Cakes & More by Alicia

From Photo Shoot to Wedding Cakes

3/19/2015

I started off a busy week with an overbooked Monday….(note to self, always check and double check your calendar)! I had on the calendar my first smash cake stylized photo shoot with Finding Beauty in the Ordinary Photography and Lacybug Designs. I was doing this adorable butter cream ruffle cake with butter cream rosette flowers, to add to a shabby chic designed photo shoot.

So on Sunday night I set out to do this simple and chic smash cake! What was supposed to be simple was frustrating from start to finish. I started off dying my butter cream, which soon became a bigger issue then it should have been and had me ready to throw my icing dyes out the window. All I wanted was lavender and all I was getting was something that looked grey/lavender in every picture I took (side note, florescent lights really mess with your colors) I usually dye my icing in the daylight hours and let it set (another side note…dyes dry darker) So I like to give it a bit, plus I really can tell the colors better with natural light. WELL….I was running a little behind and didn’t get my icing dyed, so to me I had a grey/lavender and a green/teal and vibrant yellow…when I was done, not exactly what I was shooting for. So as much as I didn’t like this cake, I boxed it up and headed out the next morning…and because the cake had so much butter cream and the road was a little too bumpy…it caused the rosettes to slide (a first)! WHAT?! Are you kidding me? So I arrive at the site for the photo shoot and give the photographer the news…she was so calm. To add insult to injury I forgot my cake kit to do repairs! I scrape off the bad rosettes, vent to the photographer (who was having her own problems with lighting) and ran out the door to make the hour round trip to pick up my cake kit!

Finally arriving back at the photo shoot site, I fixed the cake just in time to put it in front of an adorable 1 year old! Yup all of that for a 1 year old to smash it…can you believe it?! Check out Finding Beauty in the Ordinary Photography's blog for all the behind the scenes pictures…its really amazing what goes into a photo shoot!

A Grey/Lavender Cake

Yay!!! Lavender in the right lighting!

The SMASH!

That was only Monday!!! Now for the rest of the week....

The rest of the week was filled with prepping for a wedding of 125 guests! I was hired to do a 4 tiered wedding cake, grooms cake and over 100 guests favor…what a tall order!
I have to say, to date…this was the smoothest wedding I have done. Maybe because all my bad luck was at the beginning of the week or maybe the planning and thinking for a year paid off and I was totally physically and mentally prepped to do this wedding! Whatever it was, I am so thankful this wedding (for me) went off without a hitch!

So, Friday as I’m standing in Jo Ann’s picking up a last minute item…I grabbed a 12 inch divider plate for my cake, instead of a 10 inch…ok one little hiccup for the 4 tier cake. I get a phone call…the order is for tomorrow, a small naked wedding cake (what?!) It’s to be a surprise! My first reaction was, I’m sorry I’m booked…that is what anyone with common sense would have said! Then I second guess myself and call back the grooms sister (at this point, I’ve totally lost it) and ask her more information on the cake; size, decorations, delivery locations, flavor, etc….I get the info and take the order (I know your thinking I’m crazy and your right). So I head home on Friday, not to finish one wedding cake, but to start a whole new wedding cake order from scratch!

With the help of my assistant (my mom) I completed my first double wedding cake day! Both cakes turned out amazing and couldn’t have been any more different from each other!

A surprise wedding cake

My first fondant/butter cream.

Chocolate dipped marshmallows

Groom's Cake

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Sweet Treats and Beads!!!

2/17/2015

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Seems like everyone is always saying “Work Hard Play Hard”…well I joined in this week. I worked hard all week and then on Saturday, I played hard! Taking my girls to the Mardi Gras parade with my family who was visiting. We had a blast; picnicking in the park, catching lots of beads and enjoying some kings cake….yum.

Enjoying the Pensacola Mardi Gras Parade!

This week taught me the importance of staying scheduled and organized…I knew going into the week, to accomplish everything on my calendar AND take my girls to the parade and be at their school parties, I would have to make a to-do list and stick to it!

So here is a little baking tip to help you through busy school functions, holidays and parties…prep…prep…prep. Everyone thinks baking has to be done last minute…and the actual act of baking does need to be done as close to the event as you can get…but the prep, well that’s a different story. So at the beginning of the week I prepped everything I could. Here is one way I prep to make my baking time run smoother.

This week was filled with Valentine’s goodies…cookies, cookies and cookies; with a few cake pops sprinkled in!

This week I was able to get creative and do whatever design came into my head. I love what I do, talking with clients, looking at different inspiration pictures and designing a cake form inspiration pictures….but this week I got to do several orders with only my inspiration to lead me along my journey!

I got to do things I love…like hand painting fondant, using new techniques I’ve read about and practicing other techniques…hoping one day to perfect them.

Hand painted fondant pompano fish with a new ruffled buttercream technique.

Did you know you can pre-make cookie dough?

YOU CAN! Just make the cookie dough as you normally would, then portion and store. Follow these steps and you can have fresh-baked cookies all year long! (I promise to one day remember to take pictures…so you can see the steps)

1. Mix up cookie dough as your normally would.
2. While cookie dough is at room temperature, portion and set on a cookie sheet. You are not going to bake the cookies now, so put as many on the tray as you can without touching.
3. Place in the freezer. Letting them get partially frozen. Make sure your freezer is odor free.
4. Place in an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
5. Pull out proportion cookie dough. (I let mine defrost, but some people say you can bake them frozen.) Place in refrigerator, let them defrost, in an air tight container …not touching.
6. When the cookies are defrosted, place on a cookie sheet and bake as normal.
7. Enjoy!!!

