Saturday, November 6, 2010

Monsters!



These cakes were so much fun to make! I must admit that I really love what I do, but when cakes like this come along I realize just how much I love my job!



These cakes were inspired by pictures of monster cupcakes given to me by the client. We decided to make them into cakes instead and they turned out great!


  • Green octopus 3-eyed monster is chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream filling

  • Orange, blue haired monster is white cake with strawberry buttercream filling

  • Pink 4-eyed monster is rainbow cake with classic buttercream filling



YUMMY!

Sweetening the World ~ One Cake at a Time

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Whoopie! Whoopie! Whoopie Pies!


I have been noticing the term -"Whoopie Pie"- popping up everywhere lately. And since we are always looking to add new YUMMY treats to our menu I thought I would do a bit of research. Well...uh...they sound pretty much TO DIE FOR! My mind is all a flutter with all of the possibilities and combinations for them....




What are whoopie pies? Basically, a cookie sandwich. Real cookies, cake-like cookies with delicious filling. Buttercream, cream cheese frostings, swiss meringue...ooh the possibilities! Considering the season, with Halloween right around the corner, I decided to make a Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pie. Once everything was said and done, and I took my first bite, I wanted to crawl up into the fetal position calling for my mommy - THEY WERE THAT GOOD!



So...I would like to welcome the Whoopie Pie family to YUMMY Custom Cakes & Treats. We love you!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Wedding Trends 2011
















It is hard to believe that Wedding Season 2011 planning and trending is already beginning - 2010 isn't even done! I think what we are most excited about is the continued appearance of monograms and bling on wedding cakes. Who doesn't love a little bling, especially on a YUMMY masterpiece! Along with the bling is the emergence of bright and colourful cakes. Some couples are saying NO WAY to white cakes and welcoming brightly covered and patterned cakes. Very cool.

Another trend is the unique and custom pieces. Not only are these cakes a wonderful conversation piece, they look amazing in wedding pictures. Think about adding organic elements - tree branches (made form chocolate of course!),leaves, flowers, fruit... A twist to a classic is to off set the tiers of seperate the tiers with some sort of embellishment. (flowers, pictures, cupcakes, fruit,chocolates, etc)

A popular trend is the always pleasing cupcake wedding cake, which places cupcakes on the bottom tiers with a small cake as a top tier (to cut) A great option to enjoy different flavours and no need to cut individual pieces to serve - guests can help themselves!

Of course the continued presence of simple and classic elegance is a hit too. We love the clean lines and bursts of colour - edible or fresh flowers, ribbons to match wedding colours and beautiful swarovski crystals. Simple and classic will always win over the hearts of brides and grooms. (& cake decorators too!)



We have included some of our favorites to check out -



YUMMY Custom Cakes & Treats
Sweetening the World ~ One Cake at a Time










Your Cakes Cost How Much?!?!

This is a subject we have been struggling with since the inception of YUMMY Custom Cakes & Treats. We often do quotes for interested clients, only to hear back that they feel our cakes are too pricey for their needs. And that's fine - we understand that we are not in everyones budget. So we thought we would let our friends know exactly what goes into making a YUMMY masterpiece.

The Ingredients - Our masterpieces not only look good, they taste great. And they taste great due to the extremely high quality ingredients we use. We also strive to use local products - eggs and cream from local farms. Did you know a single high quality vanilla bean imported from South America costs anywhere form $3.00-$6.00 for ONE BEAN? A 3 tier wedding cake could use dozens of eggs, pounds of unsalted butter, and just as much fine sugar and flour. Then there is the filling that uses another few pounds of butter and sugar plus fresh fruit or other flavourings. At YUMMY Custom Cakes & Treats we make our own fondant from scratch which consists of yet another few pounds of sugar and marshmallows.

