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The Elusive Red Stag - Surprise Inside Cake
The original plan was to use white chocolate trees but I like the almost shadowy effect of the free hand etched trees much better. I also changed the deer silhouette on the outside to red after making a white one that just didn't go. The first layer of white chocolate ganache exterior was a little thinner than I'd hoped so I added a sturdier coat. Hand piped chocolate deer and a light dusting of powdered sugar snow.
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Starbuck's 2015 Anniversary Cup Inspiration
Cake imitating cup. Saw this cup this fall and fell in love with the design. I told my husband it would make a perfect birthday gift for my birthday. And as it turns out, a perfect disguise for his 5 layer annual German Chocolate birthday cake. Our grocery store has a Starbuck's inside that all but smacks you in the face with the aroma when you walk in the door. And then there was this little guy staring me in the face while I was on my way to the produce section. Minding my own business. When it went on clearance a few weeks ago I adopted it and brought it home. Just in case my hubby had forgotten my not at all subtle hint. His response, "oh yeah, I was going to get that for you. But don't you think you need more than one? Like maybe four? You can't just have one. You NEED four." I disagreed. One was plenty. But he went online only to discover that they were all sold out and now instead of the $11-$15 range, they were suddenly a collector item at $40. Neither one of us are ridiculous so we agreed that we'd live with just the one cup. He served me my coffee in "my special cup" the next morning. While unbeknownst to me he was coveting it the entire time. The next morning he shows up with his cup of coffee. IN MY SPECIAL CUP. This would never do. My cup and I hadn't shared nearly enough warm moments together for it to be torn away so quickly. So I went back online and found a lone cup that was under $20 (where was it a couple of days earlier?) and bought it for my husband's birthday which is the same week as mine. And I decided to dress up his annual usually plain but delicious german chocolate cake to match. And that's why this cake was born. And why we now have TWO special cups.
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Surprise Inside Spider Cake
Oh what a tangled web we weave . . . Chocolate cake spider inside a web covered lair. Exterior inspired by The Cake Blog except I thought it might be a good idea to use white chocolate over ganache for the web rather than marshmallows. Mistake. Big mistake. You can't really cut through a brittle chocolate web with any degree of grace. Even with a really hot knife. Use the marshmallows. Trust me. Spider on the exterior is hand piped chocolate covered in sparkling sugar.
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Star Wars Boba Fett Naked Cake
My first naked cake for a one-year-old's Star Wars themed birthday. I gave the client both an edible and non edible Boba Fett (as requested) topper since my plan for the planned edible version went by the wayside. Not sure which one she chose to top this smash cake but the edible version was piped chocolate. The rustic green stand was perfect along with the added "May the Fork be with You" tag tied to a fork. Can't wait to see the photos of the birthday boy enjoying his cake!
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Cookiecon 2014
Another cookie for CookieCon. Weensie little froggie with sugar crystal speckles on wood grain fondant. Inset hummingbird from baked sugar crystals/dragees and a green fondant band for trim. First time I'd ever thought to add a finishing edge to a cookie but I liked the way it framed the rest of the piece.