Knitting Basket Cake for Mom

Knitting Basket Cake for Mom

I did this knitting basket cake for my mom. She makes Christmas Stockings for everyone with their name on it. Learn how to create this cake from the pros! To Learn more on cake decorating visit our other site The YummyArts.

Adventure Time Dog Jake Cake

Adventure Time Dog Jake Cake

Cake Decorating from the Adventure time dog Jake cake. Made by one of the members of CakeDecorating.com. Learn how create this cake from the pros! To Learn more on cake decorating visit our other site The YummyArts.

Jame’s Circus Birthday Cake Decorating Ideas

Jame’s Circus Birthday Cake Decorating Ideas

This Circus birthday cake was a two tiered carrot cake with the top tent made with rice crispy treats covered with fondant. Learn how to create this from.. To Learn more on cake decorating visit our other site The YummyArts.

Delightful Mothers Day Cake Ideas

Here are some Delightful Mothers Day Cake Ideas to choose from. Either you want to do it for your beloved mom or you want it for yourself. I will help you in any way. And if you wanted to learn more of our Cake Decorating, just visit our video tutorials from the YummyArts and I’m sure you will never regret it.

How to make this Encyclopedia Book Cake

My sister called me and asked if I could make a cake or cupcakes for her daughter’s school.  They were celebrating a program they complete called “Operation Read.”  My sister suggested cupcakes because it “was easier,” or even a ½ sheet cake.  “Something simple,” she said, as she knew she was volunteering me.  I assured her she would get a very nice surprise. Learn how to make this encyclopedia book cake.

You might ask, “how can you promise such a thing? You are a part-time cake decorator, and I know I have never seen you on one of those cake TV shows.”  While all that is true, I have all I need to get the job done.  Some may call me an overachiever.  I, on the other hand, don’t think so.  I just simply go to YummyArts, and see what they have in their store that would fit the bill.

As expected, I found a few book-themed cakes.  One was an open book I could adapt to their school ‘Operation Read’ theme.  I also found a few stacked books with a graduation cap on top.  “Perfect!” I thought……until I saw the ‘Top of the Class’ Encyclopedia Cake!  Score!

My next job was to figure out how to adapt the cake to the school’s program.  That is what I love about YummyArts; even if I can’t find the exact video I need, there is always one I can adapt, or use parts of to make my own creation.  That is exactly what I did here.  I would make the books out of school colors, and instead of a graduation cap, a baseball cap would work well.  A few more subtle changes, and I have a cake fit for those student who earned this celebration.

Watching Susan Carberry’s video, I was able to create an adorable cake which impressed the students.  I was impressed by how absolutely fun the video was.  It was a “live class” that was recorded with many YummyArts members present via the internet.  Not only was the interaction between Susan and the YA members fun, but I also enjoyed the tips and tricks she offered. One tip I thought was genius, is when you are painting gold accents on cakes (like letters, for example,) cut them out of fondant that is the same color as the cake.  That way, you only have to paint the top – the rest of it blends in nicely with the cake.  Not only is it less messy, but it also saves a lot of time. Gotta love those time savers!

Susan teaches you how to cover book cakes in fondant, adding details like the impression of pages and binding! I am learning that details really “sell” a cake.  They separate the cake decorators from the cake artists.  But leave it to Susan to not just cover books.  As usual, she takes it to the next level, and gives one of the books arm, legs, and a face.  Too cute for words!

With such a large video library at hand, I just don’t hesitate in accepting most orders anymore.  When I get an order, I go to the YA store or library and check out what they have to offer.  With such easy step-by-step instructions, I come out victorious every time.  Does that make me an overachiever? Certainly not!  It makes me a WINNER!

Picture-Perfect Cake Topper Ideas

Even if you’re new to cake decorating or an engaged couple on a budget, all you need are some basic cake decorating skills or a little time to shop online. You’ll soon have a cake that has everyone wanting to take a picture! Hence, I will give you my Picture-Perfect Cake Topper Ideas.

