Cookie Monster Attacks!

Oh my, where has the time gone!! It's almost the end of the year. So much food, so many treats (and my ass keeps getting bigger I'm sure) ah yes 'tis the season to PIG OUT.

AnyHOO, I recently made a couple of cakes for my friend's little boy's 2nd birthday.  Her bday party theme was Cookie Monster!  I was so excited to make these cakes. I had tons of ideas but wanted to make something really cute (and yummy of course).  I was only going to make the little birthday boy a cake but then figured I'd make something for the adults (the kids were getting cupcakes).

After lots of brainstorming, I found a 3D Cookie Monster that was adorable! But then thought, crap, can I make that? It looks really hard.  Well, I went for it, and let me say I was SO pleased with my little guy.

This first cake is a 2 tiered cake covered in fondant.  Top portion was chocolate and bottom was carrot (it was super moist!)  All the cutouts are fondant and Cookie Monster's eyes are marshmallows.  This was a HEAVY cake.

Now comes my little guy, Cookie Monster! First let me tell you that this puppy took FOREVER to pipe ( I had to take several breaks as my hand cramped up). I used the "grass" tip and colored the buttercream Wilton's Royal Blue.  It took a TON of icing color, but soon I realized this stuff darkens over time (I made him the night before the party) so the next day his "fur" color was PERFECT!  His eyes are fondant (held by toothpicks) and his mouth was colored in with black icing.  He's made out of chocolate pound cake (you need to use a dense cake when making 3D cakes).  I used Wilton's Cuddly Bear pan to shape the body. I then cut off the ears and shaped the mouth.  I also added more cake for the arms/hands to make them stand out more.  I stuck and cookie in his hand and VOILA!  Here's my monster:

I'm so happy with how my 3D Cookie Monster came out. Best part, they were both yummy cakes and I received a lot of compliments on them.

Here's a shot of the birthday table with all the goodies!!

She Ate That Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Polka Dot Cake

I've been away for a while, been off my feet so I haven't been able to bake.  (I'm having baking withdrawals, seriously!)  So since I can't bake, I've been checking out different (popular) cake designs.  I noticed that polka dots are a hit with fondant cakes and I think they are SO adorable.  They can be used for an elegant/chic wedding cake, or a fun/whimsical birthday cake! And seriously, who doesn't love polka dots!!

Here are some of my favs...

Polka, Polka, dont'cha wanna Polka, Polka!

My First Fondant Cake

So I love watching those cake shows (Cupcake Wars, Ace of Cakes, DC Cupcakes.. I DON'T like Cake Boss) the new rage in cake decorating in fondant.  I decided to give it a shot.  I picked up a box of ready made fondant at Michael's and went to town.  First let me say, it's not easy to work with. My kitchen was a disaster, it looked like cornstarch and powder sugar got in on and had a baby on my counter (and some on the floor).  So back to the ready-made fondant. This stuff dries FAST. So if you plan on making tons of shapes and using different colors, good luck.  I also wanted to use some colors and didn't realize you're supposed to use ICING coloring NOT food coloring. Oops. It made a sticky mess.  Thankfully I found some icing coloring, but it takes a lot of that stuff if you want to make a dark color (pastels are way easier).

So I made 2 - 8'' rounds of yellow cake with homemade buttercream frosting.

So I wasn't a fan of the ready-made fondant. It tasted like sweet Playdoh, but hubby seemed to like it.  I wasn't too crazy about how hard it was to work with.  I didn't realize how time consuming this was until I was done and it was something like 6 hours later.  All in all I was really proud of my 1st fondant cake and now I'm exciting about making more!