Spring is Almost Here & So is Baby G!

One of the best and special baby showers I've been to was my friends, Jennifer and Nathaniel's baby shower.  Not only are they very close to me like family, but also because they are having their first baby and everyone of their family and friends are very excited and happy to  shower the baby with love and blessings!

The couple is expecting a baby girl in about a month and Mommy-to-be is not quite a fan of the color pink.  Therefore, I created this colorful, spring-themed baby shower cake for this special event.  

Everything on this cake are hand-crafted and edible except for the heart-shaped crystals on the package.  I love how they glitter, it emphasizes how precious the package is.   The stork is made of Rice Krispies and covered with marshmallow fondant.  Flowers, lady bugs, bumble bees and butterflies are all made of sugar gumpastes and hand-painted with edible gel colors.  

I must admit, this is one of the most time consuming cakes I've ever done but I truly enjoyed creating and designing every bit of it.  

Congratulations Nat & Jen!  

Affliction

Masculinity. Strength. Sophistication.  This cake shows it all.  Made of fondant, hand-painted with edible silver pearl dust and gel colors.  Affliction (the brand name) is what the logo stands for  but certainly not what the cake's about.  It might look  hard and tough on the outside but inside is a sweet moist chocolate cake that would melt a woman's heart ;). 

Happy Birthday Mauricio!

Leopard Print Shoe

This sculptured shoe is made of sugar gumpaste and is hand-painted with edible red and black gel colors.  Sexy, bold and confident, which reflected the personality of the birthday celebrant.  Happy birthday, Roma!

Batman Captured

A dear friend of mine celebrated her thirty-something birthday last week :). 

I made her a cake that reflected some of her interests,  her fondness of New York City (yes, that's my tiny imitation of the Empire State Building, haha),  Butters (a cartoon character from South Park), Batman and her hobby in photography.  

All figures are edible, hand-crafted, painted and made with marshmallow fondant.  Inside is a moist red velvet cake with butter cream cheese filling, which is her favorite.  

Happy birthday, Marvs!

 

Pretty in Pink

Yesterday was my friend Charmaine's surprise baby shower that took place at her in-law's residence in Piscataway, New Jersey.   Her sister, Noreen, informed me about the surprise shower about a month ago and so I volunteered to create and design a cake for the occasion.  They are expecting a baby girl and so the color themes are pink and brown.   I browsed through my cake collections and decided to apply some of the new design techniques I learned from Elaine MacGregor's tutorials, particularly the ribbon insertion on fondant and of course a fellow Filipina cake decorator, Mayen, on making a baby carriage.  Following the basic techniques, I incorporated my own design in this creation.  I also added some cute cupcakes to complement the main cake.  

This baby carriage cake was made of a moist chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling, covered with marshmallow fondant.

These cupcakes which I really adore are also made of moist chocolate  with vanilla cream custard filling. 

The baby shower turned out to be very successful, not to mention the wide delicious spread of food that everyone brought and prepared.  The  hospitality and humor from both sides of their families just completed this heart-warming and love-filled occasion.  Congratulations, James and Charmaine! 

My Favorite Things

February 13th was my friend, Jennifer's birthday.  She and I share a lot of things in common, especially our love for food.  Wines & crabs would be at the top of our list of "Favorite Things".  

She and her husband are expecting a baby soon!  Their families and friends are very excited about it especially that this is their first baby.  When they found out that she's pregnant, she was put on a NO WINE and NO SEAFOOD diet, which her husband STRICTLY enforced.  She's the only person I know who could eat crabs for hours until she passes out.  So just imagine how painful it was for her to see my photo at  Joe's Crab Shack (holding a big claw of a king crab) that I posted online! Of course she  commented, "Thanks a lot Liv...!"  Last Super Bowl event, we had dinner at their place and decided to open a bottle of wine.  That was a torture for her!  All she could do was to sniff the bottle  and drink her coconut juice.  Hahaha!  I felt a bit sorry that she couldn't have any, but what the heck, it was a good wine! 

And so I thought it would be so perfect to create a Crab & Wine cake for her birthday!  Hmmm... I wonder what she wished for... :)  They're not real  but at least she can eat them! :)  

Happy Birthday, Jennifer!!!

