The Birthdays...

All of this cake nonsense started with my kids' birthdays. When Patrick was turning 2, he had an obsession with Bob the Builder. I found a Bob the Builder cake pan, bought the recommended pastry tips, and the rest is a whole lot of frosting...

More often than not, I end up making birthday cakes. Since I have five kids of my own, there's always a birthday happening for one of them. In addition to my own brood, a few of my friends are repeat customers for their children's birthdays, too.

Here are a handful of the birthday cakes I've worked on lately:

A turtle cake for our neighbor's grandson....

with turtle cupcakes to match!

My dad's 60th birthday cake...

...with cupcakes showing all the ways to celebrate him.

Good friends have a daughter who looks just like Merida from Brave.
People weren't sure if this cake was Merida or Mary. It was a toss-up.

Mary's brother, wanted a Pokemon cake

My oldest just turned 9. He's a huge Celtics fan!

My youngest just turned 2. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted. She said, "My favorite color {yellow}. With a dog. And hearts." It's always nice to have someone be very specific about their design! 

 We've passed most of the family and friend birthdays for the year, but the holidays are coming. I'm sure there'll be a cake or two involved there.


**In the Boston area and want to order? Contact me at thecakebeast@gmail.com

The Hydrangea Cake

This past weekend, my sister-in-law had her bridal shower. Over the last few weeks, the other bridesmaids and I had been making plans for how to decorate the shower. One of the girls made centerpieces of hydrangeas and I figured I could make some kind of cake to complement them.

So I turned to Google, just as I always do when I'm working on a new cake. I Googled "hydrangea cake" and came across a blog called I Am Baker. This blogger just happened to have a picture tutorial of a hydrangea cake that she had made. How perfect!

So - crossing my fingers that I wouldn't screw it up (& be forced to buy a grocery store sheet cake en route to the shower) - I set about making three hydrangea cakes. Each flower had four petals and each cake was covered with roughly 85 million flowers (I might be exaggerating slightly). In other words, it was painstaking work. My left hand was cramped in a really attractive claw when I was all done.

But, it was so worth it! The bride loved the cakes and the decorations the other bridesmaids put together coordinated perfectly!

The cake table

A close-up

A slice of cake

**In the Boston area and want to order? Contact me at thecakebeast@gmail.com. 

The July 4th Lilly Pulitzer Cake

I've already talked about making cakes for Erika. She's definitely my best (sometimes only) customer. Last year, she wanted a cake to take to Martha's Vineyard for the Fourth of July. So I made her this:

Happy 4th of July!

I thought that pretty much fit the bill for Independence Day.

Last month, Erika and I were discussing what she wanted for this year's Martha's Vineyard trip. Every time I showed her a picture of a cake or suggested some red, white, & blue theme, she turned it down. Knowing Erika like I do, I realized that, even though July 4th has its own color scheme, it really isn't her taste.

Jokingly, I said, "What do you want, some Lilly Pulitzer pink and green cake?" That's when her eyes lit up.

So, for the Fourth of July, Erika and her family will celebrate with a pink and green Lilly Pulitzer-inspired cake. Anyone who knows Erika knows it fits her to a T!

Happy 4th of July - Lilly Pulitzer style!

**In the Boston area and want to order? Contact me at thecakebeast@gmail.com

Erika's Cakes - Updated

I have a good friend at work who likes cake. I mean it - she really likes cake. She is single-handedly keeping me in the cake making business. There are some weeks when I find myself making two or three cakes for Erika. Here are just some of the orders she's placed in the last year:

This was her daughter's Minnie Mouse cake. This one started it all!

Erika's husband has a side job as a bartender. I made him a martini shaker and glass.

This baby rattle was for a friend's shower.

This was for Erika's Scrabble-enthusiast mom. I had a tough time with the board & peeled it all off to start over again. Note to self: don't try something new for someone else's cake.

This was for the Fourth of July. I used a napkin as inspiration. It was a ton of piping, but I loved how it came out.

