Cake Makers Unite! (I Need Some Advice)

[erinyourpclady]

And here is mine.......
http://www.slide.com/s/irG5iZSV3j9WYC61KPKkQ6JgMGpUovlB?referrer=hlnk

 

[erinyourpclady]

And here is after I remembered to put the chocolate shells I made on it!
Oh and that is the Birthday girl!!!

http://www.slide.com/s/ZvTU_FUW0j-S8kpaEAlaOx62a3l3EvQD?referrer=hlnk

 

[erinyourpclady]

Here is the cake I made- remember to be gentle...it was my first attempt at decorating a cake like this. I don't like it all that much and thought I'd be able to do a better job, but when you buy cheap tools, what do you expect?

It is FABULOUS and I am sure your DN thought it was the BEST!!

 

[pamperedlinda]

Great cake Kacey! What did your DN think about it - afterall, she's the only one who matters

 

[jbdowd0798]

KACEY! Don't be so hard on yourself. I was looking forward to laughing because the cake was horrible but GIRL! ITS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of you!!!!

The way you talked about it, I thought it was just going to be end up a pile of cake with a glob of frosting and candies thrown on! LOL This is amazing.

 

[janetupnorth]

It looks great Kacey - I'm sure she loved it! My SIL made that cake a few years ago for her daughter. Yours looked just as good if not better!

 

[crystalscookingnow]

Kacey - I agree! The cake is great! Hope that she loved it & give yourself a break!

 

[mpkegley]

The cake looks great! Give yourself a pat on the back and I bet DN loved it.

 

[lacychef]

I agree Kacey; you're way too hard on yourself! I think it looks great

Erin, yours is very cute too!

 

[heather223]

Kacey and Erin, both of those cakes look great! :chef:

 

[crystalscookingnow]

Erin - I totally love your cake too! It's great! Such a cute idea!

 

[4kids4me]

I'm trying to add pics of the dragon cake (Family Fun) I made and a castle cake I did using a Wilton kit. How do I add pics?? TIA!

 

[quiverfull7]

Kacey... your cake is MAGNIFICENT!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing this... I am going to do this for my 5 year old in Sept! Erin, I can't see the pics of yours... can anyone explain why?

 

[KellyTheChef]

I'm trying to add pics of the dragon cake (Family Fun) I made and a castle cake I did using a Wilton kit. How do I add pics?? TIA!

Here is a thread that tells you in detail!!

http://www.chefsuccess.com/f18/photo-thread-14528/

http://women.evenhealth.com

 

[janezapchef]

Kacey, I am so glad you started this thread! I am planning on making this exact cake for my DD's b-day in a couple weeks, and I'm definitely inexperienced in the cake area. I am notorious for too much frosting because that's how I fix my mistakes. Then the cake ends up tasting like crap because there's sooooo much frosting on it (my barbie cake I made last year had 2 or 3 entire cans of frosting on it because I'm stupid and couldn't figure out how to frost it . It looked pretty, but didn't taste very good (and I am a huge frosting fan, so, that's really saying something)! Anyway, I brought my DD in here this morning to show her your picture of the cake and she screamed "OOOOOOOOOH! THAT'S GOING TO BE MY CAKE!!!!!!!" She's going to be 4 and has a really great memory, so, I'm probably stuck with trying it! So, again, thanks for starting this thread!

 

[4kids4me]

Here are cakes I made last year. The dragon was for the Twins' 2nd bday and the castle for my dd's 4th. The dragon is from Family Fun and the castle is a Wilton cake kit. (hope this works -thx for the help!)

 

[4kids4me]

And here's a Haunted House cake I made last fall for my 6yo. This is also from a kit. It was fun for us to do together!

 

[chefSherry]

Kacey - you did a fantastic job!!!! I have a friend who decorates cakes and she recommends baking them the day before, cooling completely, wrapping and freezing the cake. This makes it easier to cut the frozen cake into proper shape the day of assembly (with a bread knife or our tomatoe knife for fewer crumbs.) Brush away any crumbs and frost with a thinned frosting for a "crumb layer" like someone suggested above. Assemble, frost & decorate!
This also does away with one huge baking day. I like breaking things down into smaller tasks!

 

[Jennie4PC]

Erin how did you do that cake it looks awsome.

Jane your story totally reminded me about a party I went to in July. The girl used 5 bags of powdered sugar for her frosting.

 

[Kitchen Diva]

Okay, did I just read a page of "Your cake looked great!!"??? Or do I need to lay off the Nyquil!? LOL

Thanks for the sweet words, guys! I just thought it looked slightly juvenille(sp?) (Again, I'm sick, and just got done taking loads of medicine and medicated tea's) My Niece thought it was cool- and was so excited to have a princess cake. I wouldn't eat it, since I knew how many tubs of frosting it took just to frost it.