It is important to keep the cookies from touching, unless they are frozen. Otherwise they can stick together and you will get cookie blobs, instead of perfectly portioned cookies!

Cookies can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I always portion out my dough; room temperature dough is easier to work with the cold dough.

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A baker’s version of “A Christmas Carol”

2/8/2015

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The Future.....

I started my week off working on a new cookie design (a ghost of a baker’s future)…adorable unicorn and rainbow cookies. Thinking of all the new items I have gotten to do, each month brings new request…it is one of the reasons I LOVE my job. With each order, from the time I take the order, until I’m in the kitchen creating it; I’m thinking about it, researching blogs, Pinterest and online magazines for inspiration. I’m always looking to the future and thinking of the where want to go and what I will create when I get there…whether it’s a week, a month or a year!

Rainbows Evey where!

I love BIG parties....and this was one! When I delivered the cake, I got a sneak peak at the party set-up.....it was a colorful as the cupcakes and cookies. I love Facebook, because I sometimes get to see the birthday girl/boy enjoying their cake and other party photos! The birthday girl for this cake was so ADORABLE in her rainbow leggings and rainbow tu-tu!

The Present....

Then towards the end of the week, I moved onto an Elsa inspired doll cake (a ghost of bakers present). There is something so comforting in knowing exactly what you are going to do and how you will accomplish it. I love doing doll cakes….to date I think I have done 9 (one for my own daughter) each of them have been different (even the 5 Elsa dolls I have done!). Now, I’ll admit, the first one was a bit of a challenge…How do I get a 16 inch doll into a 13 inch cake mold?! I soon discovered how to make the doll fit and now can look back and see how far I’ve come with this design. It was nice to know going into it this cake, knowing how to accomplish it…right down to the ombre rosette dress!

The Past...

My week ended with a wedding cake (a ghost from baker’s past). This wedding cake was designed for a family friend…my mom’s best friend! (what pressure!) Not only do I have the pressure of decorating and constructing a four tiered wedding cake, I get to do it all under my Mom’s watchful eye! My Mom has taught me the basics of cake decorating. Growing up I would sit in the kitchen late at night watching her, I practiced on cake pans while she decorated.

This weekend was like a trip down memory lane. It started by sitting up late Friday night, at my childhood home, decorating the wedding cake with my Mom. Saturday, we ate lunch at one of my favorite restaurants with my daughters…I can remember eating at this restaurant when I was a child. Then we drove the long fifteen minutes to the receptions site to deliver the cake, a spot that I haven’t been to in a few years. The last time I was there, I was taking my oldest fishing with my Dad…where I ended up slipping on the bank of the muddy fish pond! Then we drove to the ceremony site…this drive I haven’t taken since I was a teenager, where at a small church I watched my childhood friend, give her mom away…so touching. I talked to friends I haven’t seen in years (more then 10)!

Sunday, as I’m sitting in the church that I grew up in, with my Mom I started reflecting back.
It was like a rush of the three ghosts at once! I flashed back to being a teenager and where I thought I would be. I have to say, I’m pretty much there…I’m not the successful career woman I thought I would be, but a loving husband and fantastic kids (which was in my dream for the future) I HAVE! I sat and thought about the future and where I want to go….as of right now I’m on my way! And I lived in the present, smiling at familiar friends, singing favorite church hymns and listening to what the minister had to say.   Who ever thought a cake would bring such emotions and memories! Another reason why I LOVE what I do…it leaves a lasting impression…when the cake is gone the memories are still there!

If I had any advice for this week; take time and live in the present, remembering the past and dreaming for the future.

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More than cake….a journey into the life of a work at home baker and mom.

2/3/2015

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With the New Year brought a lot of big business changes for me….one of them is starting my own blog! After reading several baking blogs filled with yummy recipes and baking tips, mommy blogs from stay at home moms and work from home moms, travel blogs and whatever else I stumbled on along my way; I decided to combine them all! I set out to create a blog not just about baking, but my life as a whole. Hence the name “More than cake”

I love what I do, but it’s not all of who I am. I’m a stay at home mom of two active girls, a wife of 11 years, a daughter and sister, a baker and business owner and a want to be world traveler! My dream is for my blog to show who I am…tell the story of how I accomplish what I’ve set out to do. I want my girls to be able to look back and see what all we as a family were able to do while they were growing up and I want a way to document their lives, since their baby books only cover the first five years of their little lives.

In this blog I hope to share; baking tips and recipes (of course), travel tips, organizational tips (ha…that’s a joke) and funny moments from my life. I hope to inspire you to bake something, laugh at mistakes and know you can juggle it all!
So here I am, writing my first blog EVER and only one month behind schedule! Not bad for a Mom who had her daughter’s two years olds pictures taken four months after her birthday!

This month has been filled with the learning experiences of how to set up a website and filing business documents to become a LLC. Both of these I hope never to have to do again!
I had some incredible orders last month; I’m hoping they will set the tone for this year! It has been a busy month right up until the end. I ended the month with the first event of 2015…a huge success in the fact it was fun and I met a lot of great people. I love getting out in the community and talking to everyone…and maybe selling a delicious treat along the way!

I hope you join me on this journey though cheers, tears and fears!