Cakes by Patrice

Cakes April-Dec

2012-12-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

I've been a super slacker on the blog. Here are the cakes I've made from April to December.

Transformers side view

Transformers Top view

First Birthday Argyle

Army Helmet

Hamburger and Cake fries I helped a friend make

Smashed sheep cupcake topper

Puppy on fondant rug

Monster cake (eyeballs not inserted yet)

Birthday cake for my frilly, color-loving 6-year-old

Green Zebra cake

Purple Zebra cake

UNC cake #2

2012-04-21T16:45:00.001-07:00

Last year I made this University of North Carolina basketball cake for Corby when he turned 15.

This year he wanted to have another UNC cake for his 16th birthday. This banner was the inspiration.

And this was the cake I made him.... It looks pretty simple but we spent hours cutting all those little letters out of modeling chocolate.

Happy Birthday, Corby!

Owl cupcakes

2012-03-23T21:14:00.001-07:00

These cupcakes and smash cake turned out cute... SO cute. The end.

Oh. My. Ganache!

2012-03-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me!

That's right... I make my own birthday cakes... I LOVE to bake! Last year I made this amazing cheesecake for myself. This year I wanted to make something that was completely centered around my favorite thing: chocolate. And it was SO incredibly easy, I thought I'd teach you how.

I forgot to take pictures of the ganache while I was making it... sorry. To make the whipped ganache, put your desired amount of chocolate chips in mixing bowl. Take an equal amount of heavy whipping cream and boil it. (I used 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (because I couldn't resist eating a few handfuls) and 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream + a little vanilla). Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate chips. Let it sit about 2 minutes then stir in the vanilla and whisk it til shiny and smooth. Then let it cool. (I chilled mine in the fridge to speed it up.) Then I whipped it with my trusty KitchenAid for a few minutes and it turned into a delicious fluffy bit of chocolate heaven.

I spread it around on a single layer of cake (and made a little bit of a dam around the edges to catch the ganache in the next step) and covered that with a nice layer of fresh raspberries. Then I stuck it in the freezer for a few minutes to harden for the next step.

I made more ganache (1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup cream + a little vanilla) but this time I didn't whip it... and then I smothered the raspberries.

Then I added another layer of chocolate cake and covered it with the rest of the whipped ganache. I put a little in a piping bag and made a dam to hold the rest of my pour-able ganache.

This time I poured the ganache first, then I stuck the raspberries on top. See! SUPER EASY!

I chilled it over night and then ate a rather large and super delicious piece for my birthday.

P.S. It tastes best if you let it come up to room temp a little before serving...

Zebra Hello Kitty Cake

2012-03-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

I've kind of been avoiding making cakes for a while... this whole having 3 kids thing is still throwing everything off. Add in a few weeks of potty training a little boy and it's been sort of crazy around here.

But when I got asked to make a zebra cake, I got excited to do another cake. I have a slight obsession with zebra print. I think it turned out pretty dang cute!

Angry Birds Cakes

2012-02-03T23:08:00.000-08:00

My little buddy, Ethan, is turning 5 and LOVES Angry Birds.

I made him 3 single layer cakes, two 6" and an 8". Two of the cakes are chocolate and the other is vanilla, all covered with delicious vanilla buttercream frosting. The decorations are all made with modeling chocolate.

After I made the big birds and pig, I realized I made too much modeling chocolate. So I decided we should make some tiny, bite size characters. I made Brady help me. I made the ugly ones (the ugly red and 2 black birds) and he had WAY too much fun making the rest. I'm pretty sure his favorites are the pig with the hard hat and the one with the mustache... both turned out awesome!

Click on the picture to see the zoomed version!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

2012-01-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

Yep, I said it, Cookies and Cream Cupcakes!

OH. MY. CUPCAKES! YUM!!!

I don't usually like to put lots of swirls and globs of frosting on top of my cupcakes, but for these glorious diet wreckers, I decided to make an exception.

