Fondant Decorating Time!

Over the past few months, I've been working more and more with fondant on cakes for parties.  Even though after each is done, I feel like there is stuff I wish I had done better, I think they look pretty good.  I always use marshmallow fondant.  I think it tastes much better than regular fondant and it is very easy to work with.

This cake was covered in white fondant then I hand cut each piece to create a chevron print on the sides.  The cake was a tequila sunrise inspired cake so the color design was supposed to evoke the look of the drink.

This cake was for a friend's birthday party.  It is made to look like a Hobbit hole.  The cake isn't completely fondant, it is a mix of buttercream and fondant.  These materials are hard to put together since the fondant just wants to absorb the moisture from the buttercream.  You can't get a really hard fondant with this usage.  The buttercream was made to look like grass covering the whole cake, while the rest of the work is made of fondant.

Another friend asked for a special cake for his birthday.  I made a Lego Star Wars cake.  I used round cake pans (same ones I used for the Hobbit cake) to get a nice shape without having to waste a bunch of excess cake during shaping.  My inspiration for this cake was the idea that the inside was made out of Legos and they had lifted up a panel to work on it.

A few months later I had another birthday party to go to... you can see a theme here.  This cake was for a 1920s themed birthday party.  Everything was 1920s, so the cake was no exception.  It was a simply designed cake with Art Deco elements added.

Here is my most recent cake.  I made this cake for a baby shower.  The invitations had a robot on it, so I recreated it out of fondant for the topper.  He is holding onto a bundle that is supposed to look like he's carrying a baby (like a stork)... though I think it looks like of like he robbed a bank.  The rest of the cake and cake board were covered in fondant using a printed mat.  This mat was terrible to use.  The fondant stuck to it the whole time.  Advice for anyone trying to use one of these is to spray it with cooking spray first.  It adds a gross slick layer to the outside of the cake, but if you use a vodka wash on it then most of the slickness will evaporate.  It just makes it a much softer fondant.

Academy Awards Cupcakes

Inspired by the Academy Awards tonight, I created cupcakes each representing one of the Best Picture nominees from the past 85 years.  (Not all of the cupcakes have a close up in case you were wondering)

Star Wars

Wizard of Oz

Mary Poppins

Roman Holiday

Social Network

Indiana Jones

Up

Casablanca

Jaws

Hamlet (with American Beauty in the background)

Citizen Kane

On the Waterfront

Sound of Music

The Sting

Titanic

Pulp Fiction

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has been a busy time around here.  I've been baking and sewing up a storm to get ready for it.

 

 My bakery received an order for a Zombie cake.  I didn't get a photo of the fondant zombies, but here's the smores inspired cake.  It is a chocolate cake with a whipped icing and a graham cracker filling.  Oh and there's some blood on top.... don't worry, it's just raspberry jam.  Though that's homemade too!  I canned five jars of raspberry jam last week.

I had the worst luck with pumpkins this year.  A few friends came over a few weeks ago to carve their pumpkins, then left them at my place.  They became a breeding ground for flies within a day.  Ugh.  Then my original pumpkin (uncarved) molded before I could even carve it.  So here's my final pumpkin!  My inspiration was Inspector Spacetime from Community on NBC.  It's hard to see the hat and umbrella that really make it stand out in this photo though.

We threw a Halloween party and I had to do some baking for it.  It was an apple cider cake with a caramel frosting.  I also made an amazing homemade fall sangria that had apple cider, caramel, all sorts of seasoning, orange juice, brandy, and of course red wine.

Now we move onto my costume!  I forgot to get more photos of it.  I am terrible at that.  I always end up with one group photo and not enough to really show off my costume.  My inspiration was Archer and this photo shows everyone in our group who also dressed up as characters.  And my whole costume was DIY and cost $8.  The "boots" used to be yoga pants that were too small and short to wear anymore.  I cut off the top and sewed them around a pair of heels so they look like thigh high boots now.  The dress was self drafted with a jersey fabric so it was really comfortable all night.  And the accessories were made out of faux leather I had sitting around from a few purses I made last year.  I love DIY costumes!

Halloween

I am usually terrible at coming up with costume idea for Halloween.  In my family, I stopped trick or treating when I hit middle school.  A few times in high school I'd go out with friends, but I'd never go up to the doors cause I felt like I was way too old for it.  But you'd think with my theatre and sewing background I'd love to dress up!  Well... I like wearing costumes, but I hate thinking them up.  I agonize over ideas for weeks and weeks before I often times settle on one at the last minute.  I've only ever put in time/work on a costume once before since I was little (and my mom was making my costumes then, I should try to find some photos of those costumes for everyone... they were awesome and diy!). 

Here I am at my first Halloween!  The family went as a marching band and I was the dance team.  I think the sock tassles are my favorite part.  The next photo is a few years later.  I'm a mommy!  I really hope my mom didn't dress like that... And my brother's costume too!  Though that doesn't look too homemade...

