Fault Line Cakes!

Fault Line Cakes are all the rage right now and I wanted to try my hand at making them. These popular cakes are made to look as though they were splitting open around the middle, as though along a fault line, revealing another layer beneath the surface. 

Learning new baking and decorating techniques is a pleasure for me. I watched a couple of video tutorials to figure this out and I truly enjoyed the process. I plan to make more of these cakes; I have so many ideas I want to try!

Gingerbread Houses!

It wouldn't feel like Christmas around here without a Gingerbread House. In years gone by we have had some very large, heavily decorated versions. My boys used to love seeing how much candy they could stick to the roof before I noticed and made them stop. It's almost part of the tradition! This year, however, I made the Gingerbread Houses a little differently. 

I chose to keep the decoration simple, using just royal icing and chocolate. I must say, it made it nicer to eat; the flavour of the gingerbread really came through without all the candy.  There were no complaints about my simply sweet Gingerbread Houses. 

Angel Food Cake!

Although I have made many cakes in my life, I have never made an Angel Food Cake before this week. I have always been a little intimidated by the idea of a cake that is so light and fluffy, but it really wasn't so difficult.

There are some key steps that need to done carefully:

• Separating the egg whites from the yolks is important because the fat in the yolks will prevent the whites from whipping up properly. 
• The bowl for whipping the egg whites must be clean and free of any grease for the same reason.
• Mixing the batter needs to be done very gently so that it stays light and fluffy.

I'm glad I learned to make this cake. Served with some berries, it might be my new favourite!

Cupcakes!

Some days you just need a cupcake. It helps if the cupcake is pretty!

Ice Cream Cookies!

A friend asked for help, so I packed up my icing bags and off I went! She was having an ice cream themed party and wanted some cookies decorated like ice cream cones. Could I do that? You bet I could!

My friend baked the cookies and I did the decorating. I taught her how to do it too:

• first cover the cookie with a flood of icing in your desired colours
• let it dry
• with slightly thicker icing, pipe on the details

We had so much fun making these cookies. Baking with a friend is always better!

A Frozen Treat!

Does it still count as baking if it's a frozen dessert? This Raspberry Frosty was so refreshingly delicious. I think it counts as a baked good; I had to bake the crust!

Wedding Cakes!

A few friends have allowed me the honour of making their wedding cakes. Each one was a new a different challenge for me, which I thoroughly enjoyed! 

I learned to make little fondant roses for this wedding cake. I was very happy to provide this cake for a wonderful couple. It was an incredible experience for me to set it up in the "catering room" of their beautiful wedding venue. 

This fun cake was made for the wedding of a couple who enjoy white-water kayaking. The challenge here was to make a waterfall that still looked like something to eat. My favourite part of this cake was actually the rocks. I think they look great!

My first ever wedding cake was created at the request of my son. He wanted his pet ducks to be married, so we had a little ceremony for them on the lawn and enjoyed this pretty little cake in celebration.