Portfolio: Bird Cake

This past weekend I had the pleasure of creating a cake for a bird themed baby shower.  My friend Anna had sent me a picture of a similar styled cake and asked for strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting with the same design.  Having returned from picking almost six pounds of fresh strawberries the weekend before, it felt like serendipity.

The design was fairly simple and easy to recreate; the difficulty was getting the frosting to be smooth all the way around and on top!  I think I did a pretty good job of getting that accomplished.

The best was also a little bit tricky since I remembered it at the very last minute.  All week, I had been doing things and gathering stuff to prepare for the cake, and I totally forgot to think about the logistics of the nest.  Michael said I should just make another batch of chow mein marshmallow nests, but I didn't have any more chow mein noodles and it was already pretty later.  Besides, I wasn't too sure how it would look on the cake.  I had some royal icing that I was using for the flowers and the leaves (because temperatures in Texas have begun to heat up and I didn't want them to melt if I used cream cheese frosting), so I tookt he leftovers, mixed them together, added some black and brown, then draped a plastic baggie over something concave (a candy dish in this instance) and started going to town trying to create a nest like texture.  It came out beautifully!  The eggs are fondant.

All in all, Anna said the cake was a hit and that the lucky mom to be was able to take home the leftovers to share with visiting family.  I hope this inspires you to make you your own birdie themed cake!


Happy Caking,
Kelly

Portfolio: Nest Cupcakes and Bird Cookies

Ah, spring.  Time for flowers, birds, and babies!

A friend of mine is having her first baby in the next couple weeks and we threw her a shower this weekend.  Because I had other things going on, I wasn't able to make the cake for the shower, but I did promise to do some cookies for the favors.  I ended up with extra cupcakes from the car party, so I did a quick decorating job on those and they looked super cute with everything else.

The "nests" were easy to do; just swirl and dollop using a large star tip on the top, then set your eggs in the middle and voila!  Bird's nest cupcakes!

Originally, the theme was a Parisian spring baby shower, based on the baby bedding.  But we found out later that mama to be had changed the fabric on her baby bedding!  It actually worked out, because my design for little Eiffel tower cookies was a total bust.  I didn't have a cutter and so I thought I'd use a Christmas tree cutter and then pipe small Eiffel towers on them.  Good idea in theory, terrible idea in execution.  The cookies were too short to get a decent looking Eiffel tower on them, sadly.  But they were just perfect for birdies!

All wrapped up and ready to go!

My artsy fartsy cookie photo

I love these little birds.  It's a good thing there were so few cookies left after the party, because otherwise, I'd have eaten them all they were so dang cute!  I tried a new recipe for the royal icing too, which was a bit of an adventure, but I have to say, I'm sold on it.  I still use my trademark lemon juice in the frosting, but the consistency is much nicer.  I may try adding some corn syrup or something else in the future to get a glossier finish.

Since I wasn't able to commit to the cake, one of the cohost's had her stepdaughter do the cake.  It turned out really cute, and apparently is a very popular design this season–I immediately recognized it as the same design for another cake I'm doing at the end of this month!

The cupcakes were super easy to decorate and are perfect for Easter!  I whipped up a milk chocolate ganache and piped it on top of the cupcakes to look like nests, then nestled Robin's Eggs candies into the centers.  Super tasty and cute!

Congrats on the new baby Amy...we can't wait to meet her!

Happy baking,
Kelly

Portfolio: Owl Birthday Cake

It's owl-ficcial: owls are hot, hot, hot!  Ok, apologies for the pun. I couldn't resist!

Recently I was contacted by a gal to do a birthday cake for her son's first birthday.  She loved the design I had come up with for the YMCA cake I did for my friend Julia a few months back.  I gotta say, I love it too!  It's simple and yet it makes a great statement.  We decided on a larger marble cake for the guests and a vegan peach cake for the birthday boy, Mateo.  Here is the final result:

The larger cake is marbled chiffon cake on the inside.  I dyed the vanilla portion a baby blue to match the party decor and it looked beautiful with the chocolate.

I used special food writing markers to write the wording and make the feathers on the owl's chest.  I can't believe I didn't invest in these things sooner...they were worth every penny!

