Fireproof Your Marriage

Another of my all-time favorite cake for our Fireproof Your Marriage class at my church, Calvary Chapel Sawgrass in Davie, Florida. It’s usually a black and white theme and Bonnie gives me creative freedom with the cake design.

The cake was for a small group of eight couples, hence the small cake. Flowers are white roses and hydrangeas made using the Wilton Gumpaste which I love to use for making sugar flowers. I found it dries quickly and can roll very thin. I made the cake four alternate layers of white chocolate and chocolate (to reflect the black and white theme) cake filled with French Vanilla buttercream and chocolate fudge.

Casino David

Casino David
Originally uploaded by Baking Jeannie

This is my first attempt at a "poker/casino" theme cake and I am very pleased with how it turned out. Nicole wanted a casino theme cake for her fiance's birthday so she sent me a picture of a similar cake which I was really happy to give it a try. Like myself, she too was really happy with the results.

It is funny how a small cake can look something really big when photographed.

A 30th Birthday Worth Celebrating–Akimi’s Story

When I was asked to make a designer purse cake for one of my hubby’s client I never believe I would be so touched by this amazing story of courage and hope. I have know so many who have suffered some form of cancer and did not survive even after fighting for many years, however, there are those who survival just inspires you.

Here is how Camilla shared her sister, Akimi’s fight with lupus, I could not have said it any better:

My baby sister was diagnosed with lupus while in college about 5 years ago. This was shock and awe to our entire family as she was always the pillar of health. There is no one in our family with the disease, but we had to consider our grandfather. He was a hemophiliac. Hemophilia refers to a group of bleeding disorders in which it takes a long time for the blood to clot. He suffered from this disease his entire life accompanied by rheumatoid arthritis which my aunt still suffers from today.

My sister life was in danger during the first period of her diagnosis, we almost lost her. With the proper medical attention and support around the clock from our family, she recovered. Today she has her own condo and works a full time job. She has completed school using online college and recently adopted a tea cup puppy. We celebrated her 30^th birthday Feb 19^th and as you can imagine our family was over the moon.

She has managed to go from 7 medications a day, too only 1. With determination and a high will to live as normal a life as possible, she has managed to mentally deal with the pain of this disease. For as long as I can remember my sister has always been strong willed and always had a strong mind. I believe she is where she is today because of that.

After getting a biopsy a few years ago for a lump in my breast before that I never gave cancer a second thought. Later a cousin die suddenly from cancer and became more cognizant of how much it affect our lives. So I was really happy to make Akimi’s birthday cake since it’s for a celebration which is worth celebrating.

Akimi’s 30th birthday cake is a vanilla bean cake filled with vanilla Swiss Meringue buttercream, covered with chocolate ganache and fondant. The cake was sculptured from sheet cakes.

Happy 4th Birthday C’Yie!

This is my effort of doing a stitching pattern on a cake. It was not as neat as I would have liked but the results was OK. The cake is a white chocolate buttermilk filled with white chocolate mousse.

When the cake was delivered, the older sister stuck her finger right into the cake. My hubby, my able cake-lifter, was shocked. I guess she could not wait to taste some delicious butter cream. That’s children for you…now tell me, which of you at that age could wait until the time of cutting the cake?!? Well, if you were more into playing games, then I will say no one else but me…OMG! So much for sugar talk.

Walk good ‘till next time. Happy caking!

Jeannie

Mask Cake–The Value of Extra Time

I had everything in place; I was good with time; I was all ready…delivered the cake and as I pulled up in the driveway of my destination I remembered I forgot the cake topper, a mask, in my little studio on the form. I could just kick myself.

Being the A-type personality and a fast learner, it’s very important to make room for the regular “Ooops!” when planning your schedule for cake baking and decorating. First I had a very bad sinus infection and could not start baking the night before; next I squeezed in a small purse cake for a relative’s friend; and the worst I forgot to take the show piece of the cake with me when packing. The stress alone of doing the cake especially one with tons of detail fondant pieces attached to Swiss Meringue buttercream covered cake was more than enough plus the ringing of the telephone and text messages (one from my sister wanting to know if I was on Skype?!?)…people…it’s Saturday and I have a business to run!

Thank God I had time enough to drive the 40 minutes round-trip in time to set mask on cake for the big surprise. Yes…it was a surprise birthday party! It would not have been funny if I were the one sneaking the mask onto the cake after the grand surprise entrance. Extra time in your plan is very important!

Till next time…walk good.

Jeannie