Goodbye to Hockey for the summer

Our boys are Sports nuts! They both play Hockey in the winter for our local House League and Soccer in the summer for the local teams. Out of the 12 months in the calendar year, we have about 1 month "free" with no sports activity. Although this year the Stanley Cup Finals are still being played so they are getting their Hockey "fix" that way.

Our boys have only been playing hockey for 2 years now and both years they each have been blessed with absolutely incredible Coaches! I could never find the words to ever tell each of them how great they have been to both of our boys. It takes such a dedicated man to do the kind of extra work that is needed to coach a bunch of enthusiastic youngsters on skates!

The boys asked me to bake a cake for the kids on their team, but when I found out that both of their final games were at 7 & 8 am...I didn't think that cake for breakfast was such a great idea so we went with cupcakes instead. Wyatt's team was the Green Eagles and Keegan's was the Killer Bees so I found some coloured sugar and made up some vanilla cupcakes and let the sugar be the decoration. I left the arena that last morning with an empty tray so I think they were a success!

Wyatt's Canadian Pride

Our youngest turned 7 this past September and with all the cakes he was watching me make everyone else, who can blame him for wanting in on the action too. We spent some time figuring out what his vision for his birthday cake was going to be and it was surprisingly a Canadian Flag! He loved it so much, who am I to try and understand why he wanted it-he just did! It sure would make an awesome cake for Team Canada game or for Canada Day too!

We took off to a local Glow in the Dark mini putt place and with a bunch of 7 & 8 year olds we decended on them. The boys had a great time and the kids said the cake tasted great and the Mom's thought it looked so good and was a great idea. What else can I ask for??

August Birthdays

August in my family is a very busy one, and I have found a few other families that have months in their calendar year that are just as crazy! In the month of August, there is 1 Anniversary and 4 Birthdays. So ever since I was a teenager my Mom, my sister & I have always just had one big family celebration. We have a big family dinner together, my Dad cooks ~the poor guy, and we make up the menu! Each year we all switch around what part of the meal we pick, to keep it fair. Two years ago my sister & her husband blessed our family with a new daughter and added another birthday to the group so in a few years we'll add her to our celebration as well. We want to be sure that she has her own spotlight for a while before she shares it with us.

So since I have been making cakes and getting more adventerous with decorating them I volunteered to make our cake for our big party this year. I spent a few days trying to figure out some things that tied us all together besides being Mother & child. The three of us love to sew, cook, bake, travel and we love the West Coast.

When I was younger my Dad was transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia. We lived there for just under 3 years before we were transferred away to Montreal, Quebec. Over the years we have gone back for a visit and maintained contact with close friends we made while living there. My sister & her husband were lucky enough to go back to Alberta to live for a few years also.

I got a plan together for our cake, I bounced some ideas off of Ryan and set to work. I found some images that reminded me of our time in BC and had them printed off onto Fondant sheets and used them to create a quilt. I thought it would be easier to make the cake look like a bed with the finished quilt over it than to try and make a quilter's frame, since it will look more like a finished product to me that way.

I also wanted to add some letters to the cake as well. I have 2 reasons for wanting the Airport Codes on the cake, one because we love to travel, and two because my husband Ryan is an Aircraft Engineer, and my sister's husband Ian, is an Air Canada Pilot. So I thought it would be fun to add in the Airport Codes for some of the airports in the West as well. I cut out the letters in Fondant and attached them to the cake board.

Our boys love to help me in the kitchen so they helped me fill it, dirty ice it, make the "pillows", and cut out some of the letters. They are so proud of their hard work and tell everyone they see that they helped and what they did!

I love the finished product & so did everyone else!

Dora Birthday Cake

Well, there was no avoiding it anymore! My sister, Cori, asked me to make a Birthday cake for her girls who were turning 4 & 2 and absolutely adore Dora the Explorer. Cori found a picture of a cake she wanted and asked me to make some changes which I was happy to do. After looking at the cake I realized there is no way that I could do this cake properly with only buttercream, I had to try Fondant again.

I've tried Fondant 2 times before and had no success. I was sincerely hoping that the third time would work. I figured if it all went pear shaped that I could always get an ice-cream cake. I did lots of research both at the library & online and I think I finally figured it out. I must have been rolling out the Fondant too thin. Everytime I used it in the past it either cracked like crazy or simply broke apart into these little pieces. I kept visualizing the guys from "Cake Boss" and Duff Goldman from Charm City Cakes and I couldn't understand what I was missing. Then I read in a book that the Fondant had to be at least 1/8-1/4" thick and I knew that had to be where I was going wrong!

So I figured out how much Fondant I would need and all the colours and off I went to the Bulk Barn and then to Michaels. I had some stuff already but I found the coolest Fondant roller with a spacer to let me know when I was at the right thickness. So off I went & it worked! I couldnt' believe it, I showed Ryan & I seriously coudn't stop smiling! I know it seems so silly but it was something that I had been struggling with for so long and I finally mastered it, it was all simply too thin~who knew??

Once I got the red all over both layers, there was a tiny bit of small cracks appearing which I started to get concerned about. Ryan ran downstairs and "googled" it and then told me that all I had to do was rub a tiny bit of shortning in the crack & surrounding area & voila!! When it came time to decorate it was so fun, I added stripes, stars, and then I added some balls of Fondant and it was done. I was so excited that it was done & so proud of myself at the same time, I persevered and I succeeded.