The smash cake came out way cuter than I expected.  I had to bake it twice however as something happened with my recipe the first time (I was trying to cut my normal recipe in half and I think I added too much flour).  Second time's the charm, right?  The birthday boy's mom had asked for a healthier version of cake for her son, and I love the vegan recipe I use because the amount of sugar can be cut down considerably since it uses a fruit puree.   Peaches was the flavor of the day since it's Mateo's favorite.  The small domed cake pan I used created the most adorable little owl; it reminds of me of pygmy owls!

Isn't this little guy so sweet?  I love the domed pan I used for this...it's so versatile!

All in all, I am very pleased with the results and so was Mateo and his mom!  Happy 1st birthday Mateo; may you have many more, cutie!

Happy Caking,
Kelly

Portfolio: Large Owl Cake

Halt!  Whoooo goes there?  Why this lovely little fella, of course:

My friend Julia works for the Y in Buda as a lifeguard and they recently held a fundraiser.  Julia told the gang at the Y that if they met their goal, she'd get them a cake to celebrate.  Well, they met their goal and then some, so to celebrate she asked me to make an owl cake.  Again.  Last year, I made this cake for one of her friends' birthdays.  Because this one was going to feed a lot more people, I decided to change the design a bit.  And it sure didn't hurt that I managed to snag this baking tin on sale for $.50 after Easter.  Yes, you read that right.  FIFTY CENTS, Y'ALL!  I don't know who was looking out for me, but the Sale Gods sure were nice to me!  And I have to thank whoever it was that lost all of the packaging the pan came with...because otherwise, the exhausted Target staff may not have been willing to let me have it for $.50.

Moving on...

Tutorial: 2D Mod Fondant Birds

After my success at the Cupcake Smackdown last weekend, I have since received lots of shout outs and comments about my cute little birds that adorned the tops of my coconut lime cupcakes. Those little fellas were really easy to make, so here is a tutorial on how to make them!

To get started, you'll need a few things:

* Fondant (I used SatinIce in white/vanilla)
* fondant coloring (I used Americolor)
* water
* vodka
* paintbrush for food purposes only
* a clean workspace
* cornstarch
* cutters of various sizes and shapes or pastry cutter/exacto knife
* toothpicks or beading pins

1. First things first, pick your color scheme and dye your fondant accordingly (I am assuming you know how to do this, if you don't, let me know!). Depending on how many birds and the size you're making will determine how much fondant you need. I made a baker's dozen of birds that measured about 2” long and used *maybe* a quarter pound of fondant.

2. Roll out your fondant to about 1/8"-1/4" thick. Make sure they’re thick enough to stick your toothpick or beading pin into!

3. Using your cutters or knife, cut out a body and two wings. I used the Wilton leaf shaped fondant cutters and then rounded them out with a pastry cutter. I used the medium leaf cutter for the body and the small leaf cutter for the wings. Make sure to cut 2 wings per body, and cut extras just in case. Set these aside for the moment.


4. Take your beading pins or toothpicks and carefully stick them in the body of the bird about halfway in. If you get too close to the surface, don’t worry; you can cover it with the wings!


5. For the beaks I chose to use a small heart cutter and then lop off the pointy part of the heart because of the width and angle it made the beaks. You can use your pastry cutter or knife instead to cut out your beaks. Again, cut a few extras just in case.


6. Water on fondant causes the sugar in it to dissolve and become like glue. Using your paintbrush, paint a little bit of water on the wing pieces and “glue” them onto the bodies. It’s best to do the same side on all of the bodies first and then flip them over and repeat the process. Remember, a little bit of water goes a long way!

7. Once the wings are attached, give them about 10 minutes or so to dry and adhere. Then you can glue on the beaks; you might need to shape them a bit around the front of the bird’s face.

8. To do the eyes, mix a small drop of Americolor fondant color with the vodka. DO NOT MIX WITH WATER. This will cause the fondant to become a gummy mess. Use a leftover toothpick or beading pin to mark the spot for your bird’s eyes, going through the head completely. Then use the point of your paintbrush and lightly fill in the tiny hole you’ve made, expanding it to as large as you want.


9. Allow the birds to dry completely for several hours. You may need to gently lift them off of your work surface once you’ve finished working on them to make sure the eyes aren’t bleeding through improperly or that your bird isn’t stuck on the other side. If there is excess cornstarch, simply use a pastry brush to brush it off.


And voila! Now you have some really stinkin’ cute birdie picks for your cakes!

Happy Caking!
Kelly