           Here I am as Wendy from Peter Pan.  I am rocking that hair bow and blunt haircut!  Haha.

The next year I went as Little Red Riding Hood.  My mom made the cape for me!  And then a few years later I was a jockey.  I loved this costume!  And my horse was our dog Sheena!

In college, I was in a theatre fraternity where we had a themed dance each year that I had to think up costumes for too!  You'd think I'd be much better than I am at this with my past experience. 

 Robin Sparkles from How I Met Your Mother and Laura Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Show.

I went as a romance novel character... can you tell I like wigs?  Ok, I really don't, but you can't do much with short hair.

This year I get to participate in a group costume, so I don't have to think too hard!  Too bad I was thinking really hard about it for like a week before this.... but back to the costume!  I am going with a group of friends this year as characters from the TV show Archer.  If you don't know this show, it is an animated show (not for kids though) on FX.  And I get to DIY pretty much every piece of the costume!  More photos of the actual costume will show up as we get closer to the holiday!

What is your plan for Halloween this year?

Gourmet Bison Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

A few days ago I made the most impressive tacos to date and I mostly made up the recipes myself!  We bought a pound of  bison at Whole Foods, which was more than enough for my husband and I with all the other additions.  The recipes are all really easy, but you may end up with a lot of dirty bowls from preparation.

Bison Tacos

1 lb ground bison

Spices- onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, cayenne pepper

Cook the bison in a skillet.  Add seasoning to your liking with 1/2-3/4 a cup of water.  I used about a teaspoon of everything, two of cumin, and a dash of cayenne.  There wasn't too much kick, so next time I'd add more spice.  Simmer until the liquid is absorbed.  Serve.

Red Tomato Salsa

1 jalapeño

3 cloves of garlic

1 (15-ounce) can tomatoes

2 Tablespoons lime juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup onion

salt to taste

Roast jalapeño in oven on broil for 10-15 minutes until the outside is brown and splotchy.  Remove from oven and seed the chili.  Toss the rest of the ingredients into a blender except cilantro and onion.  Pulse until it is mostly a liquid.  Toss in the cilantro and onion.  Stir.  Serve and enjoy!

Cilantro Slaw

1 cup shredded cabbage

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 jalapeño, seeded and chopped

1 T lime juice

1 T honey

salt to taste

Mix everything together and serve.

Peppers and Onions

2 poblano peppers

1/2 an onion, sliced

Saute peppers and onions until soft.  Serve with everything else!

You can also add on some avocado and cheese (montery jack) like we did in the first photo!

Nice to Meet You- Proudest Crafting!

I am joining in with a group of bloggers who are introducing themselves to each other through their blogs!  How else would we?!?  I first heard about it through bricks and baubles, but forgot to participate in the first one... fail.  So here I am! 

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.bricksandbaubles.com/2012/08/nice-to-meet-you-link-up.html" title="Nice To Meet You" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7258/7718065076_8df146639a_m.jpg" alt="Nice To Meet You" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

This time we are supposed to post about the favorite things we have made!  I'm going to try to be diverse here with my list.  And all the photos link back to the original post so you can see more photos and sometimes a tutorial!

1.

I'll start out with baking.  I am very proud of a lot of my baking, but this takes the cake.  Haha.... takes the cake.... For my friend's birthday recently, I designed and created a cake based off of Doctor Who.  And this was the first time I created figurines out of fondant!

2.

My favorite pastime is sewing.  I worked in a costume shop in college, where I was tasked with sewing corsets!  There were three stages of sewing, rehearsal skirts, men's vests, and corsets.  I skipped the first step altogether and didn't spend much time on the vests once they realized I knew how to sew.  I became the resident corset maker.  This one was designed for a friend while in college working on A Christmas Carol.

3.

Here is some more sewing.  This was the first dress I created without using a pattern.  It was an upcycle of the bridesmaid dress from my parent's wedding.  Nowadays I probably combine patterns or don't use them at all most of the time, but this was my first try at it!  I wore it one night for a costume party and haven't put it on since.  I was supposed to be "Envy" from the Seven Deadly Sins.

4.

Here is my most proud interior decorating moment.  Our living room wall is painted maroon with matte and semi-gloss paint in a striped pattern that I created myself as an accent wall.  I did this whole job myself, which is a huge reason why I am so proud of it.  Also you can see my collection of newspapers on the wall!  Double proud moment!

5.

And some home decor for good measure.  I etched these glasses with etching cream as a gift to a friend.  This was my first time doing glass etching, but they turned out fantastically!  Though the next time I tried to etch a two pie plates, only one took.... boo Pyrex.

6.

Lastly, I'll go with some decorations from my wedding last year.  I DIY'ed a lot of it, though I don't know that anyone could really tell!  This was our card box (not DIY).  But the letters surrounding it were all made by me with names of our favorite couples from tv and movies (and all the addresses were from Chipotles... yeah....).  And the candle in the background, I DIY'ed by covering a large vase in twigs and wrapping it in raffia (though it looks a little lopsided in this photo).