Polka Dots and Baby Carriages

It is baby time at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church again.  Our Wednesday night youth teachers and song director are  just about ready to welcome a new little one into their family and into the heart of the church.  This cake was made in honor of the soon to be event at a shower given today.  This is the front side.

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And here is the back side.  The cake is a 10 inch vanilla butter cake base with Mexican vanilla bean butter cream and the top  is an 8 inch tier with homemade lemon curd filling.  Decorations are fondant circles, buttercream trim and topped with a 50/50 fondant, gumpaste bow. 

Here comes the baby carriage.......

Use  a piping consistency royal icing to outline the area.

After outlining the area, add water a little at a time to the royal icing to thin it making a flood-consistency icing.  You can use these Wilton squeeze bottles to make life easier.  Just be sure to put a slightly damp paper towel in the bottom of a glass and turn the squeeze bottle of flood icing upside down for a few minutes to reduce the amount of bubbles.  Bubbles are not your friend when trying to make a smooth iced cookie.  I use 5 second icing consistency to flood with.  When you are thinning your icing with water...add     s...l...o...w...l...y... a little at a time until you can swipe your knife through and watch the swipe disappear in about 5 seconds.  There are many demos of this on line.  I will try to find a link and add later.




When you have a good flood consistency, the icing will naturally want to spread out fairly quickly and then...

You use your most valuable tool...the humble toothpick....to spread icing all the way to the outline.

Then you can take that same tool and pop any stray bubbles that insist on appearing.

Now it's time for your special touches.

Baby carriages must have wheels!

Some of my wheels had a rough ride...That's what happens when you go pushing buggies too fast!

Anyway...I had lots of fun making my first baby carriages.  Babies don't come along every day.

Well

maybe they do but not at our church.

Now all that's left is the cello bags and ribbons and you know what?  The camera failed to appear.

New life is a blessing from the Lord.  Little babies AND those who may be grown but experience a new birth  in Christ.

John 3:16..." For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  

   

Christmas in January Cake

It doesn't matter who you are.  Sometimes your best plans dissolve into .............. where do those plans go, anyway?  Our church operates a wonderful private Christian school (not to mention two of our grandchildren   are students there).  Christmas activities were in full swing, a school program was planned and then we had a totally unexpected turn of events where we could do nothing but reschedule the program.  The cake that was planned was to be a gift box cake with a small Nativity scene inside.  But it, too, had to wait until January.  In January?  Well, of course!  We can celebrate the birth of Christ on any day of the year.....and we DID.  It was such fun!   Like having two Christmases...sorta.  Anyway the children all were fantastic--as we knew they would be!  And the cake made it to the celebration.  Take a peek....

You know, some might think of this as a tent....but it truly is supposed to represent a box--a present.  I may have missed the mark here just a bit.  But the kids seemed excited about it. The "box" is a three layer (white, yellow, chocolate) cake covered in fondant and carefully cut out to make room for the cake board supports and a lid.  The lid is so totally non edible as are the satin ribbons.  But the White 50/50 fondant bow is certainly edible if you'd like to sacrifice a tooth or two :)   Bottom support cake is a 2 layer half sheet white cake with buttercream icing and mini candy cane "hearts".  

Don't you just love the little lighted Nativity.

When I saw it I KNEW where it was going.

But

Did you know...

Nativities were really hard to find this year.

So, So 

sad!

Thank goodness for Christian based Hobby Lobby's!

And stores like them!!!!

Somehow, though, what was in my head didn't quite make it to the cake board.

But I count those kind of experiences as learning ones.

And

after all

it is

just cake :)

Now this was something I'd label

spectacular

...

our students praising the reason for the season..Jesus Christ!

Merry Christmas in January!!!!!

It's All in the Month--January!

Do any of you have these months?  The one where you are filling up the calendar with family names on their birthdays?  It's like that for us.  January...must have been a great month for our family!

So let me start

 The new hasn't even worn off the NEW YEAR and already my sweet mother is celebrating her 86th birthday.  To put this in more perspective, she looked at her coconut cake and said something like, "What are we celebrating?"  Age has such a way of bringing the unexpected into our lives.

.....~.....

Next one on the calendar is our piano-cake daughter.  Last year, I can say, I even surprised myself.  And from the number of people who have gone to that post, it must have been a really good choice.  This year?  No piano, no awesome theme.  But there was still cause for celebration!

Yellow butter cake with chocolate mocha buttercream roses.

 

From Momma's kitchen.  Sometimes life is just yellow cake with chocolate icing.  And if it brings smiles

.....it is really okay!

Take time to celebrate family and make some smiles!

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And yet another family birthday celebration.  This time our John Deere grandson broke away from his annual request of tractors on cake.  Recently, his Papa has taken him hunting.  Yes, at age 9, our grandson bagged his first deer near the end of last year.   I can't decide whether my cake friends need to see that milestone.  Let me think about it.  But for now, let's look at cake and sugar :)

Can you guess what his request was this year?

Rifles and gun racks made from Wilton candy melts. 

Or what about this one?

Rice Krispy hunter cover in camo-fondant coveralls, cap and "rubber" fondant boots.  I formed him around a small gauge wire "skeleton".  I know it wouldn't win any awards, but boy did those elementary art classes at LSU come in handy!    They at least gave me a starting place.

While the hunter has his eyes on the little deer eating corn, the big-rack buck has another rifle stuck in his rack pointed at the hunter.

 I can almost guess what his wish is for....

 I hope all your good wishes and dreams come true!  Glad I found the deer!  Aunt Tiff made the delicious carrot  cake this time and used her new toy to spray the camo icing.  The only thing non edible?  The two deer.  Was he disappointed?  Not a chance!  A true hunter and a very loved nephew and  grandson. Happy 10th Birthday!!!!






That real deer picture?

Here's your warning.  Stop here if you don't want to look.

One happy grandson!