Holly Berries, Pine cones and Aspen tree Yule Log

This is the 5th yule log I've made for the awesome Cottam family!  The Aspen tree was a big hit last year, so we recreated it.  The holly berries and pine cones were really fun to make cause I love anything Christmasy!!!

 Berries and leaves made of gum paste.  The pine cones made of modeling chocolate.

And yes, I did have to make our own family version of the pumpkin roll!  It's just so incredibly yummy!  Merry Christmas to all, and may the holiday season bring you happiness!!!

Adorable Minnie Mouse 'Christmas' Birthday Cake

Every once in a while I'll have a cake that just clicks in my mind.  So clearly that creating the decorations is a pure joy!  This would be one such cake.  This was made for an adorable little girl who just loves anything Minnie Mouse.  And I've been itching to make a Christmas cake for so long that it took very little effort to come up with the ideas for this cake!

 I drew my inspiration from a few different Christmas cards I found online.  That little 'ribbon' tree especially.  The lace and ribbons were card inspired as well.

 Minnie's got her little gifts all around her.  I cut squares out of modeling chocolate since it's nice and hard, then I 'wrapped' the presents in gum paste.  They turned out so fun!

 Little ribbon tree and candy canes all made out of gum paste.

 Hi, Minnie Mouse!!  You're looking quite festive!

 I think this is one of my all time favorite cakes.  Clean and smooth and simple.  And CHRISTMAS mixed with DISNEY!!!!  Can't go wrong there!

Happy Birthday, Reese, you adorable little girl!  I'm so glad I got to make your birthday cake!

Winter Wonderland Cupcakes

These cupcakes were so fun and yummy!  Vanilla bean cupcakes with raspberry compote filling and vanilla bean frosting!  One of my personal favorite mixes.  Made for a surprise 16th birthday party for a very sweet girl and friend of my daughter!

 The party had a hot chocolate 'bar' with all sorts of mix in's so the little hot chocolate mugs were a perfect touch to add to the snow flakes and snow ball cake toppers.

 You can't really see it, but the little snowballs were sparkled with regular white sugar.

 Snow flakes with edible silver accents.

 Gum paste mugs filled with ganache and topped with tiny little gum paste marshmallows.  They even kind of melted in the warm ganache just like they do in cocoa!

I really enjoyed making these little winter wonderland cupcakes!  Happy Birthday, June!!!  We hope it was as fabulous as you are!!!!

Disney Haunted Mansion Birthday Cake

When I first got this cake order I think I squealed in excitement!  I am kind of weird and I really like Halloween cakes.  I don't really get to do them, though.  I've done the zombie cake but it wasn't for Halloween, and I did my son's Steampunk Pumpkin cake but not much else.  Not many people have Halloween themed birthday parties.  Now, that being said, I don't like creepy, gross, bloody Halloween stuff, the zombie nearly killed me!  I like stuff like this.....  Clean, crisp, tidy Haunted Mansion cake!

 My teenage daughters have a special love of this Disneyland attraction ride, so they gave me some great pointers as I worked on this cake.  I knew I didn't want it to look like any other Haunted Mansion cake out there so I spent WAY too many hours stewing over what I was going to do to make this cake special and unique!

 I happened to come across a picture of the fortune telling crystal ball and candles.  I knew I'd hit my inspiration!

 I kind of had a different direction I was going to go with this black drapery, but once I had the wall paper framed in, I knew this had to be done!

 Hand painted 'wall paper' based on the wall paper in the ride.  I rolled out the gum paste and let it dry on a 9" round styrofoam.  Once it was dry I drew on the design with an edible marker.  Took some time, but it turned out pretty fun!

 I'm working on my photography skills to get good shots of my cakes.  I'm not perfect yet, but we'll get there.  

 I'm so bummed I didn't get a good shot with the lighting behind the candles!  They really light up!

 Madame Leota is made with gum paste then painted with edible markers, luster dust and cocoa butter.  It's the same process I used for the Elsa Frozen cake.

All in all I LOVED making this cake!  It's always fun to see my thoughts come to life in a cake!  Happy birthday Anya, and thank you for the opportunity to make such a fun cake!

Deer Hunting Birthday Cake

I honestly don't know how this cake turned out so well!  I made it with two days notice but it came out just like I imagined!  The deer were a little tricky to get just right, but with a freezer and lots of patience they came out nicely.

 Sunset frosting fade is one of my favorite things in the world!  The 'Wicked' cake was one of my favorites because of that!

 I didn't have any chocolate cookies, or cocoa, so that 'dirt' is hot chocolate mix. He he!  Improvising is always a must with cakes!!

 These birch trees are all over our mountains!  And that buck would be a terrific prize!

 So, I wasn't going to make a gun.  I though, "It's for a 7 year old, I shouldn't do a gun."  But my husband and daughter convinced me it was essential!  I'm really glad I added it, though.  Every boy loves his guns!

 Modeling chocolate decorations.  I really love not using fondant.  Is that bad of me?!

Happy birthday, Austin!!!  I'm glad your day was special!!

50th Birthday Outdoors Man Cake

I'm just going to begin this post by saying thank you so much to Brandi!!  She is always so great to take fabulous pictures of my cakes!  I'm so thankful for her friendship and kindness!  Please go see how amazing she is with family photos and newborns and, well everything!  Check out her site by clicking on her name, or check her out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrandiTeuscherPhotography?fref=ts  

On to the cake.... the requirements were: Vintage Dude, red, black and brown, tractors, golf, boating, and horses.  This sweet lady wanted her fiance's 50th birthday cake to show that things get better with age.  His interests were all included in a subtle, vintage way.

 Vintage tractor made of fruity pebbles treat covered with modeling chocolate.

 See!  Look how great Brandi is!!  The crates are covered in a mixture of modeling chocolate and fondant.  Hand made texture and shading to make that wood look real.

Rope made of fondant, anchor made of gum paste

 Nails and texture

 Golf club and ball.  Both made out of gum paste

 Gum paste horseshoe. 

 Had to get that "Vintage Dude" in there!

 Life preserver made of gum paste.

This was such a fun cake to make with all the elements and variety!  I really love taking an idea and bringing it to life!  Happy birthday, Rick!

"Wicked" Steampunk Smash Cake

Smash cakes are always so  much fun to make.  Sometimes, though, I have to tell myself, "It's okay.  It's okay."  Even though this beautiful cake is going to be smashed, it's still worth making it as pretty as possible!  This photo shoot was a super fun theme!  "Wicked" the broadway musical was our inspiration  If you want to see all the adorable images from the session go here: https://www.facebook.com/BrandiTeuscherPhotography?fref=ts

 Steam punk clock and gold sparkle letters.  Gears and letters all made with modeling chocolate.

 Look how cute!!!  Isn't that setup adorable?!

You can barely see her, but there's a cute little witch to dot the 'i' in Maggie.  It's always fun to try and capture the essence of something very specific!  I think Brandi and I make a great team!  And if you want to check out her other skills please go check out her site.  She's incredible!

CTR Shield and Cupcakes

I really love  making CTR cakes for cute little 8 year olds!  For those who don't know what I'm talking about; in my Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) when a child turns 8 they are given the opportunity to be baptized.  It's a very special time for family and friends.  And the CTR (Choose The Right) shield represents their commitment to live the commandments once they are baptized.  That's why these cakes are so special!

 For this 8 year old boy's birthday his mom did a 'Great to be 8" party with his friends.  So I made little cupcakes to go along with the big cake.

Happy birthday Madden, and congrats on your big day of being baptized!!