And look! There's a surprise inside!

I got the idea here and made them minus the cream filling.

Note her recipe says to finely crush the Oreos for the frosting. I made the mistake of crushing mine by hand- they looked finely crushed. But the few little chunks that were hiding in there refused to go through my piping tip and I had to make a whole new batch of frosting. (Dang it! Now I have tons of cookies and cream frosting in my fridge just begging me to eat it by the spoonful! I can't just throw it away and WASTE it!) SO, if you decide to try to make these and want to pipe some pretty swirls, definitely finely crush the Oreos in the blender.

Tangled Cake by Brooke

2012-01-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

My neighbor, Brooke, asked me if I could help her make a cake for her daughter who was turning 5. I love Brooke to death, but (as we lovingly joke) her cake decorating skills are about the same as mine where when I was 10.... haha! So we found a cake here and decided to try and do a little replica. I did some of the work, she did a lot. And I think it turned out cute!

Here's a slightly closer view of the cake. Check out those lovely strands of hair! And Brooke did all the flowers!

To be honest, it turned out WAY better than my original Dora cake. I'm so proud of you, Brooke!

Lego Cake

2011-12-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

I made this Lego cake for Logan (hence the L). He said he wanted chocolate cake. Well, he got it! Chocolate fudge cake with the MOST delicious chocolate frosting! (And yes, I will share this fabulous recipe. It makes a ton, so it definitely needs to be scaled down.) The lego board and legos are made out of modeling chocolate and the little pegs are made with melted candy melts. So Logan is going to get his chocolate fix for his birthday!

And a random side note... I think I've discovered my cake decorating style- I call it modern with a hint of rustic. I really like having something that looks smooth and nice, but I also LOVE having a little bit of the messy frosting showing- that way there is proof that there's something yummy hiding underneath.

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

I got asked to make two dozen Christmas cookies and I immediately thought of these crunchy, buttery cookies I saw on Pinterest.

Yes, my photography skills still haven't improved.

And I decided I wanted to try and make these big, soft, fluffy sugar cookies and decorate them with royal icing. This was my first time ever doing royal icing, which was time consuming, but fun. My piping skills are a little rusty, so some of the lines aren't as straight as I would have liked...

My favorite ones are the argyle. I have a slight obsession with argyle.

Oh, and these are the cookies my kids decorated.

Hello Kitty Cake

2011-11-11T21:45:00.000-08:00

Miss Ayda told me she wanted a Hello Kitty cake and I was overjoyed! Hello Kitty is SO simple!

Of course, it could have turned out better. But, I thought, instead of making black frosting, I'll just do the outlines in melted chocolate. And it worked pretty well, but the eyes are a little off. Oh well, she's turning 5. She won't even notice.

Then I had some extra melted chocolate left in my piping bag and thought I'd just play around and write things and do designs onto my wax paper. Her name turned out somewhat cute so I thought I'd try transferring them to the cake. Then I added the squiggles... I probably shouldn't have, but too late now.

That's what I like about making a cake for my family... I can try new things and if it doesn't turn out well, who cares?! :) I also tried something new with the frosting... I did the crumb coat layer in pink and the 2nd thin layer in purple. It might just turn out to be a flop. I won't find out until tomorrow... Either way, she's going to like it. And I'm done making the cake before midnight. That's always a plus!

John Deere Cake

2011-11-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

I just finished this cake for my little boy that is turning 3 tomorrow. I am SO incredibly excited to show it to him in the morning. He is OBSESSED with John Deere.

I wanted to go simple with the cake so I just did a 2-layer 8" round with vanilla buttercream and the logo is made out of modeling chocolate. And I must say that I love modeling chocolate! I think I prefer it over fondant... it is so much easier to work with! I got the logo done in one try and didn't have any issues with tearing- not even with the tiny antlers.

Happy Birthday, Bud!

