Cakes By Casey

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-27T09:47:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Martine!

2011-12-27T09:34:00.001-05:00

Wedding Bells are Ringing!

2011-12-27T09:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Samiyah!

2011-12-27T09:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Heidi and Rebekah!

2011-04-06T14:23:00.000-04:00

Just pictures today...

Happy Birthday, Kate!

2011-02-19T21:56:00.000-05:00

Wow, how time flies. It seems like yesterday that we were welcoming Kate into our family. It was such a huge change from one kid to two. Kate and Rachel are only 20 months apart and the first year was absolute chaos.

But as time goes by, it seems to get easier and easier. Phew. Thank goodness.

For Kate's first birthday, we celebrated with her boyfriend Luciano with a double-sided stacked cake.

For Kate's second birthday, we had a breakfast party and enjoyed some monkey cupcakes with the family.

This year, Kate is all about Tinkerbell. It's amazing how young you can get sucked into Disney marketing.

So for her party, the only choice I had was a Tinkerbell cake. No problem. I had a great time baking and decorating her cake last night. It is a three-tier, fondant covered Tinkerbell cake. Three flavours--vanilla, chocolate and carrot. Yum Yum!

I thought we would have lots left over, but I was so wrong! The kids and parents gobbled it all up!

To my little girl, Happy Birthday!

Happy 10th Birthday, Eric!

2011-01-29T14:56:00.003-05:00

My nephew is turning 10 on Monday. Wow how time flies. I remember the night he was born, it was the night before my first full day as a teacher. It was pretty exciting!

So tonight, we are all heading over to celebrate his 10th birthday.

And I was in charge of the cake....

Usually, he asks for some kind of sports themed/superhero cake. I've done a soccer ball cake, soccer cake, spiderman cake, football cake...

Enough sports already.

So this is the biggest cake I could think of for my little nephew (who's not so little any more!).

That's right. It's a 4 layer chocolate and vanilla cake. It's two full cakes in one!

And covered in Smarties!

Delicious!

I hope he has a wonderful birthday and enjoys every ounce of this massive cake.

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Love Auntie Casey

There's Nothing Like a Cupcake...

2011-01-27T21:22:00.001-05:00

Got the winter blues?

Me too.

Help! My Kitchen has been Hijacked!

2010-12-27T09:14:00.002-05:00

Help! My kitchen has been hijacked! I had just returned home from my last minute Christmas shopping to find my kitchen had been taken over by flour, cookies and my loving husband. You see, I've been off school for a week and have been baking a little bit at a time. Well, today is my husband's first day off, and he's trying to cram a week's worth of baking into 4 hours.

Watch out! You have been warned!

This is my husband. Yes, he is sick, and tired and sick and tired.

When I got home, I found trays of gingerbread cookies waiting to go into the oven.

Whipped shortbread cookies cooling on top of the oven...

A flour explosion over the entire kitchen.....

And Rob complaining that the oven can't keep up with his burst of baking energy....

Oops! Rob nearly dropped the cookies while posing for my picture!

Here's the final tally:

24 double chocolate cream cheese brownies (You definitely need a glass a milk with these!)

60 whipped shortbread

45 gingerbread cookies

I love the holidays. I love having time to bake all sorts of yummy treats for my kids, their teachers and my family.

But the baking didn't stop there. The next morning, as Rob was finishing the last of his Christmas shopping--which consisted of going to Shopper's Drug Mart for my stocking stuffers--I continued to bake. A lemon meringue pie and mini-chocolate cheesecakes for the Daleman family dinner.

So good.

Cheers,
--Casey

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-19T07:28:00.000-05:00

Every year, I promise myself to take it easy during the last week of school and slide quietly and stress-free into the holidays.

And once again I opened my big mouth:

Student: Miss, can we do gingerbread houses again?

Me: Sure!

Doh!

So here we go again. This year, all three of my classes decorated gingerbread houses on the last day of classes. On Thursday night, one of my students who works in a bakery help me build 26 houses after school. At night, I whipped up 4 double batches of royal icing and made up 26 piping bags for the next day.

Phew.

Here's the results!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

2010-11-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I'm going to dispel a common myth. I'm going to burst the bubble. I'm going to let the cat out of the bag.

Chocolate dipped strawberries are EASY!!

I'm always shocked when I see bakeries and chocolatiers selling hand-dipped chocolate strawberries for upwards of $2.50/berries. Sure, they may use better chocolate, but really, who needs it?

So here's how to make your own chocolate dipped strawberries:

Start with dry, washed strawberries (you may want to do this the day before, water will wreck the chocolate)

In a microwave safe bowl, melt lots of chocolate chips (or better chocolate if you desire) and 1-2 tsp of Parawax (this is what gives the chocolate the shiny texture when then dry, and is found in most candy)

Hold the strawberry by the stem and dip into the chocolate. Let the extra fall off.

Place on a parchement paper lined cookie sheet. Cool.

That's it! I'm not kidding!

These will surely be a hit at your next holiday party!

--Casey

My Very First Wedding Cake!

2010-11-11T19:22:00.001-05:00

Early in the year, one of our young art teachers became engaged to her wonderful boyfriend. She had heard that I was a cake decorator in my second life, and asked if I could make her wedding cake.

I said "I don't do wedding cakes. Too much pressure."

So she replied "I just want a simple cake. Three tiers, white fondant, ribbon. Easy."

So I said "Okay, when is the wedding?"

She said "Nov 6, 2010".

No worries! November is usually a quiet time for me. I'm back in to the swing of things at school; the kids have returned to their normal 8:00pm bed time....life will be good and I'll have time to plan and create my first wedding cake.

Right. Then we decided to put our house up for sale and move. Our moving date? November 18, 2010.

So the peaceful creative decorating time I had envisioned quickly turned into packing chaos and flying icing sugar. Every time I turned around to grab a decorating tool, I realized it was packed in the garage.

Did I mention that the simple cake morphed into a more elaborate designed, inspired by a cake created by Bakerella?

So, after a week of baking and freezing, I got down to business on the Friday night. There was icing EVERYWHERE! But the kids were asleep, and Rob was playing video games, so I had a nice time creating Kristy's wedding cake.