The Tools - There are many tools involved in creating YUMMY edible masterpieces. Although many are found in a typical kitchen, many are not. We use extremely high grade cake pans, parchment paper and commercial mixers. We also have a double convection oven that we use to accommodate the larger size pans that are used in larger tiered cakes. In order to make our edible sugar flowers, specialty tools, cutters and rollers are required. There is also the super fun (& expensive) airbrush. Although YUMMY Custom Cakes & Treats does not have this awesome-super-cool tool as of yet, we will soon!

The Supplies -YUMMY Custom Cakes & Treats uses a variety of cake boards to display our masterpieces. These boards are either covered in fondant, high grade foil, fabric covered in contact paper or pretty much anything our clients request. These prices are typically included in our prices. Our smaller masterpieces are delivered in specialty cake boxes which are specifically designed to transport food products.

The Time - This is the biggest factor in our prices. The average custom cake takes anywhere from 15 hours up to 50 hours to create. Sugar flowers can take up to 2 hours to create ONE flower. Custom cakes are very time consuming and we value the time it takes to create these masterpieces.

We hope this helps to explain why our prices are what they are - typically beginning at $3.00/serving. In comparison to other cake decorators in the area we are about middle of the road. We are not the cheapest and we are not the most expensive. As the old adage says, "You Get What You Pay For!"

Drop us a line or check out our website - we are looking forward to creating a YUMMY masterpiece for you soon!

www.yummycustomcakes.com
yummycustomcakes@hotmail.com

Or click on our Facebook badge!

Sweetening the World -
One Cake at a Time

Friday, September 3, 2010

More Cupcakes!
















Just a glimpse of some YUMMY cupcakes that we have been creating...

Classic & Elegant


This wedding cake was most definately one of my favorites so far. The bride was extremely kind and wonderful to work with, the floral designer (cattleya chic in Red Deer, Alberta - check them out) created beautiful pieces to adorn the cake and the photographer (Andrea Wiseman Photography in Red Deer, Alberta) took gorgeous pictures of the cake. It is always nice to return the roots of clean, classic and elegant wedding cakes.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Bra-ha-ha-ha!


Seriously - the title says it all. We were contacted to do a very specific cake for a young lady. It was going to be for her mom and the gist was - "{moms name} is turning {moms age} - Lets give her some support!" When I saw the request I couldn't say no. The daughter was on a tight budget but we made it work for her. At YUMMY! we get just as excited about the custom cakes we create as our friends receiving them. No matter the budget, we will make it work. Very fun cake - would definitely do this again!

Cake Details:



  • Red Velvet Cake

  • Cream Cheese Filling

  • Marshmallow fondant covered

  • Gumpaste/fondant mix for bra

  • All other embellishments are fondant.

**I used another Chef Duff product - this time on the bra to make pretty pattern. Love you Chef Duff!**

Friday, June 11, 2010

Breast Cancer Awareness


I was asked to donate a cake to a women's cancer fundraiser this weekend. I thought it would be a great opportunity to not only give back, but to display my business. Win-win situation! I believe the idea is to auction the cake off, I hope it is successful and helps this wonderful cause.


Cake Details:

  • White almond cake
  • Milk chocolate whipped ganache filling
  • Covered in almond buttercream
  • Marshmallow fondant embellishments - ribbons.

YUMMY!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

I Heart Cherry Blossoms


I have been waiting for an excuse to make a cherry blossom inspired cake and FINALLY! This order was last minute and the spectrum of decoration was completely left to me. (Customer - "Do whatever, nothing too fancy." - YES!) So I thought I would try a few things. This was the first cake I covered in buttercream to attempt to do in smooth finish instead of marshmallow fondant. I think it turned out great! I do need much more practise but I am happy with the results. The stems were made from modelling chocolate and I really REALLY like using it. It is like fondant but hardens much quicker. I am going to start working with it to make flowers again. The flowers are fondant with sugar pearls as centers. I will definitely use this motif again, I love the way it turned out.
Cake Details:
  • Cake was a classic white/vanilla cake
  • Filling was lemon buttercream
  • Covered with classic buttercream
  • Embellishments are modelling chocolate (stems) marshmallow fondant (flowers)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

ROAR! Dinosaur Cake


This dinosaur was quite hilarious and fun to make. The intention was for it to be a scary dinosaur but it turned out to be more cartoon-like.

