My Little Princess!

My little sweetie girl is having her big first birthday party coming up, I have decided to make her a princess castle cake along with a tray of assorted girly girl cookies, and gourmet cupcakes for the adults who aren't as into tonnes of icing (a recommended option to have at parties). The body of the cake will be 3 layers high, with carved out pillars and iced ice cream cones for turrets, and an additional 3 cake layers up the center of the castle. I am trying my hand at something brand new for this cake (as it is my own and I love to experiment) and I am going to pipe out chocolate garnishes and decorations and use them as detail for my cake. So we shall see how it works out!

So far for the cookies we have circles, hearts, and flowers. The nice thing about doing cookies and a cake is that I can use my leftover royal icing to make intricate transfers that I will put on the cake to give it a nice feminine lacy look. But piped chocolate has a similar affect, so I'll feel out my design as I go.

Well our party went very well, the cake and cupcakes were a hit! Boy did the cake ever use a lot of buttercream! I used a basket weave for the brickwork around the castle walls and the weight piles on quickly. I ended up with a slightly simpler design than my original plan (VERY busy trying do work on the rest of the party as well as my cake) but I have decided that I LOVE chocolate garnishes! So elegant and pretty to look at, and I found very easy to work with and temper. I was very pleased with my first attempt at it (and did it ever save me time on my cake...instant stick on's and voila! an elegant cake with 1/2 the effort of detailed piped buttercream).

I had lots of extra chocolate, so I made some fancy garnishes for my cupcakes (double chocolate...mmmm very popular) and they instantly added spark to my table, definitely something I will be adding to my repetoire! I can see them being excellent for fancy christmas and new years parties or like my event an addition to a birthday cake for those who don't enjoy icing as much but want a sweet little something. 

Mina loved her Girly Girl Sugar Cookies, (so did her brother), flowers hearts, and circles, kept it simple...

The Free (or discounted) Cake Dilema

This was written by another cake decorator, and it really is very true. Especially when just starting out, there is so much cost behind equipment & tool purchase, while trying very hard to establish a client base (which does mean throwing deals here and there).
Here is the link to her site and original blog:
http://www.motherofcakes.net/2012/01/03/free-cakes/

Free Cakes

by Mother of Cakes

By the end of this post someone will have just finished working 12 hours and 20 minutes working on a cake for a birthday, baby shower or wedding. They will have skipped sleep, missed a day with their family and spent a good penny on ingredients. Pushing themselves as they juggle between sleep and sanity. All for a free cake! Yes you heard it here. FREE CAKE!

How is this cake free you ask? I’m sure you want to grab one of these for your next event. You too can have a cake “as seen on tv” for free!

Let me explain something to you. When cake artists are at work. They usually put in about 300% more work than most people. Like many artists they are in this for the passion and love. Like they say “love don’t pay the bills”.

Well the reality is, the bills have to get paid. No matter how appealing a free cake sounds and you would love to get a great deal. Its like stealing! Yes you are robbing someone, who has worked incredibly hard to make you edible art that will adorn your function. Feel guilty yet? If the answer is “NO” then my time is wasted on you. I suggest you go to your local grocery store to get your next dream cake. If you have little respect for the artists then this cake is not for you.

So perhaps stealing is too strong a word. But borrowing implies you’ll be giving it back. I’m not sure rent-a-cake is going to catch on. Or whether anyone would want their “borrowed” cake back after you’ve had a slice.

Wondering why I am against the free cake idea. Well lets say many of us in the industry have been asked for discounts that are often insulting and sometimes a little crazy. Its understandable that we all have reasons to save money and love a good deal. But this is not the place for a bargain. Cake decorators don’t exactly make a lot on cakes. Well you have a few who do. But thats only the ones you usually see on television with brands that represent them. The majority are not on television and are equally talented. They do not demand remarkable prices. Many undervalue the costs of their cakes. So when someone requests a 3 tier cake with all the trimmings and sparkle for under a $100. Well its just unfair.

So lets make a resolution starting this year. Lets forget about the “free cakes” and start appreciating the workmanship and time these artists invest in your cake.

Go England!

In air of the Euro 2012 Cup (Soccer/Football Euro Championships... just so you know), my soccer nut brother is getting a simple theme cake of his favorite team, England's Newcastle United.

It is a double layer chocolate-vanilla marble cake with chocolate (black) and vanilla buttercream icing.

...And here's what we got:

Happy Birthday Austin!

Love Sissy!

Lilly's 3rd Birthday

In 2 days I have a cake due for a little girl's 3rd birthday. She lives on a strawberry farm, and loves strawberries I'm told, so I have designed for her a 2 1/2 level cake strawberry fantasy garden. The base will be a 9x13'' cake split and filled, with the top 2 levels being 1 9x3'' round cake cut vertically off center and placed upon itself. It will be mostly a BC frosted cake, with buttercream flowers and details with a few fondant decorations mixed in, and then some sugar cookie cake toppers to finish it off.


Here's how we turned out!

Lilly's 3rd Birthday- Strawberry Fantasy Garden Cake

Fondant strawberry decorations and royal icing butterflies

Happy 3rd Birthday Lilly! Hope You Like Your Cake!

Please visit Lilly's Farm at Fruition Berry Farms for a great day of family fun!

You can visit Fruition's site at:

http://www.fruition.ca/

Cristine's Wonky Cake

This week I was commissioned my first wonky cake for this weekend (albeit somewhat short notice, but it's for a family friend, so exceptions were made). It will be a buttercream cake with fondant decorations, as well as wire outbursts for some 3D effect.
Last night I finished my sketch, she wanted something really bright and funky, and this is where we ended up.

Sketch of Wonky Cake- CakesByMaddi

Tonight I start the fondant coloring, and tomorrow cutting it all up...

...1 hour to pick up and she's done!

Christine's "Peach Berserk" Wonky Cake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRISTINE!

Hello From Cakes By Maddi

Hello cake lovers,

I have recently decided to develop my home cake making business, and through my new site I will be displaying all of my cake and cookie creations that I have custom designed for people. I welcome you to browse through my pages and encourage you to come back often as, like I said, the site is new and I am still progressing with it. To view my creations go to the gallery page at the top and scroll through my works.

I must admit I am new to this whole blogging thing, I have been in the stone age for several years and finally I am starting to catch up with the latest and greatest of tech and web stuff...now just to get one of them new-fangled digital cameras (not kidding...).

A little bit about me is that I am a stay-at-home mom, and I am married to my wonderful husband Mike. We have 2 wonderful little rug rats, one boy, one girl, and one more on the way (yup it's busy) and between me and them I'm not sure who enjoys my tasty hobby more! LOL. I am based out of Gananoque, ON and am open for local orders (pick up only), and I can be directly contacted through:

cakebymaddi@gmail.com

So thanks for reading, come back often and check out my latest creations, and feel free to comment, ask questions, and if you are looking to order from me, just know that the sky is the limit when it comes to ideas and working within all price ranges!