Justin Bieber!

Mickinzi and her brother Easton contacted me last week to make a birthday cake for their daughters who were having a combined birthday party. They had an idea of a Justin Bieber cake they had seen online and wanted something similar. Inside the bottom tier is Pink Velvet cake with cream cheese filling, and in the top is Vanilla Cloud cake with chocolate buttercream. It was so fun to make! I only wish I could have made it sing "oh baby, baby, baby oh!"

Ally's Wedding Cake

My cousin Ally (short for Alejandra) is my favorite cousin. We grew up together. Spent weeks together in the summer at her home in Monroe, Utah. We both praised the two laziest cartoons in cartoon history, Garfield the cat and Homer Simpson. We have so many memories.

She was married on Saturday and asked me to make her cake. I had another cake to do the same day for Tanya, that I had to deliver to Syracuse. Luckily, I was able to deliver that cake in the morning (talking 7am. 1 hour drive.) and head to Ally's wedding later that afternoon down in Richfield. It was a loooong two days. I'm still learning how to organize my time when I have these big projects, and sometimes things go wrong and end up taking a lot of time to fix. So, I didn't really go to sleep on Friday. I took a nap at 9am Saturday morning for an hour and a half. But I'm so happy with how the cakes turned out.

Unfortunately, with all the craziness that caused me to not have time to sleep, I also forgot to find time to take a picture of Tanya's cake. I got one pic with my iphone, but I'm hoping I'll get some better pics from her photographer.

On top of my cousins cake are black ribbon roses. These are easy to do, which is very convenient when the gumpaste flower you made falls apart the minute you are supposed to be leaving for the wedding :).

PS3 and Mission Farewell Cakes

My sister asked me to make a Playstation 3 cake for her husband's 28th surprise birthday party. She was going to tell him that she wanted to buy him the real thing, but couldn't afford it, so the cake was the next best thing. Little did he know, she had been saving up and he would indeed get the real thing. I've never made a cake like this one before, so I was a little scared. But despite it's imperfections, I think it turned out pretty well! They loved it! And I had a few people at the party confuse it for the real thing (at a quick glance :))

The next cake was for a young lady's mission farewell. She was called to the Philippines and her mother wanted a figurine of her daughter wearing a ponytail. Heads are tough to make. Fondant dries quickly, so too much handling and well, things get messy. After smashing two heads in frustration, I finally got it on the third. The cake is the Philippines flag and she sits on top. Her bags are packed, Book of Mormon in hand, she is ready to go!

Raspberry Limeade Cake

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's birthday and we had a barbecue to celebrate. I made a Raspberry Limeade cake for the occasion. It went perfectly with the other outdoor grub. If you like tart desserts (think Key Lime pie) you'll love the flavor of this cake. Limeade cake and frosting with raspberry lemonade filling. I love summer barbecues!

Mini Tiers for the Bake Sale

The bake sale has come and gone, but I thought I'd quickly post pictures of the cakes I made. They were featured on my facebook page, but just in case you missed 'em. They are both mini tiers, the bottom cake is 6 inches and the top is 4 inches. The strawberry cake is strawberry cake on the inside as well. Made from scratch with real strawberries, no artificial flavors. This is one of my favorite flavors! Especially for the summer!
This cake is rich, dark, devilish chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.

I hope whoever bought them thoroughly enjoyed each bite! They are so cute! I'm hoping someone has me make more of these mini-tiers. Maybe for centerpieces at a reception?

No Kid Hungry BAKE SALE! This Saturday!

I don't know why I've waited so long to post about this! My dear and very talented foodie-friend Tiffiny (she is always there to answer cake q's for me), is hosting a Bake Sale this Saturday, May 22, from 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Goldenwest Credit Union in Herriman on 13400 S, across from the Smith's.

This is part of Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale.

Share Our Strength is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to end childhood hunger in America by providing healthy, nutritious food to children who would otherwise not have access to it. The Great American Bake Sale is just one of Share Our Strength's 5 programs. During the bake-sale season of March 1-October 31, 2010, volunteers all over the country will hold bake sales in an effort to help Share Our Strength reach their goal this year of $1.8 million. It sounds like a lot of money to be raised by selling cookies, but since Share Our Strength was started in 2003, they've raised almost $6 million through the bake sales.

I will have 2 cakes at the Bake Sale to help raise some money. So, if you want some home-baked goods for the Labor Day weekend, and you don't want to bake them, stop on by! It's for a great cause and you get something yummy in return!

What the Sheet Cake?!

Many of you may know this cake as Texas Sheet Cake or Chocolate Sheet Cake or even Buttermilk Brownies (found in Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book). If you don't know this cake, then you should. It is moist and the perfect amount of chocolatey-ness.

I grew up with this cake. It was guaranteed to be at every Langton family gathering, thanks to my beautiful grandma, and there was always two sheets - one with nuts and one without.

I have found several variations of this recipe over the years and have combined them to make it just right.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 cup butter

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons buttermilk

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.

3. In another bowl, mix the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Mix with a fork and set aside.

4. In a medium saucepan, combine water and butter. When the butter is just about fully melted, add the cocoa. Whisk together to combine. Bring the mixture just to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

5. Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture. Stir together until combined, then pour in the egg mixture. Stir together until smooth.

6. Pour into an ungreased 17x12x1-inch baking pan. Bake 20 minutes. (If using a smaller sized pan, then you may need to bake longer, so measure your pan!)

7. Frosting: When the cake has about 15 minutes left, begin making the frosting. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. (I wash and use the same saucepan as before). Add the cocoa and stir until smooth. Add buttermilk and vanilla and stir. Then add powdered sugar and stir together. Dump in the chopped pecans and stir until well combined.

8. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, pour the warm icing over the top. Try to distribute the icing evenly as you pour. This will make it easier to spread. The less spreading you do, the better it will look.