Dinosaur Stomping Grounds

What more could you want on your 4th birthday? A complete dino-riffic cake, complete with waffle bowl volcano and frosting pond/stream. I finished it off with plastic dinosaur figures and palm trees that he could take home and play with. The dirt around the cake is just oreo cookies (without the filling) crushed up, and the lighter sand sprinkled around is graham crackers. The waffle bowl cone is covered in chocolate icing (and vanilla icing swirled in for texture) then I used the Wilton Sparkle Gel (red) to make the HOT LAVA! The pond/stream is Betty Crocker Cookie Icing (in blue) It dries quickly, but leaves a nice wet look, perfect for water. The chocolate covered raisins double as rocks (or dinosaur droppings-- pointed out by the birthday boy!)

Semper Fi

A Bon Voyage cake for my little cousin, complete with a gold Marines pin in the middle. One of the first cakes I ever made. 2 stacked 8" rounds, white buttercream and

Wilton Sparkle Gel (<------ I love that stuff) Red and Gold.

Diaper Cake

Not your typical cake, and certainly not edible. My first attempt at a diaper cake. Far too complicated to explain, but easy to execute... google it! There are many ideas, and I can't wait to make another one!!

Rivalry: Giants/Cowboys

This wasn't the final product, but I can't seem to find an updated picture. The only thing I added was an additional line to make the sides white/red/white and a border around the bottom. I used a 13x9 pan, and just free-handed the football shape with a sharp knife. I always let my cakes cool in the freezer, which makes it SO much easier to frost. Then, I covered the cake in a Milk Chocolate buttercream, pipes on the details (using Wilton Sparkle Gel, blue and red and a white Betty Crocker gel). The field goal is made from yellow plastic drinking straws.

The Joker!

I used a 12x8 inch pan, intended to be a Joker playing card, with the Dark Knight Joker face. A big hit! (a sloppy frosting job, but the face, I have to admit-- is pretty great!!)

Simply Coconut

It looks simple, and in relation to some of the other cakes i've done, I suppose it is. A white 2 layer (8" round) stacked, with buttercream in the middle, and homemade whipped cream (pint of heavy whipping cream, a teaspoon of vanilla and a 1/4 c. powdered sugar). Covered the sides with the cream, and them covered the entire cake with sweetened coconut, and finally a buttercream braid around the base of the cake to just clean up the edges! DELICIOUS!

Black & White Cupcakes

These elegant "Black & White" Cupcakes are so versatile, I melted white and dark chocolate and piped letters and designs onto wax paper, put them in the freezer and created these great decorations to go into the top! SO much fun!! This was my first time making the candy decorations using this method. The final display is a Wilton Cupcake Stand ($34.99), and was a GREAT investment!!

The Chili Pepper Cake

First I baked a cake (dyed green) in a jelly roll pan; I baked the second cake (dyed red) in another jelly roll pan (About 15 minutes for each on 350). I put them both DIRECTLY into the freezer after taking them out of the oven—this locks in moisture.

Once completely cooled, I cut out the shape of the chili pepper on each pan and placed it onto a cake board ($1.99 at Michael's Craft Store). The green layer on the bottom, I spread butter cream on top and stacked the red layer on top (once cut, it looks like the Mexican flag!! Green, white and red!)

Next, I trimmed the edges to make sure the two layers matched up and then frosted the entire cake, top and sides with white butter cream. The frosting needs to be extremely soft. Cake mixes are very fragile and spongy, and will easily tear the cake. BUT, remember, you're covering the cake with colored sugar!! You won't even see any mistakes if you make one or two.

Next, I put down a template for the stem and top of the pepper—I simply cut wax paper into a triangle pattern and placed it onto the cake-- making sure it was securely stuck to the frosting to ensure precise lines. While the frosting is still wet, I sprinkled red and orange sugar on the pepper portion of the cake and then removed the wax paper to sprinkle green sugar onto the step and top. Finally, I piped stars around the base of the pepper (green and red). It was a big hit, fed 20 people. (Below is an image of the cake before the frosting went on) This cake was SO cool that it made it onto a cake website: http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/coolest-chili-pepper-cake.html -- check it out!!)