Beautiful Birthday Cake

I am no longer taking cake orders, focusing on decorated cookies for birthdays and all special events.  This cake comes from the archives and was never published before.

Birthday cake for Ellis.

40th Birthday Guitar Cake

To celebrate his 40th birthday, Fab's wife Nadia wanted a special cake that featured Fab's beloved Fender guitar.  The planning for the cake involved secret meetings and cheques left under doormats, which was a first for me!  We had to figure out how to make a small cake feature his guitar (a sculpted cake would just be too large) and I think the 2 dimensional guitar on the cake board was a pretty great compromise!  I love how the cake turned out and I think it proves that even small and simple cakes can be amazing!  Devil's food cake with strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream.

Lighthouse Cake for 75th Birthday Celebration

More and more repeat customers and friends contact me for a cake order, saying they happily volunteered to get the cake for their special family occasion - because they know they will get the oohs and aahs when they present the cake and again when it gets eaten!

This special cake was no exception.  To celebrate his parent's 75th birthdays, David and his wife asked me create the Donaghadee lighthouse in cake.  Originally from the town of Donaghadee in Ireland, this was meant to be a special link to their past. 

The base was created out of carrot cake with a delicious cream cheese frosting and covered in fondant, the lighthouse was made out of crispy squares.  I covered the cake board in piping gel that I tinted to a pale blue-green and added orange bouys, the "visitors--berths" sign and the lighthouse details. 

The cake travelled over 200 kilometers to a beautiful cottage on 12 Mile Lake in Haliburton, Ontario where the family gathered for a long weekend of celebration.



The cake was a hit!  It received the expected oohs and aahs and a few tears of joy before being enjoyed by all!

Beauty and the Beast's Belle Cake

To celebrate her birthday, Dakota and her friends gathered at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts where they watched a live production of Beauty and the Beast!  Later, the girls and their families gathered at a nearby restaurant to eat and celebrate with cake.  This Beauty and the Beast inspired cake was commisioned by Dakota's mom to help celebrate at the restaurant after the show.  (Thanks to Beautiful Kitchen for the inspiration for Belle!)

The cake was a delicious Devil's food cake filled with bittersweet chocolate ganache and covered in Swiss meringue buttercream!  I received a note from Dakota's mom; apparently Belle was "so real looking that Dakota let out a squeal...thanks Laura (and the ganache was FAB)."

Fairy Cake and Cookies

A few months ago I received an email from a mom in Whitby. She had found a picture of my fairy cupcake tower online and was smitten http://www.sweethandmade.blogspot.ca/2011/03/fairy-cupcake-topper.html. She had already ordered a birthday cake from a local baker but was hoping I would be willing to make the fairies to place on her daughter's cake. After a few emails we finally talked by phone and during that conversation she decided to forego her deposit to the original baker and asked me to make the entire cake. Now, Whitby is about 120 kilometers from my bakery and usually way, way out of my delivery area, but we really connected and I was very excited to make this darling cake for her.

Also included in the order was matching sugar cookies. To match the blue butterflies on the fairies, the white and yellow flowers on the cake and the toadstools, I created these deliciously sweet cookies.

Fish Shaped Cake

I was given freedom to design what I wanted when asked to create a cake for Andrew's 40th birthday.  When I was told he liked fishing, I knew exactly what I would be making!'

After covering the cake board with fondant (something I always do to ensure a beautiful finish), I carved it to look like a wooden planks.  Next, I baked and layered a delicious strawberry cake; yellow cake with fresh strawberry slices, Swiss meringue buttercream and strawberry compote.  I shaped the cake to look like a chubby trout and covered it in fondant which I coloured silver and green and blue.  A special thank you to Merissa of Spring Lake Cake for her inspiring design.  I think this might be the yummiest fish ever!  Happy birthday, Andrew!

Pink Polka-Dot Cake with Smash Cake

Nicole wanted a special cake for Mya's first birthday and together we decided on a design to match the party decorations, pink on pink polka-dots. 

After the party, Nicole sent me some pictures of Mya as she enjoyed her own personal smash cake. 

I think she loved it!

  

Every time I look at this picture I have to laugh!!  What a sweetie!

First Birthday Cake with Smash Cake

It seems like just yesterday that I made Chloe's baby shower cake.  http://www.sweethandmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/baby-shower-cake.html  Now she is one and I wanted to make her a special first birthday cake too!  With whimsical flowers in pinks and reds, the adult tier on the bottom was chocolate/chocolate and the smash tier was vanilla/vanilla.

