Modern Cakes
( click any photo to enlarge it )
Made to celebrate the end-of-summer visit of AFS students. Cake includes the names of all the visiting foreign exchange students with simple drop flowers for the border and decorations.
An "oh my gosh it's his birthday" cake made at the last minute. Icing is Crisco and cocoa. Last minute decorations were flowers from the garden.
Made at the request of my son's local scout troup. Flowers are simple drop flowers. Center design consisted of three parts using the yellow and blue colors of the Boy Scouts. The outer blue was a small scallop with an even smaller one of yellow inside it. Then a number 1 tip was used to make the blue line that follows the curves of the yellow scallops. The border is a running series of "bsa" for "Boy Scouts of America". The bottom border has large white scallops with a large blue dot and then a yellow "swoosh" from a leaf tip.
Cake used a Crisco-cocoa icing with drop flowers and leaves. The last names of the people in the group were used as part of the decoration.
Full sheet cake. Tree is from chocolate icing using a number 6 tube tip. Names of family branch groups are from a number 2 tip as are the root groups from which the branches spring.
Made for the 20th anniversary of the International Childbirth Education Association with the names of past presidents on the bottom layer. Bottom layer is a sheet cake with the top cake from the half-sheet cake pan. Flowers are from various sizes of a rose tip. Large scallops form the very bottom border with medium-sized stars as the upper border of the bottom layer. The remaining borders are shells. Writing is from a number 3 tip (or possibly a number 4).
Made for the beginning of the school year where I was newly assigned. School colors were black and red. Names of staff members form the top border and are from a number 2 tip. The center emblem (for Kirk Middle School) is food paste coloring on rice (wafer) paper with a red border which holds down the edges. A black scallopy border surrounds it. White cornelli work fills in the rest of the cake. Drop flowers bring down the colors to the base of the cake which has scallops and leaves.
Made for the beginning of the school year where I was newly assigned. School colors were black and red. Names of staff members form the top border and are from a number 2 tip. The center emblem (for Kirk Middle School) is food paste coloring on rice (wafer) paper with a red border which holds down the edges. A black scallopy border surrounds it. White cornelli work fills in the rest of the cake. Drop flowers bring down the colors to the base of the cake which has scallops and leaves.
A "quickie" birthday cake for a Christmastime birthday. Flowers are pointsettias. Writing is from a number 3 tip and the circle of dots is from a number 2 tip. Bottom border has orange shells with green dots between each shell. Outlining the top of the shells is a rope of green with a "slash" of orange above that, between each shell.
Decorations are multi-colored drop flowers. Writing is from a number 3 tip. Multi-colored drop flowers form the bottom border. Swags of green icing hangs off the top border with red and yellow dots "anchoring" the top of each swag.
An attempt at figure piping using a number 6 round tip to form the body and the balloons. writing is from a number 2 and number 3 top. Balloon strings are a number 1 tip. The bottom border is formed of alternating blue, yellow and orange "dots" from the number 6 tip. Top border is a large star tip, making a zig-zag design. The top of each "peak" has a small, colored star.
Pine trees are formed from upside-down ice cream cones, covered with green icing using a leaf tip. There is a blue icing pond with small white ducks. Yellow drop flowers and green "grass" surround the pond. This design was done for several years in a row because the recipient liked the trees and ducks! Writing from a number 3 top is on the side of the cake. The bottom border is formed from large white shells with a yellow drop flower and green leaf between each shell. Yellow drop flowers accent the top border behind the pine trees.
The original hat belonged to my mother Mildred which made for an appropriate design. The cake is the center portion which has had the yellow icing scored by a knife to form the pattern of the straw hat. The yellow brim is a thick-ish layer of yellow icing, also scored to look like straw. Huge yellow and pink roses form the decoration (just as they were on the hat). The icing is from the largest rose tip and was thinned to give a "floppy" consistency. Huge dark green leaves from a large leaf tip complete the decoration. I am most proud of this cake.
