All about Cakes

I had a wonderful time making the birthday cakes for my nieces combine birthdays. This new found hobby is lots of fun but I am quickly learning how pricey and time consuming it can be. You just can’t rush this! Or, I’m just slow. Nevertheless it is bunches of fun and I can’t wait until the next one I do. I have some friends who also like to play around with cake decorating so I had them over for a cake decorating party. Gaining experience is, as with most things, how you get better. Practice, practice, practice. However I don’t have the money to be making cakes for no reason every week and I also don’t want them at my house because yes, skinny ol’ me would eat every last piece. (Working on the self control department there.) Anywho, to avoid these problems when we have cause to get together and make a cake we do. We call it “Cakes for Causes”. Catchy, I know! This cause was a birthday party and a princess and a strawberry shortcake cake were on the menu. I had a blast looking at cakes on line and getting a billion ideas. I love online tutorials! I have always claimed to be a non creative person on every level. I still claim this and I am ok with it but I wanted really bad to be creative. I have discovered I am quite good at being a copy cat in many areas and it has been so much fun!


So here is the cake run down:

I used this pan to bake the cake in. I bought it in the glassware section at wal-mart. I looked up the brand online and came to the conclusion that I thought it was oven safe. The only way to know for sure...put it in the oven. There were no explosions or cracking so I’m going with…it’s oven safe enough for me. It was a bit challenging to get the middle done without over cooking the outside. I was afraid the middle would be to gooey but it was perfect, moist, and delicious!

 I also made one small (I think 6inch) round cake to add height to the dress.

I make the fondant using this recipe http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm. It is better to let it sit overnight for sure and sifting the sugar is also key in my, oh so unprofessional opinion.
Under the fondant I put a thin layer of butter cream. This is good for two reasons. 1.) It works like an adhesive for the fondant and B.) The fondant is really sweet and not that tasty. Most people just peel it off the cake like the peel of an orange. It comes right off but they still have some yummy icing to be the…well...icing on the cake. Hehe.

I undressed the doll and then wrapped her in swaddling clothes, err plastic wrap, to protect sensitive body parts. Seriously how rude to put a nude doll in the cake. Sheesh, that would be a horrible childhood memory for a four year old! I cut a small hole in the cake before covering it with fondant. Then I put on the rolled out fondant and sliced and “X” where the hole in the cake was. After that I stuck the doll inside the cake and began to mold the fondant to look like a flowing gown. One of my great assistants made the extra doll decor.

The back of the pretty little princess.

As for the strawberry shortcake I did nothing more than have the idea and bake the cakes. My other sidekick was the total skill behind this one. I baked two 9inch rounds then we stacked them with icing in between and all around. I had printed a picture of strawberry shortcake and we (meaning she, but I would love to get in on part of the credit) placed the paper on the cake then traced it with icing. After that it was sheer talent of looking at the picture and copying it to the cake. This was done with buttercream icing. Homemade of course!

She looks a little spooky here without any eyeballs!

  

The strawberry on the hat was made out of fondant. I do believe my friend did an amazing job and I am not sure if I could achieve such excellence…but I can’t wait to find out! Maybe next time we have a cause to make a cake I shall give it a whirl!

So yeah, that is pretty much it. Two successful cakes, for which I was very grateful, two INCREDIBLE helper friends, for which I was VERY grateful, and two happy nieces, which made me smile.

A good days work put behind me.

Rachael

Elizabeth is so quick to learn and enjoys it. A couple of weeks ago she said "I am drawing a heart!" A few minutes later I look over and sure enough a two year old drawn heart was there. Perfectly formed lines? No, but recognizable for sure. I started collecting “preschool” books before I was even married. The other day I cleaned out a cabinet and found some books that I acquired at some point in the last six years. They are erasable and help the kiddos learn how to control the writing by tracing lines, half moons, diagonals, shapes, and eventually letters. Elizabeth has been intently working in her “fun book”. I hope I can teach her to always love to learn.

