Mr. & Mrs. Eli Ballard!

Another Ballard got hitched! Ernie's brother, Eli, and his wife, Kassi, married in Grand Isle last weekend and we were happy to be a part of their big day. When they asked me to make their cake, I was honored but also a bit nervous about making a wedding cake on the island because of the heat/humidity and because I'd only have 1 day to do it...yikes! So, I packed up my kitchen(KitchenAid and all) and unloaded at my mom's house. I kicked my parents out of the kitchen and got straight to work after the rehearsal dinner Thursday night. I baked until midnight and got all but one layer finished. Then I woke up early Friday morning and baked the last layer of the bottom tier, then started mixing the icing, all while leveling, filling, & stacking simultaneously. I think I had the entire thing iced and ready to be decorated by 10AM and finished decorating by noon. I finished in record time and still had a chance to visit with family and relax a little before the bridal shower that evening! So here is the finished product...tada!

I was pleased that it came out level and how well the pattern & transfer came out. I was, however, a bit disappointed that I scraped a little too much icing off the middle tier when smoothing it out and you can see the cake peeking through. :( Also, in our communication about which green to get for the trim, I may have a leaned a little close to "emerald" rather than "clover". Oops. But I do learn something new with every cake that I make and this one was no exception. I previously had trouble adding ribbon to cakes because the icing would always bleed through. However, on this one, I placed strips of wax paper behind the ribbon with double stick tape and it worked out great! Overall, I was pleased knowing that I did the best that I could in the time that I had and the bride and groom seemed happy. That works for me! :)

Congrats, Mr. & Mrs. Eli Ballard! Thanks for letting me be a part of your day!

Happy Birthday, Ernie!

Ernie turns the big 3-2 tomorrow! (4/5) In honor of his big day, I thought I'd share a pic of last year's birthday cake. No, I didn't make this one. But I did pay $40 for this cake at Cold Stone, which in my opinion is just as bad. In my defense, I had just given birth to Fisher and life was kinda crazy. But I'm glad I have this because it reminds me of why I decided to make cakes in the first place. I'm not a real big fan of surprises. Anyhoo, Happy Birthday Ernie! I love love you. :)

Fisher is One!

My baby boy, Fisher, turned 1 last week and we celebrated with a Little Red Wagon-themed party. He was a little under the weather, so the party had to be downsized; but he still had a great time! Here he is enjoying some of his cake:


Nice & neat at first...

This stuff is awesome! More, please!!!


Mommy's gonna be scrubbing this high chair for days! hehe


For the cake this year, I decided to keep it simple. I wanted to do a red sheet cake and make it a wagon by adding Oreo Cakester wheels (sidenote - if you're wondering what a "Cakester" is, you're missing out on one of the greatest things in life since...well, the Oreo. Check 'em out. Seriously. Stop reading, go to the store, get some, eat some, then tell me they're not one of the best cookies you've ever eaten.) I digress...and an Oreo Funstix for the handle (these are not near as good, but they did serve as a good handle with the help of a skewer). I had also purchased a bottle of this stuff in red:


...thinking I could take a shortcut & avoid having to make the dreaded red icing that I dispise cause 1) I hate the flavor or red icing. It's just too bitter for my taste. & 2) It never seems as bold or as brilliant as some of the other icing colors. & 3) It's a pain to make. I never used this "color mist" before, so I thought I'd try it on a cupcake before I ruined an entire cake with this stuff. Boy, am I glad I did. Warning! - this stuff tastes like chemicals and it runs and smears just like spray paint. Boo Wilton. I had high expectations and this stuff was a major disappointment. Plus, the "red" looked more like maroon. So, I caved and made my own red and at first glance it looked too pink, but once it dried overnight; I think it was much closer to the red I was going for. Here's a look at the cake table:


Here's the cake, plain & simple. I wrote "Happy Birthday Fisher" in white with tip #7, then outlined in blue with tip #2. The "1" was inspired by the "1" on his shirt, only the circles were 2 shades of white on the shirt and I wanted them to stand out more on the cake, so I chose blue.

