Ms. Minnie for a brand new 5 yr old!

This past week I had the priviledge of making a Minnie Mouse cake for a very special new 5 yr old.  This little bug has held a very dear place in my heart for 5 yrs now and when her Mommy wanted to do it big cause this was the year they visit Disney World, I jumped at the chance to help. 

Mom wanted a two tier cake that was pink and white with polka dots, minnie heads and bows.  We used a "cake-spiration"  that had all those things and I set to recreating my own!  Due to time constraignts we decided leave the Minnie head with the big bow as fake...so Buggie could keep it forever and hang on her wall.  (Mommy's a big DIYer.)

This is a completely white cake.  White cake, white icing, and marshmallow fondant in white, light pink, and black. Each layer was torted once for vanilla filling, then crumb coated for the fondant to stick.  Bottom layer is pink with polka dots for Minnie's skirt.  The second layer is white with Minnie Mouse heads with bows.  Each layer is wrapped with a ribbon and off color bow to make it pop!  (Let me just say...those bows I love!  The more realistic looking bows with loops and creases give me nightmares for days and I always hate the look of them!!)  The top layer was a foam ball cut in half colored black with foam ears and a tissue paper bow that was made by the DIY Mommy herself!  It was a bit tricky figuring out how to place on the cake, but I don't think we did too badly...

All in all I really enjoyed this one and was EXTREMELY proud of the fondant work...I actually didn't want to put the ribbon down cause I wanted to show off my FABULOUS fondant work that had no imperfections or wrinkles!!!  Mommy, Buggie, and everyone at the party loved the cake and that's all that mattered! 

Let me know if there's something I can make for you...and as always:

From my Family to Yours: Enjoy the Treats!!!

Totoro Birthday Cake

At a Christmas party for my husband's work I had the opportunity to speak with one of his co-workers about a cake he had asked me about.  His wife is a huge fan of the anime by Hayao Miyazaki "My Neighbor Totoro."  Of course, being a fan of Studio Ghibli myself I jumped at the chance to make this cake.  He had a picture he found on line of a cake he liked and I found a few more...only because I was uncomfortable with the original design.  He picked his favorite and I used that as my "cake-spiration" as I've taken to calling it.  It is copied off of another designers cake, but it has different elements as well.  Colors are varied...the cover leaves are different.  It is a Cassie's Creation although not original.

This is a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  (Three layers because I can never get a red velvet to rise correctly.)  The blue background, trees, soot sprites and hearts are completely fondant.  The leaves, Totoro, and bunny creature are fondant and gum paste mixed.  I made the creatures this way because you can seal them anyway you want and they will last for a long time.  The leaves were made this way for two reasons.  1) I thought I wanted them to be stiff.  I figured it would be easier applying them to the cake (WRONG!!)  2) I used white fondant and gum paste to stretch my green farther.  Next time I shall just be using white fondant.  I also chose to put the hearts back on the cake when I had origninally decided not to.  My main reasoning was this cake was for a wife and he loves her...as well as she loves Totoro.  I decided to go with a lighter color because I thought the original red stood out too much and the pink kinda blended well.

I had a lot of fun preparing this cake and can't wait to try my hand at another Studio Ghibli cake in future...until then...

From my Family to Yours;  Enjoy the Treats!!!

If your wondering about the cake-spiration original you can find it here.