Happy Birthday 100 Times Over!

It is not everyday that you get to design a centennial birthday cake. As a matter of fact usually it only happens every 100 years or so. This year I got the privilege to do such a thing. Being a 4-H Agent (which is my real job) gives me some special opportunities to make cakes that I normally would not get to do. This is one of those cakes.
2009 marks the centennial for North Carolina 4-H. The national 4-H centennial was in 2002 and I actually got to design that cake as well, however that was before I was a 4-H Agent. Funny how that works isn't it? Any how I digress.
November traditionally marks the annual Robeson County 4-H Volunteer Appreciation Banquet and this year was something extra special, not just because of the centennial but there were some history making surprises.
For the banquet we needed a special birthday cake for our volunteers so I set forth to design something, not too flashy, but something you normally would not get to have (okay I was trying to stay away from the standard sheet cake...I dislike them intently and try to stay away from them whenever possible). The original design included three tiers with photo separators between the cakes and photos of our volunteers working with youth between them. After careful consideration of the amount of people (130 RSVP their attendance). I decided that might not be the best idea because if someone accidentally bumped the table they would knock the cake over and that might cause a kink in the program. Instead I used a floating cake stand and designed a 14 inch butter golden base with a 10 inch one layer butter one layer fudge cake, and topped it off with a six inch fudge cake. I figured that was everyone could have what they wanted.
The decorating was fairly easy, white icing with green writing. It matches the 4-H colors and worked for a birthday celebration. I did my best to do the writing on the sides so everyone could see it and finished off with having our 4-H super stars .
cut the cakeIn the photo are Clinton McRae, the South Central District Director for North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, Sharon Rowland who is in charge of the Development Fund, Everett Davis, the Robeson County Director and Dr. Marshall Stewart, Department Head, State Program Leaders, Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences. As our illustrious County Director declared as he cut into the cake, "Oh wow! It's real cake!" Thanks to our volunteers it was a real cake that they took a big chunk out of and enjoyed with their dinner that night. It was a spectacular way to kick off a spectacular night.

Giving Birth to Baby Cupcakes

Apparently I have a problem saying no. Imagine that. Which is why I often do several cakes or take several orders at one time as a matter of fact I find it very relaxing to decorate so this past weekend I must have been relaxed. A friend of mine, former co-worker, current 4-H volunteer, and all around good egg, let's call her Missy, called me to see if we could come up with something fun for her cousin's baby shower. We started off with cake squares which I quickly shied away from due to issues with other cake square orders I have had. So after talking up and down and sideways we settled on cupcakes. We started talking about pink cupcakes (according to all reports the baby will be a girl) but not pink cake. As a matter of fact we have butter cupcakes with white icing and pink feet. As we got closer to the date the order grew and the instructions melded into a new form. We wanted pink icing but not baby pink, so I suggested hot pink (which is soooooo easy to create) but we settled on pink with a hint of orange. We also dropped the feet and I added my cupcake trees to hold the 40 plus cupcakes that were needed. To add to the texture I decorated in two ways one was flat the other was cone shaped coming up in the center to add to the drama of the tree.

As I was in route to deliver the cupcakes I realized as Missy and I were discussing the color that they were really grandma pink not baby pink or orange pink. So I was not sure how that would work out. Missy showed me the roses she got to decorate with and one batch was orange with pink edges the other were a deep pink. I did not put them on the stand for photos however I do have a photo of them strecthed out on racks after being iced.

As the report goes the cupcakes matched the color scheme perfectly and the mother to be downed three cupcakes in a row. Although one report says she ate one whole, and then had two more that were eaten more carefully I am going with the thought that she really enjoyed them and I know she had a great baby shower. Now we just have to wait for the big day...maybe we will need a welcome cake for the big event? Just a thought!

Plowing Up a First Birthday.

For those of you who know me you know I am not a person who was raised in the soil. As a matter of fact you know that it would probably make me sneeze. So know what a tractor is and what it looks like might be a stretch. So when Penny came to me (and for those of you unfamiliar with Penny she is one of my co-workers at the office and has been mentioned many times in this blog) and said her brother and sister in law were hoping for a tractor cake but she thought that might be out of the realm of my talents, boy was she surprised when I said no problem.

Let me explain it is Penny's nephew's first birthday and of course we needed a cake, and a smash cake. For those of you not familiar with a smash cake it is generally a smaller cake that is baby size and appropriate for a one year old to stick their hands into and smear all of their face. Since most adults who attend the birthday party would prefer not to have a smashed cake from a one year old there is the official cake and the smash cake for the child. Back to the story...the theme of the party was John Deere which is very simple, just a green and yellow tractor. To jazz it up a little I painted my decorating bag with the green and yellow icing colorings and piped the border from that which gave it a tie-dyed effect and was kind of cool. The smash cake was actually made from cupcakes and was in the shape of a one. I put the tie-dyed rosettes across the top and iced the rest smooth.

