Revealed: Project Ziggurat

I hear you out there.  Yes, I know you've been checking in to see if I've published the pictures of Project Ziggurat. 

Well, your faithfulness is now rewarded.  I present to you, with no small amount of pride, Project Ziggurat (or: The Cake that Ate a Blog).

Aside from a little cardboard and a few wooden dowels, this thing is completely edible.  It took 60 cups of rice cereal...8 bags of marshmallows...5 pounds of fondant...2 chocolate cakes...an entire batch of buttercream icing...a vat of royal icing...and a great deal of supporting infrastructure. 

The top tier, as well as the bottom two tiers, are made entirely out of cereal treat.  He wanted an epic cake, but was only feeding a handful.  So, we went the fake-cake route, and only the 8" and 6" tiers are delicious chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream.
I had ordered a brick texture mat to make the fondant work easier.  But, alas, the mail was slow, so all those bricks are done by hand.

Then the piping...oh my goodness...the piping.  Let's hope I ge this right...

First we have Arabic:

Then Hebrew:

Next is Paleo-Hebrew or Proto-Canaanite:

Then Middle Egyptian (which was almost tossed for a few choice words Amy had to describe just what she thought of near eastern languages as her hand was cramping up in protest):

And finally, Akkadian or Neo-Assyrian Cuneiform:

And what does it all say? 

Josh is 33. 

Actually, the part I've shown you here probably just says "Josh is..." The text wraps around the three sides not bearing the stairs.  Needless to say, I'm happy to write in modern English, without the need to draw birds, triangles or other pictures to get my point across.  Heaven help me if we are ever forced to learn Chinese. 

But, truly, my brother Josh is celebrating 33 years, and this was his choice for his party this year.  I hope it makes the trip up to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in one piece, where it can be enjoyed by his Biblical Archaelological and Near-Eastern Linguist type friends.  Yes, he really is that smart:).

Happy Birthday, Josh!  I love you dearly, as you can tell by the herculean effort I made for your cake.  I hope you and your friends enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the challenge of making it!

Studly Groom's Cake

It looks like Bake Lore is finally going to get some space at a bridal show.  My registration isn't final yet, but I'm already prepping things for my table. 

First on the list: a chocolate stud cake for the groom.  Ladies, let's be honest, the wedding day is all about us.  The least we can do is remind the groom that he is, in fact, the studliest man in our lives and what better way to do that than with chocolate?

Studly Groom's Cake

This is actually a dummy.  It's made out of cereal treat, and covered with royal icing so it will harden and stay pretty - er - I mean manly - for a long, long time. 

But the real thing would be a double chocolate cake, soaked in a sweet liqueur syrup and covered in rich chocolate buttercream, or ganache...and of course finished with chocolate studs, the mighty chocolate chip!

So brides, don't forget your stud.  He needs some chocolate on your big day, and if you're lucky, he'll share a bite with you too!

Zambia, A Country in Cake

Well, for those who read my post a week or so ago, you know I've been working on a HUGE cake for a church group sending a family on a year of mission work in Africa.  Specifically, this stalwart team is heading to Zambia.

To celebrate, they commissioned me to make it out of cake.  And let me tell you - what fun, and what WORK!  The baking alone was a momentus undertaking, then the icing the filling the carving the crumbcoating and the decorating and delivering...I earned every penny!

Here it is in all it's glory!  "Cake for 100, Alex..."
"Made out of yellow and chocolate cake, his African country can feed a huge crowd". 
"What is...

ZAMBIA!"

My Patterns

West Zambia...in buttery yellow cake

East Zambia...in chocolate cake...with the colors of the flag almost complete

The finished product!

My apologies...I'm sure you see the smudge...

It wasn't until I was home reviewing my poor photography skills that I learned there had been a small smudge of green butter cream on the camera lense.  I'm hoping someone will take pity on me and send me another, icing-free picture, but until then...these will do!  Enjoy!

Babies!

It's been a full and wonderful day!  My good friend Katie won my facebook promo, and got her shower cake for 50% off...speaking of facebook - have you liked Bake Lore on facebook yet??  Go on...do it...I'll be here when you get back...

Here's the cake...and tomorrow I'll show you the adorable cookies that went with it!

6" tier: chocolate with vanilla butter cream
8" tier lemon with vanilla butter cream
fonant and gum paste details

Thank you for Calling Bake Lore...Please Hold...

Dang!

Things is busy, kids!

I frankly...cannot believe it. 

The past two weeks have been nothing but calls and emails and orders and appointments.  I have been so busy baking, I haven't had a spare moment to update the old blog - apologies - but, if you are one of the many people who have recently called me to bake something, I totally blame you:).  Thank you.

My current projects are - many and varied - but the one that is really challenging me right now is this one:

Recognize that? 

No? 

Well, you may need to brush up on your African geography.  THAT, my friends, is Zambia!  It's a whole African country, and bunch of Hoosiers are heading there in the not so distant future for a mission trip.  Cool!

