When it Rains, it Pours...

I had guests coming over on the weekend and work was extra busy this week. Signal three special cake orders! It was a week to test my limits, but the extra challenge of those cake orders really thrilled me. It was definitely worth the effort!

The first one was a really special order. Through a co-worker's suggestion, I was asked to bake a baby-themed cake for an expecting couple. The twist on it was that the couple hadn't yet found out their baby's sex and would only discover it upon cutting open the cake. They arranged to have their doctor call me directly and I got working to make a very pink cake (it's a girl). I haven't worked with fondant that much, so it was a bit of a challenge.

The cake was a simple white cake recipe (one of my all-time favourites) coloured pink, with a raspberry-flavoured italian buttercream icing in the middle. I found the cake a little dry without the regular heaping of buttercream on top, so added a layer of strawberry preserves between layers for a burst of berry flavour. The whole of it was covered in white fondant with baby-coloured flowers all over it.

The biggest challenge, though, were the baby booties on top. I made the first few prototypes out of pastillage, but I found them way too dry. The edges started to crack and looked really rough. After those failures, I decided to move onto the more pliable fondant, which was so much easier. Here are the finished booties:

The next order was a last minute birthday cake. I had made a birthday cake in October for the grandson; this week it was for the grandmother's 70th birthday. I hit a couple of snags in this one when I ran out of eggs and sugar for the frosting. I must have been just powering through my bags of sugar because I'm sure I bought a few kilos recently... but a quick run to the store solved all of that.

Layers of moist chocolate cake covered in pink italian buttercream frosting and topped with white buttercream roses. I haven't made buttercream roses since my cake decorating classes a couple of years ago. It was amazing how much better I've gotten since studying at Cordon Bleu. What would have paralyzed me with fear last year was actually kind of fun!

 

My last order of the week was a pretty simply one, and done in such a rush that I didn't have time to take any pictures. One of the agents at the office was celebrating a big birthday, so I made some white cupcakes with fudge frosting - a recipe passed down from my family and a real favourite. Thankfully all the cupcakes were eaten at work, otherwise I don't think my willpower could have stopped me from eating them all.