Opening up another session of the FNCC! Everyone is welcome to share their week, photos of their work, ask for help if they need it or provide help if they can!

Hope to see some work tonight!

Cat

Hi everyone,

Just one cake this week. I was hired by my son's little league for their end of the year party to make a cake. All of the parents pitched in for me to make the cake. Of course they got a great discount too! LOL! Since I live in a cave that, due to the heat wave we are presently suffering through in Northern California, stays a cave all day long, photos will have to wait till set up tomorrow at the party. I'll take them tomorrow morning and post them in the afternoon. 

I do have a question for those of you who do this on a regular basis. Every year for the past 4 years (when I've been booked from April to September) I deal with my family members and their not understanding that I don't have any week's off in the summer that were not booked months ago. My niece keeps trying to put together a family camp out...every single summer, and she waits till late May to suggest it. Well, I'm booked. Now my mom wants to take a day trip out to a house and gardens about 3 hours away (so an all day excursion) and she can't understand why I can't take a whole day off to runaway until September. Anyone else have slow family members or is it just me? 

Anyways...upcoming is my son's 13th birthday party and, of course, Memorial Day here in the States. What is going on for all of you guys this week?

Cat

Morning!

Well, I have no family around here other than my dad, and he doesn't organise anything, he leaves it to me.... and my husband's family are generally disagreeable, so even if they do understand that I have a booking, they'll say they don't, just to make a point and be, well, disagreeable!! We call them fally-outy-people. 

I had one this week, for a guy who's interests are Watford football club, his cats, and his collectable trains.... put that on a cake! ok...

so this is what I came up with. i would have preferred to have an edible printer to do the logo smaller on the scarf instead, but as I don't, I just had to free hand it on the top. 

What do you think? Criticism welcome, I'm not that pleased with it, but that may be because the subject matter didn't enthuse me that much :)

ANo cakes for me this week.

Anaelisabethlee, I think you did a great job of combining those interests and keeping a clean design. I think any time I free hand something I always see where isn't precisely like the original. And for what it's worth, i think you did a great job.

Cat, while I'm just a hobby baker, I understand what you mean about time. I'm slow and still learning but will take a cake somewhere and people ask me how long it took...did that take you three hours???!! And they think that is a long time. I'm thinking, it took about half that time to just get cake. Lord knows what they would think if they realized how long it takes me to decorate only. Can't wait to see pics.

Have a good weekend.

-Tracy

This weekend is great! I finally did my first wedding cake!!  Here it is:

Also did a Vampire Diaries themed birthday cake:

Thanks for your input...glad I'm not the only one who has crazy clueless families! And yes, no one knows what goes into a cake...not even a "simple" one much less a really ornate one. And speaking of ornate...

ANA! I think you did the most awesome job! What a whole mess of subject matter that you put very cleanly on that cake! It really could have been a jumbled mess and yet you managed to make a very clean lined cake that got it all across very well. As for the "logo" I imagine you mean the lettering on the topper? I have to tell you that I had to look REALLY hard to find that "imperfection" so I think you are very safe. Since I don't write really well I've taken to piping anything like that on instead to make it look cleaner but even that is not the same as having a printer to do it for you. 

SWEETSHOP!  Your wedding cake is simply gorgeous! You did such a beautiful job to make such a beautiful cake.

BUT...your Vampire Diaries cake really blows your wedding cake out of the water...WOW  seriously WOW. That is an amazing cake. I'd be awfully proud of it if I were you.

TEXAS: I belong to a networking group and the next time it is my turn to present my business (we get 10 minutes) I'm going to break down what it takes to make a cake. I'm going to make a dummy wedding cake and then go into each and every detail of the week leading up to the event so that they can see what does go into one. As for being "slow". I think it's more important to get the details right than to do them quickly. I think most of us are custom cakers due to the fact we don't want to be in a bakery that makes us churn them out every half hour. I hate it when I'm in a time crunch and have to buy flowers rather than make them myself or get something ready made rather than make it myself. I'd rather take that time and be considered slow, that to make something I wasn't totally happy with. (ok, let's be honest...none of us is "totally" happy with our cakes...so "mostly" happy! LOL!)

