PART 2 Binge eating M&M

To get the look of the planters peanut bag I used my edible printer and frosting sheets to get the planters peanut bag and the logo for Chester Cheeto, I made edible tootsie roll wrappers and Hershey’s wrappers made from the edible frosting sheets and printer I backed those on to fondant to make them sturdier.

For the Cheetos and Cheetos bag I hand painted the Cheetos bag with diluted food coloring and the Cheetos are out of fondant too to get a cheesy effect on them I rolled them in orange edible glitter.

I then stacked and filled my cake for the M&M and once the cake was chilled again I began to carve it I would of preferred to make the shape more true to the shape of a real M&M but I had to take in consideration where the cake had to travel to also we were experiencing extremely hot weather in Chicago so I wanted to make sure the cake arrived in perfect condition. If you look closely you will notice that the M&M doesn’t have his famous symbol well that is because the hand would cover it so I decided it wasn’t necessary but looking back I wish I would of added it! Also the hands are made of a fondant modeling chocolate mixed with a flexible wire strung through the middle so that it provides extra support.

The finished product after all the elements were added

M&M Binge Eater 3D Cake Part 1

I know it has been awhile sine I posted something but thankfully we had a great wedding season at Yum Squared Bakery and we are in the process of getting things together to get a store front but that's another post. I'm excited to give you a look into what it takes to make one of our specialty 3d cakes so enjoy!

I recently received a call from a client for a 75^th birthday party cake for her father in law. When I asked what were his hobby’s she told me gardening but she didn’t want to do a garden themed cake so we dug a bit deeper and I found out he is a big time junk food eater! Once I found out that piece of information I knew what I had to do make his favorite food in to a cake!

I was given a list of his favorite foods I wanted to come up with a concept that would take his love for junk food and take it a step further! The recipient of the cake loved M&M’s, Cheetos, Hershey’s kisses, strawberry ice cream, Planters peanuts and Tootsie rolls. That’s when it hit me! A giant M&M who went on a binge and ate a ton of junk food! I wanted to make everything on the cake edible so the first thing that I had to figure out also I needed to make the cake easy for transporting because my client who by the way is a really good friend of ours was out of town so I wasn’t sure how far the cake needed to travel this was bad on my end I have a habit of not following the rules I set for doing cakes for clients for friends and family and I don’t send out a questionnaire that helps us decided how to construct a cake. (Note for any one new to baking or to designing cake always take into consideration how far your cake has to travel and if you will delivery or if your client will pick the cake up this little oversight can affect the way you construct your cake or you may need to add additional information guiding your clients on which elements to put where.)

Next I drew a picture of what I was envisioning so that I could have something to go by while decorating the cake I started on baking the amount of cake I needed(by the way I spared you a good laugh I am  horrible at drawing and I didn’t include mine)

I figured that I needed 3 10inch cakes for the M&M and I also made two 6 inch cakes for the Cheetos bag and the Planters Peanut bag. The cake was to be strawberries and champagne but I also made the Planters Peanut bag vanilla bean with fresh strawberries for the kids at the party to eat because our strawberries and champagne cake is not for anyone under 21.

After I made the cakes and let them chill for a few hours I suggest at least 3 to 4 hours so that they are firm for carving.

For the Cheetos bag I took the 6inch cake and cut it into the shape of a chip bag I did this by eye. My suggestion when carving a cake take little cuts if you are uncomfortable carving but don’t be scared to make a mistake, the mistakes are what makes great cake artist you have to make mistakes so that you can learn how to fix them so that no one knows. Most of all if you get frustrated wrap the cake put it in the refrigerator and take a break trust me I do this a lot.

Back to the cake so once I cut it into a bag shape I cut it in half and filled it with fresh strawberries and my champagne frosting I also then carved the cake more to resembled a bag and then applied a thin layer of icing I did the same for the planters peanut bag as well and then placed the cake s back into the refrigerator.

While the cakes were chilling I made Fondant, I don’t buy fondant I like to give my customers the best tasting ingredients and I would rather make my own it takes a little work and I know what’s going in it and it tastes good!

 Once my fondant was made I stared in on the decorations, I used food coloring to get the color of peanuts once that was done the pictures below show how I formed the peanuts

 I also used a slipat brushed with cornstarch to keep the fondant from sticking to the mat I also used it on my gloves so the fondant wouldn't stick.

traveling 3D zebra print cake

I was approached by a client to create a zebra print school bus cake for her granddaughters 3^rd birthday. The party theme was zebra print meets fabulous rock star princess. The grandmother & parents hired a jungle bus (if your like me and didn’t know what that is it’s a school bus gutted out with playground and gymnastic equipment in place of seats.) They also wanted matching cupcakes and cake pops for the party as well.

