To round out Clara's birthday MONTH, she requested a pink dog cake to have at her friend party. We searched around on Google for a while and settled on a basic design using two round cakes:
Of course it had to have a crown.
We named her Pinky. And she was full of chocolately cake and minty fudge goodness.
Thank goodness my client approved!
I was asked to create a design based on the vintage fighting game Rock'em Sockem Robots. The cake was for cousins, both turning one. Not wanting to spend hours creating fondant robots (and passing that on in an indecent price), I decided to do the design in royal icing.
There were two more robots on the back...
And room on the top for two "dueling" candles:
Even the inside of the cake was "dueling" with alternating layer of chocolate and vanilla cake. But I never get pictures of the insides. :(
Overall I was really happy with this cake, especially after dreading the detail on the robots. I hope it knocked their socks off too!
Roundhouse Cakes has been busy. We're barely into the new year and I've already breezed through over 21 pounds of powdered sugar. For those who are new to the site, or have found me on Google, when I say "we... at Roundhouse Cakes" I mean ME. It's a one woman operation here, from start to finish.
I've been working hard at updating my Facebook page as well as the galleries on my business site. But for now, here's a quick digest of what Roundhouse Cakes has kicked out lately:
Dr. Seuss cookies:
With custom toppers (for a baby shower):
More Lego cakes:
Pink Yoshi Cupcakes:
A Superhero Cake:
Pink Dog Cookies:
More football cakes:
(the football is made of red velvet)
A rainbow balloon cake (for my daughter):
And last but not least, a Bird Cage Cake, in celebration of my kid's great grandmother's 100th birthday:
The top tier was chocolate with chocolate fudge filling, the middle tier was carrot cake with vanilla buttercream, and the bottom tier was butter pecan with caramel buttercream fillling.
I opted for the nostalgia this year:
I found myself unable to committ to a border style:
But I thought these Santas were pretty darn cute.
I really couldn't committ to a background on these babies...
Thinking that the bottom middle is my favorite.
I also made a giant batch of "peppermint candy" cookies as seen here:
... but Santa ate all those!
Hope everyone out there in the cookie/cake world had a great Christmas!
Last week was pretty much the end of our beautiful fall colors here in Virginia. Thankfully I got to extend it a litle bit by making some of my own!
This cake order was gluten-free and was my very first. I have to say that the little tester piece I cooked wasn't half bad. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised.
Hoping that everyone got to enjoy some fall colors this year. They're the months I live for!
Every year the Historic Association here in our town holds a gingerbread contest. I've always wanted to enter but have never had the time. This year I ALSO didn't have the time, but at some point in the past few months I lost my mind - giving me the gumption to enter.
I had many visions for this house. I originally wanted to recreate the house from the movie UP. But after some google searches I saw that it'd already been done. I hate when people copy me retroactively. Next I thought about doing something with a Woodland/Fairy theme. I pictured a rustic house nestled into a tree stump with lots of fairy dust, magic mushrooms, and flowers. Yes!
First problem was obtaining a tree stump. Yes, my house is nestled up to a large woodland area, but I'm not about to cut down any of MY trees. So I looked up a tree cutting service, called, and kindly asked if they had any stumps to spare. To my surprise, they called back a week later, having saved two perfect stumps for me. Yes! My husband was the lucky one who got this call:
"Honey... on your way home can you go to Hilton off of the freeway, drive behind on the access road, find a large green truck, and pick up two stumps that are sitting next to it?" He didn't even ask why. He stopped enquiring about such things long ago. He did however arrive home with my stumps!
Looking at the final product and the sketch of my original "vision", I can see that I was perhaps a little too lofty in what I envisioned. The house isn't part of the tree, it sits on top. The woodland look was a little less so because there wasn't a ton of room, plus I wanted it to have a fresh snow look. There are only two fairies, simply because I hate modeling faces and bodies.
I can't even remember how many pounds of gingerbread I made... but it was like a factory in my kitchen. I'd erected a plastic model of my house, so it was easy to use those guides and bake it all up. The windows are simply melted butterscotch candies. Everything is edible (no glue allowed!!) except the lights inside the house.
Ready to see it?
There is a lot of piping and detail. I kept going back and forth from "too much?!" and "MORE!"
The back:
Sides:
(Inside that little extension above is a battery pack connected to lights inside the house.)
After I had finished the roof, I was surpised to see that I'd used an entire box of Golden Grahams. I may have eaten just a few. Some. A lot. Oh how I was delighted to rediscover Golden Grahams!
A sitting area:
The front porch:
My little fairy lady is wondering if this fresh snow will freeze her beautiful flowers! Her name is Lily Grace, by the way. Oh yes, when you work this long on something you begin to make up all sorts of stories.
The house at night:
And this folks, is my first real gingerbread house. If you want to find out how you can see it in "real life" and even vote for it!... like my Roundhouse Cakes Facebook page (at the top right) where you'll find all the details.
A two tiered, Gotham-esque cake with legos galore!
The Joker:
Batman:
Gotham City:
The top tier was red velvet with vanilla buttercream and the bottom tier was chocolate cake with fudge and chocolate ganache. Yum!
My neighbor has a gorgeous Swiss Mountain Dog named Lola. She's an elderly dog, but still full of vim and vigor. She has a commanding presence and deep bark, but is such a gentle giant. Plus she needs help getting her haunches off the ground!
We've grown to love her SO much.
So when my lovely neighbor had a surprise birthday party last weekend, I could think of nothing better than to cookify her Lola.
Thanks to Them
by Roger W Hancock
Thanks to them who as young men,
Left family, loves, and friends.
Normal carefree lives now stay.
To learn a warrior’s way.
Thanks to them who’s lives begin,
Childhood cut short, adults become.
Responsibility in them begin,
For service to their fellow man
Thanks to them, our young ladies,
Who served as much as well.
All capacities to serve,
Honor earned, our honor owed
Thank you for your service boy,
Now in pride I call you man.
Discipline for your deploy,
To follow orders others plan.
Thanks to them on battlefield,
Youth long passed just yesterday.
Growing up in a moments time,
Strength of man inside revealed.
Thanks to them our armed forces,
Who enable peace at home.
Thanks to them that gave up youth,
To serve for those back home.
Thanks to them who gave their lives,
May God . . . grant long liberty.
Thanks to them with wounded lives,
May God, grant strength to live.
Thanks to them, now Veterans,
Honor we give, yet owe much more.
Honored segment of society,
Our duty to thank your duty served.
Thanks to them can never pay,
Sacrifice of life and limbs.
Nothing ever we can say,
cannot, their sacrifice, repay.
Thanks to them, our servicemen,
Backbone of America’s might.
Thanks to them, continued strength,
Thanks to them, yet owe much more.
Tis the season for football mania in this household. And elsewhere too as I've done a few football related orders lately.
The Falcons this time, but for a local kid's league.
Last years cake:
Which one do you like better? The one that gave me carpal tunnel from grass piping or the one that had me swearing as I attempted to smooth fondant corners? (Corners are the worst!)
Cookie for another team in the same league:
The fact that I have yet to make Steelers cookies or cakes is a bit of an issue around here.
