Dancing is Just a Little Sweeter

  It's that time of year again around here.  Time for the United Way Dancing with the Robeson County Stars.  The annual event has become quite the fundraiser for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library which United Way of Robeson County coordinates locally.  The first year they found that the big night which includes dinner and bidding was just one of the big attractions.  The dress rehearsal without all the luxuries became a big hit and they were able to sell tickets to that as well.
  To thank the dancers for all their hard work practicing and raising money, United Way tries to make the green room (room where the dancers are until it is their turn to take the stage) a pampered event.  There is food and drink, and of course cake.  For the last several years I have been honored to make the cake for these events.  They never ask for anything too exciting, just a United Way edible image cake each night.  Needless to say, the cakes for each night are not identical because that just wouldn't seem right to me.
Each cake is our popular butter cake.  Making sure the edible image is the most important thing we did a simple white background on a sheet cake and then highlighted the dress rehearsal cake in gold and bordered the cake for the night of the big even in blue with a little writing.  No doubt it will be a great night.  To find out all the step by step information you can check out United Way of Robeson County's Facebook age or follow them on Twitter.

It's a Pack Kind of Thing

  I love getting a call asking if I can make a particular cake and knowing I have the perfect pan to do it in.  That's how this cake all began, with a phone call from this birthday's girl's mom (who I once had the privilege of working with).  She said her daughter needed an N.C. State cake, and knowing that I am quite the Virginia (as in Wa hoo Wah!) fan and wanted to make sure I was willing to do this.  For those of you who know me you also know that my main paycheck comes from NCSU so years ago I made a deal not to pull against NCSU, unless they were playing Virginia.  My main focus in my missionary work (as my father used to say to folks), is to convert Tarheels to Cavilers.  So I have nothing against NC State and have made one or two items associated with the school.  So needless to say, I knew I had the perfect pan to make a cake for her daughter and it would be appropriate for a wolf packer of any age.
  This is a traditional butter cake baked into the shape of the block S logo that NC State is recognized by.  The thing about these logo cakes is that most are done in a silicone baking pan which does not always leave the cleanest edges behind when they are pulled out.  That was the case this this cake.  So what I did was a smooth N and C while doing a star tipped pattern to fill in the S and hopefully elevate some of the rough areas on the surface of the cake.
  When it was all said an done a young lady had her name added and it turned into quite the party.

A Sweet Goodbye

  Sometimes the right cake can make things a little less bittersweet.  That was the goal with this cake.  You have seen this cake before, it is the butter rum cake with chocolate rum icing.  It is a cake that melts in your mouth and one that I truly only make for special occasions.  Having mentioned that before one of my co-workers who has no aversion to rum (or other alcohol's as I could tell) thought this might be the cake for her.  For a almost a year I have been saying, "maybe one day," on fixing one of these cakes for her then the day came.  She told us she was leaving for a colder part of the world, where she would be closer to family and had a pretty sweet job.  With a sigh it was time to wish her well, but not before we gave her a proper send off.
  With a couple of ingeniously creative co-workers it took no time to come up with a lunch farewell for her.  Baked potatoes and chili were on the menu with a few helpful sides and additions.  Enough to please any and every one.  Now you know I could not pass up a chance at making a cake and I find retirement and goodbye cakes the most difficult ones to do.  After much up and down I decided it was finally time to make the infamous butter rum cake.  Then, with my brain working overtime, thought I better come up with a teetotaler option as well.  So besides the cake that day were a dozen butter cupcakes with white icing.  Nothing exciting just a little something to please everyone.
  After the small tokens of our appreciation and a good meal we did bid ado later in the week.  Still can't bring myself to say anything other than good luck, definitely not good bye.

Paw Patrol is on a Roll

  It is such a good thing I have friends with young children or I would know nothing about pop culture.  For example, when this friend came to me and said her sone wasn't sure what cake he wanted this year but they were leaning towards Paw Patrol.  I must admit this is my first brush with the patrol but I am might impressed.  I have learned about all our puppy superheroes and which ones are each person's favorites and why.  I unlocked an entire sub culture working on this cake, and I must admit it was fun.
  Since I could not do one specific Paw Patrol member, and sort of had to create this one from scratch I was thrilled for my edible printer, which keeps me off the cake wrecks blog and Facebook pages.  I found a picture with all the members of this elite team and printed and edible image that should make everyone familiar with this team happy.  Having found one of their famous sayings it took nothing to finish this cake off for Jackson on his birthday.  Just hoping he had a great birthday and the opportunity to, be on the roll.