I, Carly!

I don't watch much tv focused on the tween girl audience.  So when I was asked to make an iCarly cake, I had to do some research.

Those of you who are more familiar with this entertainment sensation can tell me if I got it right...but I think the happy little girl who got it for her birthday party was confirmation enough:).

Who Carly?  iiiiiiCarly
chocolate and vanilla buttercream,
yellow stars/screen: gumpaste

My plan was simple enough...make the computer screen out of gum paste, stick it in the cake, voila.  Little did I know that gum paste can sometimes soften when it's in direct contact with cake and icing for prolonged periods.

Bummer.

Thankfully, there is aluminum foil and plastic wrap for such occasions.  I averted last minute disaster by wrapping the bottom of the screen and it worked just fine.

Copyright infringement or artistic license?
Just a tribute to white laptops everywhere...

I'm sure I didn't do it according to the great pastry book they have at the French Culinary Institute, but I learned something.  I survived, and the cake looked pretty darn good at the end of the day.

Cinderella and the Electric Knife

I live in rural Indiana.  This is no place to be a cake snob.

I'm not one of those cake makers who will only do cakes that cost four dollars per serving.  I like to work with people and do something that fits their budget, even if that means I'm not making my personal favorite recipes.

Now, I don't make no crappy cakes.  But there are levels of wonderful.  Gum paste flowers are one thing, but that's just not what everyone wants.  Sometimes, they just want a princess cake.

Cinderella...white cake, vanilla icing, and yes, the torso of a real doll:)

I have to say, I really enjoyed making this, and envisioning a very happy little five year old girl on her birthday.

Carving that skirt tier was a challenge, and I came close to dispair more than once.  But it finally got iced and I finally got Cinderella to stay afloat up top.

Now...this was the first time I've ever dismembered a barbie-esque doll with an electric knife in my kitchen.  I had to pull her legs off to get her to fit in there, and her...um...nether-regions...were still sticking out too far to fit into her skirt.

So I pulled a Wicked Step-mother and sawed her butt off.  :)  he he

I would normally make a gumpaste topper for something like this, but I wanted to keep the cost down, and I wanted a real Disney look to her face.  So I opted for the doll...I love the finished product.  But I'll never forget my sadistic magic act in the kitchen...

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I will saw this doll in two!!!"  Yeah...she'll really never be the same again!

Blerg Cake

You know how we all are these days. We order cake for everything.  It's not just weddings and birthdays anymore.  You can have a lavish cake when your divorce is final, order one to placate the groom and keep him from turning your wedding day into a re-enactment of his favorite scenes from Star Wars.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I introduce a new genre of cake.  It's a tribute to one of my favorite TV characters, a woman who in many respects (minus the politics and skanky behavior with men) is eerily similar to the once-single version of moi, Liz Lemon.

Blerg!  Blerg I say!!

 To all you 30 Rock fans out there, and the one of you who might be reading my blog, I say this:  the BLERG CAKE is coming soon! 

What is a Blerg Cake, you might ask?  Ah.  Well.  Blerg is that delightful Liz Lemon word they created for TV to avoid so many FCC flags.  Not unlike the "Frack" of Battlestar Gallactica fame, "Blerg" is the panacea curse word. 

I've had a few bad days lately that have just made me say "blerg."  Sometimes dejectedly, sometimes with spirit, sometimes just to keep myself from saying something my two year old son might repeat during Sunday School. 

I've got a design, and the next time I can't sleep (which will be tonight until 3 am) I will get started.  So check in.  Look for it.  It's gonna make you say blerg.

I like my Mom, I really do!!

I like my Mom, I really, truly do.  I love her to pieces.  But I made her a depressing piano cake for her birthday.  At least, I think it's depressing.  I'm not the best judge at this point.  Please don't send me to Cake Wrecks!

It's an upright piano!  I swear, it was supposed to make her smile!

 
Honestly, I was just trying to make a little upright piano out of cake and icing, and it took a Tim Burton turn somewhere around the time when I ran out of brown food coloring to make the rich, wood tones of the Baldwin piano she always played growing up. 

It was supposed to be inspirational...a throw back to the old days when she'd stay up late practicing after my brother and I went to bed.  Instead...it turned out kindof...um...sad. 

Idea: make "happy birthday" look like piano keys
Execution: um...I don't want to look anymore.

But I love you, Mom!  I really do, and I'm sorry your birthday cake wasn't all it should have been.  Next time I'll stick to primary colors and pastels.  Promise!

My Card...

I had a friend ask about business cards the other day.  So I ordered some from VistaPrint - supposedly a freebie if you pay shipping.  But golly, that site is out for blood! 

Sorry kids, I had to use the cell phone camera.

 
They lure you in with "free business cards" then they present nine million products that match the layout and color of your card...it's like office supply nirvana!

Everything has your name on it and it's all so pretty! 

I managed to get to the checkout and only succumb to one other product - the oh-so-enticing return address label.

Anyway...thought I'd show you all the cards I ordered while I'm cooking up my next creation.  My mom's birthday is coming up, and she's going to get my best effort:). 

More soon.