Pokemon: 3D Krokorok {3D Head Mini Tutorial}

When my nephew Luke, who turned 8 (can't believe it, EIGHT!!) this past weekend, requested a Krokorok cake from Pokemon...I decided to go into 3D mode!!  (Well, first I went into Google search mode, because I had no clue what Krokorok looked like!! THEN I went into 3D mode! :)

I could have definitely gone the easy route and made a tiered Krokorok themed cake, but when it comes to kids and their cakes, I love to see their eyes bug out when the character they requested shows up in 3D cake form. With 5 little boys in our family, the excitement level can sometimes goes through the roof and I love it!

Here is a pic of the birthday boy who is holding the head of Krokorok after the cake was demolished by our family! Happy Birthday Luke!!
 

 

I've found that the main trick to a 3D character cake is putting a LOT of time and effort into the head shape and facial features...that is truly what makes the character recognizable. I put a little tutorial together (see below) on how I did the head in case anyone is interested! I would have loved to get super technical and made this guy standing up on his own two feet, but I have not yet ventured into the art of cake boards made to defy gravity! Someday... :)

Mini- 3D head tutorial:

• While the cake was baking I started working on Krokorok's head. I've taken to using floral foam balls from Michaels for the heads of 3D characters lately, just because the foam is so light on the top of the cake and easy to shape.  For this head, I started with an egg-shaped foam ball.
• I printed out an up-close Google image of Krokorok's head and carved with a small serrated knife until I got a good basic shape. 
• I then added features using gumpaste (in this case, higher eyes and some bumps for the end of the Krok's "nose") and allowed them to harden.

 

• I liberally coated the foam and fondant in shortening, then added the tan colored fondant on top and let it set.
• Once set, I added the facial features and decorations (eyes, mouth, stripes, etc).
• I let the head set in the fridge and once the fondant was super hard, I placed the head on top of the cake to see what part of the bottom of the head I should put the dowel in for it to be placed on the cake properly...then I inserted the dowl into the bottom of Krok's head.
• Once Krokorok's "body" was covered and placed on the cake board, I put the head on and it all came together! :)

I always try to wake up early on the morning of a cake delivery to shoot pictures in the morning light before my boys wake up...this time my son James came down to observe and had a few questions for me..."Did Luke ask for there to be grass underneath Krokorock?" Ummm, no...I hope I didn't make a Pokémon faux pas! :) Luckily, the birthday boy didn't seem to mind!



 

Happy 8th birthday Luke!

 

Thanks for coming to visit!!

 

Tara

Mod Butterfly 3rd Birthday Cake

It's been awhile since I've dusted off the old blog, but today's adorable Mod Butterfly themed 3rd birthday cake was so fun to make, it gave me the inspiration to brighten up this space with this new cake! :)

Lily's mom chose the most adorable butterfly themed party goods, so the cake design was inspired by the bright colors and butterfly graphics!  Here is a glimpse of the party plates from Beaucoup.com!

We decided on a cake design incorporating all the bright stripes and dots and the cute little butterfly as a main focal point.

I incorporated Lily's name and age on the other two tiers and tied the design together with stripes on the top tier and cute little butterflies dotting the cake.

For a party favor, I made butterfly shaped cookies to match the cake - so fun!

Delivering the cake this morning was great! I got to meeting the birthday girl and she was such a cutie pie and was so friendly saying hello to me and my boys who accompanied me on the delivery!

Wishing Lily a very Happy 3rd Birthday party and a wonderful year ahead!

Tara

Baby it's Cold Outside! {Cable Knit Sweater Cake}

Merry (3 days before) Christmas dear readers!! I hope this holiday season finds you well and that you're all taking time to enjoy special moments with the ones that you hold dear!

