Sunflower Cupcakes

chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, buttercream frosting, mini chocolate chips (or regular as shown above)

A friend and I worked on these (there were about 2 dozen) and although they are simple, we learned that the consistency of the frosting is really important.  If it is too thick, then the petals won't make a point.  To thin frosting, add between 1/2 a tsp. and a tsp. of water to a cup of frosting, and keep doing this until you get the right consistency.  By the way, we used freezer Ziploc bags to hold the frosting.  Sandwich bags aren't strong enough to handle the pressure. 

These cupcakes were decorated June 2009.

Rainbow Cookies

Sugar cookies cut in half, buttercream frosting

Techniques-star, zigzag

These are fun little cookies that are great for your rainbow-loving girl. 

These cookies were created October 2009.

Clown Cupcake

cupcake, buttercream frosting, clown head (Wilton)

Techniques Used-dot, figure piping: clown (Wilton)

Focus-figure piping a clown

This is another easy cupcake that is fun to make.  You can even change the direction of the arms or legs to give each clown more personality.  I got the heads at Michaels (set of 6), but you can probably get them at any craft store or cake decorating store.  The ruffle is part of the head piece. 

This cupcake was decorated March 2009.

Piano Cake

9"x13" vanilla cake, buttercream frosting, mini Kit Kat Bars

Techniques Used-shell border, star border, bead border

Focus-piano keys, music note border

This was a fun cake to do.  It was frustrating at first, because I had some technical difficulties, but otherwise, it went well.  What happened was that I planned on using white Kit Kat bars for the white piano keys, but I couldn't find them anywhere!!!  I went to all the stores I could think of, and no one sold them.  What's funny is that now I can find them everywhere, but at the time I was apparently looking in the wrong places (like Walmart?).  Anyway, I ended up using some of the remaining cake and frosting it white, and then making indentions with a toothpick.  I'm sort of glad I couldn't find the white Kit Kat bars, because I think the white keys look better this way.

Piano Keys Materials-cake, toothpick, mini Kit Kat bars or similar candy

Piano Keys Directions-Before you start, look at real piano keys or pictures of piano keys.  Notice that the black keys and white keys are different widths.  Also, most of the black keys aren't centered over two white keys.

Decide how many keys you want; I will use the numbers from the cake above, so it will be less confusing, so there are 14 white keys.  The next step will be to lightly imprint the "edges" of the keys.  You will take a toothpick and evenly divide the white portion into 14 keys.  I suggest that you make a small mark on the corner first for each key, and then when you've determined that all keys are the same size, then make a line on the top and front side. 

Get the Kit Kat bars and break the pairs apart.  Cut all of the Kit Kat bars about 1/4-1/3 from the end.  Choose a slightly longer size than what looks good to you, for you will stick some of the Kit Kat bar into the side of the cake.  Also, notice where the words "Kit Kat" are on each bar, and try not to have them on the bigger piece, or at least have it on the end that will go into the cake.  Place the Kit Kat bars by pressing them slightly into the side of the cake.

Music Note Border Materials-same sized star and round tip (I used tips 21 and 12), two colors of frosting, small round tip (I used tip 5)

Music Note Border Directions-Use two different colors of frosting so that the music notes stand out more.  I will use the tip numbers above, again, to make it less confusing.  The white frosting will be for tip 21, the blue frosting for tips 12 and 5.  You will do a tip 21 shell border, but use tip 12 for every third shell.  Once completed, make vertical lines (about 1 1/2" tall) with tip 5, starting from the right side of each round shell.  Then pipe the flag of the music note on each.  Note (no pun intended):  If you don't pipe the flag, that's a quarter note.  Another note (again, no pun intended): instead of using a flag, you can make two-eighth notes by omitting the flag and piping a horizontal line to connect two notes, or two horizontal lines to make sixteenth notes.  Have fun with it! 

This cake was decorated November 2009.

Flowers and Vines Cake

1/2 sheet vanilla cake, buttercream frosting

Techniques Used-star flower, vines, star border

Focus-vines

I made this cake in 2009, about six months after I started to decorate cakes, and I wanted to try making a vine design, but nothing too elaborate.  Since I didn't have anything to write on the top, this design separates the negative space into four smaller sections, making the cake seem less plain. 

This cake was decorated August 2009.

Grapevine Cake

7 1/2" oval spice cake, buttercream frosting, apple cinnamon filling

Techniques Used-grapes, vines, leaf borders

Focus-casual frosting coat, grapes, vines,

I found this idea in my Wilton Cake Course 1 book, but it's no longer available. 

I was interested in learning how to frost the cake so that it had slight waves in it.  It was harder than I thought.  I found out that I needed to put more frosting on than usual (I tend to make thin coats).  It was a good experience, and maybe I will do that again.  Here's a picture below of the cake with a wavy coat.

I learned with the vines that I had a hard time doing them free hand.  I ended up taking a toothpick and imprinting the design first.  I think I should've added more vines or grapes, but it was good practice.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of just the vines.

The grapes were easier than I thought.  I learned that at the top of the clump, try to put 2 or 3 grapes in the first row instead of 1 grape.  Then I just made each row bigger by one and then smaller more gradually towards the bottom.  Then to add some volume, I added smaller rows of grapes on top of the ones I already made.  Then three leaves are added at the top.  Grapes are time consuming, but not difficult.  Here is one grape cluster up close.

