80th birthday cake

I made this cake for a man who turned 80 years old on Sunday.

 Actually it was a Boston Cream Pie (by request) with a twist - I made it as a 2 tier cake, covered it entirely with chocolate ganache (instead of leaving the sides open), and piped some whipped dark chocolate ganache.

 No chocolate roses this time because I did not want the birthday cake to be misunderstood and interpreted as a "go away, you've lived enough" message...

Boston Cream Pie for Lisa

Jim, my dental lab boss, asked me a while ago if I could make a "Boston cream pie" when his wife's birthday comes around because that's her favorite cake. Of course I obliged, Jim and Lissa are two of my favorite people I know. Although they are married for more than 25 years, Jim still refers to Lissa as "my lovely bride"... how sweet is that?
Traditionally called a pie because the layers were originally baked in pie plates, this is really a 2- layer cake (it may be made with sponge cake or plain butter cake). I made it with sponge cake, filled it with pastry cream, topped with dark chocolate ganache, and to make it look a bit more festive than a regular Boston cream pie I made a few candy clay roses (also made with dark chocolate).

A darker photo for you, I really have to learn how to properly use my camera! Sorry...

The miniature roses were made using this very simple technique I've found on YouTube: http://youtu.be/Rc_A2CgKKM8

 I have used this technique before on candy clay (see the roses on Nirali's birthday cake that I've made in Dec. 2010)

 My chocolate roses, waiting patiently on a plate, ready to be placed on the cake.

Same thing from a different angle...

 I decided to brush them with gold luster dust (edible, of course!).

 Also made a baby cake for myself... I had to taste the cake before delivery, right? ha ha ha

 Perhaps I should have let the ganache to cool (and thicken) more so it doesn't pool at the base of the cake... Oh well, one can never have too much chocolate....

 And a view from the top:

"Desk cake" for Dr. Vahid's birthday

Inspired by Giovanna's desk cake (you can see it here: http://giovannascakes.blogspot.com/2011/09/desk-cake.html), I decided to make something similar for my boss' birthday. All the decorations are fully edible being made with gum paste (except the glasses - made with thin white wire, painted with food coloring). The cake was covered with sugar paste.

Here are some close-ups of the decorations for the desk top, some of them were still drying:
The red coffee mug has "Bosnia" written on it because Dr. Vahid was born and raised there. The white coffee mug and the two red file folders (or books?) have written on them T.P.I. (Troy Polymers ,Inc.)  and U.R. (Una River)  - these are two companies founded by Dr. Vahid and his wife Dr. Aisa (they both have the Ph.D. in chemistry).



Thursday, late at night, the figurine was still very soft, I had to support it with my hand next to the cake,

I was afraid it will not be dry by Friday morning when I took the cake to work...
All the decorations for the desk have a meaning, I did not make them at random! Dr. Vahid loves coffee so I made three coffee mugs not just one... He collects teddy bears and keeps one of them (nicknamed "grumpy grandpa") in his office, and I remembered that... A couple of months ago Dr. Vahid said he doesn't need a birthday cake, a car would suffice - so I made a tiny car for him... I hope he did not mean a real car!! ha ha ha

By Friday morning the gum paste figurine was not fully dry but was able to stand by itself next to the cake.
Dr. Vahid is the one seated next to the table, smiling large...

The decorations not being glued to the cake allowed for them to be arranged any way we wanted, we kept playing with them...

 My boss was so happy, he liked the cake so much that he decided to keep all the decorations in his office, they will be displayed on a dummy cake. See? They are all saved on the paper plate in the background...

The taste was not bad either, I made a blueberry cream filling.

"Daisies for M" and "Cheese and Mice" cakes (Aug.10 - 2011)

These 2 cakes were the last cakes I made this summer, on the weekend before going to Romania for a 3 weeks vacation in Oradea - my home town.
The chocolate cake covered with daisies was for my friend Mariana, for her surprise birthday party. The double daisies were made with chocolate paste. So were the mice for my manager's birthday cake (his name is Sanin). Both cakes were very chocolate-y, absolutely delicious!
I have seen  this "Cheese and Mice" cake on Lily's blog http://lilysblog-lily.blogspot.com/2011/05/tort-soricei-si-cascavalcheese-and-mice.html , and I liked it a lot, I think is a fun and a cute cake.

 The "slice of cheese" was covered in chocolate paste.

 The "big piece of cheese" was covered fully in fondant, then I put chocolate paste where the "slice of cheese" was cut from.

 I put some chocolate paste in a few of the holes in the cheese.

 To hide the broken tail of one of the mice, I put the injured mouse inside the cut, at the base, facing outward.

 The two cakes side by side, before delivering them.

 And a very, very, very tasty slice for you... Enjoy!

Batman theme cake for Serif (July 21 - 2011) - my fourth fondant cake

Serif is my colleague, my right hand at work, stands 6'5" tall and he is crazy about Batman, that's why the cake I made for his birthday had to be a Batman theme cake.
I did not model the Batman figurine because I remembered the hideous babies I made for Anita's baby shower cake (my first fondant cake), did not want to make a "disabled" Batman, so I decided to play it safe and I purchased the figurine and the batmobile (both are made of plastic) from a cake supply store.

I was very proud of the idea I had: to  make the lights on the  Gotham city's buildings spell out the message "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SERIF!!" This idea would have been executed much better though using small yellow and black squares of gum paste glued to the buildings, instead of only yellow cut-out letters that were fragmented, to better portray the lit windows. Oh well, maybe next time...

 Serif was very happy with his cake.

 I did not help him at all to cut the cake, I'm so mean... ha ha ha ha

 We all ate only the top tier of the cake.

 The bottom tier looked good by itself especially after the plastic figurines were put on top of it, so Serif had his cake and ate it too!! ha ha ha ha