Pixar Plans

A little over a year ago, I rewatched all of the Pixar movies. Sigh...childhood at it's finest. So many marvelous memories! The magic of toys coming to life! Kevin Spacey voicing an evil grasshopper! "It's a bug eat bug world out there, Princess." Classic. Robots falling in love. Houses flying through the air with hundreds of balloons. Timeless.

This past August, I got to be a kid again at a Pixar concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA. The LA Philharmonic played the magical music while clips of the movies were viewed on the big screen.

It got me thinking. I would love to recreate each movie in my own way...with cake. I've actually done it once with Toy Story...

And more recently with Up...

 So what next? Which is your favorite Pixar movie? Help me come up with ideas! I know I want to do another project for Up. A Bug's Life is one of my favorites! Any ideas on how I could make that one? Or Wall-E! So many great options! So tell me which movie is your favorite...maybe even which scene! And I'll have tons of fun cake-ifying them :)

Summer Recap, Future Plan

And…seven months later? Here I am! Oy. Sure took a long hiatus. Let’s just say summer was full of random activities and long distance traveling. There wasn’t a whole lot of time for cake. Here’s a quick summary…

Starting with my favorite!

BABY EWOK! For the birthday of a Star Wars fan.

 A Teal Lantern cake for a color deficient friend who loves the Green Lantern.

Watermelon Cupcakes!

 Triple Chocolate Fudgy Cake!

A birthday cake with stained glass buttercream roses!

 And ocean inspired birthday cupcakes!


  And then, of course, real life hit. Rent called my name and I needed to pick up a second job. My 20 hours a week turned into 40-50. Exhausting? Yes. Did I stop there? Of course not! I got a few editing jobs and cake orders! My dear friend was producing a feature film in Grand Rapids and ordered a few cakes for the crew. I had so much fun making movie themed cakes and cupcakes. Cut hundreds of mini marshmallows and colored them with yellow dye in order to make popcorn cupcakes! Made film reels out of buttercream flavored fondant and a red carpet cake for the wrap party. It was so much fun delivering the cakes and seeing a grateful, happy crew.

So…what’s next? Well, here’s the plan! I’m gonna spend the next seven months working, traveling, and baking cakes. The summer is going to be a big adventure, and I want to share the plan with you now! Ready for this? After such a hard year of confusion and uncertainty, heartbreak and pain, change and growth, I have a dream I am ready to share. I know I’m not alone in these thoughts, so I want to spend my time inspiring others. In movie form. And thus, we come across, Sweet Dreams: A Cakeumentary. I will be teaming up with two of my dearest friends, (Aubrey Headrick and Katie Fox) to bring you a story of dreams, understanding, hope…and cake! So stay tuned for the production updates! We are super excited about this new adventure and can't wait to start the journey.

Thankfulness

Last night I was overpowered with thankfulness. Out of the blue, my heart was full of contentment, friendship, joy, and love. BAH! It was such a beautiful moment. And I want to thank everyone in my life who has helped me get there. 

It has been a year of obstacles and confusion. We spend at least the first 18 years of our life in school...22-30 if you go to college and/or graduate school. After all that schooling we (or at least "I") expect to get a career right away. That's the point of our education, right? I graduated last year with a film degree. I was twenty-one years old and not even close to knowing "what I want to be when I grow up." I settled down with a part-time job and subconsciously became a miserable person.

I've been playing with cake decorating for the past couple of years now. It started out as a fun hobby that transformed into a true passion. I loved making special creations for my friends and posting the pictures on Facebook. At the beginning of 2012, I suddenly got requests for cakes. Wedding cake, baby cake, birthday cakes, etc. I never imagined I would be able to create a little business for myself and then BOOM! Friends were suddenly wanting to buy cakes from me. It has been such a blessing and I want to thank God for guiding me and everyone who has supported me. You have been such an encouragement. My horrible attitude is turning into one of positivity, joy, and cake :)

This past weekend I had the honor of making 80 cupcakes for the volunteers at Urban Family Ministries. For some reason, I was only scheduled to work at Family Video for three days. Sure, I was excited about having a little break, but I wasn't sure what to do with all that free time...and then I got a call from a dear friend requesting 80 cupcakes. Huzzah! And just when I thought I was losing momentum and the cake orders were slowing down...

             

I was up until 2:30am making those puppies. Frosting cupcakes and watching Netflix...an evening well spent! But of course, I had to wake up the next morning in time to make another two tiered cake and chocolate covered strawberries for a film company's dessert reception. 

April 20th was the one year anniversary of Shadow|Shine Pictures. My friends were hosting a party for the celebration and asked me to do a cake. It was such a wonderful evening of friends, food, and conversation.

