The Choc-ROACH cake! Thanks Bobby =)

Ewww! Somebody get the shoe. No! Wait, it's just a chocroach. Yes, you heard me right! I was asked to do this cake for a friend in the pest control business! It will be raffled off at the end of the Clovis Home & Garden Show =)

Underneath a less than exquisite fondant exoskeleton, lies a real work of art that honestly needs no frosting or adornment at all. What I am hooting about now you ask? Why, this is THE All-American Chocolate Torte from Rose Levy Beranbaum's legendary book, The Cake Bible, in disguise. I adore this cake so much, it is now my standard chocolate cake. Her method of baking is so unique, thoughtful and lovingly prepared. The recipes are not mere recipes, they are scientific kitchen tangos! An exacting science, this cake took many tries before getting it right but of boy was the result worth it. It is so soft and fluffy, I feared the fondant would flatten the cake's lofty stories of deliciousness. But alas, I was afraid for nothing. The cake would stand and stand again, layer after layer, tier after tier, as in the last 48 hours I have had to make a whopping 5 batches each time learning something new. I am a high altitude baker, I should add. Cakes like to try to give me hassle, but my kitchen whip is stiff and my will unfailing LOL. As you might be able to tell I have been up two whole nights in a row without sleep making my grand total of unslept deliriousness about 36 hours. I am hallucinating, exhusted beyond expression, I fell asleep blow drying my hair upside down this morning, standing, and woke up after realizing I was blow dreaming! IS that a word? LOL Anyways, I am posting the fruits of my labor and going to bed, really, to BED! I mean it! This is the first time in my life I have stayed up all night twice in a row and didn't lie down for naps etc. I must be nuts.

Speaking of nuts, this cake had none, but was filled with GREEN BUTTERCREAM so it would really have that unique "this cake is the most incredible thing I have ever tasted, but, it looks so *excuse me* blaahhhhhh!!!" *snickers pleased with myself* It was terribly realistic, and gross! I meant to do the whole cake as one huge roach, but as I found, real Madagascar Hissers are too flat to be torted filled cakes of 4" or more. That is why you see the white base holding the chocroach's leggies up.

SO how did I make this? Because I just know you are dying to go make one for yourself right..now... (don't you?) I aim to please!

-I took a 10" square pan, baked a cake, cooled it, cut it in half stacking the removed half on top of the remaining half to make a big rectangle torted and filled with delicious but disgusting looking green bugger-cream. I meant, buttercream. Sorry.

-I proceeded with freezing the cake for a BRIEF period of time (about an hour) to make it stable for carving, then I got a sharp knife and cut myself a bug. It was wild watching sheets of cake fall away, something I would NEVER dare do to my normal cakes! It made me so nervous!

-I finally became happy with my bug base, so I frosted it then covered it with layers of fondant mimicing the Madagascar Hissing Roach's shell. It was fun! It started out pure white, then I hand painted it all with food colorings until it made me want to kill it. Voila!

The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach was my inspi-roach-ion. I am happy with how it turned out, though in the future, should I find myself needing to make another chocroach I will be making it a one layer sheet cake so it can be made without anything underneath showing. I figured the main attraction would not be my crumbcoat, lol, and took a gamble on human nature =) I hope it grossed out many a patrons at the Home and Garden Show this year (Clovis NM) and pray that it encouraged Bobby's prospective clients to hire him so they didn't have to meet the inedible less pleasant versions of this little guy at their homes, without having the win the cake. You know what I mean?

Do you live in Clovis, NM? DO you think this cake is gross? Would you want REAL cockroaches in your home eating your cake? Or would you prefer to eat a cake that looks like them instead of having them over as guests, invited or not! If you don't like the idea of meeting a chocroach MINUS the chocolate, in your own home someday soon, you NEED to call Bobby at Affordable Pest Control! He has taken great care of my family for the entire time we've lived here, and we couldn't be more pleased. In addition to professional service, we gained a true friend.

Bobby falls into the category of being one of the world's few remaining honest and trustworthy businessmen and patriots, running a business, honoring his word, supporting the Vets all around us while charging more than a fair price for his work.

If you need pest control help, please visit his site at http://www.clovisbugguy.com and schedule a consultation to discuss how he can help you to keep your home free of roaches and other unspeakables all year long using ingredients safe for home organic gardeners etc! You'll lose the bugs and gain a friend in the process.

I have one more cake to post tonight then it is time to pass out into my keyboard like garfield in lasagna. Here we go, onward!

Jemoiselle

The Doggie Cake!