I would make my own white frosting next time, and not forget to poke the holes in the ice cream cones, because I wasn't able to put the flags on it. And I'd partially freeze the cakes- I had no room in the fridge or the freezer-

You guys are too sweet! Thanks for making me feel like a ROCK STAR cake decorator!

I'm going back to bed and hopefully get rid of these chills, sore throat, sniffles, watery eyes and fever.

Lots of love to my cake baking Homies!

 

[wadesgirl]

I agree with everyone else! The cake looked great. Plus no one is going to care what the cake looks like when they eat it. My SIL pays some lady to make these cakes that doesn't even look half as good and cool as the cake you made yourself!

 

[chefann]

My BIL's b'day was at the end of March, and my sister used the Wilton castle set to make him a cake (my nieces wanted Daddy to have a castle cake). We used the new chocolate Skittles as rocks around the base, and on the roofs of the turrets. And then we put a Lego dragon on it.

 

[4kids4me]

My BIL's b'day was at the end of March, and my sister used the Wilton castle set to make him a cake (my nieces wanted Daddy to have a castle cake). We used the new chocolate Skittles as rocks around the base, and on the roofs of the turrets. And then we put a Lego dragon on it.

Kacey, your cake turned out awesome! The one I did with the Wilton was really easy - the plastic pieces (doors and windows) made it look harder than it was. I wish I'd thought of the Skittle rocks and the lego dragon - cute touches!

 

[jrstephens]

Kacey!! That cake is ADORABLE!!! Qhy are you beating yourself up saying it is not. IT IS, now pat yourself on the back and be proud girl!!!

I hope you feel better soon!

 

[erinyourpclady]

Erin how did you do that cake it looks awsome.

Jane your story totally reminded me about a party I went to in July. The girl used 5 bags of powdered sugar for her frosting.

It was in last months Family Fun..yellow cake, frosting and crushed nilla wafers! The kids "tore it up"! LOL!!

 

[Kitchen Diva]

Jennifer, I'm patting myself on the back right now! LOL

Thanks for thinking my cake was so splendid! I'm off to drink some more Theraflu...I haven't had cold in years...my niece has had three since she's lived here, and my body finally decided to join in on the "fun"....

 

[Kitchen Diva]

Here are cakes I made last year. The dragon was for the Twins' 2nd bday and the castle for my dd's 4th. The dragon is from Family Fun and the castle is a Wilton cake kit. (hope this works -thx for the help!)

BEAUTIFUL!!! I love the dragon cake!

 

[4kids4me]

Thanks Kacey - they were both really fun to make. Ok, especially the dragon, lol!

 

[baychef]

We have some budding cake makers here!! Excellent cakes!!!

In high school I was a self taught cake decorator. I actually sold wedding cakes.

When you are stacking cake layers, here is how to make them not sink down:

Layer One:
Say for example you have 2 - 10 inch round cake.

First, I level off the rounded top on both layers. Place the first cake flat side down onto the platter that you are going to present the cake on.(or the bottom of the cake when it came out of the pan).
You can take apricot jelly and heat it. Brush this all over the cake with our silicone brush and let it dry just a bit so the frosting has this to stick to and it also helps get the crumbs under control.
Frost this and make it no thicker than roughly 1/4 in because when weight is put on it, the frosting will bulge out the sides. There will be some places you may have it a bit thicker, because with our large spreader you can make it a flat surface.
Then place the next layer on top...but make sure you have the "bottom" of the pan" side facing up. (the two layers that were leveled off, should be facing each other). Again, brush more of the warmed apricot jelly on the cake and let it dry somewhat.
Continue to frost tops and sides. You may want to run your spreader under very warm water (shake off most of the water) then continue to work on smoothing the frosting. Make sure not to use too much water because when it dries, it will form a "crust" that will easily crack.

Purchase 1/4 inch wooden dowels in the hardware store. Cut 4 pieces that are slightly shorter than the height of the cake. Place them gently in the center of the cake in a square pattern approximately 2 inches apart.

Purchase cake cardboard that is 8 inches wide.

Layer Two:

Take 2 - 8 inch cakes.
Repeat the steps above only place this cake on to one of the 8 inch cake boards.

When you frost the entire 8 inch layer, frost over the sides of the card board to hide it.

By doing this, it distributes the weight onto the dowels and cardboard instead of "squishing" the bottom cake.

Cakes can crack...just think of your frosting as "the glue". Thin it down and patch up the cake.

For coloring, use Wilton paste colors. Also, add a very small amount of white corn syrup in the frosting you want to color so the colors will not streak.

It you want white frosting...do not use milk in your frosting, use water.

I stopped doing cakes when the nervousness I went through was greater than the pleasure!! If I could only decorate, I would be happy!!! That was my favorite part. Watch cake challenges on the Food Network or the Ace of Cakes!!! The talent is unbelievable! They are truely artists as well as chefs.

 

[fikibiff]

Ace of Cakes is one of my favorite shows.