Fondant to 5k and everything inbetween...

I would have posted the end result of last night, well, last night, but after the baking aftermath of powdered sugar covered counters, stained hands, and flour covered clothing, so I was pretty dang exhausted. After finishing up the Easter explosion of two thousand and eleven. I then had to go running to train for the 5k I entered myself into. For the record, taste testing cakes is not conducive to running for a mile and a half. After kicking my butt at training, I got home at 10:30 at night. Fortunately, I have a warm hearted grandmother who cleaned up the chaotic kitchen for me while I was gone, bless her heart, so that I could get some sleep seeing as how I had to wake up at 7:00 the next morning for my college algebra class. Oddly enough, after such late night and early wake up call I am in a fantastic mood! My cake turned out amazing and I got some fantastic news from my boyfriend this morning. Guess who is going to go see her favorite baseball team play in a month...this girl! So, not only am I inspired to make a Houston Astros themed cake for him, I am also giddy with excitement!

I know what you're thinking, 'Enough rambling! We want pictures!' Who am I to keep the people from what they want? Here is how last night turned out!

I used a homemade vanilla/white cake recipe. My usual butter cream was used for filling and frosting. The figures on top are made from fondant and food coloring. Tooth picks were used to secure the wings of the duck and the ears to the rabbit, as well as the figures themselves to the cake.

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on it's way...

Ash Wednesday has come and gone and now we are in the lovey season of lent. Being the Catholic that I am, I too gave up something up for this 40 day long season. Unlike most of the world, I did not give up sweets, sugar, or some type of delicious goodies, pretty smart if you ask me. Now, not to worry, if you did give up something similar to what what just described, there are only 25 days left! Come on now, don't lie, you know you've been craving something sweet and delicious....like a cake made by yours truly!

Well...I can't exactly bake each and every one of you a cake, but I can post pictures of the cake I do make and you can pretend you are cutting into one of your very own. I'm actually doing you a favor, since you can't have the lovely treat for almost another month. On the bright side, you would not eat an Easter cake until April 24th anyway, so this next post should just give you ideas for your very own floppy eared, adorably yellow little chicks sprinkled, colorful egg covered cake of your very own! 

If you haven't figure it out by now, I am going to attempt to bake an Easter themed cake tonight, just in time for the holiday. Be looking for an update with pictures later tonight or tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Nice Day for a White Wedding

I think all of my energy and creativity has been sucked out of me and put into this wedding cake...my whole body is tired after baking, leveling, icing, fondant-ing?, and decorating four layers of wedding cake. On the bright side, my hands were not stained tonight! All I can say is thank goodness for traditional wedding cakes and fondant already coming in white. I'm very happy this wasn't a total disaster and on that note I am hitting the hay.

I used the same chocolate cake recipe as the cakes I have made before and filled it with butter cream. It is covered in white fondant and the piping is butter cream frosting. This cake definitely took a lot of time and a lot work on my part. It took a total of four hours from ingredient mixing to the last bit of piping on the cake and I'm still not fully satisfied with it, but for the first attempt I think I did pretty darn well. I can only get better from here!

I'm Divin' In

Last night I successfully managed to dip my toes in the pond of cake decorating. I've never really been one to test the waters before jumping in, so tonight...I'm diving in head first. Two words describe the lunacy I am going to attempt tonight...wedding cake. I know I know, people will think I'm nuts for trying such a difficult thing so soon, but you can't succeed or move forward without trying or at least screwing a few things up first. That, my friends, is how you learn. It took me two years at my current job to realize that if you don't break some things then you will never learn how to fix them when they break on their own. So, my lesson tonight will be in repair, I believe. I am fully aware that something has to screw up when dealing with at least twenty-thirty plus pounds of temperamental cake, icing, filling, and fondant.

Honestly, I have no earthly idea what to do with all of these cakes once I bake them. The "Baby Stars" cake as I have so lovingly named it, has gone to my aunt who is currently expecting a baby as a bribe to let me make her baby shower cake. (the bribe worked for the record) Pink Zebra, however, is sitting on the counter at my workplace...I guess no one is hungry for cake today? Lame, right? I refuse to take it home though, I will have cake coming out of my ears after tonight!

I am insanely excited for tonight and will be on the edge of my seat until my work day is over in another three and a half hours...I'll be posting pictures of my experience after I finish up with the insanity.

It's a Quarter After One...

So, it is after one in the morning and I have finally finished two very small fondant covered cakes. I started this afternoon around 4:00pm with going to the grocery store and local hobby store to get the ingredients and tools for this little adventure I decided to throw myself into at full force this afternoon. How am I feeling after accomplishing what I set out to do today? I. Am. Exhausted. Though I am dead on my feet, I am very happy with the outcome of the taste and look of my cakes, especially for it being my first time trying to decorate anything this complicated or time consuming. Not only am I exhausted, I am also stained with fondant coloring all over my hands. It looks like a hippy got a hold of my hands and dipped them in some tie-dye.

The inside is homemade chocolate cake filled with homemade butter cream icing with a crumb coat of butter cream icing as well. Fondant is used to cover the outsides of both of the cakes and I used fondant coloring to get it the shade I wanted. 

Miss MadiCakes

Hello there! My name is Madi, but for the purpose of being cute, witty, and for all other reasons I can't think to name now I'll be referring to myself as Miss MadiCakes (Cute huh?). Madicakes has been a nickname I've had since childhood and I figured, hey, why not use it for my new adventure into the cake baking/decorating world.I am twenty one years old and I am from south Texas. I am currently going to school to become a high school English teacher. Books, Baking, Best friends, and my Boyfriend are all my main interests, so we'll see how well I can balance those in my crazy life.

My whole life I've been surrounded by a fantastic baker, my grandma. Come on, you knew that was coming,  who doesn't have a grandma that is amazing at baking and cooking, or is that just a southern thing? Well, my specialties have always been cookies and cupcakes, but lately I've been wanting to expand my baking experience into the cake world. I've always been fascinated with those TV shows centered around bakeries and the cake decorating competitions. I wanted to try my hand at it and see where that takes me.

I can't promise this blog will be interesting, but I can promise that it will be a college student's detailed adventure into the world of cake decorating.