Made for a meeting of the Board of Directors for the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA). A 6" round cake forms the head. The body is from an 11"x9" pan with two edges trimmed off to give the slope of the shoulders. The triangular pieces which were removed were then added to form the elbows. The bosums are formed from cupcakes (and were fought over by the male members of the Board!) with the belly was an egg-shaped cake set on top of the rectangular cake. Hair and arms are all formed from various icing tips. There is a white shell border around the whole body except for the head.
The emblem of the Presbytery is on rice (wafer) paper with the words and symbol piped on from icing. A tiny white shell border with blue dots holds down the rice paper onto the cake. The names of all the churches in the Presbytery are written on the top of the cake with a number 2 tip. A medium-sized shell border is around both the top and the bottom of the cake. A red dot between every other shell adds more visual interest.
A full sheet cake with white cornelli work filling in the top. The design is the logo of the school group and is piped from a number 3 and number 2 tip. The top and bottom borders are medium-sized shells. A rope swag hangs off the top border between each shell and outlines each shell on the base of the cake.
The bakery made and iced the cake. I did the decorations and incorporated fresh flowers as part of the design. There are clusters of sweet peas with accents of green leaves linked by icing swags.
A full sheet cake made for the local PBS station during its annual Auction. The center design is the Auction's design for that year reproduced on rice (wafer) paper and painted with colored gel. The rice paper is held down by the names (black icing, number 2 tip) of the main auctioneers. There is a large, white star border each with alternating red or black dots. Inside the border are names in red (number 2 tip) of additional station and Auction personnel. The bottom border uses a large star tip to form shells with alternating red or black dots between each shell. Filling out the top of the cake are white names (using a number 3 tip) common to the people who answered the telephones.
A full sheet cake made for the local PBS station during its annual Auction. The center design is the Auction's design for that year reproduced on rice (wafer) paper. This year the design was painted on with paste food colors. The border for the rice paper repeats the station's call letters WVIZ over and over using black icing from a number 1 or 2 tip. The border is formed from four concentric lines of names. The first letter of each first and last name is done in black with the rest of the name in red. This was done with a number 2 tip. (People vied with each other to get a piece of cake with their name on it!) The rest of the top of the cake has common first names in white icing (number2 or 3 tip). The bottom border is done with red drop flowers and green leaves with a shell pattern between the flowers.
A black and white photo taken by a photographer for WVIZ, a local PBS station. For details, see the color photo.
A full sheet cake made for the local PBS station during its annual Auction. I made cakes for the Auction for about seven years total. The center logo is that for the Auction of this year and is done on rice (wafer) paper with black icing from tips ranging from number 1 to number 6. The rice paper is attached to the cake with a black line from a number 2 or 3 tip. Red words (number 2 tip) around the central logo complete the main design. The border consists of 5 concentric rings of names of the people who worked on the Auction. The initial letter of the first and last names are in black. The rest of the name is in red from a number 2 tip. White cornelli work from a number 3 tip fills in the rest of the top. The base's border consists of red drop flowers with green leaves. There are white shells between the flowers.
Made for my son's first birthday. Decorations include three sections of drop flowers and leaves as part of the top border. A star tip fills in the border area between flower groups (not evenly divided!). Each star has a blue center from a number 2 or 3 tip. The small blue dots that complete the border are from a number 2 tip without much pressure. Matt's name is on the side of the cake in the center and swag ropes from a number 2 tip crisscross from star to star around the top side. Bottom border consists of drop flowers and leaves. The candle, representing the number 1, is from several passes with a number 2 tip.
Made for the WVIZ Auction. The two large illustrations are painted on rice paper. Writing is from a #2 tip and has the names of many of the on-air workers.
A full sheet cake with drop flowers and the names of the retirees from a #1 tip. Most of the other writing is from a #2 and 3.
Made for a local tv show about the Cleveland Museum of Art and its allocation of funds. The writing is from a #2 and 3 tip. The cake was to be cut into the sections as each area was discussed.