My sister & her girls loved the cake & that is the best kind of payment anyone could ever ask for.

Keegan's 10th Birthday

It's a special day when you turn "double digits" I remember when I turned 10 we were living in Vancouver BC and I got my first 10-speed bike. My days in Vancouver were magical, some of the best memories of my childhood were there. Vancouver is and will always be home for me, even if I wasn't born there. Anyway, Keegan turned 10 this year; who knows where the time has gone! I've turned into one of "those" Moms forever remembering what he looked like when he was born, when he was 1 or 2 or his first day of Kindergarten etc, etc, etc~poor kid!! And to put salt on my wounds Keegan thought it was absolutely hilarious to rub it in! He started about 3-6 months before his birthday, and of course I had to make it extra dramatic for him! There was lots of laughs when it was happening, but when he'd stop I would find myself just looking at him & wondering where did the time go??

So this year he wanted to have a party with his friends, we couldn't figure out what to do-no Chuck E Cheese, no movie, no party at home, no to some of the other ideas we had. Then I remembered years ago when we were living in Cambridge I rented a Group Camping Area at our local park, so I called Darlington Provincial Park. Sure enough we could rent a site for the entire day for very little money. So we were off & running! Keegan decided on the games we'd play & the food we'd serve; all I had to do was figure out a cake.

Last year I made him a "skateboard" cake. I made it in the rough shape of a board and put all kinds of logos on it. He loved it, and I think it turned out kinda neat. It could of been better if I did a few things differently, but you know what they say about hindsight & all.

So this year with being outside and the challenges of our early summer weather in May, I was a bit concerned about keeping the cake cool enough. I suggested Cupcakes to him and he loved it. He picked out Vanilla cake with Vanilla icing, his favorites. I just used some coloured liners and some fun sprinkles & done! He loved them & so did his friends, that's all I ever wanted!

Happy Birthday Keegan!! Love you, Mom xo

My Grandmother's 91st Birthday

In early April my beatiful Grandma turned 91 years young. My Mom asked me to make a cake for her, which I was honoured to do. Mom selected a Vanilla cake with Lemon filling. I will admit to being slightly intimidated by the thought of making this cake. I knew that whatever I made, even if it was a complete disaster my wonderful Grandma would eat every bite and brag about it to everyone. But still, it had to be perfect!

I was still a bit unsettled after trying to make Alyssa's cake and it not turning out the way I had wished it would, I wanted to challenge myself, but I also didn't want to pull out my hair over it either! I did some thinking and looking around and I found a "how to" on making a cake in the shape of a purse. They filled me with enough confidence I just had to do it! It was, easier than I thought it would be. I got some floral wire and some jewelery beads and I was all set. I made the cake in a round cake pan, filled it, cut it in half, stood it on end, iced it & done~except for the decorating. I made a quilted design on the surface of the purse to help the look, and drew the Channel logo on the bottom to complete it.

Happy Birthday Grandma, I only wish I could find the words to tell you how much you mean to me. I love you always. xoxo

Happy 1st Birthday Alyssa

In August of this year my niece turned 1, and as seems to be the tradition with my Sister she asked me to make up the kid's cakes which of course I'm always thrilled to do! She asked for Vanilla cake with Strawberry filling, I thought that it would be no problem to find a fantastic recipe for Strawberry filling--geez little did I know how difficult it would turn out to be! My first stop was a fantastic website I've found dedicated to cakes, decorating them, recipes for them, tips and suggestions from other bakers. I found no recipe for Strawberry filling, not even Raspberry. I figured if I could find a Raspberry or other "berry" filling I'd just swap it out; nope! So I checked other places online, checked the library--nothing!

After many years of watching me make cakes & sweets up for people Ryan has seen me up until all hours of the night covered in icing or flour kicking myself in the butt for not starting this project sooner and saving myself the panic. He delicately suggested that since the cake was "due" on Sunday how about if I started it on Thursday? That way I could bake it Thursday & decorate it on Friday and still have 1 more day in case a catastrophe happens. Which I thought was a great idea & I'm sure I looked at him like he'd just discovered the wheel or something! I took his suggestion to heart and sure enough it turns out I needed it!

When I imagined doing this cake for Alyssa I wanted to try Fondant. The Italian men on Cake Boss make it look so easy, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not a complete novice in the kitchen, I do know how to decorate cakes, not to the extent that Buddy Valastro does, but I figured that with some research & some time on my hands I might just figure it out. I got all the stuff, read all kinds of tips & instructions and excitedly got to work. Sadly it didn't work out. I was disappointed but OK with doing up a Buttercream icing. I had also wanted to make up some Building Blocks to decorate the top of the cake, I was going to cover them in Fondant as well, they didn't make it either.

Our 2 boys have also watched me make up cakes & sweets for people and our oldest is very curious about the whole process. He asked me if he could help me, I decided to make up a little cake just for Alyssa to have & eat all on her own and Keegan could help me with that one. Well of course whatever the big brother wants to do the little brother does as well! And when Alyssa's cake was all done they were very proudly telling everyone that they made & decorated this cake just for Alyssa!

So the end result of the cake turned out to be great, I think! It finished off being a Vanilla cake with Strawberry flavored Buttercream icing in the middle, covered in white icing with lots of pretty pink flowers decorating the sides & the top of the cake. It wasn't exactly what I had pictured her cake to be, but I think it looks pretty good!