I also added a little licence plate on the backside that says "FISHER1".


This was my first time using the grass tip #233. It was pretty easy to use. I'm sure you'll be seeing more grass on my cakes in the near future. ;)

We also had cupcakes. This little wagon was supposed to be my cake topper until it came in and I realized how small it was!

And more cupcakes. Bonus points to anyone who can identify what they're supposed to be? A few people that I asked didn't "get" them. :( The winner will receive a free bottle of red Wilton Color Mist icing spray! ;)

A Ballard Birthday

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little obsessed with birthdays, and I make no apologies. Birthdays come but once a year and when you've got kids, you're limited to approx. 18 parties give or take a few milestones beyond that. Then you have to subtract 8 to 10 from that number, cause once they hit a certain age they will likely want to plan their own. So, while I have the chance, I fully intend to go a little crazy on birthdays.

Believe it or not Fisher is turning 1 next week and in the spirit of birthdays, I thought I'd share with you the makings of a Ballard boy's birthday cake. :) It's something I pour my heart into every year and it tends to be somewhat of a production. I have vowed to make my boys' a homemade cake each year for life or at least until they make me stop because they're "too old for a cake". waa waa. With that said, I imagine my kitchen will look something like this a week from now:

My trusty KitchenAid. Best wedding gift ever! My apologies to anyone else who may have purchased a wedding gift for us. ;)

This is actually Trace's 1st Birthday Cake from 2.5 years ago, though it seems like only yesterday. *sniff, sniff *wipe tears. He had a Baby Einstein caterpillar cake, which consisted of 5 - 6 in. rounds, each 3 layers tall. That means I had to make 15 of those suckers, plus the cupcake feet and antennas.

And here's the finished product...Ta Da!

And here's Trace on his 1st Birthday! (I swear it's not Fisher) The funny thing is, after all that work, he barely touched his cake. All he wanted was ice cream. I later discovered that he only likes "brown" cake, aka chocolate. That's my boy! ;)

Cane's Logo - 2nd Attempt

Here's my second attempt at the Cane's logo. If you squint it looks like the real one. ;) And the paw prints make their return yet again! I got a little sloppy on the top border, but overall I think this cake looks much cleaner than the last.

My First Logo

When I started making cakes in 2005, I was working at Raising Cane's. So, when the teacher taught us transfers, I knew the first thing I wanted to try was our logo. And when I found out one of the managers was being promoted the following day, I thought I'd surprise him with a cake! And here it is.

Little did I know the task I was undertaking, because #1 the Cane's logo is NOT what I'd suggest starting with as a beginner because there are too many layers to it and #2, I had no idea how difficult making a bold red would be. I must have added an entire bottle of "red red" and "no taste red" and all I kept coming up with was pink. So, I called my teacher in the middle of the night (she had previously said it was okay) and she explained that in order to get a true red, you first have to dye your icing pink to take out the white and then go to red. Well, now you tell me. :( So all I remember about this cake was tossing the entire first batch of icing, starting from scratch and not really caring about what the end result looked like, cause it was 2AM and I just wanted to get it DONE. I think that's why the layout of this cake is kind of all over the place. Oh well, you live and you learn. ;)

Oh, and a special thank you to Angel Vernon for surprising me with a brand new cake carrier! You are too thoughtful! :)

Jake's Cake

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share this sweet little cake. It was made for a great friend, Jake Rush, whose birthday just happens to be right after Vday. And those of you who know Jake know how much he secretly loves hearts and that pink and purple are his favs! So this cake was just perfect for him. ;)

So this cake was a single-layer, heart-shaped chocolate cake which you can kinda see peeking through the icing. Oops. I do see some improvement on the border, but I think the tip I used was too small. Oh well. I like that this one has more color to it and is not just plain white. I also love the shape, since this was my first attempt outside of a 9 in. round.

Side note - has anybody seen this cake carrier? I believe I made a cake for someone awhile back and forgot who I gave it to. It has yet to make it's way back home. :(

Happy Valentine's Day!