This cake was a hoot! I was so happy to make it =) The chocolate fondant, once again, gave me hassle hehe but oh it tasted so good! It was worth the issues it created, I think. I guess I am just a perfectionist! The little boy who received this looked so adorable blowing out his candles, too!

-6"/8" double layer two tier vanilla and chocolate scratch cakes with white and chocolate ganache.

-Fondant accents

-Vanilla almond buttercream

-Hand modeled doggie and bone topper

Until next time!

Jemoiselle

The Mod Baby Shower Cake

This one was my first busy busy print, it was so fun to make! We're looking at an 8", with some funky cake flavors to match the exterior style. One layer is chocolate cake with strawberries in the batter, and the other layer is a vanilla butter cake with blueberries in the batter. Tied together with a chocolate ganache, this was a very rich cake.

Everything is fondant (except for the topper which was simply piped chocolate) with a new inclusion for me this time of using chocolate based fondant for the brown base instead of vanilla fondant colored brown! It was a HUGE upgrade in the flavor department, but unfortunately hard to work as of yet texture wise. I like my fondant to be all satiny, velvety even, matte finished. The chocolate has a somewhat textured appearance, one that I will be working on for my future experiments. Stay tuned! 

Until next time!
Jemoiselle

The Medical Cake

Perhaps the smallest cake I have ever done to date, a 4x6, this one was really special. It was also, technically, lol, my first carved cake aka one that was cut to form a shape other than the pan it was baked in. It was deceptively difficult, because being so small, the cake's height was almost exceeding it's width.

Down to the nitty gritty, this one was a new scratch recipe for me, again being after the holy grail of cake recipes. Toba Garrett was my inspiration for every INGREDIENT element (not style, this is obviously mediocre in comparison hehe)
from the fondant to the butter cake itself, compliments of the book "The Well Decorated Cake". I am studying her and another hero of mine, Rose Levy Beranbaum, like tomorrow isn't coming! Anyhow, it was carved into thinner tortes than I usually do just for effect, I figured being smaller it could use some extra flair lol. It was filled with a ganache, and accented with fondant as usual.

The colors were inspired by the recipient, whom had just graduated from a medical program to become an anesthetist. The colors represent his University =) Happy Birthday to you! I hope it was well received....it was so fun to make!

Until next time,
Jemoiselle

Happy 2nd Birthday to Annaliese!

This cake was so much fun, it just might be my favorite so far of all the cakes I've made! Little Annaliese is turning two, loves Elmo and girlie things...what to do?
I dreamed up this cake and got to work, and am extremely pleased with how it turned out.

-Scratch zucchini cake, 8" and 6"
-Handmade white chocolate ganache filling
-Traditional fondant and marshmallow fondant
-Vanilla Almond buttercream
-Edible opalescent finish

The Elmo was hand modeled out of fondant, as were all the accents.

A HUGE thank you goes out to little Annaliese's family for sharing this special day with me! As always, it was an honor to be a part of it.

Until next time,
Jessie aka Jemoiselle

A Special Baby Shower..

I made this cake for a good friend's baby shower, it was my gift ;) I got to play hostess for the first time ever, and it went well I think!

The cake was a 10'' and 6'' Almond Butter Cake, filled with Semi-sweet chocolate ganache and vanilla buttercream. The fondant was a new kind of fondant for me, normally I make homemade MMF (Marshmallow Fondant) but this time I got crazy and made it from scratch, using a recipe where instead of using marshmallows you use gelatin and effectively make your own. Both are "scratch" recipes compared to buying it in a store, but being the purist I am, I just had to kick it up a notch. It took two tries to get it to come out right, lol.  But, the second time was a charm and we ended up with a lovely cake that everyone enjoyed, including me! How often do I get to eat my own cakes?

Congrats again to Janelle, we're all excited to meet Mr. Dylan any day now!

Until next time,
Jemoiselle aka Jessie

Happy 29th Birthday to a dear friend...

This cake I made for a dear friend's 29th birthday. She is a complete girly girl, so we thought it was fitting to do the whole thing all shimmery with luster dust after this photo was taken!

-Chocolate fudge cake (new VERY moist scratch recipe)
-Homemade semi-sweet ganache filling
-Vanilla Almond Buttercream
-Scratch vanilla butter fondant
-Modeling chocolate roses and pearls, hand formed, hand made

I learned a very useful lesson with this cake, as I got overly confident with my fondant skills and tweaked the recipe to make it easier to knead. It was easy to knead, but the added ease resulted in more kneading, which resulted in more air in the fondant. No matter what I did, it kept getting more air pockets in the finish! I had to use a pin to remove air pockets all the way until delivery...but it worked, and it looked acceptable. SO----to all you working fondant at home, it is stiff as a brick for a reason. Just take the beating on your shoulders, and delight in a smooth finish. Nothing perfect ever comes easy, eh?

