Boop boop be doop Babyyyy

So Yes yes, I know It's been a long time since I last updated....this is becoming a trend Ive noticed. I need to stop it, but I do have a valid reason. I have moved YET again. I am now back home in beautiful Trinidad and Tobago, seemingly for good. I kept up my baking and experimenting while I was in Tampa and still managed to churn out creme brulee, filled cupcakes, quiche and cookies regularly....I even completed my first paid cake! One of my best friends Sara, asked me to do a Betty Boop themed cake for a birthday and i was more than happy to commit to it. Of course, she then asked if I could do it for the next day instead of the intended due date and I had to change my ideas somewhat. I had made a Betty boop figurine out of gumpaste, with the intent that it would dry enough by the date needed that it would be able to stand up on the cake, giving the appearance of Betty boop walking on a red carpet. While the time crunch didn't allow that to happen, I'm still pretty pleased with the results.

It's a WASC cake with vanilla buttercream. The frosting was not my favourite but I had to work within the time frame. I'm told it was still good.

After that cake, I had to pack my things up and prepare for moving.The day I was set to return home, a friend of the family's asked me to do a surprise baby shower cake for her friend. I was pretty cautious when deciding to do the cake, because I had never worked with fondant in the humdity of Trinidad, nor had I recieved my barrel o' supplies that was my first shipment home...

buuuut I love a challenge, and I also love having a full sized kitchen to work in. So you know I just leapt at the chance to do the cake in a real kitchen.

I was sent the design, I looked around online, found some other interpretations and kinda tweaked it a bit to what I thought looked best (Decorator's license I suppose) . I found some tips and techniques specific for the cake and I got to work. Part of the fun of doing cakes is seeing the finished product a person wants and breaking it down and figuring out how to do each part.

This is the finished product:

I fell in love with this cake while I was assembling it, and all the struggle to find supplies, make fondant and prep the decorations was so worth it ( R.I.P Toastmaster hand mixer, you died for a good cause). It's all edible, all made from MMF with some GumTex added to the wooden slats for stability. The wood finish is just brown food colour paste diluted with a clear alcohol. The cake itself is a cream cheese flavoured pound cake with a vanilla buttercream filling.

I put so much of myself into these cakes, from designing a concept to the actual work and time, that it is still a struggle for me to actually put myself out there and be on the spot...stage fright I guess. I didn't even want to be there when the cake was presented. My sister made me stay despite my insecurity and I'm glad I did. The reaction was great and I'm glad I could have been a part of making someone feel they were special. It was a nice bonus to see:) I could get used to it.

Since that cake, I've been experimenting with recipes again, we can add rum cake, hummingbird cake and pecan tassies to the menu as they've all gotten wonderful reviews :)

So that's all for now.

Next up... Easter! Can anyone say mini easter baskets and egg shaped cake truffles?? I got my cake supply barrel too....soooooo bring it on!