With only a few days to go before Christmas, I actually had a moment to stop and think about the past few weeks and wonder if I've done all the things I wanted to do to make the season feel as special for my 4 year old sons as my parents did for me when I was growing up...My husband and I did a lot more house decorating this year than we have since the boys were born (which still isn't enough for my kids who brood over the neighbor's awesome candy canes, light-up snowman, and blowup characters every time we come home at night and see the lights.)  What's the matter kids? Classic white lights, red bows and garland aren't up your alley?!?

Have you all been sucked into Pinterest this year? Have you created boards and boards of adorable holiday DIY projects hoping that you'll have the chance to wow your friends and family with your creative genius?!? Me too!!

Have you gotten a chance to get to any of those projects?? No? Haha, me neither! I don't know why - I mean how hard would it be to print out some cute subway art sayings and put them in a frame for display?! That would be the easiest form of creativity, but even that seemed to elude me this holiday season! Just getting up the lights and the tree were an event for my husband and I.



Sweet printable from Simply Klassic Home

As I convinced myself the other day that what we were able to do is just fine, one particular DIY wreath was still on my mind. It really caught my eye and I haven't stopped thinking about it since I saw it and wishing I could get up enough time to find material to make it for our home. This crafty blogger (The Graphics Fairy) took the sleeves off of an old cable knit sweater and glued it around a straw wreath form and attached a fabric flower - completely gorgeous!

I knew I wasn't going to have time to run to Joann's to buy some fabric and materials, but I was really into the whole cable knit design and decided to see if I could put the design into mini cake form...I loved the result!

A simple task of using a pastry cutter to create lines and then a wavy crimper to create the cable knit design, this cake came together really quickly and is adding a festive and creative touch to my kitchen this holiday season!

Here's to a wonderful holiday for everyone and may the new year bring you many joys and blessings.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

xo,

Tara

For anyone interested in the wreath tutorial, click through right here. It really looks pretty simple! I have high hopes for January or February...maybe a nice winter themed or Valentine's Day wreath!?

Somewhere...Beyond the Sea...

One of my husband's dreams is to have a boat one day...I can't say I'd be too upset if we happened to "end up" with one someday either! :) How sweet would it be to sail out on the ocean on a hot day like the ones we've been having here in NYC?  To set sail down the Hudson River, under the Verrezano Bridge and out to the Atlantic Ocean...ahhh to feel so free!

Nautical themed cakes are highly requested, and not just at this time of year - we must not be the only ones with this dream! :) Since I'm sure many of us are "in the same boat" ;), I wanted to share with you some of the nautical themed cakes I've made. I hope it gets you imagining yourself gliding along the waves on the lovely ocean blue with the wind blowing through your hair on these hot summer days of July!

This first cake was for a nautical themed baby shower - I loved the simple design of this cake! With cute little waves cresting at the bottom, a life preserver with the last name of the expecting couple and a sweet little mom-to-be topper - it was a such a fun little cake for a small gathering of friends!

{Sweet Client Testimonial}

"Hi Tara –  I wanted to thank you so so so much for the wonderful cake for Heather’s shower! It was a huge hit – not only was it perfect and adorable, everyone was remarking on great it tasted. Also, the purple, pregnant figurine was perfect, since she actually wore a purple dress for the shower – very cute!. Thank you and I hope to have the opportunity to make another cake order with you. Thank you! -Karen"

Next up was a 1st Birthday cake for Brandon - this one was a BLAST to make, especially the sailboat with life preserver topper! The #1 was floating along on the waves on the top tier. I gave sort of a porthole look to the middle tier...and the bottom tier's anchor and sailboat all wrapped up in rope at the bottom completed the nautical look of the cake.

{Sweet Client Testimonial}

The cake was a huge hit!!! I think my mom took more pictures of the cake than Brandon! - Kelly

This anchor cake was made for a lovely girl's high school graduation - she went to the Marine Academy of Science and Technology in Highlands, NJ. Carved cakes are one of my favorite things to make - they are such a huge hit at parties! I love the gold rope around the base of the cake (I was definitely remembering my childhood days running around the neighborhood carrying a golden rope lasso pretending to be Wonder Woman while making this!)

