Billa Cakes: Portfolio: Owl 40th Birthday Cake

Billa Cakes is the brain child of one hot mama: Me! It's named for my daughter Sybilla, who is my inspiration and motivation. I love baking and as an artist, it gives me an outlet for my creativity as well as an opportunity to help create memories for a lifetime.

Currently this is a hobby to gain experience, but someday I plan on making it into a full time gig! My training includes some classes from my local baking supply shops, the Food Network and the internet. I am a full time student in the School of Hard Knocks.

My hope with this site is to showcase my work as I develop my business and to share my learning experiences with others so they can learn too. Thanks for following along!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Portfolio: Owl 40th Birthday Cake

My friend Julia asked me to make a cake for a friend of hers who was turning 40 and loves owls. I had to think about how to do this one and I finally chose to do a sculpted sheet cake with almonds for the feathers and dried pineapple slices for the eyes. In my research on Google Images, I had come across several designs using similar ingredients and I loved the ingenuity behind the use of the materials. This cake was chocolate with whipped chocolate ganache and cream cheese icing. I used MMF for the face and beak and carefully laid each and every single almond slice on the bird's front. An icing spatula helped create the feather effect everywhere else. The best part was the little placard I included with the cake: "WHO's another year older and wiser? Happy Birthday Gabe!"