2 hours later, this was the final product:

So, I would like to say "Congratulations!" to Kristy and Dan, and "Thanks!" for letting me decorate My Very First Wedding Cake!

--Casey

Yes, I'm still baking...

2010-11-02T18:47:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry for the lack of posts. I don't do many cakes during the summer, but I'm back into the swing of things!

On Thursday night, I successfully baked 206 mini cupcakes for my classes for Hallowe'en. I don't actually teach 206 students, but I needed some for each of my daughters' classes as well!

I'm working on my first wedding cake this week. Kristy Macdonald will be tying the knot on Nov 6 and has asked me to do the cake.

It will be a 3 tiered cake with red, black and white fondant.

I'll be sure to post pics shortly!

Cheers,
Casey

'Tis the Season

2010-05-17T21:53:00.000-04:00

Happy Spring! I was very excited when my colleague asked to me to create a cake for his girlfriend's 30th birthday. When I asked him what he had in mind, he sent me a few photos of two-tiered cakes with a cherry blossom motif. Oh boy. I had never done a cake like this. I had visions of my cake showing up on the front page of CakeWrecks!

But I agreed. And started planning. I searched the web; checked a few books and headed over to Flour Confections for some chocolate fondant and advice. The advice I got--less is more. When you aren't sure whether or not to add another flower, STOP, put down the piping bag and WALK AWAY! Less is More!

So, here is the final result.

Happy Birthday, Leah and Berry!

2010-03-27T16:51:00.001-04:00

I know it has been a while since I posted any new cakes, but to be honest, teaching full time is cutting into my baking time! I've done a few cakes and cupcakes in the past few weeks, but nothing that was blog-worthy.

But now that the sun is out longer and I'm getting a hang of being a full time mom and full time teacher, it's time to get the icing tips out again!

A few months ago Mel called and asked me to do the cakes for Leah and Berry's birthday part this weekend. I was honoured...especially since they live in the city and get 'fancy' cakes at so many different 'fancy' cake shops. Then I realized that I've done all the cakes for her kids--a Barney cake for Leah's 2nd birthday, a dual cake for Leah's 3rd and Berry's 1st birthday, and now another dual cake for their 4th and 2nd birthday! I'm the Dan Family Baker! Yeah!

So this year, I wanted to do another dual cake--but a more cohesive cake with a consistent colour scheme, but with some 'boy' elements and some 'girl' elements.

Here's what I came up with:

Leah was very excited when I arrived at the party with the cake. She's not a big cake eater, but she gobbled up this one!

Anyways, I'm off to watch The Princess and the Frog for the 20th time in a week...

Cheers,

Casey

Satin Ice Fondant is my Saviour!

2010-02-21T21:54:00.000-05:00

I have been baking cakes for over 2 years now, and one thing has alway plagued me. How do I make icing and fondant red? So, the natural course of action is to add red food colour. Go to the Bulk Barn and buy Red Red Wilton Colour Gel. At best you get a chemical tasting salmon pink. Let's try that again.

Back to the Bulk Barn. This time, try Red (no taste) colour gel. Again, salmon pink.

Screw that. I have discovered a wonderful little cake shop in Pickering--Flour Confection--that sells Satin Ice Fondant. And they sell it in red. Not pink. Not light red. But real, honest to goodness Christmas red.

I'm never mixing my own red icing again!

So last night, I cracked out my tubs of Satin Ice fondant in red and black and created this cake for Sophia, who was having her 17th birthday party today. It is a 12" chocolate and vanilla cake, torted and filled with vanilla buttercream. The cake was iced in buttercream and then decorated with fondant.

I hope Sophia had a great party today!

Happy Birthday, Kate!

2010-02-14T14:54:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally broke the curse. It took a lot of effort and energy to get off the couch last night and bake Kate's birthday cupcakes. But I did. And they looked great. She loved them.

Let me explain the curse of a baker. You spend time lots of time planning and executing cakes for customers. They are planned weeks in advance, baked the night before, and decorated at night after the girls go to bed. No time constraints, no stress--and the cake looks beautiful in the morning.

But when it comes to my own kids' birthday, everything falls apart. Usually, I'm so tired the night before from party planning that I end up throwing some sort of cake together the day of the party. Well not this year!! I promised myself that I would not let my second daughter get a second rate cake for her birthday!

So after getting the girls to bed, I started baking the cupcakes and preparing the fondant. Two hours later, I had 15 chocolate monkey cupcakes all ready for Kate's 2nd birthday. I was exhausted at the end, but it was so worth it. Kate loved them and kept repeating "my monkey cupcakes" all morning.

So to Kate, I wish you a year of laughter, fun and exploration! You are one of the funniest little girls I know...destined to be the class clown!

Oh, by the way, I also finished the quilt that I was supposed to give Kate on her first birthday.

Colour Me Hannah Montana!

2010-01-16T22:04:00.002-05:00

In the depths of winter in Canada (although it was a balmy 4C today), I can always depend on colourful icing to brighten my day.

The inspiration: Hannah Montana. Hmmm...I've never actually seen an episode of HM, or heard any of her music, but apparently young girls love her. So I headed over to the Bulk Barn to see if I could find some inspiration. And I did! They had these really cute icing decorations in the shapes of stars and guitars! Now, apparently these decorations are edible, but if you have ever tried one before, you know the next stop is the dentist. They are hard as hell and apparently only children can handle the sugar rush and tooth ache you get from eating one of these!

So, after a very, very long week at work I managed to get the girls in bed by 8pm. I threw the 12 inch cake in the oven and started making the icing. When all was said and done, I had finished a 12 inch round, chocolate fudge cake iced in hot pink, purple and aqua buttercream. Sadly, I was too tired to take a picture of the cake.

But I did take pics of the cupcakes I made in the morning to go with the cake!

These were made for Mya's 6th birthday. She was having 7 of her friends over for a 'spa party' and some HM karoke.

So, Mya, I hope you had a great birthday, and didn't crash too hard after the sugar rush.

Happy Birthday!

