Thank You!

Texas Cake-Lovers Rock!
(Texas cake, Fall 2003; photo has been swiped by others and has appeared on other sites!)

THANK YOU, Sweetest Whimsy customers & fans, for helping to make the Texas Baker's Bill (Cottage Food Bill) a LAW in the state of Texas! I appreciate each and every one of you who took time to call or email your state representatives and Senators as well as the Lt. Governor and Governor these past few weeks in support of our law. What a difference this will make in the lives of many Texans!

Thank you too for putting up with my daily (or hourly) tweets, Facebook posts and email pleas for your help! The Governor's office reported having quite a bit of interest and calls regarding this bill, so thanks all you cake-loving folks out there.

What does this mean for Sweetest Whimsy? I can now run ads and promote my business in this state. I will continue to teach others about my passion for decorating cakes and other sugar art techniques. I will continue to do what I love to do, which is creating custom cakes for my family, friends and friends of friends and their friends!

Fall, Winter, Spring: Cake's the Thing! Part 1

So what has Sweetest Whimsy been up to since Summer 2010? Quite a bit, actually! (But obviously not blogging!) I present to you the cakes from Summer & Fall 2010 and Winter & Spring 2011:

Retro Baby Shower Cake, September 2011

This was an almost exact replica of a cake made in 1974 for the baby's father's shower!
Summer 1974

Molded Bunny Chocolates & Cupcakes, September 2011
(Disclaimer: Yes, those are Easter chocolate molds. Did you know it's very difficult to find anything with bunnies when it's not Spring or Easter?!)

Sweet Bunny Cake (modeled after the Birthday Girl's brand new pet bunny!)

Elmo Eats Cake!

Vintage Elmo cake pan and balloon topper used for an adorable 3-year old boy's cake. "Old school" cake that I never get tired of making!

3D Monkey Cake for 1st Birthday Boy! October 2010

Monkey Closeup

Rite of passage for a 1 year old: Monkey Smash Cake!

Fondant & Buttercream


Before we knew it, Halloween was upon us!

Happy Halloween-Birthday, Witchy Diva!

Witchy Diva Closeup

Candy Corn Cupcakes


Spooky-yet-Sweet Spiders!

Bunco Babes 3D Cake: Fondant & Buttercream


Bunco Dice Closeup

Curiouser & Curiouser . . . Alice in Wonderland Teapot Cake!

Alice & Friends in fondant on buttercream

"We're Late, We're Late!"


Lego My R2D2! Fondant & Buttercream



Hand formed little Legos: Fondant

Ahoy. . . A Pirate's Life for Me!




Stay tuned for Part 2 of Fall, Winter & Spring cakes!

The Texas Baker's Bill: Come & Bake It!

Currently, it is illegal to sell food products out of your own residential kitchen in the state of Texas. A group of dedicated Texans is trying to change that. Last week, HB 2084 "The Texas Cottage Food Law", sponsored by by Representative Lois Kolkhorst, cleared the House committee on Public Health and is moving forward to be voted on by the Texas House. This is big news!

This would be a great boon for home-based entrepreneurs who don't have nor want a store-front bakery or business but have a great product to share with the world. The Bill includes cookies, cakes, breads, Danish, donuts, pastries, pies, and other items that are prepared by baking the item in an oven; also includes canned jam or jelly,
or a dried herb or herb mix. HB 2084 is also known as 'The Texas Baker's Bill' and you can see updates daily on their Facebook page. (Please Like!) If you have time, please let your Texas state representatives know you support this Bill.

Let's pass a law that affords honest, hardworking Texans the opportunity to operate a safe, legal, home baking business!

Image from Texas Cottage Food Law Headquarters website

My Christmas Wish

In an effort to go "green," but mostly because I'm running out of time, I've decided not to send holiday cards by mail this year. So please enjoy this heartfelt "digital" Christmas wish from me to you!

Love & Cupcakes,
Melissa

Please click on the digital card to enlarge!

A Whale of a Tail

The original design for this cake was for Sea World's star, Shamu, to be emerging from the water with his nose and tail up. Due to the client's budget constraints (we are in a recession, after all) the cake was scaled down to just Shamu by himself.

I'd never done a whale cake before, and the birthday boy specifically wanted a Shamu cake, so I did some research ahead of time. Even so, after sculpting the cake a bit, I ended up with a Moby Dick sort of whale, instead of the killer whale that Shamu is. After some further sculpting, my whale had morphed into a respectable Shamu!

Started out looking more like this . . .


But ended up looking like this:

Shamu the killer whale carved out of cake and rice krispy treats and covered in buttercream. Finished with an M&M eye!

I think the original design would have been really cool to work on, but I always have to take my clients' budget and needs into consideration, first and foremost. This was a fun cake to work on in any case!

