Goodbye Cakes (for now)

With graduation quickly approaching, I've had absolutely NO time to play with cakes! So instead I'm going to change my blog title from "Nichole's Cake Adventure" to "Take Flight!, A Journey Through My Life" (...until I think of something better). Instead of focusing specifically on my adventure through mycakeschool.com, my subject matter is going to be completely open.

And since I have a whopping THREE faithful followers, I feel the need to address this change!

(you're welcome!) :)

Also, because I don't believe any blog post is complete with out a photo, here's one from my last drawing project. Our assignment was to "draw outside."

My First Cake!

I made my first cake! (with the guidance of mycakeschool.com) I decided to make a pumpkin spice cake because pumpkin is my favorite flavor!

It took me three days to make this cake... but keep in mind I'm a full time student and work part time! It didn't come out exactly how I had envisioned, but it was DELICIOUS! I learned a lot and I'm excited for the next one. ( : I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for marshmallow fondant so I think that will be my next project.

With my left over cake batter I was also able to make a few cupcakes. I piped chocolate onto a cute rosette template I found on marthastewartweddings.com and made a little topper! Super cute!

ps. Here's the Martha rose cake: (I'll get to this level one day!)

Cakes, Cakes, Cakes!

I LOVE looking at other cake blogs and websites to gain inspiration but mostly to drool over how amazing they are! Here are my top 5 favorite cakes out on the web right now:

1. The Marie Antoinette Cake

By: Cake As Art

Featured On: www.australiaentertains.com.au2. Embroidered Lace and Appliqued Wedding Cake

By: Ron Ben- Isreal

Featured On: marthastewartweddings.com

3. Daisy Wedding Cake

By: Gail Watson of New York City

Featured On: marthastewartweddings.com

4. 60's Inspired Tie-Dye Cake (With Matching Cake Stand!)

By: Cake by Colette's Cakes

Featured On: brides.com

5. "Springtime 106"

By: Sweet Dispositions Cakes

Featured On: flickr.com/photos/ohyum/

Cake Pop Fail

My sister Katrina and I decided on red velvet cake. (we used the Duncan Hines box, I'm not ready for a scratch cake yet!) After we cooked and cooled the cake, we crumpled it into a large bowl and mixed in a tub of Duncan Hines Buttercream icing. We rolled the cake/icing mixture into balls but missed a crucial step! You're supposed to freeze the balls for around 15 minutes before you dip them into the melted candy wafers! Oops! Our first one fell completely apart! So we ran to the computer and re-read the directions. After freezing the cake balls we were able to coat five pops. We chose to stick with the original white color of the wafers, while we got the hang of it, with plans to decorate them later. I threw those yellow sprinkles on one to claim it as mine!

So we were feeling pretty good and decided to add some food coloring to the candy melts to play around with color but when we went to re-heat them, the mixture started getting thick and chunky instead of thin and drippy. Needless to say, we gave up. It was getting late and Vampire Diaries was about to come on! There was at least one for each of us, including my roommates, to have. And they were delicious!

Hobby Lobby

So I went into Hobby Lobby the other day and decided to just go take a look at the Wilton/ cake decorating section. As someone who is new to baking, I currently own 1% of the tools I will be needing. (basically a spatula) I was overwhelmed! There are soo many choices! I probably stood in the isle, dumfounded for a good 15 mins. Since my sister wants to make cake pops, as seen on bakerella.com, I ended up getting:

• Lollipop Sticks
• Vanilla Flavored Candy Wafers (to coat the cake balls)
• An 11in Straight Spatula
• Some Disposable Decorating Bags
• A Few 8in Cake Boards
• And A Rotating Cake Stand

And the most awesome part was, they were all 30% off! Yay! Now I'm off to make cake!