Cheers,
Casey

P.S. I REALLY love my new camera!

A Sick Day, A New Camera and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2010-01-12T15:30:00.005-05:00

I'm not sick. Kate is. Poor girl. But she is so cute and cuddly when she is sick. When Rob and I woke her up this morning and saw the mess, we both looked at each other and wondered who was going to stay home with her. Thankfully, I had some lessons ready, and it was easier for me to stay home today.

While Kate was sleeping this afternoon, in my precious 2 hours of alone time (mothers and fathers everywhere know how precious nap time is) I decided to whip up some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. After skimming through a few cookie cook books, I resorted to my old-school, tried and true favourite cook book--Five Roses: A Guide to Good Cooking.

When Kate woke up, we sat together in our pyjamas (yes, I realize it was 2:30pm on a Tuesday, but it's a sick day!) and had our warm cookies with a glass of milk. So good. I did come to the realization that I have to teach Kate how to put more cookie in her mouth than all over the floor, the couch and her pj's!

After a few minutes of Barney & Friends, I simply couldn't take it any more! I left Kate on the couch and grabbed my new camera and headed to the only source of natural light in our house--the living room--to take a few pics of the cookies. Here's the result:

Kate couldn't keep her hand out of the bowl....

Here's the recipe:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cream butter. Add brown sugar slowly, beating well between each addition. Add egg, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well. Blend in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfulls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 min (I baked for 9 min) until browned.

Enjoy!

Casey

Durga's Sweet 16!

2010-01-10T08:22:00.010-05:00

Happy birthday, Durga! This cake was made for one of my students for her 16th birthday. She was very excited to celebrate her 16th birthday on Saturday with her friends, and her mom asked me to bake the cake for the party. For inspiration, her mother sent me pictures of the dress and necklace she would be wearing to the party.

I then asked her how many people the cake would be serving? 16. How appropriate. All she asked for was a 10" round cake. Hmmm....I thought Durga needed something more exciting for her Sweet 16 than a 10" round cake. So I took some creative liberty with the request and designed her cake....

It is a two-tiered chocolate fudge cake with vanilla buttercream. The decorates are all made of rolled fondant with lustre dust applied to the polka dots.

I had a lot of fun working on this cake. It had been a very long day--school, passport office (with two kids in tow), solo-dinner with the girls, bath time and then bed time. It's a tricky routine when Rob is not home. So, needless to say, I was looking forward to some 'alone' time to decorate this cake!

I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks. I have cake/cupcake orders for every Saturday in January! Next week? Hannah Montana cake and cupcakes. Following week? Girly princess cupcakes for Sophie's first birthday!

Cheers!

Scientific Gingerbread Houses

2010-01-05T19:00:00.003-05:00

On the last day of classes before the holidays, I asked my students if they would like to decorate gingerbread houses. There was an overwhelming response of YES! Many of my students had never decorated a gingerbread house before.

So off I went to purchase 17 pre-fab nut-free gingerbread houses from the Bulk Barn. The deal was: I would bring the houses and the Royal Icing. I would build the house, and the kids would bring their own candy and decorate them!

Here are the houses all lined up in the Biology room, ready to be decorated:

The students had a great time decorating the houses, and there was only one "slightly inappropriate" house. Oh well. What do you expect with 4 grade 11 boys decorating a gingerbread house?

Here are the finished houses:

Here are a few other pics from that day!

Who's A Monkey Now?

2010-01-03T19:25:00.002-05:00

Ahhh...the end of the holidays. We spent the entire holidays sick. First it was Rob, then Kate, then Rachel and finally me. It always seems that I get cake orders when I'm sick. It just so happens that the customer who ordered this monkey cake, is the same customer who ordered a butterfly cake for her daughter in June. And I was sick then too! Hmmm...

I have a few baking resolutions to make for 2010:

1. I will not leave my daughters' cake until the last minute. I will put in as much effort for Kate and Rachel's cakes, as I would for a customer cake.

2. I will try more 'scratch' recipes for cakes. I will find one that is as easy as a box.

3. I will share more of my recipes on my blog and share the love of cooking with you.

Happy New Year to all!

--Casey

There is a Monkey Cake in My Oven

2010-01-01T14:43:00.004-05:00

On this cold, snowy first day of the new year, there is a monkey cake in the oven. The girls are sleeping (well, Kate is sleeping and Rachel is probably upstairs playing Barbies) and Rob is playing his PS3. And the whole house smells like chocolate cake. Yum. Yum.

Why not make a quick batch of cupcakes for this afternoon?

Here's the easiest recipe in the world for really moist, tasty cupcakes:

1 box of Duncan Hines cake mix

2 eggs

1 and 1/3 cups of water

Mix together using a stand mixer or hand mixer for 3 min. Divide evenly among 24 cupcake lined wells. Bake for 15 min.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2010-01-01T00:53:00.003-05:00

On December 20, my Mom celebrated her 29th birthday again. The whole family came over to our house to celebrate with ham, scalloped potatoes and cake.

My original plan was to bake a chocolate mocha sheet cake and then stack it and make a really cool square cake with 5 layers. Well, due to a slight mis-communication with my DH, he picked up low-fat sour cream instead of full-fat sour cream. I didn't think it would matter. Well, it did. The cake didn't rise and was rock hard. Boo.

No worries. Back to the tried and true recipe (Duncan Hines box mix, 2 eggs and 1 1/3 cup of water). Perfect.

Did I mention that my mom's birthday is 2 days after I finish teaching? How to decorate this special cake plagued me for 2 days. Flowers like last time? Something different? Ah ha! I have Satin Ice fondant upstairs in black! Let me tell you, I will never, ever, ever try to dye white fondant black again. I will save time and effort and just go to Flour Confections in Pickering and buy a tub of Satin Ice pre-coloured vanilla fondant. It comes in all the hard to make colours--red, green, purple and black to name a few.

So this cake was born ! It is a triple-torted chocolate fudge cake, iced in buttercream. It was then covered in white vanilla fondant and decorated in black fondant polka dots.

I'm also very excited to let everyone know that I got a fancy new camera for Christmas--the Canon Rebel XSi. So watch out for some great new cake photos coming soon!

