Cake is happiness

A few years ago, I decided I wanted to make a huge cake for my sister’s birthday. I had been experimenting with fondant, but only to decorate cookies. I could have started with a small cake, but instead went for a two-tired cake with zebra print and red icing. I do like a challenge! I lost track of how many hours I put into that cake, but it turned out great!

After that, I was hooked and started making all kinds of cake!

This one was for a friend’s daughter’s birthday.

For a collegue’s birthday. I used ganache and it made the cake all slidey and crooked, but it tasted blissful.

I made this one for my cousins birthday.

This one was a special order from a friend for her boyfriend’s birthday. I complied, but this is not my team!

And then there was the castle cake for another little cousin.

My little sister saw all the cakes I was making and asked for something special for her fifteenth birthday.

This one was for a circus themed baby shower. The tent is leaning a little and the elephant looks like he’s wearing sunglasses, but this is still one of my favourites!

When my cousin got married, she asked me to make her cake. I had never made a cake this big before, but it came out looking pretty great, if I do say so myself!

My friend Caroline’s daughter wanted a princess cake for her third birthday.

When my friend Julie got married, I offered to make her cake. It was not perfectly level, but in no way did it look as crooked as it does in this picture!

When my friend Dominique got married, she planned a small wine and cheese, but her daughter really wanted her to have a ckae, so we devised a secret plan to surprise her with one!

And, most recently, I made a baby shower cake for my friend Suzanne. Baby Stella was supposed to arrive eight weeks after the shower, but instead, she showed up a few days later! She’s small, but healthy and happy.

Making a cake takes a while, but it’s worth it to see the looks on people’s faces when they see their cake! However, I think I’m going on a little cake hiatus. I’m still going to eat cake, just maybe not decorate any for a while!

Ooh la la!

My best friend Suzanne is going to have a baby. We’ve been friends since the first grade, and now she’s going to be someone’s mom. It’s strange, wonderful and perfect, all at the same time. She’ll be an awesome mom. I can already picture her with her daughter. Of course, in my mind it’s all Hallmark moments, but I’m sure real life will be different! Either way, I hope the next two months go by really fast, because I can’t wait to meet baby Stella.

Suzanne’s mom and sisters hosted a Paris themed baby shower yesterday. I don’t know where they came up with that idea, but it was perfect! They really went all out with the decorations too, with paintbrushes hanging from the ceiling and impressionist-ish paintings done by Suzanne’s two year old nephew. It all felt very artistic and Parisian.

We all had to wear hats, which was fabulous, because how often do I get to wear a hat that’s not a woolly toque these days? I wore my fascinator and it made me quite happy. I didn’t think I would get the chance to wear it again! Especially not in the winter. I didn’t get a picture though, as I was busy being the photographer with my awesome new camera. I did get Suzanne’s sister to take a picture of the two of us, but I had removed my feathers by then!

I was asked to make the cake. I wanted to stay with the Paris theme, but not be too tacky. I decided “chic” would be my theme. I bought some edible paper, which I had never worked with before. I liked the design, but I couldn’t cut out shapes like I wanted, it kept cracking. I decided to go with strips instead and this is what I came up with.

I wanted to take step-by-step photos as I was decorating the cake, but I am way too messy for that to be possible. Making fondant is not difficult, but it requires a very hight tolerance for extreme messiness. Powdered sugar everywhere. And I’m not exaggerating!

I hope baby Stella liked it!

Calla Lily Cake

My friend Dominique got married on Saturday. She’s having a beautiful wedding ceremony with family and friends in January, but she had a civil ceremony this weekend. She wanted to keep things simple and invited us to the ceremony, followed by a wine and cheese at her house. Her daughters wanted to make sure the day was extra-special, so they planned little surprises. One of those surprises was asking me to make a cake.

I remembered she had mentionned calla lilies for her bouquet, but I couldn’t ask her about it, it was meant to be a surprise!

I decided to go with the lilies, but I had never made life-like flowers before. I usually just cut my decorations out of fondant. I found a tutorial with a little video and it didn’t look that hard. Turs out, it was pretty easy! I made several flowers and let them dry overnight. I covered the cake in light yellow fondant, added a yellow ribbon, and voilà! Calla lily perfection!

Sunshine and Wedding Bells

On Saturday, my friends Julie and Pete got married. It was perfect! I had a great time and I think everyone else did too! It was the first time I was so involved with all the “behind the scenes” stuff, and let me tell you, planning a wedding is not for sissies!

First, as promised, the pictures of my incredible fascinator! I even had people tell me “It’s so Kate Middleton!” Yes! Exactly what I was going for.

 

Before the ceremony, I did a lot of running around.

– Get flowers from point A to point B.

– Zip the bride into her dress.

– Give the flower girl her basket of flowers.

– Pin the boutonnières on the men.

– Unlock reception hall for the caterer.

Then, it was time for the ceremony. It was beautiful and I cried when they said their vows. I always cry at weddings, but this one touched me more than most.

This is my favourite picture of the day.

After the ceremony, there was a garden party. I think this was the part I was looking forward to the most. I stopped at the store to get a pen for the guest book, because nobody thought to get one, and the only one we found had “funeral home directors” written on it. They didn’t have what I was looking for, but the girls at the store found one in their desk that was a million times better than the funeral pen.

As I got back in my car to head to the garden party, there was a small problem. My car wouldn’t start. This is a long story that deserves it’s own blog post, so more to come on this tomorrow.

At the reception hall, I took a picture of the wedding cake I made. Now, I admit is was a little crooked. I tried so hard to make it level, I even used a level, but it was still a little off. However, it was nowhere near as topsy-turvy as it looks in this picture! It must be the angle or something.

The evening was filled with laughter, good food, excellent cake (if I do say so myself) dancing, lovely speeches and many happy moments!

So lovely!

Lovely is a great word. I’ve sung the praises of fabulous before, but lovely is right up there with the best words ever. I mean, it’s got love in it! Lovely is buttery lemon scones and hats with feathers. It’s lace and lilacs and twirly skirts. And, according to two lovely ladies, this blog is also lovely! Miss Four Eyes and Live Passionately Tonight  have both nominated me for the One Lovely Blog award. Thanks girls!

I’m now meant to share 7 things about myself. Lovely, since I do like talking about myself!

1. I wish the crimped hair look would come back. Maybe I’ll bring it back myself. Who’s with me?

2. I danced in a flashmob last year for Canada day. I almost melted, it was so hot, and you can’t see me in the video, but it was awesome! That’s me with the red ribbon around my ponytail.

3. I make a mean apple pie. Every year, my mom, my sisters, my grandmother and I make a whole bunch. Last year we made 22 in one day.

4. I like to decorate cakes.

5. I have a dress addiction. I thought about getting help, but I don’t want too.

6. My sister and I ran all over Ireland trying to pet a sheep. We finally did, but in Scotland. Then, when we came back to Canada, we were asked if we had touched any livestock….

7. I don’t consider myself to be very athletic, but I did a triathlon last June. I was pretty proud of myself! I still am, actually. I also think everyone should wear a wetsuit at least once in their lives to appreciate how good they look without it.

And now, to nominate 7 great bloggers for the One Lovely Blog award:

Queen Gen

Erin has thoughts

Running and Cupcakes

I sweat pretty

My cup of tea

Heavy Metta

30 days of yoga … 1 day at a time

Have fun checking out these lovely blogs!