Treasure Chest Cake

2011-10-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

Well... it's been a while! But I got a request for a treasure chest cake and thought I'd take a 2nd stab at making cakes with 3 little kids. And I must say, it's still a little crazy. But I had fun making this cake and trying new things. My neighbor makes AMAZING cakes and uses modeling chocolate (which I had never even heard of before) and I decided to try it out. I LOVE it! It's pretty easy to work with and tastes way better than marshmallow fondant. The chocolate flavor reminds me of tootsie rolls. Yum!

Obviously it's been a while since I've made a cake and I think my skills are a little rusty. There are a few spots on the cake that turned out way below par, but I think overall it turned out pretty good.

This cake took me a while to make... I worked on it Saturday afternoon (baking and crumb coating, then freezing overnight), Sunday night (frosting, covering with chocolate), and Monday night (finishing touches and assembling). It's 3 layers (two for the base and one for the lid) of white cake with a rich chocolate frosting covered in the modeling chocolate. And it weighs a ton!

Coming up next month: My kids' birthdays! I'm thinking a John Deere logo cake for Toren and a Hello Kitty cake for Ayda. We'll see.

Twin Smash Cakes

2011-07-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

A while back (before cute baby Miles was born) I was asked to do 2 small cakes (2 layer, 6"rounds) for a 1st birthday for cute little twin girls. I thought, sure, we'll see how it goes. I'm glad these were fairly simple cakes because I'm not quite sure we're ready to be making any more cakes yet. It's a little tricky trying to work around the schedule of a baby who thinks he needs to eat every 2 hours.. And another reason I shouldn't be doing more cakes yet? Severe lack of sleep! I got the cakes posted and then the girls' mom called and said I spelled Sofia wrong ! (I spelled it Sophia... Whoops!) Luckily I saved some of the leftover fondant for my kids to play with later on today, so I got it fixed... and you can't even tell I messed up. So for now I just need to get a little sleep so my brain can function... but someday we'll be back open for business! :) Eventually... I'll let you know.

P.S. For anyone that hasn't seen yet, this is my cute little bald bundle of joy, Miles. :)

Graduation Cake

2011-05-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

Simple Birthday

2011-05-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

I was asked to do a birthday cake for a family gathering that would be celebrating their May birthdays. I was told the cake would be for kids-boys and girls- and adults, and I wasn't given much direction on how to make the cake other than that. So I decided to make something simple that reminded me of a cute birthday card. It felt SO good to design this cake myself and not have to worry about making it look exactly like "something". I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Leavitt Group Cake

2011-05-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

I got an order to do a birthday cake for my husband's boss, Dane Leavitt (CEO of The Leavitt Group). My husband and Dane's secretary designed it- they wanted to display things that Dane loves. We decided to put the new Leavitt Group logo on the top.

This is the Leavitt Group sign outside of Headquarters.

And this is my edible rendition of it.

One thing Dane loves is going to his cabin and ride his Polaris Ranger. These mountains are the view he has from his cabin.

And this is the fondant version of the mountains that my husband made. (He stayed up late with me (on our 6th anniversary) to help get the cake done! AND he cleaned up the mess after we were done! What a great husband!)

This is the Polaris Ranger Dane got as a surprise at a company holiday dinner a few years ago. He was so excited!

And this is my version of his cabin that he loves so much. We've heard many stories of him sitting on the porch for hours on end enjoying the view of the mountains.

Even though this cake took 12 hours from start to finish (including breaks and dinner and such) and I was SO ready to be done with it, it was fun to do the tiny details like the marbling on the rocks and the paneling on the front door (that you probably can't even see in the picture).

Unfortunately, this is the last intensely intricate cake I will be able to make for a while... Baby #3 is due in just 6 weeks!

P.S. This cake is 3 layers- 2 yellow and one chocolate, and filled with super yummy chocolate frosting. I covered it with buttercream and all the decorations are edible (marshmallow fondant)!

