Topsy Turvey Zebras

In my ongoing quest to make a really good topsy-turvy cake (or mad hatter cake, whichever you prefer), I'm making excellent progress. This is the third one, and they are getting better. Really, look at the first one and second one. This one went very well, although I think I'm going to hold off on doing any more until I can by the Mad Dadder cake pans from Fat Daddio. I hate having to carve off and waste so much cake. (Okay, it doesn't necessarily go to waste as go in my mouth, but you get the point).

On a side note, this is the second cake I've done for this lovely customer. If you're interested, here's the first

There's Only So Much Time!

Did you know that lots of small bakers set a limit on how many cakes they'll do in a given weekend? It makes sense...there is only so much time in a weekend! 

I myself will only do two or three cakes a weekend, depending on size, details, delivery, etc. I can do more (and have before), but I'm always worried that the quality of my work will suffer. After all, if you're paying me $50+ for a cake, I want it to look AMAZING 

So here are the cakes from my second two-cake weekend of the year. I've been dying to try the tie-dye effect for quite a while now (another item on that 'to try' list I talk about so much), and loved how well it worked. I wasn't pleased with the way the peace signs turned out, so I'll do that different next time. Maybe full fondant instead...

And the other one was just fun - on a whim I decided to paint the toothpicks and leave them showing. I really like how it looked.

Buttercream Skills

I like fondant for lots of reasons, one of which is the fact that it's easy to get a nice, smooth finish with it. Buttercream? Well, that takes a lot more practice. So when I donate cakes, or on the rare occasion that I make one just for fun, I like to practice my buttercream skills. 

So that's what this one was, a donated cake - and practice. It turned out pretty darn smooth (and pretty darn cute), in my own humble opinion.

  

Followed by the Second

The only reason this cake was the second cake of the year, and not the first (since I made them at the same time) was because it was ordered second! I gotta have SOME sort of organization!

It was ordered by one of my favorite customers - I did a Rapunzel cake for her older daughter just a few months ago, and this one was for her younger daughter's birthday.

Here's the photo she sent, created by The Cake Gallery in Omaha.  

 

Here's the cake I made, based on the picture. Obviously it's a little different, since I was going from buttercream to fondant. And I used stars instead of flowers...stars just seemed to go better with the zebra, in my humble opinion. 

 

First Cake of the Year

Funny story...

When I counted 2012's cakes again, I got 64 the second time.

Told you I wasn't good at math!

Of course, that doesn't count all the pies, cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, or other assorted treats I made. Or the sheet cakes I did at work - I work at the grocery store bakery too. I ♥ baking...

The first weekend of 2013 was a two cake weekend! The first was a batman birthday cake, which I had a great idea for, but wasn't sure gravity would agree with me: 

Luckily, it did! I wanted the top tier to be 8 inches or so tall, so that I could get a really great city scene in. And Batman himself too, looking all fierce, guarding the city from evil.

This isn't my first Superhero cake, and the more I do, the more idea I think of! Here's a few from last year: 

You can see the original here

You can see the original here

You can see the original here