Up, up and away...

Tis the season for family time, antics in the snow, good tidings, great cheer, remembering the birth of our savior, gorging yourself on delicious food, decking the house out in festive decorations and...my annual gingerbread house.
This year, I endeavored to create the house from the movie Up! The official title of this creation is: The Up House Goes to the North Pole.
First off I had to create a template by looking at and studying the house from the motion picture. It was frustrating to say the least since I am no architect, but I made do.

First off I had to create a template by looking at and studying the house from the motion picture. It was frustrating to say the least since I am no architect, but I made do.
For those perceptive few of you, you'll notice that the template has an additional dormer that the  gingerbread house itself doesn't have. I had to sacrifice it since I had ran out of time.

Almost all of the decorations are made of fondant.

Coming up out of the balloons is Kevin, the tropical bird from the movie.

Mr. Fredrickson is all ready for Christmas and dressed up as Santa Clause, complete with his signature grumpy face.

This concludes my 2010 gingerbread house escapade.

A promise from Heaven, a promise from you, a promise to love, I will hold onto...

I am in that phase of life where it seems everyone around me is getting married and engaged. One bride in particular this month was a friend of mine from high school. She knew that I made cakes and asked if I would do theirs. I was thrilled to do it for her and honored to be a part of her big day. Though sadly I had to miss it, being that our family vacation was then.

Their colors were cornflower blue and ivory, classic and beautiful. And the flowers they chose were hydrangeas.

The middle tier had the quilted look with dots at the intersection of the lines. 

The hydrangeas were made out of gumpaste and the ribbon was satin.

On the top they added a silver "S" topper, which I think made it look wonderful.

Congrats Tiff and Jake! :]

Yo ho, yo ho...

One of my favorite things in life would have to be Vacation Bible School. The awesome kids, the ridiculous costumes, the inventive games, the cheesy songs [there was one this year that came right out of the N'Sync era], the outrageous dance moves...so fun.

In honor of this event I created a cake for the finale. A ship complete with two of the characters, a captain's wheel, sails and an anchor. 

It was covered in chocolate fondant detailed to look like wood. The detail items were made of sugar paste while the mast is bound skewers and paper sails. The waves were royal icing, colored, then manipulated into looking like crashing waves.

Happy sailing!

C is for Cookie...

I guess C could stand for camel, and chemicals, and colts, and compromise, and chaos and a whole lot of other words...but let's just stick with cookie, shall we? Things are just easier that way. Okay! Back on track...

This summer I am working with the youth group I used to go to back when I was in high school.

Best. Job. Ever.

Basically my job description is hanging out with awesome kids, planning events, playing games, leading a girl's bible study and having fun. What could be better?

Today was the summer kick-off party and so I made some summer themed treats...watermelon cookies.

They were a sugar cookie recipe with chocolate chip "seeds".

                       

Now, I guess I will give you the secret to getting this watermelon look...but let's keep it hush hush shall we ;]...

After making the dough you put a smaller portion aside, about 1/4 or a 1/5 of the whole. Then you split that in half and color one of the pieces green. Wrap both in saran wrap and stick in the fridge. The rest of the dough gets red food coloring. 

Take the red and roll it into a cylinder shape and wrap it up in saran wrap as well. Refrigerate for several hours. 

After the time has passed you roll out the white and green dough into rectangles the dimensions of the diameter and the length of the red dough log.

First wrap the white dough around the red, then the green. Put it in the fridge once again, I did it over night just to make sure it was nice and firm. 

Once it is good and cold, cut it up in about 1/4 of an inch thickness. 

Cut each circle in half and put on a cookie sheet. Then place halves of chocolate chips on each as the seeds. 

Bake and then dig in!

Awh, come on guys! Not the truffle shuffle!...

Now, I don't want to shock you all...but this entry does not involve cake nor gingerbread. Just breathe, you will be okay. I promise.

I know, I know. That is all I have done so far, but notice it is "My Baking Escapades" not "My Cake and Gingerbread Escapades." [Honestly because it just doesn't roll off the tongue as well, ha]

I got this recipe from the genius Miss Bakerella who makes an array of delicious and adorable treats. This in particular is the oreo truffle. 

The ingredients include oreos, cream cheese and chocolate. How can you possibly go wrong?

The design on top is made by melting chocolate in a ziplock bag and making a tiny hole in the bottom. Then as you squeeze it swipe it quickly back and forth, do it beyond the diameter of the  truffle itself.

Here is the recipe if you would like to make this deliciousness...Oreo Truffles.

We bust ours to kick yours...

Yesterday was my brother's graduation from college. A very prestigious college mind you, the Colorado School of Mines. Not only is it famous for being very difficult, but he graduated with two degrees: Chemical Engineering and Economics.

So this great event warranted a cake from yours truly. I created two books, each representing one of his degrees. Complete with a mortar board and a jackass.

No, the jackass wasn't some kind of jab at my brother; it is their mascot. I cut out the silhouette and drew the animal with edible marker. [Much like how I did the characters for the VBS cake]
And the cap is made by covering a small carved cake and placing a square piece of cardboard with is covered in fondant on top.

And here is the graduate and I with his cake. Complete with the office playing in the background.

Everyone chases after happiness, not noticing that happiness is right at their heels...

It is graduation time, and with that comes many parties and so many cakes. Which gave me the opportunity to make my first paid for cake!!! I am official now, I believe. 

A friend came to me looking for a cake for his sister's graduation. She wanted something with a stiletto and polka dots. And so, I made a shoe box with a polka dot design and a high heel shoe made out of solid white chocolate.

To get the 'inside' of the shoe, I used black fondant. Which I thought looked cool being a different texture, kind of like it had silk lining. 

Sadly when molding the shoe, there was no room in the freezer or fridge for it so it had to dry slowly on the counter. When chocolate isn't set quickly, it usually becomes foggy rather than shiny.

There you have it!