Relaxing in Texas

Here I am in Longview, TX chillin' like a villin! Not that I didn't come here for a birthday party or anything. O.K. so I did come for my niece Ashley. She turned four and yes, I designed and made her cake. I am the only baker to make her cakes since she was born. She is absolutely precious, beautiful and very funny. Love her so much. I even got to hold her and play with her. Generally she doesn't like being approached by people who she doesn't see every day-we scare her.







Ashley is learning to sign. She doesn't really talk. So, I was shocked the other day when my sister Trish brought her into the living room and she, Ashley, yells HI! With the greatest conviction. We all happily returned a big HI right back at her.

Back to the "cake of it all". Ashley's 4th party was a Hawaiian theme. My brother-in-law built a Tiki Hut Bar for fruit smoothies. We had kabobs, shrimp-chicken-beef, they were rather tasty. Also on the menu were trays and trays of fruits, from pineapple to mixed berries and grapes. Since it was a luau we had to have a tier of pineapple. The flavors of the cake were vanilla, pineapple, strawberry and chocolate with butter cream. The pink stripes are Fondx fondant and the flowers are gum paste with luster dust.



However, before I could even consider packing and driving to Texas, I did have a couple of special orders due out on the weekend. The first order was for a Baptism, vanilla with a strawberry cloud filling. The strawberry cloud filling can be found in The Cake Bible. There are some great recipes in there if you are ever looking for something different or traditional. A really great resource. The cake is covered with Fondx fondant and a royal icing cross painted with the air brush pearl. The monogram is also Fondx. I received a note today from the mother, Jennifer and a message from the father, James. It was a success.

The other order was a Monkey theme. There are 5 dozen cup cakes with 2 smash cakes. The smash cake with the monkey was for the party and the other was for pictures for Tuesday, tomorrow. I built the 5 tier cup cake/cake stand.