Happy Birthday, Patrick!

2009-12-06T14:26:00.009-05:00

Well, my littlest nephew is turning 2 today. Being the third of three boys, Patrick is the quiet, cuddly one--although his defensive tactics are certainly improving! Today is Patrick's day. We are heading over to his house to celebrate his birthday. And it's all Spongebob, all the time! It will be a great time! By the time dinner is served, there will be 3 grandparents, 4 parents, 2 cousins and 2 brothers all there to celebrate! Whoo Hoo! Let the party begin!

Patrick's birthday cupcakes are chocolate cake with chocolate icing. The spongebob 'stuff' was purchased at Michaels--it came with the stand and the cupcake toppers. I love it! I hope Patrick does too!

Happy Birthday, Little Nephew!

Love Auntie Casey

Happy Birthday, Mason!

2009-11-01T21:25:00.002-05:00

Mason turned 3 on Friday. Wow, I can't believe how time flies. It feels like yesterday that I baked a blue car cake for Mason's second birthday. This year, Mason couldn't decide if he wanted cupcakes, a cake or both. So his mom, Sarah, finally decided to go with both! On Saturday morning, I delivered 12 cupcakes with cars on top, 24 mini-cupcakes with pumpkins on top, and a 8" round chocolate cake with dirt on top! Okay, so the dirt is actually OREO crumbs, but I thought they looked pretty cool.

After I delivered the cakes to Sarah, I came home and did a tally of all the baking I had done in the past 24 hours. Final total? 132 Cupcakes (36 regular size, 96 mini cupcakes) and an 8" birthday cake. Phew! And then I made a 1/2 sheet of brownies for the Hallowe'en party.

Happy Birthday, Jillian Jiggs!

2009-10-02T21:43:00.002-04:00

I made this cupcakes for the cutest 6 year old in the world. Jillian, is the niece of a good friend of mine from high school. She is so cute. When her mom, Jodie, asked her what kind of cupcakes she wanted for her birthday, all she could say was 'pink'. Well, these cupcakes are all pink, and all girl. She having a few of her friends over tomorrow for some 'mani/pedi' time! It should be a great party!

Jillian, I hope you have a great time tomorrow and that you really like these cupcakes!

The Last Cake of My Mat Leave...(sniff!)

2009-09-06T15:21:00.002-04:00

In February, when I decided to extend my mat leave for an extra 6 months (and effectively giving up all forms of government financial support), I started to advertise my fledgling cake business. It started out as word-of-mouth advertising and of course--Facebook. I had the opportunity to do lots of different cakes (and 5 Spiderman cakes!) and have really enjoyed to relaxing part of cake decorating.

Well the time has come, and I must return to work on Tuesday (sniff!). I don't think that I'm going to have much time or energy to be baking cakes and teaching full time (I'm a high school teacher). So this may be the last cake for a while.

This cake was done to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of the parents of a former student of mine. Nikki called me and asked for a simple 'wedding like' cake to have at the surprise party she was hosting with her sibings.

It was the first time I had tried a stacked cake using a cake recipe from Confetti Cakes--it was much denser than my usual cake and stacked beautifully! It had a wonderful crunch top that I trimmed off and had for dessert with my husband.

I hope that Nikki's parents liked the cake and have a wonderful time celebrating their 25th Anniversary.

Finally...A New Spiderman Cake!

2009-09-06T15:15:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a long summer...with not so many cakes. Oh well. I guess that's life.

I was, however, very excited to see a new Spiderman cake pan on the rental wall at Bulk Barn! I was getting pretty tired of the same 'ole "Jazz Hands" Spiderman when I had another order for a Spiderman cake for a little boy's birthday. I had a great time decorating this cake, as it was a little more challenging than the others.

This cake was done for a lovely lady named Kate, who's son was turning 3....and a 4 week old baby at home! She was very happy to find out that my cakes are peanut-free as her son is newly allergic to all nuts. When I dropped off the cake, the little boy was so excited to have a Spiderman cake, that he couldn't stop smiling!

I'm sorry the picture quality is not that great..

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2009-07-12T21:48:00.004-04:00

It seems like just yesterday that my Mom brought home the 1978 MG for my Dad on his 40th birthday. I was in grade 8--a mere 13 years old and it was the coolest car I had ever seen. Well, this month my Dad is turning 60. The little car is still going and so is my Dad!

My Mom hosted a surprise birthday party for my Dad at the cottage this weekend and asked my to do a cake for the occasion. My dad loves to golf and so naturally I had to search out a golf design for the cake. I found this design on the Wilton website and modified to a single tier cake. The cake itself is a new recipe--from Confetti Cakes in New York. I just received the book as a birthday present from my friend Jaime, and was dying to try the recipe out. The cake turned out amazing and everyone at the party loved it.

This cake is a chocolate fudge cake, torted and filled with vanilla buttercream. It was then covered in rolled fondant and decorated in fondant accents. I had a great time making this cake--especially since both my daughters stayed asleep long enough for me to get it finished!

The family will be celebrating my dad's birthday next week...I don't know if I have another cake like this in me this week!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Ryce!

2009-06-20T07:57:00.004-04:00

When Jerry emailed me to ask for another cake (I had previously done a Yo! Gabba Gabba! cake for his son's 3rd birthday), I was really excited! Jerry is my first repeat customer who is not related to me! His niece loves Hello Kitty, and so he asked me to do a birthday cake for her--and he sent me the design.

At first, I was pretty scared. I had no idea how to go about putting the design on the cake. So I consulted the amazing bakers on Cake Central and got some excellent advice! The plan: ice the cake smooth in butter cream and let it crust. Then pipe the stripes on the top in coloured butter cream and then place the Hello Kitty (made from rolled fondant) on the top! No problem, right?

It actually was a really fun cake to work on! I am very happy with the results, especially since I had been mentally planning this cake for weeks!

So here it is, my first Hello Kitty Cake from a repeat customer!