Designs are from icing and smoothed onto the cake. The recipient liked to play nine-man morris, hence the game board on the cake.
One of the very first cakes I ever did. It's a bit top heavy! Central figure and numbers are in royal icing. The cake shows the various methods I was learning - swags, roses, lacy lines.
Made to celebrate reaching 50 miles at the Rec Center pool. The center Red Cross design is of royal icing, the swimmer is marzipan, and the pool is thickly-applied icing.
Another doll birthday with the large doll for the celebrant and small individual cakes for the guests. The clowns were made for the boys.
Made for a local high school band member who wanted M&Ms on the cake. So, they form the border of the cake!
A rather large cake to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Pale pink roses were striped with darker red in the icing bag.
The only wedding cake I ever did. The bakery did the cake and applied the base icing. The decorations were mine and consisted of a number of swags and cascades of icing sweet peas.
A clown, witch and Santa Claus made up of thickened colored icing, moulded into shapes and ready for application on a cake.
The earlier geometric designs worked out with increasingly smaller tips form the center design. Lilies of the valley complete the top's decoration.
Made for the retirement of a NASA worker. The map indicates their progress after retirement. Flowers are large roses formed on a rose nail.
A character from the recipient's childhood, done on rice paper, covered with gel and painted with food paste colors.
The pumpkin cake started with a several layers of a round cake and was built up with icing. The stem is thickened icing and the bottom border is tiny pumpkins with a tiny green icing stem.
The "ducks in a pond" was repeated, by request, for several years. This time the pond has drop flowers and leaves. Ducks are formed of icing from different sized tubes.
Cookie Monster was done in icing to copy the invitation. The border is mostly chocolate chips with a drop flower between every four chips.
A snowman cake for a Christmas-season birthday. A dowel runs down through the ball-shaped cakes to hold them together and onto the base cake. The hat is plastic, the arms are peppermint sticks and the buttons are peppermint candies.
Various sizes of roses decorate the top of the cake with alternating pink and chocolate drop flowers. Chocolate chips around the border form a dark accent.
Made to be divided into small pieces so the icing forms the lines on which to cut, ensuring that each child will get a drop flower.
The basked in the center is formed of mounded icing in a woven pattern. Candied cherries fill its bowl. Most of the writing is from a #2 or 3 tip.
A full sheet cake. The design was the logo of the group. White cornelli work fills in the blank spots on the top. The blue top and bottom borders are accented with drop work.
She wanted a cake with lots of flowers for her high school graduation! This was one of two cakes for her party.
The second graduation cake with an admonition at the top and then just plain silliness at the bottom, filled with 10-dollar words.
A silly back-to-school cake for an adult. The decoration is the spiral text. Drop flowers are around the sides of the cake.
A Christmas-season cake with birthday wishes written in 5 languages. Green leaves and vines with red drop flowers complete the top.
A full sheet cake for my father's 80th birthday, to be shared at the weekly communal dinner in the retirement village. The illustrations, done in icing, are taken from photographs of him at various points in his life, with pertinent facts below each picture. The base of the cake also acknowledges the birthday of Elizabeth who was born just 10 minutes into the day after his birthday.
A poor picture of the cake. The center picture is a real photo of the recipient, covered and protected in plastic wrap.
Made for the beginning of the school year at Shaw High School. The cardinal is the emblem of the school and the staff's names form the border around the cake. In the center is a repeating script of "shawshawshaw..."
The cake was first covered with a layer of marzipan and the lion's head and mane were built up in sections with additional marzipan to give a three-dimensional effect. Much of the mane was made with triangular pieces of marzipan. Then the whole cake was carefully covered with rolled fondant and smoothed over the marzipan to leave the relief of the head and mane. The lion was then painted with food paste colors and finally the blue background was painted. The sides of the cake were covered with a red ribbon to add color and to hide what would be a plain expanse of cake.