 

So there you have it. 22 years old and I still don't know what I'm doing...haha. But I'm learning to love every minute of it. Hahaha. I finally have a better grasp on this journey of life. Do I know what's happening? No. Or where I'm going? No! But I am living it one day at a time, doing what I love, and figuring it out as I go. Again...THANK YOU! GAH! My heart is bursting with love for everyone in my life right now. I am just so happy to know so many supportive and wonderful people. I thank God for every one of you!

Who's Your Disney Princess?

My cake orders are slowing down, so I'm thinking it's time for a new challenge. April is a new month and time for a new experiment. Barbie cakes have always fascinated me. It's just a giant skirt of cake with a Barbie sticking out of it! Genius! When I was little, I thought they baked the Barbie inside the cake. I was amazed that the Barbie face didn't melt plastic all over.
I made my first "Barbie" cake last year. It was my roommate and dear friend's birthday. Tangled had just come out and she was in LOVE with the movie (and Flynn), so we threw her a Disney princess party. Just a classy evening with three ladies in their 20s, playing dress up and watching Disney movies. I spent the afternoon baking a cake in a pyrex mixing bowl. I was so nervous because it's deeper, thicker and has to bake longer. The final/cooled cake looked like this...

I was pretty excited about it. It was sturdy and smooth, but still looked like a skirt. And then I stuck the doll inside...(Seeing as this blog is PG, I did a bit of censoring. She is a princess after all)

Rapunzel seems to be the shortest princess, but yet her thighs weren't even covered. Gah! I was running out of time. It took some work with a lot of frosting and the leftover cake crumbs, but I was finally able to create the top layer of the skirt. I covered her in frosting and worked hard to make her the beautiful princess that she is.

Rapunzel became the first (and best) doll cake that I ever made. She gave me hope and a new goal...attempt to make all of the Disney Princess! And then there was Belle...

My church was having a Halloween party, and it happened to fall right on my friend's birthday. Of course, I had to make her a cake. I did a bit of research, found out she loves cherry chip cake and her favorite Disney Princess is Belle (also my favorite!). I decided to up the ante and incorporate the mirror and rose into the project. 

After finishing the mirror and I rose, I was feeling pretty good about everything. I liked how they turned out, and I felt unstoppable. I did the cherry chip cake just like my Rapunzel skirt...baked in the mixing bowl. This one didn't work out so well. I baked it for an hour, cooled it for an hour, and took it out of the bowl (I was in a big rush!). It looked good for about 5 seconds and then...

Holy cow. My heart broke. I looked at it...stared in silence...walked out of the kitchen...down the stairs...and collapsed in defeat on the couch. It may be "JUST A CAKE" but I was devastated! I had two hours before the party, I looked nasty, and my cake was in ruins! I composed myself, went back upstairs and tried to figure it out. My mom eventually saved the day and went to the grocery store. She bought me two angel food cakes (already made). I leveled them, frosted the two layers together, and carved out a skirt the best I could. I stuck Belle inside the bundt hole and frosted her dress. Thanks, Momma. You be a lifesaver. 

 
So Belle wasn't as good as Rapunzel, but I was still proud of her. Aurora however...she was no sleeping beauty. I decided to do something a little different. The mixing bowl didn't work so well with Belle, so I figured I'd make a layered cake and carve the skirt. I baked two 8in circles and two 6in circles and buttercreamed them together. The cake still wasn't tall enough, so I cut a cupcake in half and put that on the very top. 

I stuck Aurora right in the middle and started carving away. Here's the thing...I may be able to hold my own with a frosting bag, but apparently knives and carving are a completely different story. I mutilated that poor girls dress. Instead of a curvy hoopskirt, it was an uneven mess of jagged lines. I'll spare you the image of the pre-buttercream dress. I frosted it the best I could, but failed on the crumb coat. Chocolate crumbs can be seen all throughout her dress. BAH! Regardless, I was proud to make my third Disney Princess. And besides, Sleeping Beauty is my least favorite of the princesses. So take that, Aurora. Haha :)

 So that's it. So many lessons already, yet so much more to learn. Only three down! Now I need your help. Who's next? Snow White and her cupcake dwarfs? Cinderella with a cookie carriage?  Ariel in the ocean? Or maybe Tiana with some froggy cupcakes? What say you?

Birthdays, Experiments, and Fundraisers!

It's the end of March...and I have yet to post any stories. I'll make up for it in this one weekend! It has been a crazy couple of days. I had a cake order for my friend's grandpa's 90th birthday, cupcakes for a bake sale, and a giraffe cake for my friend's birthday. AND my weekly experimental cupcakes. On top of all that craziness...my mixer broke in the middle of it all! It's just an old hand mixer (probably 10 years old) but still necessary when making my buttercream. BUT, I made it through. The cakes are done and eaten. 

So...Birthdays are my favorite! And today, the very lovely Alexis turned 22! 