No Pics of the Birthday Cake

2009-05-31T08:18:00.002-04:00

I'm sure Moms everywhere will relate to this. When I have a cake to do for a customer--whether it's my brother-in-law or a random person, I always put a lot of effort into it to make sure it's the best cake that I can do. I bake the cake when Kate is having her nap, and I don't start decorating the cake until both Kate and Rachel are in bed for the night. That way, there are no distractions or interruptions.

This is never the case when it comes to Rachel's birthday cake. For a third year in a row, I've had to resort to making her cake the day of the party, and decorating it with less than an hour to go before we rush out the door to the play gym, or before the first guest arrives. This year, I had the cake baked on Friday afternoon, with the intention of decorating it on Friday night. Well, 9pm rolled around and I hadn't slept in 4 days and Rob really sick and tired--and tired and sick. So we decided that he would take the girls out Saturday morning so I could decorate in peace and quiet.

Saturday morning arrived and my poor, over worked, stressed out husband had a massive migraine.

Needless to say, the cake finally got decorated at 12:30pm--in 30 min. Grrr...Not the cake I had hoped to do for Rachel's 3rd birthday. Oh Well. C'est la vie.

So no pics of the boring white princess cake. Maybe next year.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

2009-05-29T20:46:00.003-04:00

My little girl is turning 3 tomorrow. I can't believe how time flies. As I sit here typing this post, I haven't even started decorating her cake. Too. Damn. Tired. I remember being this tired when she was born! So tonight, I'm just posting pics of the Birthday Girl....cake pics to follow....once I find the energy to decorate the 11X15 chocolate fudge cake with all things princess. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jay!

2009-05-25T15:01:00.003-04:00

My brother-in-law, Jason, turned the big 31 on Friday and Rob and I headed down to Toronto to help him celebrate this milestone! My sister asked me to do the cake for the party. It was a very long, stressful week and I was tapped out of creativity by the time Thursday night rolled around. Let's just say I was in bed 10 minutes after the cakes came out of the oven--the decorating would have to wait until Friday. However, I both girls home all day on Fridays...so the timing was going to be tricky!

Nap time rolled around, and I put my eldest daughter to bed and she insisted that she wasn't tired. But I can't decorate the cake with her up. So, the deal was she had to stay in her room for 'quiet time' while I decorated Uncle Jay's cake. I wasn't expecting success. But Rachel stayed in her room for 1 hour and 45 min while I madly designed and decorated this cake. Kate (the little one) woke up as I was putting the motorcycle on the top. Talk about perfect timing!

Jason has a sport bike that he loves to drive on the weekends in the country. I bought the toy bike at Wal-mart and propped it on top of the cake using hidden bamboo skewers. The cakes are double fudge chocolate iced in vanilla buttercream with fondant 'road' accents.

We had a great time at the party, and everyone loved the cake!

Happy Birthday, Jay!

I Have Too Much Time on My Hands..

2009-05-13T21:27:00.006-04:00

Despite the fact that I have two kids under the age of 3, and feel like I'm constantly doing laundry, emptying the dishwasher or putting back the books that Kate likes to scatter around the house, I still love baking! I don't know where I find the time, but I start to go a little crazy if it's been too long between baking projects.

These cupcakes were a last minute addition to my cake schedule this week. I had just completed a butterfly cake for Grace's birthday on Tuesday, when another mom at Rachel's school asked me if I could do the cupcakes for her daughter's birthday on Thursday! She was having a tropical theme at the party--I thought of these cupcakes instantly!

I had a great time making these cupcakes, and I really hope that she likes them tomorrow. I know the kids will!

God Bless Luciano!

2009-05-08T22:07:00.004-04:00

Luciano is being baptised this weekend in London. His mother, Loreena asked me to do a cake to help celebrate this wonderful occasion. Luciano is the cutest little boy! This was the third cake I had to decorate this weekend, but I had a great time doing it!

This is a rainbow sprinkle cake, iced in vanilla buttercream. The mosaic tiles are made of rolled fondant.

Happy Birthday, Gianluca

2009-05-08T22:03:00.003-04:00

Gianluca turned the big 3 on Thursday, and he's off to London to celebrate this weekend with his family. Gianluca loves cars--little cars, big cars and the movie, Cars! This was the second of 3 cakes that I had to decorate for Saturday.

I hope Gianluca has a great birthday and enjoys his chocolate car cake!

Best Wishes, Paul!

2009-05-01T08:14:00.003-04:00

Ahhh, May is finally here! Although it is raining, and we are trying to stay away from public places full of snot nosed kids who don't know how to use a tissue, I'm very excited that the winter is finally behind us! And what better way to celebrate the arrival of spring that with a golf ball cake! Okay, so the cake is not a sphere--but I do think that it vaguely resembles a golf ball.

This cake was made to celebrate the career of Rob's colleague, Paul. Paul is looking forward to spending some time with his wife and kids, and hopefully, playing a few rounds in the upcoming weeks. I've met Paul a number of times, and he's a really great guy! I wish him the best with his future!

Happy Birthday, Helene!

2009-04-20T08:12:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday, my mother-in-law thought she was heading out with her friends for a fundraising dance at the local soccer club. Little did she know, that 60 of her closest friends and her son and daughter were there to surprise her with a fantastic 65th birthday party. Boy, was she surprised! Her son and daughter, Rob and Denise, had been planning this for weeks! Everything worked out perfectly and she was none the wiser.

I was in charge of the cake and the wine, my two favourite things. This cake was my first attempt at a two-tiered cake covered in fondant. It took two whole days, a total of 6 hours of baking and decorating time, but I was really happy with the end result. It's a double chocolate fudge cake, torted and filled with vanilla butter cream and raspberry jam. It was covered in rolled fondant and decorated with fondant flowers.

I can't wait to start my next cake. My good friend Loreena will be getting cakes for her oldest son's 3rd birthday and her youngest son's Christening in a few weeks! Yeah, more cakes!

Happy Birthday, Berry and Leah!

2009-03-26T14:09:00.004-04:00

I had a great time designing the cake for Berry's first birthday and Leah's third birthday. Their mom, Melanie, had been at Kate and Luciano's birthday party and really like the boy/girl cake and asked if I could do one for her kids' party! No problem!