I'm off to the party in about an hour to do the set...I'll take photos of my cake then!

Cat

A[IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3236934/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3236931/width/350/height/700[/IMG] [IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3236930/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

The 2 tier cake has a chocolate cap made from candy melts. I melted dark chocolate and poured it inside the half ball cake pan, swirled it around, then put it in the freezer for a little while. Then I added another layer, so it's hollow. The "lid", I poured it out on parchment paper, let it harden, then cut into a square. Took a heated a knife, melted a little of the cap, and layed the lid on it.

Hi everyone,

Cassie! Love your grad cakes! What a great idea on the cap! I've used the ball pan for fondant before but never with chocolate...I will have to remember that for the future! GREAT tip!

Well, I worked my butt off but the event was a success. I've been to a lot of End of the Year parties but this one was simply great! The people hosting were wonderful to work with and every single member of the team showed up. Here is the cake! (got another order from it too!)

Everything is edible. The "dirt" is crushed graham and gingersnap cookies and the rest is fondant over a marble cake. I "frosted" the board when I got done with the cake and then pressed the cookies into the frosting. Amazingly enough nothing fell off during transport!

Now time to kick back and relax the rest of the weekend!

Cat

Nice job, everyone!!! I always look forwards to Friday to see the cake pictures.

I was going to say the same as remnant3333 but she beat me by an hour or so.  I like coming on here cos it's about the person as well as the cake.  We had an all day workshop yesterday for our monthly group meeting.  We made elves and then were shown how to make Geraldton Wax, Sturt Desert Peas, Water Lillies and Moth Orchids.  I'm not posting a picture of my elf cos I did not think it was good enough to warrant setting up for a photo.  That is neither here nor there, it is the learning of different ideas that matter.

Cat, it's really difficult, if not impossible, to get a large family together, so you should not feel guilty.  Plus, you have a true, bona-fide reason for not being able to attend a family gathering…it's not as if you are canceling last minute to go to your lake house (yes, this happened in my family…for a surprise party my poor mother was planning)    

Ana...glad your project is able to continue now that the artist has consented! That is fun to be excited about a cake!

Remnant, I always love coming back in on Saturday morning just to see who has posted cakes. But I also love finding out what is going on in all of your lives. 

Cazza...I hate doing human figurines...I would imagine Elves would be much the same. But I love learning new flowers! Hope you will share some of those as you learn how to do them.

Norasmom...well, this is my family. My older brother sets his own hours so he can do whatever whenever and is constantly calling my hubby to go play golf midweek. My hubby works an 8-5 M-F job. He reminds my brother every time and yet my brother keeps calling. My mom use to work every Saturday and yet family member would set parties up for a Saturday and then get upset when she couldn't come. Or get upset at me when I would set a party for a Sunday so that mom could come. Basically I get sort of worn out when no one wants to be considerate of any one else's schedule but their own. I've been working cakes professionally for 5 years now. The past 3 my summer has been toast due to work. So it's wearing that they schedule things that could have been moved to September and then get upset at me because I can't do it. Anyways, it will all change next summer. We are moving about 3 hours away so the "beck and call" attitude will have to change for them. 

I finally figured out the design for my son's paintball cake. There are just so many ways you can go with it so it feels rather uncreative so I was having issues figuring out what I want to do. I'll share with you Friday night!  Have a great week!

Cat

AThis was a cake for the 1st anniversary of a local gym. It was fun to make, but not my favourite! [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3237609/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

Cara...l love the dumbells...the ones with the handles!  I think it's harder to do a one tier cake than a bigger one myself. Seems to limit the creativity. I think you did a wonderful job here.

Hi everyone, I also love coming in to look at all the cakes, I too believe it is sometimes the story that goes with a cake that is just as important as the cake itself. After all that is all we have left of them once they are gone. 

