The Buttercreme Baker

You big dummy

I've been working on cake dummies for the Open House I'm planning for my new business venture, The Buttercreme Baker.

This particular 'cake' features roses molded from modeling chocolate and hand-painted sugar flowers.

The very same modeling chocolate used to make the roses, were also used to fashion the 'ribbons' that adorn the bottom of the tiers.

This dummy was inspired by yet another greeting card that caught my eye. I save pretty much every card I'm given, especially the really pretty ones.

Soup to Nuts

There's nothing more satisfying than a good Autumnal soup. I'm all about simplicity and this recipe for Pasta e Fagioli is just that.

1 lb ground beef

½ medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

28 oz diced tomatoes

16 oz red kidney beans

16 oz white kidney beans

15 oz beef stock

1 ½ t oregano

1 t pepper

2 ½ t parsley

1 t hot pepper sauce

8 oz spaghetti sauce

6 oz pasta

Brown beef in a skillet. Drain fat and add to crock pot along with everything except for the pasta. Cook on low for 7-8 hrs or on high for 4-5 hrs. During the last few minutes, cook pasta in a separate pot and add to soup in individual serving portions. Garnish with shaved parmesan.

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On Sunday, my church held a "50 States Rally" to raise money for our choirs. I was asked to design a cake incorporating the significance of the rally along with the musical aspect of the day.

The choir, states, and ribbon were all made out of modeling chocolate, both white and milk. The states were hand-painted to resemble a topographical map.

Alaska and Hawaii were also represented in this cake, both were chocolate.

 

Custom Handbag

I love using fondant as a canvas for painting.

This is a cake I did for Abby's birthday. The cake is Golden Vanilla and iced with Vanilla Buttercream.

I thought a matching, handmade card would be a nice touch.

This handbag was really a lot of fun; I can't wait to make another one. The pattern is fashioned after a card my sister gave me, she gives such lovely cards.

I almost forgot…

My grandmother and cooking mentor, Doris Senior asked me to make a cake to commemorate the 68^th anniversary of the Senior Usher Board at our church…boy that was a mouthful. She pretty much gave me creative freedom over the design and this is what I came up with.

This photo was shot pre-assembly. All of the elements were placed strategically onto the cake at the church. The usher pin is made from gumpaste and the gloves are fondant.

The money is made from gumpaste and then painted with silver highlighter dust.

Next time I'll take better close-ups because this cake was full of little details.

I Heart Halloween

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. I think the best part for me was spending time with my sisters, and now my daughter and nieces. We watch countless scary movies, eat buttery popcorn sprinkled with Milk Duds and ultimately make ourselves sick with all of the night's indulgences.

This holiday for me is very much how some people like to celebrate to get into the Christmas spirit; it's all about the frenzy of activities until the big day arrives and you get to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. I take my Halloweens very seriously.

These cupcakes were done for a Fall Festival at Madelyn's school. They were devil's food, chocolate ganache dipped and the spider webbing is white chocolate.

I think the next time I make these; I'll add a vanilla filling to them as kind of an ode to the Hostess cupcake. Gosh, I miss those.

Won’t you take me to…Pumpkin Town?

Okay, so I've been eyeing this amazing Haunted Pumpkin Village on Martha Stewart's website for ages wanting to tackle it but, not sure if I could do it justice. Going against my better judgment, I decided to slay the beast. Besides spending five hours in pumpkin Hades, the part that was the most difficult was actually finding pumpkins to carve. Apparently, there was a pumpkin shortage in Virginia this year.

We finally tracked down the perfect pumpkins for the task at the Chesterfield Berry Farm. They also had some very cute gourds I snapped up to place underneath my other project…

Because four pumpkins just wasn't enough.

Black Tie Birthday

For my friend Tiffany's birthday, I had planned to make a cake carved to look like the gift I bought for her. But, I didn't want to make a huge cake for only five people. So, I fashioned these minis as a solution.

I crafted five individual 4" cakes (the two tier version is for the birthday girl). I should have gotten a photo when I presented them to her-she was very surpised.

Don't be fooled by their diminutive size, they may look simple to make but, they weren't. It is clear to me why in some bakeshops, individual cakes for a party are oftentimes more expensive than their regular-sized counterparts.

Although they were a bit time-consuming, I had the most fun making and coloring the bows; there's something about the repetitive motion that I really enjoy but this would probably drive any normal person insane.

Five County Fair Revisited

Madelyn was a contestant in the Petite Miss category of the Miss Five County Fair pageant on Monday. She looked stunning in her ivory gown and antique earrings; sadly, the vintage rhinestone necklace I ordered from Etsy, didn't arrive in time. She must have asked me about that necklace every day for the past two weeks.

A little extra sparkle never hurt anyone but, her personality is radiant enough.

She didn't win but, she sure had a blast competing.

In the midst of pageant madness, I was also working on a cake for the Hampton Inn. They are celebrating International Housekeeping Week, September 13^th-19^th. So, I thought a cake replicating their Cloud Nine® bedding would be memorable.

I especially enjoyed sculpting the lapdesk and remote.

The do not disturb sign was a last minute addition. I'm glad I decided to use it though, it kind of ties it all together.

The Hydrangea

This is "The Hydrangea". It was made for my parent's 32^nd wedding anniversary.

It consists of a moist White Sour Cream Cake, filled with a sweet-tart Lemon Curd and a creamy Lemon Cheesecake Filling, iced in my signature Vanilla Buttercream. The hydrangea flowers are made of an edible substance called gumpaste, the green-tinted ribbon gracing the bottom is also edible but, is made of fondant.

The blooms on this cake were modeled after my favorite hydrangea plant in the backyard. Many thanks to Morgan & Ginger, it's still alive due to their infinite garden wisdom.

This one is definitely goes into the portfolio.

The Birkin

The real Hermés handbag retails for about $17,000. This is as close as my sister will get to one, at least on this birthday.

I tried to make it as authentic as possible, given the time constraint.

The actual cake is Butter Pecan, filled with French Vanilla Custard and brown sugar toasted pecans, iced with Vanilla Buttercream. The fondant was manipulated to look like real leather right down to the stitching.

I even constructed the little lock that goes with the purse.

Alison arrives for her birthday visit tomorrow, I hope she likes it!