I have been experimenting with carving cakes a lot more lately and this cake was a hit. I also used rice cereal for the first time to aid in the carving. I tried to imprint a scale-like look on the fondant but the batch I made must have been too elastic as the impression of the scales stretched and mostly disappeared once placed on the cake. I tried to imprint again while on the cake - but that started to look worse. So I stopped while I was still ahead!


The imprint mat I used on the fondant was a cobblestone print from Chef Duff - I really liked it and will definitely use it again! What can I say - I have a bit of a crush on Chef Duff - what cake decorator doesn't?!?!

Cake Details:
  • Cake was a vanilla cake - I made the cake into a rainbow cake on the inside
  • Filling was classic butter cream
  • Head and tail were made from rice cereal
  • Entire project covered in marshmallow fondant
  • All embellishments were fondant
**I have been asked what brand of fondant I use. I don't. I make everything from scratch - cake, butter cream, fondant, fillings, etc.**


Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Cupcakes Cupcakes Cupcakes - Horray!




I am starting to get really excited about all the cupcake orders coming up - this is a picture of a simple cupcake "cake" for a bridal shower. Had to experiment with my regular cake stand to accommodate the cupcakes instead and hold the shape of tiers. I found these beautiful ice cream sundae dishes to place between the tiers. I think it turned out great! For the weddings coming up this summer, the stands will be larger to accommodate the large amount of cupcakes required, but this one was perfect for 25. I will also experiment with the bases. Instead of using plain white boards, I will use glass or cover the boards to match wedding colours. It would be cool to find a way to light candles in the tier separators somehow. I am going to start building my own stands I think...
And...the cupcakes were absolutely delicious! I altered the Lemon Cake recipe slightly and - oh me, oh my! - what an absolute YUMMY taste paired with the vanilla buttercream. This was a perfect combination for a bridal shower!

Cupcake Details:

  • Lemon cupcakes - new recipe - delish!
  • Vanilla Buttercream - swirled - delish!
  • Topped off with lemon sugar granules - delish!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

FORE!


A golf ball birthday cake. The missing element in the picture was a flag with the birthday message. This cake was made with a sports ball pan, covered in fondant and then the details were added once the fondant settled a bit. The logo was added with edible marker - gotta love those edible markers! The grass was a pain in my - you know what! But the final result was awesome and well worth the hand cramps. I am going to look for a larger grass tip for these types of finishing details.


Cake Details:

  • Red Velvet Cake
  • Cream Cheese Filling
  • Crumb coated with butter cream
  • Homemade Marshmallow fondant
  • Grass is green tinted butter cream

All ingredients are homemade and from scratch.

YUMMY!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Royal Flush!




This poker cake was an absolute blast to do! A first for so many things -

First time using edible marker on fondant - loved it! Great tool to do small jobs that require fine details. I wish I could have displayed the cards more as the detailing turned out awesome.


First time using chocolate ganache under fondant instead of buttercream - great technique as the finish was smooth and the application was easier than buttercream. However, I am wondering about the taste. It may have been too sweet.


I am struggling with the letter cutters. They seem boring and the fondant is REALLY hard to get out of the cutter. I need to find a better way to use letters on my masterpieces. May be time to go back to my roots and do everything by hand.



Cake details:


  • Cake was classic white.

  • Filling was milk chocolate ganache.
  • Crumb coated with dark chocolate ganache.
  • Covered in marshmallow fondant.
  • All embellishments were marshmallow fondant.

The entire cake was handmade from scratch, including fondant, and completely edible.