I had the week from HELL, that a normal person would have had difficulty coping with stress wise let alone someone with Addisons. Lets just say I now have new carpets and lino through out the house , a new Hot water system, and pretty much all new switches and fuses in my power box. I did manage to get a three tier cake out as well . 

We also had an all day workshop yesterday , working on our display for the State Sugar craft show. 

Here is a link to my cake , https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152515308190910&set=a.10152185005380910.1073741831.205644940909&type=1&theater

I saw the cake on Facebook! Wow! Incredible creation. Just don't know how you withstood renovation AND made a 3 tier cake too. Makes me sound like a wimp when I say I'm not taking cake orders next May or June because we are moving. LOL!

Thanks Cat , I was pretty proud of it.  It wasn't by choice that I had to go through all of that , one thing after the other just happened. Saturday morning that cake was three naked ganached cakes. I had to deliver by 5 that night. All I had done was the penguins. It has been pouring rain all week so I had to change the design a little as well because of the weather.  Today I am not getting out of bed. 

Seriously don't blame you. After yesterdays event I'm still suffering the "hangover". Hope you get a few hours grace before the demands begin again! LOL!

I have let the dogs out , I have fed and given my Mum her meds and injection. Any thing else can wait , I just put the phone on DO NOT DISTURB 

A

AThank you, Cat.

This was a first for me. I had to take a knife and cut the edges straight. A little intimidating for a newbie. The "lid" of the cap made delivery fine, but began to droop in the heat at the party. Don't know if making it thicker would help our just make it heavier.

AI did one cake this week, it was my daughters birthday. I'm really disappointed with it, I had just gotten over a chest infection and my hands were really shaky. And I put the crown on crooked!!! But my daughter absolutely loved it. That's a good thing I guess. I'm going to make another cake next week just to get this one out of my system. I really wanted to love it but don't. Oh well :) [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3237885/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

Nadia, I totally understand the working on a cake while feeling unwell. I hate that feeling because I know it's not my best work and I hate to have to let go of something I know isn't my best. However I totally love this cake. I'm going to guess this is "Frozen" based? It's truly lovely. I know my Frozen obsessed granddaughter would simply go crazy over it!  The one thing we need to remember is that no one else knows what it was "supposed" to look like...only what it does look like. And this looks beautiful!

Cat

Thanks Cat :) Yes, she had a Frozen themed party at a local play centre so I decided to do something Frozen inspired for her. She did adore it, which is the main thing. Your comments have made me feel a lot better about it though. I think sometimes I'm far too critical, but I just can't help it! Plus I left it until the last minute (made the gum paste decorations in the morning and painted them in the evening!!). And I had no snowflake cutters so had to use a template and cut them by hand. OMG I'm laughing about it now. I was so disorganised for this cake! LOL. Then my BC split because the house was too hot so I had to crank the aircon, drive to the shops and buy more supplies. I was just glad in the end to get a cake done. 

Thanks Cat xxx

Sorry you had such a bad week, Chelle, but your cake is great.  Mind you, I have just got back from Q'land, and it was not THAT cold there.  Your cake recipients must have brain freeze from being somewhere else (or eating too much ice-cream).

I hate to ask, but did you have a flood or a fire.  It sounds like it. Regardless, you can now enjoy your new floor covering and try to put the stress out of your mind.

Cazza , we had a flooded laundry  a couple of months ago , and because the whole house was carpeted and the hallway carpet and Mum's bedroom carpet was ruined. They had to replace the lot. The house is still a mess from where I had to move everythin , but I just don't have the energy to put it back to rights yet.  I have almost gone into crisis around three times in the past week so pushing myself is just not on the cards. 

You do know that here in QLD , we reach for a Jumper or cardi as soon as the temp hits 24 . The pictures I saw from the party the birthday girl even had a white dress with blue snowflakes all over it .  

A little late but here is the cake I worked on all weekend

A