One popular new feature of a first birthday party is the "smash" cake.  It means exactly what you think - the 1 year old gets the a small cake to smash at will.  Chloe was a lady and kept things pretty neat, but did enjoy every bite!  Happy birthday, sweet Chloe!

Ghoulish Ghost Cake

Blog repost - Inspired by a Martha Stewart design comes this super-sweet Ghoulish Ghost Cake.  Frosted in Swiss Meringue Buttercream and adorned in marshmallow ghosts, this cake is perfect for a halloween birthday or for your halloween bash!  Choose your favourite flavour of cake and contact me for pricing info.



Bridal Shower Cake and Cupcakes

Jan was put in charge of her niece's bridal shower cake.  She knew she wanted something feminine, with a purple colour palate and something that would be easy for the guests to enjoy in the casual atmosphere of the bridal shower.  I suggested that a cutting cake might add a nice touch, so, we settled on a small cake and cupcakes, with a custom stand to match.  The flavours are chocolate butter cake and white butter cake (alternating layers in the cake) with Swiss meringue buttercream and various shades and sizes of purple gum paste flowers and leaves.

Wishing Jan's niece and her husband-to-be wonderful life filled with happiness.

Fantasy Flower 65th Birthday Cake

Designing and creating a cake for a special occasion; a milestone birthday, a child's birthday, an anniversary or a wedding always fills me with such a feeling of joy.  As I work on the cake I feel my craft will help make the occasion even more special and I always feel honoured for the request and the ability to add something really special to the day.  When the delivery takes place, I leave before the guests arrive and rarely witness the guest reaction to the cake and its taste. 

Last weekend my wonderful mother-in-law turned 65 and my father-in-law planned a surprise party for her.  He hesitated asking me for the cake because the party was two hours away on a hot July day.  I really wanted to do this cake and I went to work creating an elegant design that I felt would suit her beautiful, kind and loving nature.  It is not often I get to design a cake from scratch and this one was an extra special project.

I started by creating these fantasy flowers that shimmered with lustre dust and reminded me of sea shells, perfect for my m-i-l who loves to travel.  Then I baked up layers of chocolate butter cake and white butter cake and alternated them with my delicious Swiss meringue buttercream tinted the softest shade of coral.  I fashioned an elegant 65 out of gum paste and placed it on top of this beauty.

After a harrowing 2 hour drive in 32 degree celcius heat, the cake arrived at its destination intact.  It was a different experience to be there as the cake was cut and served.  I suspect that like every cake delivery I make, the cake became a focal point that people could talk about, study and eventually taste.  The incredibly positive feedback added a happy element to the party for me and I was so happy that my mother-in-law loved it as well.  I wish you many more happy and healthy years, Jackie!

Tractor Cake and Cookies

For Susan's husband's 53rd birthday we decided on a John Deere riding mower/tractor design for a cake and matching cookies. The mower is Mark's newest "toy" and Susan thought the cake would be delicious in lemon poppyseed poundcake with a lemon curd filling and Swiss meringue buttercream frosting.

 
It was a devine flavour that everyone who tasted loved! Happy birthday Mark!

Noah's Ark Cake

For little Owen's Christening, his mom and I decided on a Noah's Ark cake, a special and symbolic design for an important occasion in this little boy's life.  Creating the cake was a labour of love, with each animal taking on a personality all their own...

...those super-cute giraffes with their silly grins and those monkeys peaking out of the portholes just above the waves....


Owen's dad was also Christened the same day, so we put a small tribute to him on the cake as well.


...the lovable turtles, the sly snakes peaking out from behind those elephants (just look at those ears and trunks!) ...

...the super-cute pigs and the hippos and ducks and alligators were a joy to create....


Thanks Cake Avenue for the inspiration.


....and finally the zebras and the lion and lioness.  I finished the design with a pair of white doves, symbolic of peace and love, two things I hope are plentiful in Owen's life. 

The cake itself was alternating layers of chocolate butter cake and white butter cake were frosted in vanilla and chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream and covered in homemade fondant.  The fondant was sculpted to look like rustic boards and a thatched roof, I am really pleased with how it turned out, as was little Owen's family! 

