Hello Kitty Cake V

Oh, the ever popular Hello Kitty party decor at Party City. This is the fifth cake I've done to match it. I love Hello Kitty and it's fun to come up with new ways to incorporate the colors and elements. This cake was for Olivia, who turned 5. I worked with Olivia's mom a few years back and we were pregnant at the same time. I imagine our boss was thrilled to have two of us on maternity at the same time. Oh, well.
Olivia's mom wanted fondant swags and a Hello Kitty figure. The HK is RKT (a little fat). The cake is chocolate vanilla marble with chocolate buttercream.

Elmo Sesame Street Cake

This cake was for Carolina (LOVE that name! We almost named both our daughters that, but alas, other names won out), who turned 2. Her favorite Sesame Street characters are Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby. Elmo's body is cake, but his head and limbs are RKT. The rest of the decorations are fondant and gumpaste.

Star Wars Cake

A Star Wars cake for Coleman, who apparently loves Darth Maul. His mom wanted a positive influence as well, so Yoda made it on there, too.

 

The cake was dark chocolate with cookie butter filling.

Train Cake

This cake was for Aiden a couple months ago, who turned 1. The cake was chocolate with vanilla filling.

Cookie Monster Cake

This cake was for my buddy boy, who turned 1 last week. I'm so sad that he's growing up so quickly. Why, time, why?!! My boy is crazy about food- ever since he was about 5 months old he would get all excited when he saw people eating anything, and got upset that he couldn't have any. So, I thought it was fitting that he should have a Cookie Monster cake. I used this cake as inspiration (it's so adorable, I love it!!). The cake was chocolate with Cookie Butter buttercream. He's holding a real chocolate chip cookie.

The cake board says "C is for Canon." Happy birthday to the happiest boy.

Minnie Mouse Buttercream Ruffle Cake

For my girl, who turned 5 last week. The spunky, crazy and sassy LuLu loves Minnie Mouse. I wanted to try these buttercream ruffles and what better time to experiment than on a cake for our family? There's a tutorial here, but it's really easy. The cake was chocolate, filled with chocolate ganache. The buttercream was just vanilla.

Happy birthday to my sweet pea!

Hello Kitty Cake IV

I made this cake a couple months ago, but I didn't get any pictures of it except for this one from Instagram. It was for 2 sisters who had the exact same birthday, two years apart. It was made to match the same Hello Kitty party decor as this and this.

Cinderella Cake

When I was pregnant with my first son, one of my good friends was also pregnant with her first daughter. Her daughter was born a couple weeks before my son. Now, three years later, she asked me to make little Hanna's birthday cake. I can't believe how quickly time goes by! Hanna wanted a Cinderella cake (when I dropped it off on the morning of her birthday, Hanna was already in her Cinderella dress ready to party). 

Cake was strawberry with vanilla filling.

Mario Kart Cake

A cake for Luke, who turned 4.Loved making this one, this is one of our favorite games!

Mermaid Cake

This cake was for Naomi, who turned 5. Her mom wanted an ocean wave-type look, with ombre coloring. I was excited to try the ruffle look for the waves. Inside, the cake was also colored- graduating shades of light to darker blue. I need to get a picture of it from the birthday girl's mom!

Here's the inside: (photo courtesy of the mom!)

Fairy Cake

This set up was for Poppy (don't you love that name?), who turned 3. The party was fairy themed, so there were cake pop fairy wands, and flower cupcakes and cake. The cake was pink lemonade, cupcakes were vanilla and cake pops were strawberry.

Tangled Cake #6

Seriously, I've made 6 of these?!! This was for Olivia, who turned 3. The birthday girl's family put on figures of the characters. The tower is made of rice krispy treats. Cakes were strawberry and chocolate, filled with strawberry cream cheese buttercream.

Sports Cake

A cake for Cruz, who turned 1. The mom liked this cake and wanted something similar. The cake was vanilla with cream cheese buttercream. Covered in fondant with fondant and gumpaste decorations.

Minnie & Mickey Cake

A cake for a 7 year old- Minnie and Mickey. And zebra stripes.

Rainbow cake

A cake for Sophie, who turned 6. The inside is a rainbow cake, I'm waiting on a pic of it from the birthday girl's mom!

Haunted House Cake II

A cake for Bayler, who turned 6. My second haunted house cake (the first one is here)- the birthday boy wanted something similar, only he wanted a blue house. The bottom part of the house is vanilla cake with chocolate filling and the top is banana cake with vanilla filling. My favorite banana cake recipe is below.

Happy Halloween!!


Mr Banana Legs
adapted from CakeLove by Warren Brown

One 12-cup bundt cake, two 9-inch-round cakes

Ingredients

Dry:

• Unbleached all-purpose flour, 10 ounces (2 cups)
• Salt, ½ teaspoon
• Baking soda, ¼ teaspoon
• nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon

Liquid:

• Very ripe peeled bananas, 6 ounces (3 bananas), mashed
• Whole milk, ¾ cup
• Vanilla extract, 1½ teaspoons

Creaming:

• Unsalted butter, at room temperature, 6 ounces (1½ sticks)
• granulated sugar, 21 ounces (2¾ cups),
• Eggs (large), 4
• Egg yolks (large), 3

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and line pans with parchment.
Sift the flour into a bowl. Measure the other dry ingredients into a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, and whisk for 10 seconds to blend. Set aside.
Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside. 
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on the lowest speed for 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture should look white, fluffy, and aerated.
With the mixer still on the lowest speed, add the eggs one at a time followed by the yolks, fully incorporating after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl.
Add the dry ingredient mixture alternately with the liquid mixture in 3 to 5 additions each, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Move swiftly through this step to avoid overworking the batter. Don’t wait for the dry or liquid mixtures to be fully incorporated before adding the next.
Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl all the way down. Don’t miss the clumps of ingredients hiding on the bottom of the bowl. Mix on medium speed for 15 to 20 seconds to develop the batter’s structure.
Spread in prepared pans and bake 30 minutes until golden and cake tester comes out clean.
Cool to room temperature, 25 to 30 minutes, before removing from the pan. Use a small offset spatula to loosen the cake from the rim of the pan. Carefully invert each pan onto a flat surface to remove the layers. Remove the parchment from the bottom of each cake and wrap the cake tightly in plastic. Assembling a layer cake is easier if the cake is cold, so refrigerate the layers overnight or for up to 5 days before frosting.

Hello Kitty Cake #3

This cake was for Kylie, who turned 6. She wanted Hello Kitty and Sleeping Beauty, but I couldn't figure out how to incorporate both. The cake was vanilla chocolate marble with vanilla filling.

This is my last cake before baby #4, set to come this Friday. Ahh!

Sentimental Circus Cake

One of my best clients asked me to make her 14 year old's birthday cake (3rd year in a row!). She requested a Sentimental Circus theme, which I'd never heard of. The main character is a little bunny, a little reminiscent of Hello Kitty. Cake was orange dreamsicle.

Tangled Cake #5

Yet another Tangled cake. Tower made from rice krispy treats and a cupcake. Cake was pink lemonade with vanilla filling.

Tinkerbell/Little Mermaid Cake

This cake was for my daughter's friend, who turned 4. The cake was strawberry with strawberry filling and lemon with lemon filling.