Bryce, household god of thunder

I was just looking through pictures from today's birthday party for Bryce and thinking what a handsome young man he's becoming before my very eyes.  I marvel every year at his entertaining selections of theme for his birthday cake.  This year's selection was no different and it seems particularly appropriate because it was the hammer of Thor.  As you know, only one who is worthy can pull the hammer from the stone.  Bryce, who has been thundering around our house all his little life, is our own Thor.  The moment we'd finished the birthday song and the candles all extinguished, he excitedly pulled the hammer from the cake and immediately took a big bite.  For certain, Bryce is a worthy young man.

Being a step-mom has some drawbacks.  You are always behind the scenes.  You are not wanted when there are boo-boos to be kissed.  You can't cook things quite the way they want them.  Your advice is rarely solicited.  You are never sure whether you should offer a hug or tuck them in at night, for fear of rejection.  You keep some distance.  You are not a substitute mommy.  You are something else.  But what?  I sometimes see the cake as the only thing I can do right.  Today, as I was snapping pictures of him opening his presents, Bryce looked up at me and smiled the most unguarded and warmest smile he's ever smiled.  He was looking straight at me.  It was like catching a shooting star.  Happy birthday, Bryce.

September: Painted Cakes

Well, I thought I was Miss Artiste, so I got all painterly on a couple of cakes this month.  Marshmallow fondant makes a really nice canvas, so that's what I used.  The first occasion was a 60th birthday party and the second was to celebrate the marriage of a good friend at work.

Honestly, I think my roses need work, but the colors on the 60th birthday cake were very nice. 

My pearls of fondant were a little gigantic, but I was running out of time and needed something big enough to cover a lot of ground fast.  I also wished I'd had time to pipe some greenery on top.  *sigh*  When the party guests cut into the cake, they were treated to three layers of a deep chocolate devil's food cake.

I was frankly shocked at how well my calligraphy turned out.  I thought I was going to faint I was so nervous before the first stroke.  So, I just did it.

I sort of liked this color combination, too.  And halfway through the painting, my technique actually improved.  I also felt bolder with my brush strokes.  It's amazing how just a little bit of confidence can improve your work.  The two types of piped flowers were new to me--sunflowers and mums.  Since I used an all butter frosting, the piping was tricky.  And I'll tell you right now, chrysanthemums are INSANELY hard to make out of frosting.  Don't do it unless you're just a nut job like me!  :-)

Bryce's Creeper Cake

Another year, another crazy cake for the boy.  He always has the most interesting ideas.  This year, we did a "Creeper" cake.  Creepers, if you aren't a big Minecraft fan, are these creatures that hang out in the game and come around to destroy the stuff you build.  At least, that's my understanding.  I really have no clue.  I just know what Bryce tells me.

This rendering is admittedly a bit more organic than the pixelated dudes that you see in the game.  He looks like a shiny Creeper plushy or something.  I somehow managed to give my Creeper a club foot, which Louis very much wanted to eat (and did).Still, I think it does capture the essence of Creeper-ness.  And the color palette isn't too far off either.

Happy Birthday, Bryce!

Creeper on Fire!

Club Foot Creeper

Bookish Banana

This cake was a quickie, but filled with love and gratitude for my colleagues at work who did so much to get a big book shifting project complete way ahead of our scheduled deadline.  I'm so lucky to have a great bunch of people working with me!

The cake is banana and the frosting was made with two sticks of butter, 2 lbs of confectioners sugar, and half a can of full fat coconut milk.  Scrumtrulescent!

Monkey Cake

Monkey cake was a 1st birthday cake for a cute little baby girl.  I worked on it all day Saturday and delivered it this morning to her family.  Hope they enjoyed it!

The design was based on an image I found of Hello Kitty dressed up in a monkey costume.  I just left out the whiskers and the bow.  It kind of looks like a monkey, right?  A really cute anime monkey?

It was a two-layer fudge marble cake with a butter cream coating and outer coating of chocolate fondant.  The belly face, hands, and feet were vanilla marshmallow fondant.  The pink ears were strawberry fondant.

I ended up giving Monkey a teeny chocolate belly button, which is unfortunately not pictured here.  I think the belly button made the cake over-the-top cute.

Happy Birthday, little cutie!