To celebrate that, they have commissioned yours truly to make this beast of a gerrymander out of cake.  We're doing West Zambia in yellow cake - - yellow cake always makes me snicker a little, cuz I'm a nerd - - and West Zambia in chocolate, and covering the whole thing in delicious Bake Lore buttercream.  So, the above shape, with the below color/decoration:

That, of course, is the flag - and, hey, does anyone know the Zambian national anthem?  It would really get me in the spirit of things I think.

Keep checking in to see my progress.  It's gonna be great!

***Post Posting Post***

I found the national anthem!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvB1aNJn53M

It's Training Season...So They Tell Me...

I'm in the middle of a number of cake projects - and even one enormous cookie project!  And I can't wait to share those with you. 

But until I am finished, I wanted to show you a Bake Lore archive cake - in the spirit of all the pro football training camps going on across the country.

I am no football fan, but I do make a darn good football cake.  If you are a Colts fan, my apologies, or Bears or Green Bay or whatever - - this is a cake I made for a Steelers fan.  I hope you enjoy!

Logo is in gum paste with piped royal icing

Oh yes...that's the Terrible Towel...in gum paste, of course!

This one was made up of:
10" tier: Chocolate cake, vanilla butter cream
6" tier: White cake, vanilla butter cream
Fondant icing, royal icing piping and gumpaste cut outs

Ding Dong? DANG!

I will soon be revealing my latest wedding masterpiece, here at Cake Lore.  It'll be delivered and photographed adnosium next weekend, so set your iphone alarms and make sure you tell your friends:).

In the meantime, I have to ask you a question.  WHO is googling "giant ding dong cake" every day? 

Are you a Giant Ding Dong Cake googler??

I really love checking the stats on this blog - love meaning "completely obsess over" in my own personal lexicon - and I especially love the feature that tells me search queries that lead people here.  It never fails - almost daily - someone, somewhere, is googling "giant ding dong cake."  I always scratch my head at that.

Well, I mean, I know why.  Becase ding dongs are amazing.  And nothing's better than amazing except for...GIANT amazing. 

The Cake Lore Giant Ding Dong Cake is a whole lotta amazing - super rich, double chocolate cake, filled with fresh vanilla whipped cream, covered in ganache. 

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...Ding Dong Dang. 

But you gotta admit, it's kind of a strange thing to see multiple people googling every day.  Kind of like the odds of hearing the right sentence at the end of a game of "Telephone."  Ever play that?  Yeah...anyway...So if you've been googling Giant Ding Dong Cake, I gotta say, thank you!  And...um...don't stop:). 

I'll be pricing this one soon and adding it to ye olde price list - because far be it from me to overlook what could be the single most popular thing I make.

The #1 Engine for the #3 Birthday

Well, I finished it!  Here it is, in all it's glory...

Now...time to go to sleep and prepare myself for a birthday party!

I Am Very Useful.

I do a little parenting here and there, you know, in between cake orders, gum paste flowers, the job I have that brings in a steady paycheck and...oh yeah, being married.

This week, I'm also preparing to shepherd eight or nine little 2-3 year old souls through a week of Vacation Bible School. 

So, I mean, why not also plan an elaborate birthday party for my son.  WHY NOT?  Well, there are lots of reasons...but I ignored them all, because the only thing that usually gets me off my flour-covered butt is having a bit too much on my plate.  "I work best under pressure," is a cliche for a reason I guess...aha!

I'm pretty proud that everyone in this house has eaten, bathed and gotten sleep this week - major accomplishments for this over-extended mommy.  And I'm extra proud that I went a little beyond and got the  foundation laid for Andrew's third birthday cake. 

Thomas the Chocolate Cake Engine,
in his crumb coat of vanilla butter cream

Whew! 

I have a dream...and that dream is to see the number one engine on Sodor chug into my kid's party and make him smile.  After I see that, then I will collapse in a chair, start planning next year's cake and hope that we keep this lovely mayhem going a little while longer.

Twoo Wuv! and a Cake Tasting

Tonight, I did something I've never done before.  I held a cake tasting.

My good friend, Scotty G., is getting married.  This outstanding man has finally "found his Eve," as he once so longingly put it, and I am THRILLED!

Ak!  They are so stinkin' cute!!!

Can I say that again?  I am THRILLED!  First, because Scott is a great and godly man.  Second, because his matrimonial felicity has been high on my "please, God" list for a long, long time.  And third, because now that I know his bride-to-be, I see why he's in love with her - she's great.

I let them taste three flavors, lemon, almond and chocolate.  Oh, I tell ya, I had a good time getting this ready for them.

That's four plates of yum.

This is almost as cute as Scott and Krista:).

Practice, practice, practice!

We also designed their wedding cake, which it will be my honor to create.  It's going to be epic...like six tiers kind of epic...like a garden of gum paste flowers kind of epic. 

So, I have my work cut out for me.  They picked the lemon cake, which is hands down the favorite flavor I make.  But the baking isn't going to be the fun part of this cake.  It's going to be the many fun-filled hours I will spend creating flowers and praying for them - for a long and joyful marriage, for a house full of happy children, for lives that bring more glory to God together than they ever would apart.

How sweet it is!