Lordy Lordy Look who's 40?!?!

I admit as a child my parents had a blast going through the newspaper looking at all the photos of those who had turned 40. As a child that seemed like a huge milestone that very few people lived to see. Now I am getting ready to venture to that milestone and I don't see anything remarkable about it. I am thinking 80 is closer to the top of the hill and that 40 is just starting the climb...but what do I know I am still a young'un.

I say all this to build up this incredible cake to celebrate, not a 40th birthday but the passing of a man's youth. Not any man, a youth pastor. No, I do not have a death wish doing such a cake, I just a have a really warped sense of humor and the inability to say no to the very kind person who asked me to do the cake.

I must say I have never used the tombstone cake at Halloween. Usually it is used for Birthdays or other such important celebrations. The cake comes complete with cracks, spiders, spiderwebs and of course black roses. Fortunately the recipient came complete with a sense of humor and appetite (I am told the butter fudge cake went over well).

The Superbowl of Birthdays

I admit unless there is a team I really like I mainly watch the Superbowl for the commercials. Thanks to a now 11 year old young man, this year I watched the game with just as much interest as the commercials. Last week someone I have the privilege of working with from United Way, asked if I would make a cake for a friend of hers. Of course I said yes (how could I say no to something I love doing so much). She said it was a simple cake, it needed to be a Pittsburgh Steelers Jersey and drew the design on a sticky note. Being a Buffalo Bills fan I am very familiar with our neighbors the Pittsburgh Steelers and their trademark Black and Gold uniforms. However I must admit I have not paid much attention to the team since, oh (I am about to date myself) say the 70's. So with interest I tuned into the Superbowl this year to see how the Steelers were dressed on the field. Needless to say it did not take me long to observe the white jerseys with gold stripes near the shoulder and gold name and numbers outlined in black. So after observing the details I needed for young Mr. Gaddy's cake I watched the Superbowl and I must say thank you. Without this assignment I might have missed a really great game.

I understand that the cake was for a surprise party at church tonight. I hope his 11th birthday was as great as this year's Superbowl.

Multi-Cultural Explorer Birthday

You know her from cartoons and marketing and today she made an appearance at the Lumberton bowling alley. That's right Dora made a brief but special appearance to help ring in Miss Jailyn's Birthday. Her aunt ordered the cake for this growing young lady, and said it had to be Dora. When it comes to cartoon cakes everyone has a favorite and children are especially opinionated about their favorites. So it is nice to know that you can bake their dream come true. Jailyn's aunt, and three cousins came to pick up the butter explorer cake. The youngest came in the door saying one word over and over...cake. She seemed a little confused that the cake and Dora were the same but I have a feeling that when it came time to cut into it the confusion would be cleared up and she had her cake in front of her, and even got to eat it too.

The Reason for the Season

I am not surprised when people come to me right before Christmas to order a birthday cake. It seems a lot of people have birthdays right before Christmas and parents especially want to make sure the child's birthday is celebrated separately from the big holiday so their child does not get gipped. So when I got the request from one of my co-workers for a birthday cake I wasn't shocked, I just couldn't remember any of her grandchildren having a birthday in December. When I asked how she wanted the cake decorated she said sort of Christmasy with lots of green and red. Now I was stunned and just looking at her questioningly asking what she wanted on the cake. She nonchalantly replied, "Happy Birthday Jesus." Well that cleared it up for me.
She went on to explain that they youth at her church decided they wanted to have a birthday party for Jesus this year in place of a Christmas party and what would a birthday party be without a cake? As we talked she gave me permission to jazz it up from a regular sheet cake to something with a little more pizazz, that could still feed 50. HMMMMMM....now this deserved some special thought and a little something extra.
Now you have to know Aggie to know that creativity was necessary, especially when she decides the cake needs to be devils food. We agreed on a baby cake and whatever else might work. I must say I have never done a birthday cake for Jesus, so this is a first! I started with a sheet cake so we could feed a whole host of people and then a cake that I use primarily for baby showers, but with a little nip and tuck, thought it would work here. Adding a manger, tree, and star...I think we had it all.
I delivered it to her church and was greeted by young ones and adults all dressed in red tops and black slacks or skirts. They were decorating for a big birthday bash. The kids had made birthday cards for Jesus and they were being hung around the room. It was a very festive atmosphere, and different from the traditional Christmas party. These kids knew what they were doing and they were so excited to do it. One little boy ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug. He asked me if I had a son because I hug like a mom, I told him no, but I sure do like to hug. Everyone seemed tickled with the cake (even though I had to do a little patch work thanks to the pot holes between my house and the church). I have no doubt they had a great celebration of the season...for the right reasons.

All Star Bratz

It is almost Christmas and I got to do a cake that had nothing to do with Christmas. You might remember Noah's Darth Vader Cake a few weeks ago. His older sister Taylor's birthday is today and she is into the Bratz. Last year it was Barbie, but alas as we get older our taste changes, thus Bratz this year (and probably something else next year).

There is no such thing as a Bratz cake pan, and carving was really not an option. So after a long search I located four Bratz cake toppers. Figuring that they are stars I thought a star shaped cake would be appropriate. A butter fudge cake makes up the base for these young ladies, and I picked (with mom's approval) purple, blue, and pink to color the cake. Dad picked up the cake and thought it would pass the birthday girls approval test.

Tee Time

There is no tea involved with these tees. I have to admit this cake was purely for fun, as is my golf game because there is no chance I have another career on the tour. I picked up a new cake pan, and like most kids who get a new toy, I couldn't resist. I baked a butter fudge cake and then waited a week until I had time, to decorate it, then voila. There are lots of variations you can do on this cake. It can match bag and club colors and it is fun for any golfer. It is a unique birthday cake, or hole in one celebration cake.

This cake made it all the way to one of our local golf courses, and the patrons and golf club house staff (and owners) dissected it. There was not much said, but it appears as if I hit a long straight drive off the tee and was lined up perfectly for a birdie on this one.

Holidays Mean Time to Carve the...Cake???

I admit Darth Vader is probably not who you would think of having as a guest at the holiday table or even as the guest of honor in place of the turkey...and alas the only correlation between this cake and the holidays is that I carved it (not to eat it but to decorate it).

Time to rewind and hit play. Darth Vader was a request by a young man, Noah, who happened to be into spiderman last year. This year he thinks Star Wars is out of this world (and I personally happen to agree). So he requested his favorite character, Darth Vader. Before we could leave the space station we had to hit the hyper drive, and challenges surrounded this project. Although there is a Darth Vader cake pan out there, it would have to be an eBay purchase and I had two days from order to delivery, so eBay was out. Internet searches are an amazing thing. I had a variety of homemade Darth Vader cakes to study and picked one or two that looked reasonably likely of being accomplished, then I devised my plan.

I baked a butter fudge chocolate sheet cake and froze it. Icing was not a problem, I knew I would only need one color, black. I started drawing and carving, taking pieces cut from here and there to make the mouth plate of the helmet and tried to add details. Have you ever used cake as a medium for sculpting? It is easier to do when frozen, however cake thaws fairly quickly and can get messy. After building the chocolate cake it was time to ice it. Now I have to admit it is hard to take a picture of a black cake. Details don't always come out and it may have some proportional issues, but I think Noah got the idea, and hopefully knew who it was supposed to be. Mom and Dad seemed pleased that Noah would have the force with him on his birthday.