This is a 9 x 15 chocolate fudge cake iced with vanilla buttercream and decorated with fondant cutouts. Berry's half was all about planes and trains, while Leah's half was all about flowers and butterflies.

When it came time to cut the cake, all the little girls at the party insisted on eating the pink cake, and the boys wanted the blue cake. Go figure...it all tastes the same!

I'm glad that everyone had a great time, we certainly did!

Happy Birthday, Loreena!

2009-03-13T19:25:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday, Loreena! I hope you enjoy this cake! I had a great time decorating it last night. This is a 6" chocolate fudge cake, torted and filled with dark chocolate buttercream. The cake is decorated with rolled fondant flowers in light pink.

After a long week of work leading up to March Break, I hope you had a wonderful birthday party with Mo, Gianluca and Luciano!

Cheers!

My First Fondant Cake

2009-03-09T22:40:00.005-04:00

My good friend Joan and I traded baking services. Her specialty is gingerbread cookies--they are so, so good! So in exchange for two birthday cakes, she decorated 50 of the most amazing gingerbread cookies for me for my daughter's first birthday party.

This is the first time I have ever attempted to cover a cake in rolled fondant. The piping is a little sketch, as the stability and pressure is different than piping on a cake iced in butter cream. A little more practice and I should have it down! The fondant was really easy to work with, and I'm really looking forward to trying it again!

This is a 6", french vanilla cake torted and filled with vanilla butter cream and raspberry jam. It was then covered in rolled fondant and decorated with lavender butter cream.

I hope Mary Lou, Joan and her parents really enjoy this birthday treat!

Happy Birthday, Luke!

2009-03-09T22:37:00.004-04:00

My nephew, Luke, turned 4 last week and we all headed over to my sister-in-law's house to celebrate. After a really fun afternoon of bowling and bouncy castle jumping, we headed home for dinner and cake! The kids can't get enough of chocolate cake and butter cream icing! I, on the other hand, had had enough cake that weekend. By the time I finished Luke's cake, I had already done an Iggle Piggle cake for Allie and AJ's birthday, and 48 cupcakes for a bridal shower.

So I stopped in at Loblaw's and picked up a cheesecake. I know. Bad baker. Bad baker!

Happy Birthday, Kate!

2009-02-22T21:58:00.002-05:00

When I had my first daughter Rachel in 2006, I got to know two other teachers at my school really well. Lisa and Loreena both became mom's at the same time as me. We spent our maternity leave year hanging out in Lisa's kitchen while the 3 kids entertained themselves. It was a great year.

Well, we all returned to work in 2007--pregnant. AJ (Lisa's son) was born on February 7th, Kate (my daughter) was born February 18th and Luciano (Loreena's son) was born February 25th. So there we were, the 3 muskateers all on maternity leave again!

To celebrate the Kate and Luciano's first birthday, Loreena and I decided to have a joint playgym party for the kids. It was chaos! There were 24 kids ranging in age from 3 months to 8 years and 25 parents all crammed into Kids on the Loose in Markham.

My job was the cake (surprise, surprise!). So, this is Kate's cake. All pink. All girl. It is a three tiered butter cream and fondant cake. There were two layers on chocolate cake and one layer of french vanilla.

But wait...what about Luciano's cake?

...keep reading.

Happy Birthday, Luciano!

2009-02-22T21:56:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Luciano!

This is Luciano's cake. It's all blue, and all boy! Everyone deserves a fantastic cake on their first birthday!

Happy Birthday, Kate and Luciano!

2009-02-22T21:40:00.004-05:00

Tada! Here is the final product! I had a great time putting this cake together. This is my first 3 tiered cake. It's a little crooked, but I think I know what I did wrong.

My mom sent me a ton of new Wilton fondant tools, so I spent 2 hours on Friday night decorating, decorating, decorating! It weighed a ton, but it fed 50 people and everyone loved it!

So Happy Birthday, Kate and Luciano!

So Many Cupcakes...

2009-02-15T15:24:00.002-05:00

This picture is just a small fraction of the number of cupcakes I delivered to the Sariwon Korean restaurant on Saturday morning for Samantha's first birthday. By 11pm on Friday night, I had decorated 54 large cupcakes and 36 mini cupcake in various shades of pink, each topped with a pink fondant monogram for the birthday girl. The restaurant looked beautiful when I arrived and I really hope that Samantha had a great birthday!

Happy Birthday, Dylan

2009-02-15T15:18:00.003-05:00

This was my first customer who randomly found my blog off the Internet! Yeah! Whoo Hoo! Laura found my craigslist posting and really liked what she saw on my cake blog, so she sent me a quick email on Thursday night asking for a peanut-free cake for her son, Dylan. Dylan loves playing hockey and is having his 12th birthday party today.

After many emails back and forth, Laura decided on a French Vanilla 9 x 13 cake with vanilla butter cream icing. Dylan's favourite NHL team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, so we decided this logo was very fitting for his birthday cake.

It was the very first time I had made a cake for a stranger with no guarantee that they would show up to pay for the cake. Thankfully, Laura and her daughter stopped by right on time and picked up the cake!

This cake cost $30.

Now, let me tell you about the many many cupcakes I had to make the night before...

Happy Birthday, Ella!

2009-02-10T12:44:00.003-05:00

I was so excited to bake and decorate this cake that it kept me awake at night for the entire week before! My good friend Lindsay, asked me to do a cake for her daughter's 2nd birthday. Lindsay is also a mompreneur...she is working from home as a designer of the most beautifu photo cards, note cards and wall art. You can check out her website at www.graceannouncements.com.

Sorry, back to the cake! This is a 2 tiered chocolate and vanilla cake, iced in butter cream with pink fondant accents. The tiara was from the dollar store! After I finished the cake, I was surfing the web and stumbled upon the cake wrecks on Cake Central. Most of the disasters that were posted all happened in transport---beautiful cakes that just didn't survive the drive to the clients house! Needless to say, on the drive from Pickering to Aurora, I did nothing but worry about the state of the cake in my trunk, and annoy all the drivers around me as I took all on-ramps and off-ramps at 40 km/h!