Moby Dick cover image from Amazon.com

Pink Ladies

I love pink cakes! October is definitely the month for pink too! Here are some cuties I've worked on recently:

Poodle Skirt Girl for a 1950s Sock Hop birthday party!
Fondant and buttercream icing, doll courtesy of birthday girl.

Who's the cutest mouse in the house?!



Minnie Mouse cake in fondant and buttercream icing for a sweet little two year old's birthday.

Think Pink!

Wilton's Icing Fun Workshop for Scouts

Easy for the Leader, Fun for the Scouts!

Kids love to help in the kitchen. And now, Girl Scouts can learn how to decorate like the pros with Wilton's new cake decorating program designed especially for them: Wilton Icing Fun! Perfect for all levels of Girl Scouts -- from Daisies to Ambassadors-- Wilton Icing Fun is a totally hands-on Workshop that walks the girls through each decorating step, demonstrates basic techniques, and assists while they practice on their own cupcakes or cookies.
As a Wilton Method-trained instructor, I provide:

• A fun and relaxed Workshop at the Troop meeting site.
• Decorating practice sheets for the Troop.
• Exclusive Girl Scout Wilton Icing Fun patch for each girl.
• Sampler Kit containing basic decorating tools for each girl.
• Wilton Decorator Icing for each girl.

$15 per person

Add-Ons (at additional cost):

• Cookies or Cupcakes
• Girl Scout Wilton Icing Fun Certificate

I've taught cake decorating for over a decade and I'm so excited about offering this new class for Girl Scouts! I've been a Girl Scout Leader, on and off, since 2000.

The Icing Fun Workshop may be used to fulfill Scout Petal, Try-It, Badge or IP requirements. To schedule a Workshop, contact Sweetest Whimsy online or by phone.

Wilton's Icing Fun Workshop is a fun, creative and educational activity for your Girl Scout Troop!

Images from Wilton.com

Foodielicious: Marinated Cheese

Hellooooooo, out there! Yes, it's me again. After over 4 WEEKS of nothingness. Sorry! Now it's summer vacation (although not a vacation for me who will be schlepping kids hither and yon to camps and everywhere else!) so maybe I'll have time to blog again!

The "structure" I felt that my blogs craved at the beginning of the year has crumbled rather inelegantly over the past weeks. With the exception of my downtime during my surgery recovery a few months ago, I've been just too busy to stick to a schedule. Again, sorry. So I'll do my best to post a little bit of this and that, but maybe not quite on schedule from now on.

Today I give you a yummy appetizer recipe, with my apologies for being away for so long.

This recipe comes from my friend Casey's friend Kathryn in Austin. It's easy-peasy and soooo addictive.

MARINATED CHEESE

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 oz jar diced pimentos
3 Tbsp. parsley
3 Tbsp. minced green onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese block
8 oz package cream cheese

Kathryn's note: I used fresh parsley and dried basil.

Slice cheeses into thin, 1" by 1" squares. It helps to put the cream cheese in the freezer for a while before slicing. Alternate slices of cheddar and cream cheese in long, narrow container. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over cheese. Cover and marinade in the frig for about 8 hours. Rotate container every so often to be sure all the cheese soaks in the marinade. Serve with crackers. Make it 24 hours ahead and you want to marinate in a container that is just big enough for the cheese so that the marinade almost covers it.

Foodielicious: Chocolate Chip Cookie Marble Bark

Marble Bark using Chips Ahoy! I use whatever I like!
Pic from KraftRecipes.com

As many of you know, I am always searching for ways to use up boxes of cookies! As a Girl Scout leader, my pantry is filled year-round with Girl Scout cookies. In addition, we have other cookies we like as well, some we buy and some I bake. Sometimes, you just get tired of eating cookies! So I like to mix things up a bit and use the cookies in other recipes. Here is one I found when searching for a way to use up some chocolate chip cookies. It's very, very easy, which I what I like most about it! The original recipe calls for Chips Ahoy! brand cookies, but as we never have those around (and likely never will), I substitute with whatever I have on hand.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Marble Bark

1 pkg. (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped
1 pkg. (6 squares) BAKER'S White Chocolate, chopped
9 Chocolate Chip Cookies (original recipe calls for White Fudge Chunky CHIPS AHOY! Real Chocolate & White Fudge Chunk Cookies), coarsely broken
1/4 cup Slivered Almonds, toasted

1.Microwave semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate in separate medium microwaveable bowls as directed on package.
2. Add half of the cookie pieces to chocolate in each bowl; mix well.
3. Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate mixtures onto wax paper-covered baking sheet, alternating the colors of the chocolates. Cut through the chocolate mixtures several times with knife for marble effect.
4. Sprinkle evenly with almonds; press lightly into chocolate.
5. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm. Break into 14 pieces. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

My notes: This recipe is so simple you can use pretty much any crumbly cookie you have on hand! Someone else noted they used Oreos. Yum.