Penny said her nephew sat and looked at the smash cake for awhile and then stuck his finger in it. Apparently after licking his finger and realizing that he liked it and getting a quick sugar rush he delved right in and smashed the cake and literally shoved it into his face. Which means he got the range from his chin to the tip of his nose and up his nose but did not seem to mind. He did not mind that is until mom put a stop to his fun and had to get the cake out of his nose. Other than that I would say his birthday was a big success.

An Enlightening Cake

Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy the people I work with. They are incredible people and very supportive of my cakes. As a matter of fact when walking by Christy's office the other day I heard a, "...well she is walking by my office right now..." and I must admit that I looked around to see who she was talking about and didn't see anyone else, but yet my brilliant self still did not take the clue that she might be talking about me until she called my name. At that point I was thinking to myself, oh oh did I volunteer Christy for something I forgot to warn her about??? Alas I could not think of a thing. Christy must have read my mind from looking at my face and just laughed. Then she explained that she had gotten off the phone with a friend that had enjoyed the cake I had made for her daughter's college graduation and was wondering if I could make them and scary cake for Halloween. Although we were both wondering what the definition of scary was in this case (ugly witch, nasty headstone or something really bloody and gory) I agreed and she said she would get more details.

Not long after she said a simple Halloween sheet cake would be fine that said Happy Halloween Colton & Collin. Everyone who knows me knows that a simple sheet cake is not in my vocabulary. I asked if I could do something a little more fun and she said sure go for it and further explained that the person ordering it really wanted cake and was getting it for herself and her sons.

So I did my very favorite thing and used a cake pan I had not used before (I really wanted to do this cake pan because unlike the others the pan is iridescent orange-and really neat looking) that looked like a Jack-O-Lantern. I made a yellow butter cake which seems to be the most popular of all. I decorated it in orange, and yellow with a green stem and black eyes and writing. I must admit writing on this cake was a little difficult. I had actually thought about writing on the sides but every child deserves to have his or her name on the top not the sides so I ventured on. I thought it made a very happy Halloween cake and one that I might get to make again in the future.

Birthday Pikachu

Well I have to admit it's been awhile since I posted to the blog. Work like has been a little wide open as we say here and cakes have not been in my scheduling. However last week one of my coworkers sons had a birthday. He said all he wanted for his birthday was to go to Fayetteville and play laser tag. So with laser tag and pizza in the plans I couldn't help but volunteer to make a birthday cake. I told my coworker that what ever her son wanted I would create so they hit the blog and checked out the slide show in the introduction section and the next day I was told it was narrowed down to Sponge Bob and Pickachu but Pickachu won out. So I baked a yellow cake and Pickachu was created with icing and love. She picked it up after the pizza so they could have a little family party at home.

One other little thing I did...I must admit to it. I could not resist throwing in some candles for this cake. Of course they were not your traditional candles. They were tall sparklers that relight when you blow them out. I figured since Dillon is a big 12 years old right now it was a good time to have a little fun. I told mom she could blame me for it and she promised she would. Do you think I should worry?

Single Best Reaction to a Cake EVER!

It is not often that I am asked to do a 50th wedding anniversary cake. When it happens I want to make sure the cake is extra special. This cake however offered some special challenges and opportunities. You see this couple was going to have a surprise anniversary party so they knew nothing about the cake or anything which made it impossible for me or anyone else to interview them on their likes and dislikes. As I interviewed one of their sons I got that they wanted it to look like a wedding cake, stacked construction not separated, they wanted a big cake even though they were only planning a party for about 50-60 guests, they wanted a classic wedding cake but not too formal because the couple is not a traditional/formal couple. Okay so my first thought is I am supposed to make a formal wedding cake not look formal. As their son poured over the books and photos I had he kept picking intricate and more formal cakes with sprays of flowers and roping and wanted it all in white. So then I came up with an idea for a photo cake. No not a sheet cake with edible photos but separators between the layers of the cake that could have photos and words on the cakes. However after consulting with the family there were no photos to get their hands on for the cake and the words were a little too modern for them. So we went back and forth and up and down and after realizing that 50 was the golden anniversary the son agreed to a cake that was slightly off white (which would give it a less formal look) and gold ribbon separators instead of photos. As a matter of fact after seeing the 50 for the top of the cake he was inspired to go get the gold ribbon for me, which was a plain gold and he felt suited his parents style to add to the cake.

So I baked three butter cakes. Although we had discussed doing different flavors for different cakes when they realized there would be more cake than people they decided to go with one flavor. So I bakes a 14 inch, 10 inch and 6 inch cakes each two layered about 4 inch cakes when I got done. I set up the separators with the ribbon and had my dowel rods ready and in place. Getting the cake to where it needed to go was another issue.