Ella had a great birthday and the whole family loved the cake! They are all off to Florida for two weeks and I hope they have a great time in the sun!

Cheers,

Casey

My Cakes Taste As Good As They Look..

2009-02-08T20:33:00.005-05:00

It is often said that chef's rarely eat in their own restaurants. Well, let me tell you. We eat my cakes at home too! This is my daughter, Rachel, who would eat cake 3 meals a day if I were to let her. We were recently at my nephew's birthday dinner, and Rachel had a minor meltdown at the thought of leaving the left over cake at his house. So, we had to bring some home. Even though she had cupcakes on Friday and Saturday this week. And will have more at her Valentine's Day Tea at school on Thursday.

I love Rachel and her passion for food. She may not be the neatest of eaters, but boy, does she love to eat!

Samantha's First Birthday

2009-02-06T22:12:00.003-05:00

I was very happy to hear that the baby shower that Lisa hosted was a smashing success! Everyone loved the baby carriage cake. Her cousin, Linda, loved it so much that she called me later that week to discuss her daughter's upcoming first birthday.

After many emails back and forth, we finally decided on cupcakes. Samantha will be having a grand birthday party with 18 chocolate cupcakes, 18 vanilla cupcakes, 18 rainbow sprinkle cupcakes, and a tray of mini cupcakes. Each cupcake will be iced in pink buttercream and adorned with a monogrammed pink fondant disk!

I'm so excited to see what ALL the cupcakes look like set up on the cake table. This is just a picture of the sample cupcakes that I took to Linda this week.

Although I feel that most days are Groundhog Day, our faithful groundhog did predict 6 more weeks of winter. So to brighten up your day (or the day of someone you love), call me and order a dozen cupcakes!

Keep your chin up, the summer will arrive eventually!

Cheers,

Casey

Happy Birthday, Jay!

2009-02-03T13:02:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, Jay! I met Jay through my husband as they work together at Dell. Jay and I got to know each other better while we were both on maternity leave at the same time! I love making cakes for Jay and her family. Her daughter, Mya, is allergic to peanuts as is my daughter. I feel great being able to make cakes for all their occasions that are peanut free--she no longer has to worry!

This is a chocolate cake with buttercream icing--and my first attempt at a fondant bow. I'll keep practicing--it's not so great--but the next one should be better.

Would you like to order a cake like this? This cake would only cost you $30. Not bad eh?

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Roberts!

2009-01-30T14:50:00.004-05:00

Susie's mom is turning 79 this weekend so Susie ordered a nice cake to help her celebrate. I had a lot of fun making this cake--lots of royal icing drop flowers had to be made ahead of time! This is a french vanilla cake, iced with butter cream and decorated with royal icing drop flowers. I hope her mom likes it!

A Perfect Little Cupcake

2009-01-30T14:35:00.006-05:00

Wouldn't it be great if every time you were tired, sad or frustrated, someone made you a perfect little cupcake?

This cupcake is one of 36 cupcakes made for Sabrina's Mom--otherwise known as Persila. (On a side note--how many of you know other mom's as "Sabrina's Mom" and not their real names?). She is celebrating Chinese New Year this week, and will be taking these cupcakes and adding a little chinese good luck charm to the top. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Thankfully, both kids are asleep for their afternoon nap and let me decorate these cupcakes. As I sit on the couch blogging and watching last night's episode of Hell's Kitchen, I wonder....how good would a cup of tea and a cupcake be right now?

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

2009-01-21T21:22:00.003-05:00

When I was doing my cake decorating course in the fall, all the decorated cakes would end up at my daughter's montessori schol on Thursday morning. The teacher's loved it (although they claimed their waistlines were hurting from all the cake!) and couldn't wait to see what was going to show up each week.

Since I'm not doing Course III this winter, Ms. Farah's tummy was having cravings today for some of my cake. So in honour of their Winter Carnival tomorrow, I threw some cupcakes in the oven and out came 2 dozen beautiful snowflakes! And like all good snowflakes, no two are alike!

I also discovered tonight that 'self rising flour' and 'cake and pastry flour' are NOT the same thing! I tried to make Banoffee Cupcakes--banana and toffee cupcakes with whipped cream and dulce de leche topping. I didn't make it to the topping, as the cupcakes didn't rise. They are little hockey pucks of banana and toffee bits. I tried one, and it sank to the bottom of my stomach like a rock. Okay, so I'm going to need to find a better option to bring to my Mommies Group tomorrow.

Grr...

Baby Showers

2009-01-17T15:50:00.002-05:00

There are lots of amazing cakes that can be done for a Baby Shower or a Bridal Shower. Don't worry if you can't come up with an idea. I've got lots! Just give me a call, or email me a picture of a great cake that you have seen and we'll discuss your options!

This cake was done for my good friend Lisa, who was hosting a Baby Shower for her sister-in-law today. It is a french vanilla cake, covered in rich buttercream icing.

Cheers!

My How Spiderman Has Changed!

2009-01-17T15:39:00.002-05:00

I very happy to say that my decorating skills have clearly improved over the past 2 years. The Spiderman on the left was my very first character cake. My good friend Diana shared her wealth of knowledge with me and this was the final product! At the time I was so excited! My nephew, Eric, thought it was the coolest cake in the entire world. It was until months later when I really LOOKED at the cake that I realized how bad it was. Again, I had problems with the eyes.

The new Spiderman was decorated last night for Jonathon's 5th birthday. I'm very happy to say that I very excited about how this one has turned out. The eyes are straight and the hands actually have five fingers each! Whoo Hoo! I'm sure Jonathon will love it.

My cake business is really taking off, and Saturday's are booking up fast. So if you have an event in the near future, please give me a call so we can talk about what cake will WOW! all your guests!

Cheers!

Wow! Thanks Everyone!

2009-01-15T18:13:00.002-05:00

I've only been up and running for just over a week, and I've already had to turn down two orders for Saturday! Thank you to everyone who has spread the word about Cakes by Casey...I really do appreciate it. Hopefully I'll be able to make a cake for Scott and Miss Jenny next time!

