Start of the second trimester: The first thing I made was a Super Mario Bros cake for a friend's kid's b-day party. I couldn't do this cake without Tasha. I had ideas, I just didn't quite know how I was going to successfully execute them. Plus, I'm always super nervous when it comes to cakes that I do. I'm my own worst critic.
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| the top part is supposed to be the outside world (World 1-1 if you will) and then the columns led to an underground world, (World 2-2 I guess you could say). Only way I made it make sense in my head. |
I had the idea of making a bomber guy the candle that the kid would blow out. It was a good idea, until I didn't know how to make the bomber guy. The hardest part was figuring out how to get the details of his windup right. The figurines I ended up buying so that the kids have a party favor (plus I am not a sculptor so I didn't attempt to try to make them with marzipan or fondant or modeling chocolate). For a first time doing a cake like this, I think I did pretty decent. (I would say we but Tasha took the Wilton decorating classes, so she's better at working with fondant and how to cake should hold up, etc).
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| Taisan |
For Christmas I wanted to bring some filipino desserts to my in-laws party, but I didn't know what they would be willing to eat. I'm always thinking, UBE is the best way to go, but people get turned off by the purple color. So I made something that looked somewhat appetizing, it's called Taisan. It's basically a type of pound cake with butter and sugary goodness on top. I wasn't sure if I made it right, basically because I haven't had it or haven't had it in awhile. To me it's a cross between a mamon and ensaymada, but what do I know. I did ask my mom how it was and she said it was alright, which translates to me "it could be better". My SIL told me that it reminds her of her childhood when she had bread with butter and sugar. yeah, that's the basic idea.
Start of the third trimester: A friend/co-worker of mine was leaving the office to go to another company. I usually make cupcakes when friends leave us for bigger/better things. So I decided to pay homage to his Italian-ness... and make him a cannoli cupcake. I'm not big on cannoli's because they're mainly made with chocolate chips and I don't mix well with chocolate (migraines). My cousin and her kids in NY LOVE their cannoli cakes, so I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't know how I'd do it. I bought Buddy Valastro's book and looked up how to make the cannoli shells, and I was a bit intimidated. So I googled and found a shortcut and hoped for the best. It's a work in progress. I wasn't happy with how the shell came out because it wasn't full size, but Tony liked it and that's what counts. He only requested 6 cannoli cupcakes. Who makes just 6? not me, so I had 6 left over. In my attempt to get him to take more, I told him if his favorite team won the superbowl, then I'll give him 2 more. They did and he received. The other 4 I had given away for taste testing.
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| I made a simple cupcake, the icing/filling is the typical cannoli filling and those cups are the cannoli shells. |
There are 4 pregnant women in the office, well 3 now, since one gave birth. When I was 7.5 mos pregnant, I for some reason agreed to make a baby shower cake for the co-worker who has now given birth. Of course, I enlisted Tasha's help with this one. I tried to do majority of the work, but since I barely wanted to stand, I had to basically have her do it. For the bow I ended up buying it at a cake store because my attempts to make the bow did not go well. I tried to use modeling chocolate thinking it's easier to work with - yeah no. I should've made brown fondant and worked with that. So in haste, I bought it. Note: always level your cakes. You can't see it, but the rectangular cake is not level, so there is a mini gap between the top layer and the bottom. That was my biggest pet peeve about the cake that no one sees, but I saw it.
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| I had to make a cake feed 50+ people, and the M is not a subliminal message to name her baby after me, it's for her last name. I wasn't sure if she was telling people her baby's name. |
The only cake that I did not make during my pregnancy was the boob cake. Since I haven't blogged in so long, I figured I might as well post the boob cake.
I want to say this is the first ever cake I made with fondant. It was the oddest request for a cake, but I had to accept the challenge. I wanted the boob cake to be classy, not trashy (no nipples are shown). oh and no, it wasn't for a bachelor party, it was for a friend's wife's implants' 1 year birthday. YES, a boob-aversary; I kid you not.