FoodieLicious: Fizzy Cranberry-Lemonade Punch

This recipe brings back lots of memories. I first learned how to make it in college, I think my junior year, which would have been 1991 or 1992? I was at an Asian Beauty seminar, believe it or not, and the woman hosting the event started mixing up this yummy and incredibly easy punch for everyone. I was in no way interested in cooking back then, but I did like this punch and it was easy enough to remember through the years whenever I needed a punch recipe. I have made it countless times. Even kids love it.

This version of the recipe is from Good Housekeeping and I wrote it down finally because it was similar to the one the Shiseido lady made for us 18 years ago.

Fizzy Cranberry-Lemonade Punch

Servings: about 9 cups or 12 servings

4 cups cranberry-juice cocktail
1 container (6 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 bottle (1 liter) seltzer or club soda, chilled
1 small orange, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices, then each slice cut in half

In large pitcher, stir together cranberry-juice cocktail and undiluted lemonade concentrate until blended. Then, stir in seltzer, and ice cubes if you like. Garnish with orange pieces. Serve immediately.

Note: You can blend this ahead and keep it chilled, but don't add the cold seltzer and ice cubes until just before serving.

My Notes: I have also garnished it with frozen cranberries at holiday time.

52 Cakes: Dr. Pepper Cake

Hmmm . . . how busy was I in March and April?! Apparently too busy to blog! My poor blogs, so neglected, yet I think of them often enough. You have no idea how many brilliant posts I've written in my head these past few weeks! Oh, if only wishing made it so.

I'm back for now, with apologies aplenty and hopefully enough interesting content for those of you who missed it!

The cake of the week is one I made for the first time a few weeks ago; I can honestly say I've never made one quite like it before! It calls for a can of Dublin Dr. Pepper. That's the Dr. Pepper bottled in Dublin, Texas, the "oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant in the world." They use the original Dr. Pepper formula that calls for pure cane sugar, kind of like the Mexican Coke. I didn't have any cans, but I had 2 bottles of Dublin Dr. Pepper which I used for this recipe. However, the recipe states that you can also use Dr. Pepper from your grocery store or even Diet Dr. Pepper.

This recipe, quirky as it is, turned out possibly the moistest chocolate cake I've had in a while. However, it did not have a distinctive Dr. Pepper taste to me. But it was still quite good.

Dublin Dr. Pepper bottles at DublinDrPepper.com

Dublin Dr. Pepper Cake

Ingredients:
1 pkg. German Chocolate cake mix
2/3 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1 pkg. Vanilla instant pudding mix
1 can "Dublin Dr. Pepper"

Directions:
Mix all ingredients well and pour into a greased
9x13-inch pan or jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees
for 30 minutes. Let cake cool.

By Belinda Starnes of Dublin, Texas on CakeClubRecipes.com

Through the Eyes of a Child

Sometimes I am asked to create a cake designed by a child. The request might be verbal, relayed over the phone by a bemused parent. Or it can be sent in writing, with accompanying sketches. Either way, the request is often very specific in terms of details the child would like on the cake.

More than anything, I aim to please! I take kids' requests even more seriously than adults' because while an adult will generally be pleased with something that's in the ballpark of what they asked for, a child will not hesitate to point out when something looks not quite like they imagined it. Like when Winnie the Pooh's fur isn't quite the shade of Pooh-tan that he is in the books, films, toys, etc. for example. Bless the children--they can't lie.

So a few weeks ago, I received this sketch for an ice skating-themed cake from an about-to-be 7 year old birthday girl:


She was, not surprisingly, very specific in her directions! I love that she even added "Hole body in 3D." (Are these kiddos watching a bit too much Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss?!)

When I saw her at school during the week, the birthday girl reiterated that she really wanted the cake girl to wear a twirly white skirt and skate in an arabesque position ("I want her leg to stick out like this."). No problem.

This is the cake she and her Mom picked up this past weekend for her ice skating party:




My goal was to really capture the simplicity of her stick-figure drawing, but make it a little more than 2-dimensional. Sadly, a 3D cake wasn't in the cards for her this time as her design was mostly flat and rectangular. I toyed with adding some snowflakes, for an outdoor scene, but in the end ran out of space. The cake was chocolate and vanilla, half and half, and the decorations were gumpaste and fondant plus a skating rink of white decorating sugar crystals.

Her Mom reports that the birthday girl enjoyed her two-flavor custom-designed cake, so I'm breathing a sigh of relief that it was a success!