The party was held in the Woodmen of the World building about 15 miles from my house. So I loaded up and headed down. Now remember this is a surprise party so everything must be set up well in advance and the cake is going to have to last several hours in one spot. Usually this is not a problem however this building was quaint, useful, and very old. Every time someone took a step in the building the entire floor would shake which made tables and chair shake so I figured out rather quickly we had a vibrating cake table which is not always good for stability. My other issue was the temperature. Although there was air in the building, it was a hot day outside and we were in and out a lot. Cake stability is best in a climate that is not changing and that is fairly cool. However you work with what you have and often pray for the best and that is what I did.

I quickly went to the task of getting the cake together and putting the finishing touches on it. The off white icing made the cake less formal than a wedding cake and the decorations on the side added a little whimsy to the cake giving it a great design and allowing it to be more of an anniversary cake. The finishing touches are the gold ribbon separators and the 50 in the top of the cake. Once it was together I hoped for the best and prayed we would not have much slippage.

The cake was up and I cleaned up, hiding all of my cake stuff until it was time to cut the cake. I waited as guests arrived and did my best to help out with other things. Now mind you, the family was in on the surprise, the guests were asked not to say anything (and didn't) but the husband had to be let in on it all to make it work. So instead of playing golf that morning he went to the building to help clean up and set up for his own anniversary party. As cooking was going on he left and went back home. His wife was under the impression that she was headed to an event in Lumberton and needed to be there by noon and if he was not ready in time she was prepared to leave him behind because this was very important to her to be at this event on time. To add to the story her son even had her make bannana pudding for the event (which he planned as one of the dishes for the party). So, as the story was related to all of us at the party, she is getting ready to leave her husband behind because it is taking him too long to get ready and she does not want to be late. She has already loaded the pudding in the car and he makes it out of the house in the nick of time and is complaining that he does not want to go to this event. As they get ready to turn the corner to head to Lumberton he looks the other way and pretends to notice all the cars at the Woodmen of the World building. He claims to be upset because no one is supposed to be there and turns the corner to further investigate. His wife on the other hand is very upset because she will be late for this very important event and is doing her best to convince him to leave this investigation alone and turn the car around. She is so busy she does not notice the people in the crowd at the building or the cars as they rush the car and yell surprise the look of shock and amazement on her face is priceless.

It takes several minutes for it all to sink in and realize that the event was a rouse to get her here and this party is for the happy couple. After hugging everyone and getting some family photos with sons, daughter in law and grandson she heads inside to a room full of friends and family. She makes the rounds in the room two other three times each time noticing someone else.

Still getting over the shock and letting it all sink in she turns to make another round and speak to everyone again and notices the cake. She stands frozen looking at it and tears well up in her eyes. I asked her if it was okay, did I do something wrong and she asked if I made the cake. I admitted I had and she just hugged me. She held her husbands hand and pointed to the cake and he admitted he knew about it, and she just quietly said,"I never had a wedding cake." That did it. Tears welled up in my eyes and I knew this cake was something more special than any other cake I had made.

As the party went on you could feel the love of this family and friends as they came together to celebrate over a fantastic meal. When it came time to cut the cake the happy couple got up together to cut it as if it were their wedding day. They opened gifts and shared in more laughter and love before sending everyone home. What a fantastic day and fantastic party!

Scooby Snack!

Scooby Scooby Doo, where are you? Not too long ago he was making a special appearance for a young man's birthday party. How he got there is a neat story.

Often I take photos of the cakes I make to my office, or sometimes the cakes themselves go there so people can come by and pick them up. On such an occasion I was showing photos and one of the people who work in the building was talking about his grandson who loves Scooby Doo and was wondering if I could make a Scooby cake. Well I sent him to the blog and he found and printed the Scooby cake (which if you know him that was a great feat managing the Internet that way because it is not he favorite thing to do). Next thing I knew he came in and needed a Scooby cake. Now I do not want to be gender discriminatory but most times when I start asking men questions they have no idea what is involved in ordering a cake. Question number one is what flavor and he just looked at me like most men who do not realize cakes come in different flavors. He said he would have to ask. I asked how many the cake would need to feed, he looked at me again. So I wrote down my questions and he laughed and wen to make his phone call to the woman who could answer the questions. A couple days later he was back and we worked it all out.

On the official day of the cake I brought the finished product in to him and he asked if I had someplace safe to keep it. I put it on a back table and every 15 minutes or so he would come in and check on it to make sure it was okay. I have never had such security for a cake. When the little boys mother arrived to pick up the cake I understand she was pleased as well. Later reports say the cake was a hit, and did not last long so I would say everyone enjoyed this Scooby Snack.