After all of that...traveling for an hour and fifteen minutes, only having 30 minutes to completely set up, put together, and finish decorating the cake....it came out AWESOME!!! I loved it and more importantly, so did my niece!

Tonight was one of my most frustrating cake making sessions ever! If you ever over cook your marshmallows when melting them for fondant....DON'T USE THEM!!!! I was in a hurry, tired and went against everything that I know about sugar. The marshmallows were not burnt, but they were in the microwave for a long time. I should have just thrown them out and started over, but I proceeded to make the fondant. Not only did it get pretty hard, but my powdered sugar was lumpy. Needless to say, I had to re-make it. I also thought that I had enough frosting, but did not and had to make more of that too!

The cake is finally frosted and covered with fondant, but I cannot put it all together until I get to my brother's house. So, I guess you could say that I am almost finished, but it feels like it is a long way off still...

Behind the Scenes - Making the Movie Set (Cake)

I have been working on my niece's sweet 16 cake. She loves the movies and wants to be a director so I am making a cake with four different movie sets. I have the cake baked, frosting made, and all the pieces for all four sets made from gum paste, dried, painted, and ready to put together. I love to use gum paste for decorations. It is edible (although it doesn't taste very good) and easy to mold and paint. It also dries rock hard unlike fondant that stays a bit soft.

Painting gum paste is really simple. Mix some gel food coloring with a tiny bit of vodka and paint away. The vodka evaporates leaving no flavor or sticky residue behind, just clean crisp color. If you do not have vodka on hand, I have also used a clear rum! Whatever you do, don't use WATER!!! It will leave your gum paste a gooey, sticky mess! (Water does make great "glue" to put your gum paste pieces together)

For this cake I have made a saloon complete with hitching post, trough, and horse. I have also made a mausoleum with zombie, stationary car with a moving background, and burning city hall with a stunt man jumping from the window. The cake will also have the Hollywood sign and movie film.

The pieces are ready and I can't wait to put the whole thing together!

Here I go!

Here it is, my very first blog on my very first blog....I love to bake, but mostly I love to be creative with cakes and cupcakes. I am always being told that I need to share my knowledge so here I am, sharing. My favorite part of making cakes is the looks on the faces of my clients, friends, and family! Here are some of my more recent cakes...so much fun! I love to share my tips or tricks....anyone can do this with a little practice and a little guidance! Give a cake a try!