The quickest way to gather ideas for creating a cake topper or to find the perfect one to purchase is to window shop the Internet. Search with phrases such as “funny wedding cake topper,” “wedding anniversary cake topper,” etc. If you’re not sure where to start, here are a few examples:

· Hand-blown and spun glass cake toppers. Gold highlighted and sparkly or smooth and sleek, many of these are incredibly beautiful. A cake topper depicting a bride and groom ice-skating on top of a snowflake wedding cake is one of our favorites!

· Silver, gold or Swarovski crystal monograms (and numbers for birthdays and anniversaries)

· Sporty cake toppers can depict a bride and groom aboard a sailboat, riding horseback, roaring away in his and her race cars, and… well you get the picture.

· Humorous cake toppers include figures made in cartoonish likenesses of the betrothed and the popular resin figurines with bride and groom in formal wear acting out titles such as “The Tiff” and “Now I Have You.”

· Vintage cake toppers can be quite lovely – and interesting! Check out the reviews of Penny Henderson’s book, “Vintage Cake Toppers” at Amazon.com to get an idea of the possibilities.

· Character cake toppers are big hits with young children and brides and grooms. Mickey and Minnie at the altar, Winnie the Pooh and Friends on a child’s honey pot, sculpted birthday cake are a couple of examples.

· Fresh fruit (grapes, kumquats, etc.) or sugar-crystallized fruit arranged in an extravagant display can make a pretty picture! (Use whole fruit so there’s no danger of juice running into your icing).

· Castles – the sky’s the limit here! Your castle cake topper can be the top of a sculpted castle cake or a glass, fairy castle. Castle cake toppers are often requested for wedding and birthday cakes, as well as special theme cakes such as renaissance.

· Here’s a real attention grabber – a topsy-turvy cake with a cake topper that teeters over the edge. For example, a teapot with dormouse on a Mad Hatter cake or two figurines depicting mountain climbing bride and groom.

· Miniature toys. Here’s another simple way to make an amazing cake topper. One idea is to place a rotating doll stand on top of a tiered or stacked birthday cake. Then add a cute toy train, such as Thomas, or a carousel with pretty white horses in pink halters, and your cake will be a big hit

· Polymer clay cake toppers can add a great deal of meaning, fun or both to a cake. You can find companies online that create them in realistic likenesses of the bride and groom sharing an activity (ballroom dancing, golfing, you name it!) You can also find generic but adorable ones, such as the hula bride and groom at in Rebecca Russell’s “Round Head” collection athttp://www.rebeccarusselltoppers.com/brides_and_groom.htm

· Flowers – place a bouquet of white lilies, beautifully molded with gum paste or a bouquet of real orchids on top of the cake and then add a few around the cake (using flower spikes), some pretty borders, and you’ll have an amazingly beautiful cake.

Here’s a tip for using flowers as a cake topper. Take into consideration the size of the cake. Tiny flowers can be used on a large cake, but if used on their own, they’ll be lost. Conversely, large flowers like bird-of-paradise will dwarf a smaller cake. Also, as with any cake topper, consider the style and formality of the event. Daisies are more casual than roses, while stephanotis can swing either way.

Here are a few ideas for flower cake toppers:

· With a bouquet of flowers on top of the cake, arrange a few clusters of flowers here and there on the lower tiers as if a few blossoms have gracefully fallen from the bouquet.

· A gum paste plumeria or orchid lei encircling bride and groom figurines.

· Adorn your cake only with edible (non-poisonous) flowers, being sure that the flowers are also pesticide-free.

Many of these Picture-perfect cake topper ideas and tips come from “Cake Decorating Made Easy!“ Here’s what one reader said about our Video Books:

“I highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys baking, decorating and the feeling of accomplishment when everyone crowds around your cakes for a closer look.”

Joanne R., Windsor, Ontario, Canada

And here’s one more cake topper tip: Be sure that your cake topper is positioned well on the cake. Use an ornament base or a plate underneath a cake topper so it won’t sink into the cake. Attach small decorations to the cake or plate with royal icing and/or flower spikes.

