I really wish I could grow things. I have somehow managed to defy the laws of nature and genetics and have inherited The Jackster’s (non)ability to grow…anything. I mean, I’ve killed bamboo! I’m pretty sure all you have to do to keep bamboo alive is give it water every two weeks or so. And somehow I’ve even failed at that. My poor bamboo is now just one pathetic, withering stalk, sadly hanging on for dear life having outlasted it’s less robust comrades. I once broke an orchid in half taking it out of the plastic container protecting the flower. Plants do not like me.
Lucky for me, rarely does anyone ask me to take care of plants for them. I believe I was once asked to take care of a basil plant and I think we can all guess how that turned out. Warning: do not ask me to take care of plants for you if you actually want to have a living plant when you return.
I have a bit more luck with flowers that are…well…not actually alive. This garden cake was for a first birthday and its myriad of flowers and adorable animals is definitely more my garden style. I only wish I could have actual plants this cheery and fun (and alive), but for now I’ll stick to the cake versions. I feel like they can’t help but put a smile on your face!
Remember that last post I did about this ginormous cake? Well, this is what it turned out to be:
Yup, a First Communion cake! I really enjoyed making this cake. The concept was fairly simple, but I thought the design was quite elegant. The hardest part about this cake for me was the piping. I always get so nervous piping on letters because I’m worried that the letters are going to be too big, or the spacing is going to be off, or I’m going to make a spelling mistake, or the writing will be crooked. Slowly but surely my piping skills are improving though.
The little girl also really wanted a butterfly on the cake. This one was made my pressing fondant into a silicone mold. It was super easy to make, but came out quite nice if I do say so myself.
I made two other cakes this weekend which I will be posting soon…as soon as I stop falling asleep.
Congratulations Valarie on your First Communion!
So it may seem as though I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. I didn’t. I just fell off the face off this blog. It’s been a busy few weeks which I may or may not have mentioned a whole bunch before. Honestly, I’ve just been too tired to bake. But, I’m back! And I’ve baked!
I’ve made this delightfully season-inappropriate cake for our our admin at work. She’s the best. She makes everything work around here. And it’s her birthday! Actually, her birthday was on Saturday, but none of us realized until Friday, so we’re a bit belated.
The cake is a bit spring-y, even though we’re rounding the corner to fall in these parts, but it’s a concept I’ve been wanting to try for a while. I think it came out pretty well if I do say so myself and wasn’t terribly complicated to make.
I started out making some gumpaste daisies. Basically, you just have to roll out the gumpaste really thin and use a daisy shaped cutter. I got bought one of these gumpaste flower kits which shows you how to make a variety of different ones. I roll out my gum paste on a silpat mat.
The flowers are pretty small though, so you use a little wooden stick to sort of flatten out the blossoms a bit. The kit comes with a piece of foam to do it on which allows you to do this without the gum paste sticking to the surface. Each daisy is made up of two flower cutouts plus a little yellow circle for the center.
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So where I did leave you? Waking up at 5:30 AM to see the sunrise? And who thought that would be a good idea? Oh right, the Jackster. So, what happened this morning when my alarm went off at 5:30? We groaned, rolled over, and went back to sleep. And what happened when my alarm went off again at 5:35? I groaned, rolled over, and got out of bed. What did the Jackster do? She groaned, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Thanks mom.
I managed to stumble out there and take a few shots and I’m glad I got up. As I was finishing up, a wedding processional started on the beach near me. It was pretty neat and definitely a beautiful time to get married. You know, except for the it being 5:45 AM part.
We’re on a mission to see all of the notable lighthouses on the Outer Banks. We’ve seen Hattares and Orcacoke already, so this morning we took a brief trip south to the Bodie Island Lighthouse.
I’m sure there are interesting facts about this lighthouse, but I can’t remember any of them at this moment.
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