Jessie

~Special Birthday and Adoption Day Cupcakes~

I was asked to make these for a friend's two beautiful children. It was a Birthday and an Adoption Day celebration! There were 40 color matching cupcakes in all, but only these two were decorated like this. It was such a HUGE honor! The cupcakes are a scratch recipe chocolate fudge cake, and the frostings are homemade semi-sweet ganache and whipped vanilla-almond buttercream.

Olivia's cupcake, the pink one, is decorated with a white chocolate rose, brushed with luster dust, and topped with a gelatin butterfly, the body of the butterfly including the antennae in their entirety is dark chocolate plastic. The pearls are made from white chocolate as well, rolled in pearl dust. Her name is rolled out of a fondant rope.

Evan's cupcake is covered in the semi-sweet ganache, with a special flag of his home Country, Guatemala. I was asked to make that the theme, celebrating his heritage! The "worry dolls" (little people) were inspired by a story his Momma told me about how they have these little dolls over there, you tell your worries to and place under your pillow to find peace. I tried to recreate those to the best of my ability, they are traditionally made with bits of string, fabric, and sticks inside for support. I used fondant for the flag, and a mix of fondant and modeling chocolate for the dolls. The bananas, a chief export, are both fondant and modeling chocolate as well.

My thanks goes out to the Momma of these two little tots, who put a lot of trust in me today =)  I am so thankful they are all happy with their treats, they could barely contain themselves!

Until next time,

Jessie

A preview of the next project...

I am not going to mention what this is going to go with until after I have delivered the finished product to the lucky recipient...but I just cannot resist posting a little appetizer for you =) Or is it for me? Stay tuned, and without further distraction, enjoy my newest endeavor! Yes, it's all from scratch, and 100% edible-riffic!

Craving Birthday Cake? Chocoholics unite...

Another vacation creation (wasn't I supposed to be NOT working?) but I couldn't help myself! It was the night before I flew back home when Dad started "craving Birthday cake"! I wouldn't have been a good Daughter if I didn't oblige!

This is my always from scratch Devil's Fudge cake, drenched in semi-sweet chocolate ganache. Do I need to say that is homemade too? Didn't think so, just checking. I am so BIG on making everything from scratch, as it is a dying art. 
Truly. I digress. The chocolate on chocolate action wouldn't be complete without more chocolate, the modeling chocolate roses. I have to mention my little sister helped me make this cake and did a fabulous job! If she lived nearby, she would be my right hand gal ;)

Can you smell the chocolate yet?

Jessie

Happy Valentines Day!

 

While I was on vacation I decided to make my family a bunch of chocolate roses for Valentines Day! It was so fun, I got to show my family a bit of what I do in person instead of through photographs on this blog, it was wonderful! I used Ghiradelli chocolate, made it into modeling chocolate and off I went. The smaller roses were wrapped in a beautiful argyle print in pink and green, tied with a ribbon, they were lovely. I love doing stuff like this! I have a feeling in the future I am going to be big into making flowers out of all sorts of edible mediums. This is truly addicting!

Happy Valentines Day!

The Batman Cake!

 

This cake was an amazing feat for me, it is huge! By far the largest I have ever attempted. It was a 14" and a 10" double layer two tier, made with a homemade vanilla almond scratch cake, filled with a decadent semi-sweet chocolate ganache. It was covered in a thick layer of vanilla buttercream then fondant and accented with handmade semi-sweet chocolate plastic, also known as modeling chocolate. It was stacked and then covered with a shimmery dusting of edible glitter to really catch the eye.

I think this little guy is going to be one happy birthday boy! What an incredible learning experience...I feel so much more confident with larger cakes now! My heartfelt thanks goes out to family this was for, they took a big risk on me (I'm a rookie, right?) and I am SOOO glad it paid off and they are happy. She got a fabulous creation for her little love, and I got the most incredible experience I have had yet in assembling large layers and covering them with fondant. It doesn't get any sweeter than that!

Till next time,

Jessie

A baby shower to remember...

This cake is the largest I have done so far, and a challenge it was! I was asked to do this for a good friend of a friend, and it was quite an honor. It was for a baby shower for a sweet little boy who ended up being born days before his shower! Amazing.  I would like to thank you (you BOTH know who you are) for this opportunity and honor. I hope this cake is exactly what you hoped it would be, and made a wonderful shower memory for all of you!


