cake

Cake Mode

It has been quite some time since I’ve been in what I like to call cake mode. When I think about buttercream consistency, pan sizes, baking times, and food colorings almost constantly. That’s cake mode.

Each year since 2011, I have always made Jimmy a special cake for his birthday. There was the hamburger cake, welder cake, Oreo cake, Ford cake, and a strawberry cake.

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Most years, I was really into making unique cakes. I’d spend weeks planning, researching, taste testing, and practicing. The look on Jimmy’s face when I’d surprise him with a special cake was the best, though I’m sure he caught on to the surprise after a couple of years, ha.

Aside from Jimmy’s birthday cakes, I’d occasionally make one for Hannah’s birthday or parties with friends, or just whip up a hummingbird cake for no special reason. And cupcakes from time to time. Can’t forget those!

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Over the past few years, I haven’t baked quite as much as I used to. Sure I’ll make a loaf of bread or batch of cookies, but the last time I made a special cake was for Jimmy’s birthday in May.

My mom, Hannah’s bridesmaids, and I began planning Hannah’s bridal shower and I got assigned to make the cake and cupcakes (or maybe I begged? 🙂 ) I’ve been trying to nail down exactly what I want to do. Jimmy thinks I should make a large tier cake, but I’m kind of leaning towards a small layered cake and making lots of cupcakes to go with it.

I’ve been experimenting with batter flavors, food coloring, buttercream, and piping styles and I forgot how much I love baking cakes and decorating them! Pinterest and YouTube have grown so much since I first started cake decorating in 2011, so I am feeling extra inspired lately. So many ideas!

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I practiced rosette cupcakes filled with whipped cream and topped with purple frosting and they came out well. I think they just need something more. Maybe some type of sparkly topping?

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I also made a purple ombre cake with rosettes. The cake is made of three 6” rounds, so it’s pretty small. I’m thinking of doing the ombre cake with a bunch of cupcakes to go around it. Whatever I end up doing, I know I’m having a blast playing around in the kitchen. I’m so happy to be able to contribute to Hannah’s bridal shower in this way 🙂

What do you guys think? Send any ideas my way!

Cake Details

I promised details about Jimmy’s welding cake…

So, Jimmy loves his job. He’s a welder. Last year I made him a hamburger cake and this year I decided to go with a cake of his welding machine. A week before his birthday I asked him all about his welding machine and he kept giving me strange looks, but he realized a long time ago that I’m weird. I asked him for a picture and he sent it to me and I worked off of that.I made his cake four layers:

Layer 1: Chocolate cake
Layer 2: Chocolate cake
Layer 3: Rice crispies
Layer 4: Chocolate cake

I frosted in between the layers with chocolate frosting and then did a vanilla frosting crumb coat on the outside of the whole cake.After putting on the crumb coat I started working with the fondant. I bought a 5 pound box of white fondant and it took me about 2 hours to dye it the exact shade of blue that I wanted. I rolled and dyed and rolled and dyed until I got that bright blue!Putting the fondant on the cake was the toughest part. It kept falling apart because I had SO much cake to cover. Many disaster spots appeared…I just patched everything up as best I could because I was getting tired and Jimmy was coming over to my house in a few hours. I still had to frost the front of the cake to make the welding knobs.

I dyed vanilla frosting black and frosted the cake and then stuck Oreo’s on and piped white frosting to look like markers of whatever welding machines use them for… (pressure? speed? I don’t know?!).Then, I created the logo. I piped white frosting in a circle and cut blue fondant to make the “slash” marks for the Miller logo. Lastly, I piped “Miller” with white frosting.

Was the cake perfect? Absolutely not!
Did Jimmy like it? YES!
Was it fun? YES!!

It was such a labor of love to spend about a day and a half making a cake for someone that I love so much.

I had to let go of my “perfectionist” tendencies and realize that I know nothing about cake decorating and that Jimmy would enjoy it even if it was a total failure.

Other notes: I was exhausted after making the cake! I was honestly more tired after making this than I was after my last half marathon. I don’t know if it was from standing on my feet all day or from concentrating so hard. I really appreciate what pastry chefs do on a day-to-day basis! What a high-stress job. Also, my hands still have dye on them!

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I think that’s all the details I can remember. Let me know if you have any questions!

Hope you’re having a wonderful day 🙂