Cake Tour, Part 2

{Reposted... appeared originally on my regular blog in 2008}

Zoe and Lucy's first birthday, 2005. I insist on making separate cakes for them every time, starting with their first! These are smaller than they probably appear; the bottom rounds are 6" and the top rounds are 5".

This one was really fun; Molly's 3rd birthday and my first attempt at rolled fondant. I think it's so pretty. The only problem was that inside was white cake with layers of strawberry cream -- too delicate to support the weight of the fondant and it gradually sank down a little and the sides got wrinkly as the day went on. Although I'm probably the only one who noticed.

Noah's 5th birthday - what a great cake! I got this idea from the Wilton cake catalog and it was super fun to make. The base was a 10" round. The blue tower inside the buildings was built up from a few 5" rounds, I think. The buildings were done ahead of time with royal icing on waxed paper and I had to do a ton more than that since many of them broke. Supported with long sucker sticks, as you can see to the upper right. The only thing non-edible are the micromachines, some of which were my brothers when he was little, and then my mom got a few more from Ebay for me (which were sterilized before they touched the cake, of course). A very memorable cake.

Not a child's birthday but I made this one for my friend Dana when she turned 30 (obviously). I just thought it looked so pretty. The icing is nice shiny chocolate ganache and the inside is the richest chocolate mousse cake you've ever had. We went to eat at Outback Steakhouse with them and brought this cake with us; the waitress was so confused.

Bonus - I just found this other cake I made in 2005 for my cousin's daughter's birthday. I don't remember how I ended up with that job but you don't have to twist my arm too hard to get me to make a cake! Fondant again, but a much bigger cake and it was so hard to get the sides smooth so I ended up with cracks all over the sides. I covered them up with tons of fondant flowers and it looked like I'd planned it that way!

Stay tuned for Part 3 - four cakes from 2006!