Thanks for walking down this Nautical cake memory lane with me! Here are a few links to some awesome and adorable Nautical party ideas - hope this inspires you to have a nautical theme for your next party or get-together!

Lisa Frank Pinterest Board: http://pinterest.com/ljfrank/nautical-party-theme/  - An amazing Pinterest collection of cakes, invitations, favors and decorations.

Green Tree Photography: http://www.greentreephotography.net/blog/nautical-beach-wedding-pink-and-navy/- A beautiful pink & navy blue Florida nautical wedding.
xo,

Tara






Hostess with the Mostest: http://blog.hwtm.com/2012/02/vintage-nautical-baby-shower/ - A vintage nautical baby shower.

Enjoy and thank you for stopping by!

Red, White & Blue Runner 30th Birthday Cake

A sweet mom in Lincroft, NJ ordered this cake for her daughter's 30th birthday party. The occasion was to be celebrated on the 4th of July, so the color scheme was red, white and blue! Her daughter is a marathon runner and her favorite color is red, so I made a red running shoe cake topper!

Concetta wears Asics sneakers, so the logo was on the back of the shoe. The cake was red velvet with chocolate mousse filling and vanilla frosting.  I actually sculpted the shoe out of rice krispy treat, frosted it and then covered it with fondant, rather than making a giant fondant shoe! This way, it could be eaten if they wanted to! :)

Overall, with the red, white and blue colors & shooting stars, this was one perfect cake for a 4th of July birthday celebration!

Happy 30th Birthday to Concetta!

xo,

Tara

Americana Beauty

I want to share a cake I made in an Americana theme, just in time for the 4th of July!

"Americana"refers to cultural artifacts, cooking, art, architecture, and history that distinctly reflect the US culture.  What could be more American than stars and stripes and red, white and blue?

The inspiration for this cake came right before Memorial Day Weekend - I was strolling through The Christmas Tree Shop and right in the front of the store was tons of Americana themed decorations - red, white and blue but faded, giving it a nostalgic feel. I don't know why I felt so drawn to it - it made me think of summer block parties I went to as a kid. Memories of mini American flags, sparklers, the excitement of riding my Dukes of Hazzard big wheels on the blocked off streets with all the neighborhood kids as it got dark out, chasing fireflies...ohhh childhood, how I miss you! :)

I've wanted to try to paint vertical lines on a cake forever and this cake finally gave me the chance to try that! It's not perfection like some amazing cake artists whose work I admire, but since it was just for fun, I was happy with it! I used some edible pearl glaze and white luster dust mixed with clear vanilla extract to paint on the silvery hue to give the blue fondant and flowers a faded, vintage look and then patted it with a paper towel to give it some texture.

I thought about doing bunting around the sides of the cake, but made this little blue swag (another decorating thing I've always wanted to try) and I liked how it looked against the stripes! :)

In this pic below, one of my sons had snuck into the kitchen while I was doing my little photo shoot. My poor kids rarely get the chance to be near one of my cakes since I'm so afraid they'll grab a piece out of it, so I was happy to let him pretend to take a bite out of this one, since it was for us! :)

Thanks so much for checking out my Americana themed cake! Are you having a 4th of July party next week? If so, and you'd like some fun ideas or inspiration for your party, check out my Americana Beauty board on Pinterest! I'm having way too much fun adding stuff on there!

xo,

Tara

Cakes in March

Pumpkin Picking {Halloween Birthday}

Ok, the title of this post might be a little misleading...I haven't even gone pumpkin picking yet this year (unless you count the sugar pumpkins that I picked up in the supermarket 2 weeks ago because the kiddos were begging for pumpkins! Of course those went bad super-fast and we need replacements!) But while I was growing up, and now with my own family, I feel a pumpkin picking trip is the perfect beginning to the whirlwind holiday season of Halloween through Christmas and I LOVE it!