This cake was decorated April 2009.

Rose and Swirl Flower Basketweave Cake

7 1/2" oval spice cake, apple filling, and white buttercream frosting

Techniques used-basketweave, Wilton rose, swirl flower, leaves, rope border

There wasn't a focus on this cake.  I actually only made the roses and flowers of this cake, but I still wanted to post this cake because it's something I can do, and I like the flower arrangement. 

This cake was decorated April 2009.

Garden Party Cake

8" White Cake, buttercream frosting

Techniques Used-swirl star flowers, leaves

Focus-swirl star flowers

This cake idea was in my Wilton Cake Course 1 book, but I don't think it's in print anymore.  When taking the cake class, I found that I really liked doing these flowers.  That's why I decided to try this cake out.  The difficulty with this cake was arranging the flowers, because they were delicate.  I should mention that I made all the flowers first on wax paper a couple days ahead of time.  Anyway, I'm happy with how the cake turned out.

This cake was decorated March 2009.

Roses, Flowers, and Dots Cake

8" round vanilla cake, buttercream frosting, blackberry filling

Techniques Used-Wilton rose, swirl star flower, dots, leaves, shell border

Focus-brush striping

I've always loved the two-tone flowers.  I thought blue would be such a neat color, because it's a color rarely seen in nature, and I wanted a lot of contrast with the white.  Also, I wanted to use a color that tasted good, so red and purple were out of the question.  By the way, there is a shell border underneath the swirl star flowers and leaves, so that they would have something to attach onto.  One more thing, the leftover frosting I had from the roses, I used on the cake, because I made the roses a couple of days ahead, so I mixed the remaining frosting with other white frosting to make this blue color, so there was very little frosting wasted. 

Brush Striping Materials-small brush (used only for food), food gel, frosting, disposable bag, tip

Brush Striping Directions-I'm not really going to go into directions, because I think Wilton does a good enough job and they have pictures of what they're doing.  You can probably find a video on the Internet as well.  However, I will give you some of my tips:

-Use more food gel than you think you need. 

-for roses, make sure the second color is aiming for the pointed part of the tip.

-Do practice roses without the second color.  Once you feel comfortable with making roses, then add the second color.

This cake was decorated May 2009.

Strawberry Basketweave Cake

8" round vanilla cake, buttercream frosting, strawberries

Techniques Used-basketweave, rope border

I've wanted to make this cake for a long time.  I like how it looks like you have a full basket of fruit!  The nice thing about doing a basketweave border is that you don't have to worry about smoothing the cake.  The basketweave is such a nice design too.  You can change tips, use different colors, have different borders, etc.  Really, you can make the basketweave design as simple or complex as you want. 

This cake was decorated August 2009.

Sweet Peas and Star Flowers Cake

First Tier-10" vanilla round cake, buttercream frosting

Second Tier-8" chocolate round cake, buttercream frosting

Techniques Used-sweet pea flowers, star flowers, leaves, vines,

Focus-two tier cake

I knew that with a tiered cake, each tier can't just be place on top of each other without any support, but I wanted some practice with this.  Honestly, the design on the cake wasn't at all what I envisioned, even though I think it still looks nice. 

Tier Cake Materials-4-8 supports per tier (wooden dowels, tapioca/milkshake straws, Wilton supports, etc.)

Tier Cake Directions-Make sure each tier has a plate, foil-wrapped cardboard, or something similar underneath it. 

Take your supports and set them next to the bottom tier for your measurement.  Cut to the length you need, then stick them into the bottom tier.  I only used 4, but if you are starting out with bigger tiers, you may want more support. 

Another note, if you are wanting to make a "topsy turvy" cake, I would recommend watching the Cake Boss episode called "Freaks, Fast Food, & Frightened Frankie" from Season 2.  It shows how to stack the tiers about 9 minutes into the show. 

This cake was decorated September 2009.

Roses, Rosebuds, and Rosettes Cake

8" vanilla round cake, buttercream frosting, apricot filling

Techniques Used-Wilton rose, rosebuds, leaves, rosettes, rope border

Focus-rosebuds, rosettes

I found this design in an older version of Wilton's cake decorating course books, and liked how simple and elegant it looked.  I chose orange for the cake because I hadn't used that color before, nor had I tried mixing colors since starting to decorate cakes.  I think it turned out to be a nice shade of orange, not too bright and not too dull.  The trick is to start out with more yellow dye than red (one horse to one rabbit), and then add a tiny amount of red, if needed. 

I won't go into how to make rosebuds and rosettes because I didn't take pictures of the process, and I think it would be more helpful to have pictures than my description alone.  I know Wilton cake decorating books show how to do these, and I would assume that other cake decorating books would as well.

This cake was decorated October 2009.

Majestic Roses Cake

9" chocolate round cake, buttercream and chocolate buttercream frosting

Techniques Used-Wilton rose, leaves, shell border

I got this cake design from my Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 book, but unfortunately, I believe it is out of print.  The original design was exactly like this except for one thing-everything was white.  I decided to go with chocolate on white because I thought this same design would look good with the contrast.

This cake was decorated March 2009.