Snow Days

Snow, Snow, Snow! Just yesterday Elizabeth said in a pouty voice “Mommy, I wasn’t the snow back.” “Why” I asked, somewhat glad to see it gone. “So I can play in it!” I guess that was a silly question for me to ask now wasn’t it? Both of the girls LOVED playing in the snow and sledding.Being trapped at home because of the snow was always fun for me as a kid. As a matter of fact as soon as the snow stopped I played for hours outside. Snow days are different as a mom of little ones. I tried to set aside time to do some of my snow day things….cleaning. Oh wait! Cleaning is what I do every day. Oh, that’s right, Snow days are different when you are a mom of little ones! Actually I was very grateful to be at our house with power during the entire storm. We were able to maintain pretty normal life since we are at home anyway. Brandon stayed here too, which is a challenge for him. He kept himself busy by installing Windows 7 on our computer. I was proud of him. The sun finally found its way out of the clouds and melted it all way. The ground is still soaking wet though. It had almost dried up from the Christmas snow when the next one came in and we have had several days of winter mix with grey skies. On the bright side maybe the spring will be beautiful and extra green. I am trying to look at the bright side of things and use this time to cook away in the kitchen; something I enjoy but is rather unpleasant in the heat of the summer. So here are a few pictures of our snow day with the Werners.

We went to Braums for lunch and a treat before "hiting the slopes".

Katherine would start crying as soon as I touched her feet to the ground to get off of the sled. They just wanted to go over and over again. In this picture she looks scared. I think she is an adrineline junkie because as soon as we stopped she would laugh and then of course cry when I sat her down.

Brandon made it down the whole way snowboard style!

Britt and Lauren

Jonny

Crazy Kiddos at heart

Justin

Lizzy (Click to see her face)_

Special Memories

Lizzy and Jazzy Dancing

Elizabeth and her cousin Jasmine breaking it down!

Lasts Weeks Post :)

I took the kiddos to the zoo last Monday. They have free admission every Monday through February. I figured it would be a little crowded being “free” day but I did not take into account it was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is a little challenging to steer a stroller through all those crowded zoo streets.

I also discovered that the designers of the zoo made the streets to have more inclines than declines. If you don’t believe me next time you go take a double stroller, your legs will tell you the same thing. It seemed to help if I got a running start. Although I had to be inconspicuous about it because that would look totally ridiculous to all those not pushing a stroller; those pushing would understand. However it was equally ridiculous to have my body at a 90 degree angle, head down, arms fully extended, digging my feet into each step trying to make it out from in front of the pachyderm exhibit. Sheesh….all I could imagine were the security people watching the camera view, which is most definitely posted there for their mere entertainment at the show of an out of shape mother pushing or pulling her load of children up the hill.:) We had an amazing time. When I told Elizabeth we were going she was SO excited. This was only her second zoo visit and I don’t think she remembers the first one. We brought a little picnic lunch and had a great time.

We met some friends there which also made it more enjoyable. The fresh air was invigorating as it truly was a beautiful day! Only one thing could have made it better and that would be having daddy there with us. Although we differ in our fresh air appreciation and I am certain Brandon would not have enjoyed it quite as much as I. Not to mention the pushing of the stroller would have been his job. :) Having time together still would have been fun and the girls LOVE their daddy!

Cuteness Quoted:
Elizabeth(randomly states): Mommy my birthday is coming up.
Mommy: Yes, but it is still going to be a while. What do you want for your birthday?
Elizabeth: To get presents.
Mommy: What do you want your cake to taste like?
Elizabeth: Umm…
Mommy: Vanilla, Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla with sprinkles?
Elizabeth: I want Chocolate WITH sprinkles!
Mommy: Do you want Dora to be on it?
Elizabeth: Oh, it would make me SO, so happy to have Dora cake AND presents for my birthday!

Sorry I missed last weeks post. I had it ready to go on Monday but Tuesday media night was cancelled because I was sick and went to bed at 8:00. The rest of the week was spent passing a virus around and lots of middle of the night throw-ups. YUCK! I am very happy to report we all seem to be on the up swing. Brandon is still recovering. Hope everyone stays warm this weekend!

I don’t have much time tonight for a long update because we have been working on some other things. I wanted to post this most recent cake I made with the help of some friends for Taylor’s 16th birthday party! It was a lot of fun and let me just say I am glad that cakes don’t have to be perfect! Because while it may look decent in the picture the flaws were many!

Cuteness Quoted:

Elizabeth (said in sweet tones) – Mommy, I’m glad you’re here with us because I love you!


I am glad to be here with you too sweet girl!

Katherine's First Birthday

Happy Birthday, Katie-Kate! This video is of Katherine's first birthday party.

Savanna Saying "Grandaddy"

Savanna is our little one-year old niece. She is a cutie! This is a video of her saying "Grandaddy" in her own special way :)