The wedding cake, and semi-trial wedding cake

(I started this post on the third Saturday of April, but didn't finish it until now)The third Friday of April  I practiced making Grandma's wedding cake.
I used the six inch cake pan I'm going to use for the top tier. This was the first time I've made fondant that actually worked, and I was very pleased to discover it is absolutely amazing to work with.
Friday we had our last Preparing to be a Helpmeet book study  :(   so I decided I could just serve it then.
The actual thing is going to be flavored with almond, and it's going to have a lot more flowers. Kendal forgot exactly what the picture looked like that I was copying the cake  from, and I didn't have time to show her what it looked like. Since she was helping me, and we had about five minutes to decorate it, it ended up with  quite a few less flowers than I had originally been shooting for.
No worries, since it was just a "semi-trial cake." :)

I was really glad I practiced putting the fondant on, because then I knew exactly how smooth it was nesscesary to make the icing under the fondant, and how thick to roll out the fondant itself. On the real thing I changed both.

I was so nervous that something would happen to the cake on the way to the house where the reception was being held. I was also relieved that it was out of the house, because if anything happened to it once it left, there wasn't anything I could do about it.
I thought the picture below was really neat. I took it once the cake was in the car.
Kendal and Dad took it with them on Friday to the house, since they were going there for the rehearsal anyway.
Most people will take extra fondant and icing with them to the location in case something horribe happens, but I decided that everything would be fine,and if all the fondant fell off, then so be it. :)

If anyone is curious to see pictures of the process, just leave a comment asking to see them, and I'll post some. Otherwise I won't since it'll take a few extra minutes to upload.

~Kelsey

Pictures of Cakes We've Made

I made this cake for the three little girl's birthday party this year.
It was the first time I used fondant, and it was definitely an experience. :) It was not a  good recipe, and so it was very hard to handle.
It was something like 2 pounds confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup corn syrup.
It melted really easily, and it didn't hold it's weight well. We  tried to put a purple fondant bow on it, but it ended up looking like a purple octopus(The plan was to make it look like a present). That's why the icing isn't as smooth in the middle, because when we took it off, it left a mark.

We made this cake for a friend at church who has a Thirty One business. She gave us a picture of the winter logo, and that's what we used as a guide.

This is probably one of my favorite cakes we've made.

I baked this cake, and rough iced the brown on. Dad, Kendal and I went to a party that night, so Mom decorated it based on a picture we pulled off the Internet.She stayed up fairly late working on it,and did a fabulous job. It was for the birthday of one of my friends.

This was a cake I made for a little girl, to whose family we were taking a meal that afternoon. It was spur of the moment, and I used some leftover purple fondant from the little girls' birthday party. I think it turned out really cute.

I made this cake for a birthday party for Gavin Larum, Katie Larum, and myself. I was actually going to put chocolate curls on the entire cake, but I didn't have time, so I just put it on the top.

Today I'm going to meet with a lady who does cake decorating, and she is going to give me some tips for using fondant, and how to actually construct a three tiered wedding cake.

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

~Kelsey

The finished results

Isn't it pretty? I was very pleased with the results! Mom and Kendal did the white decorating, Kendal smoothed out the frosting once I put it on, I baked the cake, and made the icing. We're a good cake making team.  Mom bought some edible gold dust and I decided to add it to the leaves. It was a nice addition, I think.

Speaking of additions, we have a new addition to our family! It's too early to know if it's a boy or girl yet, but I think it's a boy...

















It's a parakeet! We got it for Dad's birthday, on the third day of Christmas. (Dec. 27th) We  had originally named it "Mack,"after Mack Powell. Mack Powell is the band leader of "Third Day," a Christian band we like.Then we decided to name him "Woodstock" from the Peanuts cartoons.
Most of the time I forget and call him Mack, though. :)

Doesn't he have funny little chicken feet? They almost look like dragon feet up close.
Isn't he cute? He is quite tame, and enjoys riding around on our shoulders. The only problem is that he is so tame, he isn't afraid of anything. That includes walking around on the floor upstairs. He likes to pick up the loose hay from the guinea pigs from the floor, and the only way to get him off of it is to pick him up like a chicken. He doesn't really seem to mind though, and the only thing he does is make funny squeaky noises. ;)
Have a good week,
Kelsey
This is also my fiftieth post!

Today

Today I have lots of things to do.
That is actually quite unusual for a Saturday, because we mostly just hang out and play games.
Tomorrow, though, we have a family coming over for  lunch, so I'm making the food today.
I was in the process of making a chocolate cake, but found out we didn't have enough eggs, (I need twelve, and only had four) so the process was paused for a while.
Mom and I have gotten into making and decorating cakes recently.
I usually use the same recipe, and then we go online and look for photos of decorated cakes.
We just use whatever photo we like as a guide, and it's worked quite well. Mom is a very good cake decorator! I'll post some pics soon of the cakes we've made.
Our grandmother is getting remarried in the late spring this year, and  she asked Mom and I to make her cake! I'm very excited, and have a few designs picked out already.
I really like what I guess you would call "stylish" cake designs. Wilton has some nice techniques, which are good to use, and they have nice flowers that are good to. But I don't really like their cakes as a whole. I like a little more "modern" designs, while theirs are a little more "old fashioned."
It might just be that I've watched too many cake competitions on the Food Network. :)

This is the cake we are using as a guide for the cake tomorrow.
I'm going to make mine round, though, and with a brown background and white leaves.
I hope y'all have a blessed week!
Kelsey