I started “decorating” cakes when I was a kid. My mom had one of those books that show how to put round, square and triangular shapes together to make things like bunnies, tractors, etc. Most of them used coconut for grass – which didn’t go over very well at our house! When I was in high school – or maybe college – I bought a Wilton cake decorating book and ventured a little farther into the art, but it wasn’t until my kids start having birthday parties that I began to really dabble! Thanks to the internet, there are tons of resources so I dove in and started making quite a few cakes for family occasions. It became my gift to my grandparents (and still is). It is something they really appreciate and yet – no clutter afterward! I gradually started doing cakes for friends and their friends. It even went as far as doing wedding cakes a couple summers ago.  That was extremely stressful and I have decided that isn’t in the cards for me right now. I am happy doing the occasional birthday and special occasion cake. I make all my cakes, fillings and icings from scratch. There was a lot of trial and error – and flops! – before I found recipes that I could use for sheet cakes, stacked cakes and carved cakes. I love a good challenge so the carved cakes are fun! My husband often asks why I put so much time in effort in something that will just be eaten, to which I reply -” I don’t know!” I enjoy creating and stretching my limits. People are usually very appreciative and kids are thrilled with the end result which makes it all worth it.

I really can’t pick favorites but the following are a few of the latest…

For my Dad's 60th Birthday

And yes, that is “snow” sprinkled over the pine cones and greenery.

Orange Race car on a 4 Track

The little boy requested an orange race car and he was turning 4 so this fit the bill!

A cake from the past…

2 dimensional deer head cake

This was a challenge! I based the design off of my dad-in-law’s mounted deer head. I then used buttercream (vs. fondant) to cover. I tend to prefer the taste of buttercream so most of my designs are done with that. I will use fondant for accents but hardly ever to cover the entire cake.

Golf ball bag and clubs

Another cake done a couple years ago.

I am not sure if I will put all my past photos on the blog or just some of the more memorable ones. I have a picasa web album which I try to keep updated here. Feel free to check it out!