So when I got an order for a pumpkin shaped cake this year I was so excited to work on it!! I LOVED how it came out! Hope you guys do too!

Don't you just want to take this little guy home and make him a part of your Halloween decorations?!?! :) 

The cake inside is devils food (totally perfect for Halloween!), a chocolate mousse filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.

Happy Haunting to you all! :)

Tara

Truly Outrageous! {Birthday Cake}

As a little girl in the 80's I was definitely a fan of Jem & the Holograms.  Anyone whose ever seen the cartoon will have a hard time NOT saying "she's truly outrageous!" after hearing "Jem & the Holograms" spoken out loud! :)

Liz is a major Jem & the Holograms fan and for her birthday this year, she and I designed an outrageous Jem themed cake!  Besides being the lead singer of the Holograms, Jem was known for her awesome fashion sense and wore the coolest 80's clothes ever! So we based the cake design on one of Liz's favorite Jem outfits! Here is the dress:

Here is the cake!

The fondant guitars around the bottom tier were modeled after the different instruments played by the Holograms in the cartoon. And the shoes...oh the shoes...Jem had the coolest shoes for each outfit, so I ordered Jem shoes (non-edible!) online and placed them around the base of each tier.

The inside of the cake was RAINBOW tiers!! Of course I could not get a shot of the rainbow awesomeness because I couldn't cut into the cake...but the birthday girl posted shots on her amazing blog, Duchess in Brooklyn! I've also pinned it on my Heavenly Bites Cakes board on Pinterest - are you following yet? :) Come on over! :)

Hope you had an outrageous birthday Liz!

Tara

Beachy Bridal Shower

Can it really be that the summer is almost over?!? I know it officially lasts until September 21st, but this weekend marks the end of the beach-going season...so I think I better get all of my beachy and nautical cakes from this past summer up on the blog this week! :)

This cake and accompanying cupcakes were made for a bride-to-be in Brookville, NY whose beach themed bridal shower given to her by her family at her aunt's beautiful home was one of the most beautifully set up I have ever seen!

Here is the cake topper:

This sweet little cake was tres leche with caramel buttercream. It was covered in a light pink fondant and decorated with graham cracker sand. The coral was painted on white food color and the shells, starfish and pearls were made of fondant.  The starfish toppers were actually purchased at Michaels (since all the ones I attempted making kept breaking because they were so large!). I added the fondant top hat, bow tie & pearls and used white tulle to make the veil.

The cupcakes were a mix of lemon with cream cheese frosting, s'mores with fluff filling and white chocolate buttercream frosting and tres leche with caramel buttercream.

The cupcakes were topped with graham cracker sand and fondant toppers of shells and starfish, which were dusted with edible luster dust for a little sparkle!

Wishing all the happiness in the world to the bride and groom to be! :)

Tara

Blue & Brown Communion Cake

I made this cake for my adorable cousin/godson James (Jay) Gregory who made his communion this past May.

I was so honored to make this cake for him and was so excited to be able to attend the ceremony at church to see him make his communion! (My husband stayed home with the twins so they could have their nap before the party, so I had the rare opportunity to pay full attention to everything going on at church! Thanks for that dawl*!)  He looked so grown up and serious in his suit and did an amazing job of speaking when it was his turn to read intentions - brought a tear to my eye!! I can only imagine what I'll be like when it's my own kids up there!

Here is the cake,  made to match the colors of his invitation - my aunt wanted something sleek and simple and this was perfect! :)

God Bless Jay! The sweetest cousin/godson anyone could ask for AND a top notch babysitter to my boys at our family parties! :) Love you Jay!

Inside Info:
*dawl - nickname my husband and I have for each other, adopted after seeing the movie "What Women Want". It cracked me up that Delta Burke and "Miss Tessbacher" were the secretaries to Mel Gibson in that movie and how they called him "dawl" all the time...Love it!