I had a lot of fun decorating this cake for Mason's 2nd birthday in October. All he wanted was a blue car. Not picky. Just a blue car. This was my first 3D cake, and it was surprisingly easy! Mason loved it! There are so many character cakes and shaped cakes that can be made using the Wilton Shaped Pans. If you need some inspiration, check out the website at www.wilton.com/shapedpans or give me a call and we can talk about your cake needs!

So I'm off to get a double batch of buttercream icing ready. I have two orders for Saturday...Spiderman for my friend Danielle (and I promise the eyes will look better this time) and a Baby Buggy for a baby shower Lisa is hosting on Saturday! I'll post pictures as soon as they are done!

Have a great Thursday night!

Happy Birthday Mya!

2009-01-14T21:42:00.002-05:00

After I finished decorating the Iggle Piggle cake, I was having so much fun that I cracked out the rolled fondant and started decorating a second cake!

The cake is a chocolate fudge cake covered with vanilla buttercream and decorated with pink and orange rolled fondant.

I decided it was too pretty to cut into for dessert, so I sent it to work with my husband. He walked into work and yelled "Happy Birthday, Jay!" who promptly blushed and said it wasn't her birthday. But it was her daughter's birthday tomorrow! So Jay took the cake home to celebrate Mya's 5th birthday! I'm very happy that my practice cake ended up in a fantastic celebration!

Happy Birthday, Mya!

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

2009-01-14T21:35:00.003-05:00

Happy 5th Birthday Nicholas! Nicky is the cutest little 5 year old that lives next door to me. When I asked him what kind of birthday cake he would like, he said "Iggle Piggle!" and I said "Who?"

Thank goodness for the Internet!

Iggle Piggle is from a Treehouse show called In the Night Garden. I watched about 2 minutes of it, and it made me think of Teletubbies. I'm so glad my eldest daughter hasn't discovered this show yet.

Still Laughing...

2009-01-12T21:51:00.000-05:00

I'm laughing so hard reading the Cake Wrecks blog that I'm crying.

Cake Wrecks

2009-01-12T21:36:00.004-05:00

As I sit here on the couch watching the Bachelor and surfing the web for new cake designs, I came across the Cake Wreck blog. I've never laughed so hard in my entire life! You really need to check it out!

I'm sure we have all walked past the cake window in the local grocery store and wondered who actually decorates those cakes.

Every baker has that cake that should never have seen the light of day. And so I post the picture of my first Ariel Cake. It was for a good friend's daughter's 4th birthday. I did this cake before completing the two decorating courses. Thankfully, from the perspective of a 4 year old, she thought it was the greatest cake! Phew!

So laugh it up on this fine Monday night.

Cheers!

Cupcakes and More!

2009-01-11T21:53:00.002-05:00

I also really like to do cupcakes. They are so quick to make and they can put a smile on anyone's face! My daughter's teachers love it when I show up with cupcakes! Most of the time, Miss Farah remembers to share!

Cupcakes are a great way to let each child have their own 'little cake'. They can be personalized for each party person! The options are endless!

These cupcakes were for a holiday party and I had a great time making them!

Please give me a call if you would like to order cupcakes for your child's next birthday to send to school. I am currently using a modified recipe with Duncan Hines mixes--and only the ones that are nut free!

Cupcakes are $1.50 each with a minimum order of 12.

Have a great week!

Casey

The Slideshow

2009-01-11T21:26:00.004-05:00

My husband, Rob, is my personal tech support God. I've been trying for 2 days now to get the slideshow gadget to work. He got it working in 10 min. Grrr...

Anyways, the slideshow to the left shows some of the cakes that I've done of the past 2 years. Please, don't laugh at Spiderman. It was my first character cake, and I realize that his eyes are a little crooked. I'm much better now!

I love doing the character cakes from Wilton. If you think you would like to order a character cake for your next birthday, please check out the Wilton website for designs. The site is http://www.wilton.com/shapedpans/ . There are so many great character cakes, it is so hard to choose sometimes!

Character Cakes I have done:

3D Cruiser Car in blue

Ariel, the Little Mermaid

Spiderman

Soccer Ball (which can also be a baseball, golf ball or basketball)

Lion

Santa with list

Barney ( I had purple icing everywhere!)

Cheers!

On a boring Saturday Night..

2009-01-10T21:20:00.004-05:00

So I'm so excited at the possibility of creating more cakes, that I popped one in the oven this afternoon just so I could have something to decorate after the kids went to bed.

This is the result of my 'nothing better to do' Saturday night. We ate it for dessert with tea.

I'll be posting more pictures of cakes that I have done, including some of my first ones. Please don't laugh at Spiderman.

My Favourite Cake

2009-01-10T15:26:00.001-05:00

This is my favourite cake so far. I had just finished the Wilton Cake Decorating II class and my mother asked for a birthday cake for her party. Her birthday happens to be 5 days before Christmas, and she is adament that her birthday is NOT an extension of Christmas. So I thought this cake was as far from Christmas as possible.

This cake is an 8" chocolate marble cake with homemade buttercream icing (BC). The dark and light purple violets were made the week before in Royal Icing (RI).

Mmmmm....I love cakes.

My first Blog.

2009-01-10T13:55:00.002-05:00

So my sister suggested that I start a cake blog instead of trying to maintain a website. We'll see how it goes!

Why?

My maternity leave will be ending in the middle of February. But I have decided to stay home with Kate until September. So that means no pay cheque and no E.I. Boo. I have to make some extra money somehow.

I just completed Wilton Cake Decorating I and II (offered through Durham College) and I'm ready to put my new skills and great passion to work. I love doing cakes, cupcakes and character cakes. I'm not ready for wedding cakes yet. Give me time.

This is what I will be charging:

8"-12" round or 9x13" rectangular Buttercream Cake: $30

Wilton Character Cake: $40

Cupcakes: $1.50/each (minimum order:12)

Tiered Cakes/Fondant: to be discussed.

So, if you aren't a baker, but would love to have a fantastic cake for your next birthday, baby shower or anniversary (or even to take to your kids' school), just give me a call!