This cake was for Erika's sister. It was actually pink, but my camera is crazy.

A friend needed a Superman cake for her son. Erika ordered it from me.

Anyone who knows Erika knows that she loves Hello Kitty. This was her birthday cake.

She also talked her daughter into having a Hello Kitty party this year!

...with cupcakes to match.

A little Easter cake

A birthday cake for Aunt Charlotte

Thanks to Erika, I'm always busy with cakes. I can count on her for at least one order a month. It's helping me to hone my skills!

**Updated: I added two more of Erika's recent cake orders. I'm sure there'll be more to come!

In the Boston area and want to order? Contact me at thecakebeast@gmail.com. 

Not Your Average Cake Request

People order cakes from my quite often. Usually, the cakes are for a child's birthday party or even a holiday dinner. Occasionally, though, the customer wants a very specific cake. Here are a few that I've made that aren't the most common request:

My boss was using these decorations for her brother's birthday...

...which became my first disco cake!

This one was for someone's older aunt who loves Heineken. I hope, someday, someone makes me a Harpoon IPA cake.

I think it's safe to say that my niece is the only person who will ever make a special request for a "unicorn farting a rainbow." She also requested a topless Abraham Lincoln riding the unicorn, but I know my limitations.

I got an order from a mom who was having a joint party for her young son and older daughter. She told me he likes Transformers and she likes girly stuff. This was my first Transformers/Make-up cake.

 

About a year and a half ago, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with a brain tumor. During the time of the diagnosis and treatment that led to surgery, she decided to name her tumor. Dawn decided that, since she didn't feel you could be intimidated by someone named Stan (sorry to anyone named Stan who's reading this), that was an appropriate name for the tumor. We all joined in and became members of Team KSA (kick Stan's...). Stan was successfully removed and one year later, Dawn threw herself a Staniversary Party. The party was brain-themed. This was for sure my first (and hopefully last) brain cake.

It's disgusting, but it still tasted good!

That's 3-D cake brain, right there.

So there are a few of my more original cake requests. It's always fun when customers keep me on my toes! 

In the Boston area and want to order? Contact me at thecakebeast@gmail.com. 

Sports Cakes

When I started this post, I envisioned there being more. Apparently, I haven't been asked to make too many sports cakes. But here are the few sports-themed cakes I've made:

A Bruins cake for a hockey party

A golf cake for my stepdad

A basketball cake for my son & his friend's joint party

If you'd like to expand my repertoire, order a sports-themed cake: thecakebeast@gmail.com.

Princess Cakes

Here are some of the princess cakes I've done over the years. I find them a little tricky because of their faces. One minute you're piping on lips, the next minute you've made Angelina Jolie. And don't even get me started on the noses (Princess Barbara Streisand)... No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I have made that Ariel cake too so many times!

This was the first of many Ariel cakes. Lucy took it to school. Her poor teacher got stuck cutting and serving it to a bunch of preschoolers. (Sorry, Corkum!)

This was for Lucy's family party. It's also the one I accidentally broiled in the oven briefly. Which is why it looks a little "melty" (& tan).

This was the first cake I ever made for hire.

Then the Ariel orders just kept coming...

This one even had little fishy friends...

We won't mention that I dropped these cupcakes on my way to delivering them.

This was the Ariel I decorated in a hotel room (can't you tell by the soft lighting?). We were doing construction and living in a hotel. I baked at home and brought all of my bowls and frosting ingredients to the hotel. Apparently, I haven't learned to say no.

Finally, Cinderella for a change!

A little Tinkerbell action

Of course, who doesn't love Belle?

These are the princess cakes. I'd love to expand my princess repertoire beyond Ariel... care to order someone new? Contact me at thecakebeast@gmail.com

Well Here It Is...

I've finally gone and made a blog just for the cakes. Here is a place where I can post the latest cakes I've worked on (inevitably at three in the morning) and showcase some cakes from the past. Feel free to share!

If you live in the Boston area and want to order a cake, send me an email: thecakebeast@gmail.com.