A "Farming" We Will Go...

This post is going to short and sweet. Why??? I am in a just a little bit of pain. I received this cake request over a month ago and "no problem" was looking forward to designing it. Fast forward to yesterday, when I went to work on it. I went out first in the early morning to shovel the snow off our deck, and only got to the first shovel full, when my back instantly froze in pain due to a pinched nerve. I was literally left motionless because I couldn't move. After what seemed an eternity I finally managed to hobble into the house and get into the pain meds. Great huh??? Suddenly it dawned on me, that I still have to do the cake. UGH!!! In between repeated intervals of laying on the couch for 30 min and 15 min of cake work time, I finally managed to get it done. 

SO... for you cake business wannabees, this is an issue that you have to think about. Yes, designing cakes is a lot of fun and I ABSOLUTELY love my job, BUT there is also the flip side (the not-so-nice part of the business).  In the rare case you get sick, injured or have to spend the evening in the hospital and then come home late at night and STILL have to work on cake, because there is no one else and JUST you (unless you have employees who can do the work for you).... just a ``little`` something to ponder on. 

Anyway, I got the cake done, and was pretty happy with the results despite my situation. The top tier was classic white with Italian Meringue butter cream filling while the bottom tier was chocolate filled with cookies `n cream butter cream. The cake was covered in fondant with fondant accents. The little toy tractor topper was purchased for the little birthday boy to play with. When the mom came to pick up her son's cake she was so happy with it, she proceeded to order 3 more cakes from me. So... A "happy" customer, makes it all worthwhile in the end. 

Share some love... with a cupcake!

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• Strawberry Passion - Strawberry Cupcake filled with strawberry preserves topped with Strawberry Buttercream
• Red Velvet - Red Velvet Cupcake filled and topped with creamy White Chocolate Cream Cheese
• Chocolate Truffle - Chocolate Cupcake filled and topped with decadent Chocolate Ganache
• Chocolate Raspberry - Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake filled with our homemade Raspberry Filling and then topped with Raspberry Buttercream
• Chocolate Brownie - Chocolate Cupcake filled with Chocolate Pudding and then finished with Pink Buttercream topped with a chocolate brownie heart

Cupcakes are $3.25/ea (minimum of 12). Cupcakes can be picked up between 9AM-2PM. Call today to book your Valentine Cupcake order!

FSJ Bridal Show 2012

This weekend I attended the 15th Annual Bridal Show in Fort St John. I had an amazing time and met tons of  new brides and got a chance to rekindle friendships with other vendors whom I hadn't seen awhile. Part of the fun of attending a bridal show is getting the chance to network with other vendors. Another first for me this year, was that I was accompanied by my 8 yr old daughter Elizabeth. She spent the entire day with me at the bridal show and then participated in the fashion show as one of the models. She was a great help to me setting up and taking down my booth. We had such a fun time that she wants to do it again next year. 

Here is a pic of my booth

We created numerous cake designs for the bridal show. I like to try new techniques to display at the show. Here are just a few of them... For this cake, I covered the entire cake in fondant and then covered in sparkly sugar, tied with a sugarpaste bow complete with edible brooch.

Since August is a BIG month for weddings here in Fort St John, I get a lot of requests for autumn themed cakes. I created this cake in chocolate fondant complete with sugarpaste leaves with a bit of gold to add an elegant touch.

I wanted to experiment with different textures, so this cake was created with a stucco texture. I completed the overall design with sugarpaste dogwoods dusted with pink and green centers.

I actually created this cake last year for another show but I never felt completely happy with it. The design was inspired from a picture of a wedding dress I seen in a magazine. The cake originally had a dark blue ribbon with a star shaped sugarpaste brooch. Unhappy with the design, I ripped off the ribbon and brooch and created this sugarpaste bow with a softer shade of blue with a pearly white sugarpaste brooch to match the lacework applique on the cake. Needless to say, I loved the new look.

Going with an organic nature feel, this 3 tier cake was created using olive green and ivory shades with a branch going up the front. Two hand painted birds were added for a whimsical touch.

This pretty 5 tiered yellow cake was another design that underwent several changes during the design process. I originally was going to put yellow and green whimsical swirls going up the side of the cake with the addition of butterflies. BUT somehow I just couldn't get the feel of it. So, I ended up changing it midway the design process. I piped scroll work all over the cake and then added pearl dusted embossed fondant flowers and leaves. It looked so bright, summery and cheerful against the dreary winter weather we are having right now. If I had to change things, I would probably still add a few butterflies here or there, pink maybe???