We've been baking friend's birthday cakes together all year, so OF COURSE I had to make her a special one. Giraffes are her favorite animal (they're tall and yellow!), so I searched the internet for cute ideas. There are some adorable 3-D giraffe cakes out there, but nothing I could do with my current pans. It wasn't until the day before that I found the winner! He was covered in fondant, but I knew I wanted to stay true to buttercream. I used a star tip and covered the two layer 8-inch cake in a brown and yellow pattern. I had to use fondant for the head, neck and tail. He was a little funky...the head kind of looks like a cow skull and the neck is snake like...but I think he's one of the cutest things I've ever made :)

I am attempting to experiment with cupcake flavors every week or two. So far, it's been going well. Last week I tried Neapolitan cupcakes. Layer of chocolate cake, then strawberry, all topped with vanilla frosting. Received good marks from my "tasting committees." :) (Thanks Miller Movie Night and Steelcase)

This week's flavor was Strawberry Lemonade! Lemon cupcake, strawberry filling, strawberry/lemon swirl frosting. I have yet to hear the test-taste results on the Strawberry Lemonade, but they're hoping for a spot on the menu! (P.S. - better picture to come for these babies)

Next on the list...fundraiser. This may be a shameless plug...but it's for a good cause. Nationwide, Family Video is currently doing a fundraiser for Lymphoma research. We ask each customer if they'd like to "round it up for lymphoma." (In case you can't figure it out...round up your total bill a few cents to make it an even dollar = donation to cancer research) Most of us are or know someone who has suffered from cancer. This cause is near and dear to my manager's heart because both of his sons have struggled with the disease. My store (Lowell Family Video) will be holding a bake sale tomorrow (March 24). If you're in the area, please come! Rent movies and buy a cupcake! The profits from all our baked goods will go towards the research.

That's it for now. My next plan is to make a Disney princess cake! So be thinking which one I should bake :)

Sweet Dreams!

Let Them Eat Movies!

Oscar weekend. A chance for the stars to walk the red carpet and the rising film students to watch from their living room. I, of course, took advantage of the annual tradition to make an Oscar cake. Made it a bit of an experiment this time. My artsy sister sculpted an Oscar out of Rice Krispies, and I covered him with fondant. He was a bit bulky, lumpy, and lopsided, but we loved him regardless. 

 

Anyways, the point of today's blog is to blend the two loves of my life: movies and cake. I LOVE making themed cakes for movie nights (or TV shows). I need help with ideas though! Here are a few I've made in the past...

Star Wars: R2-D2

Lord of the Rings

 Pushing Daisies

Star Wars: Boba Fett

Now please help me! Give me your ideas! What are your favorite movies? Who's your favorite character? Someday I'll do an Ewok cake, but I want something more than Star Wars for now! What would you like to see immortalized into a cake-like form? Let me know, and maybe we can have a movie night with a character cake. Sound fun? You and me...Let's eat our favorite movies :)

Love and Babies

Ah yes. Valentine’s Day. Just another Hallmark holiday? Bah. Who cares? It’s a day dedicated to love and I am all for that. Last year was a great Valentine’s. Instead of the standard “Single’s Awareness” that a lot of people feel, my roommate and I decided to make a delicious Alfredo dinner and watch Jeopardy. Nerdy? Yes. Were we acting like 80 year olds? Oh, for sure. But we spent the evening enjoying our friendship. We even invited a random guy from our school, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

This year was a little harder. Post-grad has been rough on me, so Valentine’s Day felt a bit lonelier than normal. But that’s when it hit me. Instead of sitting on the couch feeling bad for myself, why not go out and make someone else’s day? Who cares if I don’t get flowers? I can give flowers. So I spent the morning making a golden cake covered in chocolate frosting and buttercream roses. I made some extra cupcakes and passed them out to friends. 

Have you ever taken a close look at people’s faces after you surprise them with free cake? It’s a good face. So think about that the next time February 14^th comes around. Don’t sit around complaining. Get off your lazy butt and spread some love!

Last month I posted pictures of my first wedding cake. And what comes after marriage? BABIES! Apparently baby gender revealing cakes are all the rage now, but I hadn’t heard of them until my high school friend (Carla Mack) asked for my help. Carla and her husband went to their doctor on Valentine’s Day where they received a sealed envelope with the sex of the baby. Carla brought the secret to me, and my task was to make a blue or pink cake depending on the gender. (Do you get it? Blue for boy? Pink for girl? Get it now? Gosh. There’s only so much explaining I can do. What do you want from me?) I spent my Saturday night covering the cake with baby neutral colors and decorations. SO MUCH FUN! 

I am a huge advocate for buttercream. It tastes good and actually belongs with cake. Fondant is beautiful and smooth, but the texture weirds me out. However, Carla and I wanted to make this look like a wrapped gift. Fondant was our best bet. I haven’t put fondant on a cake for at least two years now. It was so fun playing with this “edible dough” again. 

Oh…and the baby? 

IT’S A GIRL!