The bottom tier is a triple layered 10" homemade vanilla butter cake with scratch bavarian creme filling. The top tier is a double layered 6" devil's fudge cake with chocolate ganache filling. The cake is covered in buttercream, then fondant, and is topped with a bear I made out of homemade modeling chocolate or chocolate plastic. I used a dark chocolate plastic to make the bows, the ribbon and some of the accents on the cake.

This cake was SO fun to make, but took many days of prep to complete. Yep, I am still a newbie thus this was a multi day event hehe! Here's to hoping I get faster, and soon, before the cakes get so big they take me weeks LOL. =p

Until next time,
Jessie

The Naruto Cake (children's cake)

 

This cake was made for a friend's little one's birthday. He absolutely loves the tv animated show Naruto, so we surprised him with this cake depicting a particular action scene from the show.

-It is made of a homemade buttermilk yellow cake, and covered/filled with homemade vanilla whipped cream frosting.

-The character on the front, however, is made of homemade fondant, and was quite the adventure to make! He is hand carved and hand painted, and the little ball he holds glistens when the sun hits it thanks to edible glitter! (luster dust)  The lettering is made of homemade fondant as well.

I really enjoyed making this cake, and hope it makes his Birthday a special memory this year.

Always,

Jessie

The Argyle Cake

This cake was one I did for a special friend's birthday party. She loves Argyle print, and Earthy colors so I designed this cake as a surprise for her! It's made from double chocolate tort, homemade German chocolate coconut-pecan filling and topped with a handmade dark chocolate "L" monogram. The green "gumballs" were fondant while the brown ones were malted milk balls! I figured they would taste better and add variety to the cake, not to mention make my job easier!

The difficult part for me with this cake was the geometric design, getting it to fit evenly on the round surface, and the fact that I had to make my own stencil for the diamonds out of paper lol and hand cut each one with an exacto-blade. I am sure I could have ordered a cutter online, but it was short notice. It took forever!

This is about learning for me, as much as it is about showing what I can do for potential future clients, and this cake really taught me a great deal about the importance of measuring when doing precise patterns! Next time, I will be much better prepared! Overall, a big success. Happy Birthday Liz!

Take care everyone!
Jessica Marie

Meet the Quintessential Kitty Cat Cake!

This cake I made for my Son's 2nd Birthday party. It was by far the most complicated, long drawn out process I have ever done! It looks so simple, but believe it or not it took me about 9 hours to complete from start to finish. I was still covered from head to toe in sugar and food coloring when the guests started to arrive! Eek! However, this cake was totally worth it. My Son loved it so much he wouldn't eat it at first, opting to whisper sweet nothings in it's ears and meow at it instead! He loved petting it! It was so precious to me.

The cake itself is made out of a vanilla rainbow chip cake mix, yes, I cheated! I knew I had a HUGE task in decorating and assembling this cake in time for the party and just opted on the safe side, being that it was the day of the party!

The body and head are both made out of two layers of cake and are filled with a special homemade dark chocolate ganache filling similar to that which you would find in a truffle center. It was truly decadent!  In addition to being fondant covered, the surface of the cake was sealed prior to, with homemade vanilla buttercream.

-The tail, legs, paws and facial features are all made of fondant

-The facial features were mostly hand painted

-The "coat" is hand marbled fondant (color kneaded in)

-The only parts that were inedible were the wire whiskers, respectively

I so enjoyed sharing this cake with all of my friends and family! This was a very special day I will not soon forget...

Until next time,

Jessica Marie

"The Mighty Cheeseburger Cake"

This is a cake I designed and made for my Husband's birthday this year. It was also my first time working with homemade fondant, and it proved challenging hence the bottom layer not being smooth! I have corrected that issue now, however, and really enjoy working with fondant.

The bottom layer and "bun" are both made of yellow butter cake, with fluffy vanilla buttercream and MMF (marshmallow fondant) in the case of the bottom layer. I decided not to cover the "bun" in fondant because it was supposed to be a bun and was already bread-like without my help! I will never understand why people cover their fondant buns when trying to make realistic burger cakes!

-The mayo and ketchup are colored piped buttercream
-The condiments, fries and gumballs are all made of hand painted fondant
-The "sesame seeds" are pearl colored non-perils
-The "burger patty" was made with dark chocolate fudge brownies

It took me about 4 hours to make, but it was well worth it! I had never attempted to  make a specialty cake before this, and was really shocked when it came out looking like something other than cake! So, here lies the beginning of my adventures with fondant. The next cake I ended up doing really demonstrates how beautiful and smooth fondant can be when you get the hang of it!

See you next time!
Jessica Marie