White & Blue Wedding Cake

This blue and white wedding cake was made for a couple in NJ who desperately needed a wedding cake when their baker backed out a month before the wedding!  I was so happy to be able to help this couple out so they could enjoy their big day!

The bride provided diamond pins and the blue ribbon she wanted around each tier of the cake so it matched her bridesmaid's dresses, as well as the beautiful silver monogram letters on top...the piped flowers around each tier had little blushes of blue luster dust on each petal to add some color dimension to them...and she asked for a few small flowers to be on the cake as well, which I added some blue luster dust to as well and gave them a little pearl center.

Best wishes to the bride and groom - may you have many happy years ahead of you! :)

Sweet Ruffles {Bridal Shower}

This showstopping cake was made for a sweet bride-to-be this past May (she actually just got married a few weeks ago, so the "to-be" part is actually no longer needed! :)  Jane and I went to high school together and were on two swim teams together, so I was so excited when she reached out to me so many years later to make her bridal shower cake!

She knew she wanted something girly, feminine and pink for the cake for this special event and we worked together to find a design that she loved. We found a GORGEOUS ruffle cake made by Maisie Fantaisie in the UK and Jane decided she wanted that exact cake in the colors of her choice.

The cake was vanilla with raspberry fruit filling and vanilla buttercream. The design was so simple and elegant looking, but BOY are looks deceiving!! The ruffles took 5 hours to apply to the cake, but because I was so excited to make a replica of such a gorgeous cake, the energy never dwindled!

Here's a shot taken from the top of the cake...no surface left un-ruffled! :)

Delivering the cake was so nerve-wracking because it was SUPER heavy, but once it was set in place and I could breathe a sign of relief, it was great to catch up with my high school friend and see the "before' of the gorgeous shower about to take place at her mom's house. Everything was set up so beautifully and every detail thought of - so amazing!

Wishing all the happiness in the world to the happy couple!!

Tara

Mickey & Minnie Cupcakes {Twins 2nd Birthday}

A sweet set of twins turned two in May and their mom threw an adorable Mickey & Minnie themed birthday party for them! I had the honor of making their Elmo 1st birthday cake last year, and was so thrilled to be called back for their 2nd birthday!

She loved the idea of cupcakes with toppers with the classic silhouette of mouse ears and for each one to be decorated as either Mickey or Minnie. I also made some Mickey Mouse gloves too!

I loved how cartoonish the hands looked, designed after the picture on the cookie cutter set that I made these with! :)




The cupcakes were a mix of peanut butter chocolate with white chocolate buttercream and yellow cake with white chocolate buttercream...delish!! :)

Happy birthday to Maddie & Zach!!

Yankees vs Red Sox Baby Shower

There's something about the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry...everyone loves to "hate" the other team, but I really do love how many friends and family make the rivalry work in their relationships!

My husband and a college buddy of ours always have texting wars during the games - it's really funny hearing the jibes going back and forth as each team has it's ups and downs! A co-worker of mine is a die-hard Yankee fan and his wife is a die-hard Red Sox fan - they go to each other's games and have a fun time "fighting" over which team their 2 year old son is going to align with! It seems like the cities of both NY and Boston come even more alive than usual when the teams play each other - it's awesome!

This baby shower was planned for a mom and dad to-be highlighting their love of their favorite teams...the Yankee and Red Sox cupcakes (and rattle cookies, which I did NOT get a picture of) were made in perfectly equal amounts so that there was no favoritism! :) The cake had a little fondant baby topper and  Yankee and Red Sox baseball caps as decorations!

Hmmm, I wonder which baseball cap the baby will crawl towards?!?!? ;)

Wishing this sweet family all the happiness in the world as they welcome their little one into the world!

Tara

Rattle & Carriage Cookies {Baby Shower}

A short, but sweet post...

These sweet baby rattle and carriage sugar cookies were created for a darling baby shower in May...

Pink & white and flowers - could anything be more girly and sweet! :)

Tara