Tinkerbell Cake

Beautiful Bella wanted a Tinkerbell cake.  The challenge was how to present Tinkerbell in a fun way without overstepping the strict Disney licensing guidelines and not resorting to a plastic figurine.  Bella's mother and I decided "Tinkerbella" was the way to go.  The colours, the telltale bun and the wings make this figure super-cute!  We placed her on a large purple flower, brushed with luster dust and surrounded her with vines and more flowers.  The cake was my super-delicious red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and it was a hit!  Happy birthday Bella!

Mickey Mouse Cake

Ali's mom has had a lifelong love of all things Disney, but she has had a special affection for Mickey Mouse ever since her visit to Disney World at age 16 when Mickey gave her backside a little pinch!  There is even a photograph to commemorate it!  For her surprise 50th birthday party at Poco Cappello Ristorante in Bond Head, only a Disney cake would do, so we designed this beautiful brown sugar cake with brown sugar Swiss meringue buttercream, each slice served with caramel sauce.  The entire cake was covered in red fondant, yellow and black Mickey ears and the Disney font spelling out "Happy 50th" completes the Disney design!  Using the infamous photograph, I styled Ali's mom out of gumpaste, wearing the same outfit as she did on that day 34 years ago and look closely to see Mickey reaching behind for his pinch!  The cake was a huge hit and it was a real pleasure to make!

Baby Shower Cake for Chloe



To celebrate the birth of beautiful Chloe, I designed this lovely two-tiered cake.  Brown Sugar Butter cake with Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream is covered in my homemade fondant and decorated with sugar paste disks and sugar paste ribbons.  This design would be just lovely in blue or pink!  Welcome Chloe!

Pirate Cake with Cupcakes

Ahoy Matey!  This super-cute pirate cake is suited to a young pirate boy or pirate girl celebrating their birthday.  In addition to the cake sporting the pirate, the crew is on the cupcakes, most of them sporting a scar or two to prove their bravery in battle.  The pirate map leads us right to the treasure, in this case, Liam's third birthday party!  This cake with cupcakes can be tailored to your needs, with flavours and quantities at your discretion.

Cinderella Barbie Cake

When almost three year old Jo Jo and her mom were looking at all the delicious cakes on my blog, she asked her mom why there was no Barbie cake!  With this entry for her third birthday, I have remedied that problem!  As requested, a Cinderella Barbie cake.  Jo Jo loved her!  It was a delicious chocolate butter cake, with a yummy chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream.  Happy birthday Jo Jo, and "live your fairytale"!

Photo Frame Birthday Cake

To celebrate my mother's 80th birthday, I wanted to make an extra special cake. What could I create to commemorate 80 years of a wonderful life? I decided to frame photographs in handmade sugar frames, flowers and other little touches to honour her.  This is the design:
 

I started with green fondant (her favourite colour) covering the 4 tiers. I spent many, many hours crafting picture frames out of gum paste and royal icing, which I then tinted silver with edible lustre dust.

I made roses out of gum paste, which I coloured in varying shades of orange.  Orange is the colour (and last name) of the Dutch royal family.  It is the colour all Dutch people consider their very own - have you ever seen the Dutch fans at a sporting event?  Since we are Dutch, it was the colour of choice!

Then I added the street signs of her most significant addresses, including the Valentijnkade in Amsterdam where she was born on Valentine's day! In Holland the street signs, in blue, are attached to the corner house of the street. For this reason I attached the Dutch street signs directly onto the cake. Her most significant address in Canada is in green on a post, as is typical of that street.

My mom has always loved crocheting, knitting, embroidering and made a living with sewing for many years. I honoured that with yarn, embroidery floss and thread made out of fondant and a crochet hook, needle and thimble out of gum paste. On the embroidery thread and the crochet hook I made a few small references to the number 80, that being her number of years!

Lastly are the flags of Holland and Canada, to signify the exciting move my family made in the 1970's.

This was an incredible project that was extremely special for me to undertake and I hope you like it!  Happy birthday Moeder Miep - wishing you many happy and healthy years!

Max and Ruby Cake

Max and Ruby is an adorable Canadian television show based on the books of Rosemary Wells.  It was the inspiration for the theme of little Eli's second birthday.  His mother and I consulted about what she was looking for and I designed this sweet cake just for Eli's special day.  Look closely at the tree for the special carving that shows Krista and Dwayne's love for their special boy!  Happy birthday Eli!