Fall Frills and cakes!

Wow, this Fall was one crazy, busy few months. A lot was going on but I got some neat cakes made!

Ok, so last Friday was an excellent baking bread day! I started using my microwave as an air tight proofer box and it has been making my home made bread turn out really nice! I just put a 4 cup measure pirex with boiling water to help it stay warm and moist. :-) (just don't turn on your microwave!)

(just as a side.... if you ever want to clean your microwave and you don't want to use cleaner, just boil 4 cups of water in a glass bowl and let it sit in your microwave for 30 minutes. The moisture and heat will saturate any splatters that may be in there and you can just wipe it clean with a paper towel)

This next project was made for the Homecoming of Red Lion Christian School. Their theme was the Wizard of Oz. This was a fun cake to make! 

Replica of the upper school at Red Lion with the Emerald city behind. 

Below are some of the items I made for baking class. 

This sandwich was excellent!! Grilled chicken with pickled carrots and cucumbers with ginger mayo. BEST sandwich ever!

My baking class has a final project requirement where we have to make a gingerbread house. I decided to be different and make a river boat.

Here is my project in pictures.

Puzzle pieces!

I had to make sure to do all the interior decorating before "gluing" it together!

Almost done!

The water really helped make it look like a boat. :-)

 

See the school of fish?

Rudolf!

And.... 40 hours later.... It is DONE!! Yay!

If you want to see my boat and all the other great gingerbread houses this coming week 12/16 - 12/22, come out to the Christiana Hilton in Delaware.

Summer Fun

Well, I figure I should update about my summer before the full swing of Fall activities begins! This was a very fun and crazy summer! Many beach trips and times with family filled my summer!

A few cakes were made and here they are!

We had a couple 4th of July parties to go to, so my daughter thought up this one. She really wanted to decorate a cake. We split it to take it to two different parties. It was yummy! All the decorating was done by my daughter. :0) 

Steel Magnolias Armadillo cake... yes, this is, red velvet cake and all. :-) One of my bestest friends wanted this cake for her 30th. So this what I made! I had to buy the flowers pre-made because I just did not have the time to make them from scratch! But I am happy with how it all came together!  (my new favorite!!)

The party spread. What a fun night with friends!! Peter made the best BBQ Chicken too!!  

 This cake was for a friend who's co worker likes eating PB&J at work. This was fun to make.  

This cake is for the Gamer in the family and his friend. :0) XBOX anyone? I had to make this one in record time because the party is at my house and I have to make lots of food and clean the place!! My first time using modeling chocolate that I made from mixing chocolate melts and corn syrup. A lot easier to mold and cover things than fondant!   

 

Looking forward to the change of season and all that goes with it. It will be a crazy Fall, but praying that I will be able to fit in a few more cake projects along the way. I start my International Cuisine class next week, so should have some yummy recipes and dishes to write about!!!

Violin Grad Party

I had the privilege to make a cake for a very talented Violinist. Her mom asked me to make a cake to look like a violin and cupcakes! This one was a lot of fun to make. I have taken violin lesson before and still have my violin. Someday I will make the time to learn to play again.

The stem of the violin was the most challenging, but it worked out using gum paste with lots of powdered sugar mixed in to make it harden quickly.

Here is the set up at the reception. 

Finally Updating!

Wow! Things really got busy and I just could not find the time to update my blog. Sorry!

I had a really great semester and finished out my classes last week! It feels good to get a break for the summer! Here are some pics from the last few weeks.....

Baby shower cake I made for one of my friends. The Noah's ark was a 3D replica of the baby shower invitation. 

 

This past week I got into fruit carving because I was in charge of the decoration for my Garde Manger final class, end of the year buffet. youtube is a wonderful source of ideas and a great teacher!!

My first melon carving. 

My second melon carving. 

And the items I carved for the buffet and the buffet set up at my school. :-) I helped with the ice sculpture, but it was a class effort! 

Melon Fish

Cold food table. 

 

Sea horse melon. 

Buffet. 

 

Cucumber leaves. These are so easy and fun and really can make a salad look good!

 

My favorite carving! Watermelon Discuss fish! I got this one off youtube. 

 

Seahorse ice sculpture! 

 

My fruit tray. Took me a couple hours to cut the fruit and assemble it all on the mirror! 

 

Fruit tray centerpiece. I got this idea off the internet. Lots of fun to put together and really easy!

 

Now that school is out for the semester I hope to make more specialty cakes and play around with new fruit carving ideas! 

I am so thankful to my husband and kids who are so patient with me as I try and finish up my Culinary degree! I am really enjoying all that I am learning and hope to make yummy new meals at home to show them it is worth it! :-)