Butterlicious Soft Pretzels

2011-05-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Alright, so it's not a cake, but I made it (from scratch) and I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while. And I am SO GLAD I did. I cannot stop eating them (I'm on my 3rd one right now!).

These were so delicious and easy to make. They browned beautifully and after they got out of the oven, they took a swim in melted butter. Oh, and that chunky kosher salt adds that perfect pretzel saltiness! YUM!

If anybody wants me to make them some then I can figure out a price- somewhere around $10 for a dozen... or less. We'll see.

I think I'm ready for pretzel #4 now... Hey, I'm pregnant, I can justify it. Right? :)

If you want the recipe, I got it here.

UNC Basketball

2011-04-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

I was asked to do a birthday cake for a teenage boy who loves North Carolina Basketball, so this is what I came up with. It's pretty simple and to the point.

It's a white sheet cake and the ball is chocolate cake- all covered in delicious buttercream frosting.

AND, this is the first fondant-free cake I've decorated in a while and I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out!

I also think the way I made the hand grip stuff on the ball turned out awesome!

P.S. Thanks to my awesome neighbor for letting me borrow her basketball so I could actually know how to make a basketball! :) haha, I'm still extremely pathetic in the sports department!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

2011-03-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I made myself this deliciously rich cheesecake. "You made your own birthday cake?!" you may ask... Of course! Making it is half the fun!

This cheesecake had 2 cups of melted white chocolate chips mixed in with the batter, which was poured onto an oreo crust. After it baked and cooled a little, I poured on this yummy homemade raspberry sauce and marbled it with some more melted white chocolate. YUM!

P.S. I added "quick comments" to my posts... that way you can quickly and anonymously say whether my cakes look awesome or if they were a disaster. Please feel free to check boxes!

Super Mario Bros.

2011-03-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

Does this cake bring back childhood memories or what?!

There are lots of pictures... I couldn't miss showing any of the characters I made...

It turned out pretty fun and I think Wyatt is going to have an awesome 6th birthday!

Cupcakes Galore

2011-03-09T19:48:00.000-08:00

I was asked to make 5 dozen cupcakes for our ward Relief Society dinner and I got to pick what I made! It was so fun to make something unique and gourmet!

German Chocolate Cupcakes (because when I made that kind of cake a few weeks ago it made me crave it like crazy!)

I think this picture does these cupcakes a horrible injustice... But OH MY! They were so yummy! They were a chocolate cake with a cheesecake/mini chocolate chip filling and topped with chocolate ganache!

Red Minnie Mouse

2011-03-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

Minnie Mouse sure is popular! My college roomie, Nat, saw the picture of the pink Minnie Mouse cake and knew that's what she just had to have for her 2-year-old's birthday... but in red. I added the ribbon because it made it seem so "Nat".

It took about half the time making this cake than the first version of it. It's nice knowing exactly what I'm doing instead of trial and error. (example: the first cake took me about 6 tries to make the bow for the top of the cake... but this time I made a cute bow the first time around! I was so proud of myself.)

Just thought I'd add this, too... My kids think they can get away with anything when I'm working on a cake. Yep- that's over 100 cookie cutters they threw down the stairs....

Simple Classic

2011-02-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

I made a simple classic cake for a cute girl in my ward.

She wanted a german chocolate cake for her husband's birthday. And she doesn't even like this kind of cake... now that's love!!

You know how sometimes when you're cooking/baking you test the product to make sure it is okay? Well, I tested the frosting and all I could think was, "Holy Cow! This is amazing!!!" I love when that happens!

Minnie Mouse

2011-02-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a Minnie Mouse cake I just made.

I made a 2-layer 8" round for the family and a 1-layer 6"round replica for the cute little 1-year-old to smash up.

And everything is edible! The pink is buttercream frosting, the polka dots and bows are marshmallow fondant and the big, shiny ears (which I have to admit were Brady's GENIOUS idea) are homemade suckers!