The crab and wine are all made of rice krispies with marshmallows and covered with fondant.  Inside is a chocolate cake filled with chocolate pudding.  The wooden barrel is edible and is made of fondant & gumpaste, hand sculpted, carved and hand painted with edible gel colors.

Black and White Swirl

       I have always wanted to design a black and white cake.  In my opinion, this color combination is classic and exudes elegance and boldness.  A friend of mine, Dories, celebrated her birthday last week and so I decided to create this cake and bring it to her surprise party, in Brooklyn, NY.  I made my sketches and browsed through my photo collections to get more ideas, but every time I'm in the process of decorating my cake, I always seem to get diverted  from my original design.  I guess this is when the frustrated artist in me kicks in. Hahaha! 

      This is a moist red velvet cake with cream cheese filling and covered with home-made marshmallow fondant, all made from scratch.  I initially intended to use royal icing to create the black swirls on the cake but instead, I thought it would be more interesting if I used  rolled fondant to give more texture and boldness to the design.  Black and white colors project a contrast that really appeals to me.  
     After placing the fondant swirls, I hand-painted each of them with edible  black gel to make them stand out and have that glossy effect.  I placed clustered roses on top and scattered a couple of petals around it, also made of fondant.  I made these roses a week ahead, enough time to let them dry.  They  are all hand made and I did not use any flower cutters at all :D - a technique I learned from a fellow cake decorator on YouTube  :). The roses represent passion and love from her family and friends surrounding her on that very special occasion.   Happy Birthday, Dories!
  

     

Tiffany Bloom

     A two-tiered cake covered in marshmallow fondant, with a hint of almond extract.  The cake itself is red velvet with cream cheese filling, my favorite!  The cakes measure 6" x 4" and 8" x 4".  I used straw dowels to support the weight of the upper tier.    This was my first tiered cake and so I was indecisive in the beginning on how to decorate it.  With so many beautiful cake designs I'd like to try,  I finally decided to do my own and use the new flower cutter I bought months ago.  I used three layers of the medium cut flowers for the bottom seam, two layers  of the smaller ones on the top seam and used the large cut flowers for the topper, then adorned it with edible pearls.  I could do better with my ribbon, but overall, I am happy with it.  I can't wait to do my next cake project! :)

     

Pink Blossoms

A  cake inspired by Japanese cherry blossoms.  It is miniature in size, only 3" x 3"x 4".    A cute and delicate piece of art work! :)  Inside is a chocolate favored cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered with home-made marshmallow fondant. The florets are also made of fondant, shimmered with edible pearl dust.  Perfect for weddings and shower favors.

My First Fondant Cake - NY Yankees Inspired

     

     I made this cake for a good friend of mine who turned 35 in July of last year.  He is an avid Yankees fan, can you tell?  I took this opportunity to create my first fondant cake and also to surprise him and his wife, who is one of my best friends.    I, personally, designed this Yankee-themed cake.  The baseball jersey that is draped on top is made of fondant and I used royal icing for the vertical stripes, grass,  baseball stitching and the autographs.  I downloaded a NY Yankee logo from the internet, cut it and carefully traced it  on top of  the fondant with a  sharp cutter to form my fondant logo.

    

     The cake is a 2-layered moist chocolate cake filled with my own version of Dulce-de-leche, a really great combination, I should say.  Mmm mmm good!  Of course, to complete the theme, I created small cupcakes to resemble the autographed baseball balls.  I have to admit, signing was the most fun part. :)  

       
    It took me about 8 hours to make this cake.  From baking, crumb coating, making of the filling, icing and the decorating.  I realized that when making a custom-made cake, not only does it require  creativity but a lot of time and patience to make it, especially if you want to make it the best that you can.  Overall, it was worth it.  

     
     Being my first fondant cake, I'd say I did a pretty neat job. :)  After making this, I couldn't wait to do more cakes!

A Passion Discovered

     I started my passion for cake decorating  months ago while browsing on videos online and  I came through some videos about different cake designs and tutorials.  Right at that moment, I knew that I could do it and  with time and practice, I can definitely be good at this. I was excited and at the same time overwhelmed to see how many cake bakers out there who are so talented and are willing share their wisdom and creations to inspire others.  Needless to say, it sparked a flame inside me and so here I am,  sharing my own cake creations. :) 

   In this blog, I will be sharing my learning experiences as a cake designer, recipes, tips from different sources and of course, my own creative works!