The entire bus was edible it was a vanilla bean cake with fresh strawberries and banana filling. I also added lights to the bus and a edible chocolate photo with matching edible photo’s on the cupcakes and edible glitter #3’s which was a organic apple pie cupcake. The other cupcakes had hand painted zebra print disk that were edible with hot pink sugar flowers and a zebra swirled vanilla and chocolate frosting. the cake pops were hand painted as well. 

I was a little worried about this order the client was driving the cake outside of the Chicago land area and had to refrigerate it over night  but the cake traveled well I was told it arrived intact and ready for the party. the birthday girl loved her cake and as you see form the picture it fit in the clients refrigerator !

3D Lighting McQueen Cake

In the past few weeks I have been knee deep in wedding cakes so when I got this request for a Disney cars cake I was so excited! The client’s wanted a 3D Lighting McQueen cake for their sons 1^st birthday. I was excited and a bit intimidated at the request I hadn’t seen a cars movie but I was familiar with the main car Lighting McQueen.

So first things first  I quickly downloaded the cars  movie from Direct Tv and began my research getting to watch the movie was a much needed break for me from the hot commercial kitchen that seems even more humid since it has been hot in Chicago. I baked a total of 3 half sheet cakes and two rounds and got to work. After carving the shape of the car which by the way was a process that involved a lot of choice words and  Google image searches I wasn’t too happy with the shape I cut so I decided to come back and try it again. As a cake artist time can either be your friend or enemy in this instance it was beneficial to me since I gave myself enough time to do the cake.

In the end I think the cake came out pretty good if I was to do it again there are lots of things that I would do different but overall I was happy with the end product and the client was thrilled with their custom cake creation made entirely of cake with matching smash cake. 

Desk Cake Final Post

The cake part of the cake was a chocolate fudge cake studded with cacao nibs.

The structure that I made to hold the cake was MDF board and wooden Legs that I found at Home depot. Be sure when making a structure for your cake that your cake won't touch the structure ( I placed a foam core board in between my cake and the wooden board) I first measured the length and width of what would be the top of my cake then I used that to get the measurements for the entire structure.

Lucky me the guy at Home Depot that was cutting my wood didn’t listen to my measurements and he cut it too big and therefore I had to re bake my cake and make more accessories word to the wise make sure that you check your measurements before leaving the store.

Once the cake was covered with fondant I hand painted and airbrush the cake.

and here is the finished product the cake stood about two and a half feet tall.

Desk Cake Part 2

Most of us have many trinkets on our desk, so why should a cake posing as a desk be any different? A picture is something that is universal and can be found on desk around the world so let’s start there. Below is a picture that is 100% edible including the frame.

Once you have selected a picture and printed it using an edible printer and ink. I cut the picture out.

Roll out a piece of gum paste bigger than the picture. Apply clear piping gel to the back and place the picture on the gum paste, cut around the outer edges of the image.

Now the fun part I took a mold that had flower garland and pieced it together and made a frame. You can use all sorts of methods like flower cutters or leave cutters the possibilities are as endless. (I used a fondant gum paste mix for my pieces)

Once you get your frame pieces cut out you can fuse them using water or gum glue. Then apply whatever finish that you desire like an antique finish using edible gold or silver paint. You can cut a piece of gum paste to place on the back of the picture for a stand and behind that put a wooden dowel or a strong plastic straw.

I also made a few edible books for the cake as well I did those using rice crispy then I covered with fondant then with edible images.

I made the magazines the same way. Make sure that you score the sides of your books and magazines in order to give them a realistic feel. If you are doing an old book you can paint the sides a brown, yellow or even gold.

The apple on the desk was made of modeling chocolate. Modeling chocolate is a great way to get a seamless figure. As well as to apply movement to your design.

Desk Cake Part 1

Yes you read right I embarked on creating a desk that was totally made of cake ...except for the support structure of course.

I recently received a request for a desk cake. The client’s wife had just gotten a promotion at work and just had a baby so he wanted to show his wife how much he appreciated her (too bad all hubby’s and boyfriends are not like this take note!) thus the desk cake was created.

Anyone who has created a cake with the hubby taking charge knows that the road can take a turn into the land of indecision as well as my favorite when they ask us what do we like? As if all woman are the same LOL. Surprisingly he was pretty good about some of the details of course he had a little help from his wife’s brother. Once we got our base design together we they were able to make decision like a pro once I gave them a few suggestions. Ok so let’s get into the cake!

Every element of the cake was edible I started the process with a sketch of the cake.  It allows a client who may not be able to visualize what their cake may look like a picture into their final product. When I start the design process with my clients on specialty cakes I have one objective that is to make the cake as personal as possible by adding things that are important to the client. This task can be achieved by adding edible components made of fondant, gumpaste or modeling chocolate etc...

Below is a picture of the final product, in the next few post we will get into how each component was made.

The client wanted to sit the cake on the floor so he could get a picture of the size..DONT WORRY THE TOP PART OF THE DESK IS THE CAKE SO IT DIDNT TOUCH THE FLOOR