Christmas mini cookie cutters and it had the perfect holly leaf cutter. I iced my cake cake with buttercreme icing, but all my details were made from marshmallow fondant. I tried to make a fondant rope with two strands of red and green fondant, but they wouldn't stay, so instead I mashed them together and make a kind of tie-dyed looking border on the bottom.


To finish it all up, we know that everyone loves sparkly things, so I dusted the accents with some luster dust.


I think it turned out pretty good, although, like most of the cakes I do, it didn't really look like anything in my head. But, I think most artists must have that problem. Does it EVER turn out like we think it will? I think not. Enjoy!




7 comments:

Cherise said...

Awesome job!

Tinashaye said...

I do it for a living and it never comes out quite as I plan. I think your cake looks awesome! Nice job

Cara said...

Thanks Cherise!
Tinashaye, the closest place to take any kind of classes (other than Wilton courses) around here is almost 2 hrs away. Even the Wilton courses are an hour away. So everything I've learned, I've taught myself. I would love to do it for a living, but I have to have health insurance. :( So for now, it's just a fun hobby.

Jill said...

Beautiful cake!! :) Kayleigh is a perfectionist too and she's very critical of her work. I can't wait to show her this one :) She'll love it!!! Keep "caking"!!!

CarmeliaYong said...

the cake looks sooo nice... :D i love fondant icing!

hckd said...

lovely cake.. I look forward to reading more of your blog in the future : )

k2 said...

OUTSTANDING AWESOME CAKES!
That is all~