Baby Shower Cake Decorating Ideas

There’s nothing more precious than a newborn baby. So to make your baby shower cake fittingly sweet, here are some baby shower cake decorating ideas. First consider the theme of the baby shower. If you are planning the shower, you could even plan the theme around the cake. Do keep in mind Mom’s preferences. If she has colors and a theme picked for the nursery, this could be your cue. Here are a few of the most popular baby shower themes, followed by cake decorating ideas to match, along with a recipe.

Nursery rhymes: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is especially popular and works well with themes that use blue. The “Little Star” also makes a nice metaphor for the new baby. Whatever nursery rhyme theme you choose, make it a lighthearted and positive one.

Baby Animals: Ducklings like many other baby animals are popular for obvious reasons. The yellow ducky gets extra votes for being one of baby’s first bathtub toys. Cute and cuddly, the teddy bear is also a popular theme. And what could be sweeter than a newborn lamb, other than the baby on his or her way?

Butterfly: It’s hard to miss the analogy here, and like many of the above themes, butterfly themes can be any color, from gentle pastels to bold and bright.

Baby Blocks: Perhaps one of the reasons this theme is so popular, besides the fact that blocks are a classic learning toy for babies and young children, is that the blocks can spell out baby shower messages on invitations and cake. Also, pictures on blocks often depict cute baby animals or bright and cherry things with names that begin with each block’s letter, like an airplane with a cute face.Perhaps one of the above inspired a cake design idea. If not, here are some cute ideas to use as is or to jumpstart your own.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Cake – A cake covered with soft blue fondant (we recommend marshmallow fondant ) or buttercream makes a pretty background for a fondant cut-out or piped icing depicting the “Little Star.” Add a cheery face to the star with the blue or another color, and pipe a cute message.

Yellow Ducky Cake – This can take its form from a novelty cake pan, or because it’s such a simple design, a quarter or half sheet cake could be trimmed into the shape of the duckling. Another idea: pipe the outline of a pond onto a cake, fill with blue gel or buttercream and then add piped or marzipan modeled yellow ducks to the pond. For a fun play on “shower,” add some raindrops and make the pond a rain puddle.

Butterfly Cake – Decorate the baby shower cake with a whimsical flower garden and add butterfly picks (from a craft store). The flowers could be piped with icing, modeled with marzipan or molded with gumpaste molds. A really cute addition would be a baby crawling among the flowers and butterflies, especially if the flowers are on stems, depicting a real garden.

Petit Four Baby Blocks – These are perfect for a baby shower tea! Petit fours are often made with almond flavored cake, filled with fruit preserves, and then covered with poured fondant* and decorated.

Each baby block could be decorated with a buttercream piped letter on top. These could be arranged on a pretty cake board to spell out your baby shower message. The other petit fours could be decorated with cute pictures of nursery items such as teddy bears, rattles, baby clothes, and such. Stack in an attractive arrangement behind the message. *Poured FondantPetit Four Fondant

• 2 pounds sifted powdered sugar (8 cups)
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons clear vanilla or almond flavor.
• Food color (optional)

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the food color, in a saucepan. Warm the mixture over low heat just until the sugar dissolves and becomes smooth. If you want to tint your fondant, add the food coloring, one drop at a time. Use very sparingly because a little color goes a long way and will darken as it dries. Keep the icing warm while in use, but don’t let it go over 100 degrees F. You can either dip or pour fondant to cover cakes.

This recipe and many of the above tips and baby shower cake decorating ideas are adapted from “Cake Decorating Made Easy!“ Here’s what one reader had to say about our Video Books:

“Anyone could learn from these…you don’t have to already know anything about cake baking to learn from this series – they are fool proof.” K. Bryan, Anniston, Alabama.

And here’s one more tip from our Video Books for your Baby Shower Cake: If you make the petit fours with poured fondant, store in a covered cardboard box in a cool dry place such as an air-conditioned room, or if they contain perishable fillings, in the refrigerator.

However, fondant will soften or dissolve with a build up of condensation, so allow your petit fours to gradually warm up to room temperature. It’s best to place them in an air-conditioned room but if that’s not possible, set them up in front of a clean fan, for an hour or two and the gentle blowing breeze should dry up any extra moisture.