It's TurCake Time!

Friday, Novemeber 26th 2010.

Hi everyone!

So, if I am here typing away of course that means that I am not part of the mob that's our there shopping since 4 am! Did I want to? well, part of me did... I mean you get to do this only once a year and if you do your homework you can buy a lot of your biggest christmas' puirchases at bargain prices... but there was also another part of me that wasn't too much into going... I had the "pleasure" of experiencing black Friday before and it was no fun running to find the item you want and going through the pushing and shoving only to find out that you just missed the last one that was on stock... so I guess I am better off here at home.. besides Natie woke up with a stuffy nose and I have a 8 week old puppy that if I am not paying attention to him, he thinks my living room rug is a nice green grassy invitation for poopy... : )

Well... on to what this is about..... Turkey... oh wait... I mean Cake... well... no no... let's make it TurCake!! yeah that's the ticket.

Let me tell you a little bit about how this cake came to reality:
Last year while I was browsing one of my favorite cakester sites I came upon a thread that has some written direction on how to make a roasted/basted turkey cake... and only a picture of the end result (I am a very visual person, so I need lots of pictures and/or video in order to "get" what if being typed), so as I read the thread... I said to myself that there was NO WAY I would ever be able to do this cake... not unless there was a pictorial or tutorial out there to help me... so I bookm,arked the site and went on my way.

Well this year... my MIL decided that she wanted to have Thanksgiving at her house ( we usually do Thanksgiving at our home) sorry if I sound mean... but I was like YESSSssSSssSSss! very happy that I wasn't going to have all the food to make... do my christmas decorations (they are usually up by this time) [BUT... for some reason, they are still not selling the trees yet... we buy a real tree every year and I know for a fact that by this time I already have it up and ready] and I was also relieved that I wasn't going to have a fill house lol... so I of course offered to bring the dessert... so I asked DH... whatcha think I should make? he says to me: CUPCAKES!!! he wanted Chai Spice Cupcakes with Apple Maple filling and Cinnamon Infused Buttercream which I do admit sounds super YummY... but the artist in me wanted to be creative.... well I still gave the cupcakes a chance and posted a poll on fb... and the results where 50/50 cupcakes to cake...

Well I go back to that bookmark that i have, and read and re-read once... twice... still thinking there is no way I can do this...
I go to you tube and search for it... and I find one but again it seems that it's mostly talk with pictues of the end result... but when the video seems to be over she states that she took lots of progression pictures for future refrence... (thanks Laura!!) so I look at her pics and the one thing that i notice was that she didn't use other cakes as aa guide to make hers... she had all these pictues of real roasted turkeys laying around her table...so I put my big girl pants on and decided to just DO IT!

I googled roasted tukeys and got some nice pictures and close ups and fron all sides... so on I went... this picture was my first inspiration:





HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... I'm KIDDING!!! I thought this was too funny

For real now.... this is what I used as my main guide to carve my turcake:





I baked a 9X11 sheet cake, an 8 in. 1/2 round pyrex and 4 (4 in. small round pyrex). I didn't want to make a huge turcake because our family that's still in Philly is very small so there was no need to make something that would with just a 1/4 of it eaten.

I made lots of icing because I wanted the turcake to be only in buttercream... NO FONDANT... (you know.. you if can make carved cake with just buttercream.... you are officially and true mastermaster cakester! hehehe)

So... I took the sheet cake and the large pyrex and torted them and added my yummy simple syrup and took the small rounds and shaped the legs and wings (for the leg ends... I used ice cream cones filled with buttercream). I then looked at the above picture and started to carve...
It's funny cause for carving I usually count of DH to help me because he has that natural talent that I simply have to work hard to learn when he can just look at a shape and duplicate it with no problem... well he kept looking at what I was doing but wouldn't say anything... he didn't even say that it was looking like a turkey or anything remotely close to that.. but I kept on... after I kinda had the shape I wanted I went ahead and dirty iced it... Look:



I thought I was on the right track, but Dh wasn't too optimistic... here is another pic:




At this point now that I look at it... looks more like a chicken lol, another shot:

Here is from the top view.. and I think it's looking more turkeyISH lol

Well... after I was kinda happy with the shape... I gave it like 20 minutes for the dirty icing the crumb... then I came back with my paper method and started to shape and texture the whole bird... as I was doing that... I was seeing a turkey and I was jumping and screaming and YESSSing myself and saying I KNEW I COULD DO IT!! (all this was internally of course lol)

When DH saw how if was looking after I smooth and textured the bird... he was ALL SMILES and actually said: "WOW Babe I think this gonna work out after all" I always tell him that he should never doubt me cause I always come through, but of course MEN! ( joke! )

Well smoothed and textured it actually looked like a raw turkey it was hillarious lol... I could not get the grin off my face... here is the picture:

You see the texture? looks like the marks that are left when you pluck the feathers hehehehe...

Well after that... I took like an hour break because I was super scared to add the color, I didn't want to make a mess of it and have all that work get ruined all because I didn't add the color right...

I come back on a mission lol... I used some light corn syrup, some vodka, some brown airbrush color and some orange airbrush color... mix it all it.... and on I went...

First layer... didn't look too good, you could still see the white buttercream (this is when I realized it would have worked out better if I had colored the buttercream in a brownish orangie color, but there is no crying over spilled milk) well not looking too good.. but I put the fan on high.. let all the vodka evaporate and the color dry...

Second layer of color... looking better... I felt it needed some more orange so I altered the mixture... let the second coat dry and did the third coat with the added orange in it... and VOILA!! (did I spell that right???) It was like M_A_G_I_C_!

DH comes in and he is just in AWE! he can't believe how real it looks...so we let it dry really good... then I take some of the scrap pieces of cake and cut them to look like stuffing... I get DH to buy some curly fresh looking lettuce and after it dries I start adding the lettuce all around the turcake and then all the stuffing... and here is the end result!

My dear friends... I am shocked that I was able to pull this off at the last minute with no planning like i usually do.... I loooove how good it came out... and I sent a picture to my cousin and she was like... U DID THE TURLEY?!! when I told her it was a cake... she couldn't believe it lol

My brother said it looked too real.... the response was very good and uplifting... so here are some pictures (well LOTS of pictures lol) of the TurCake from every angle hehehehe....

This is one of my boys.... he couldn't wait to DIG IN lol

Admit it... it looks real!! u wanna eat it!!

MMmmmMMMMmm Fresh out of the oven...

Here is DH doing the honor and carving the TurCake....

Everyone had "dibs" ont he legs lol

Leftovers..... u think we can make a turkey sandwich out of this? HAHAHAHA

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed the journey from start to finish... This will NOT be my last TurCake for sure... I loved making it... loved how it came out... loved all the reactions and all in all it was one of the highlights of my 2010 Thanksgiving memories...

Bye Ya'll until my next adventure!

It's been a long long time... Time to get back in the saddle and gallop my way into the blogster world...AGAIN!

Hi my Peepz!

I know I have been here in what seems like forever and I have no excuse other than the cakes are more and more frequently, have been sick with anemia and it's gotten worst in the past few months, home-schooling my little girl... you get my drift... well I will start again for a few reasons:

1. I miss typing lol



2. I want to share/vent my eventful / uneventful life



3. I like to share my cakes trajectory from start to finish

these are among many.

Well here we go.. lemme see where I left off and let's see if I can update most of the cakes that are not here, I know for a fact that quite a few of them I no longer have the pictures because this is a new computer and I lost all my old files... (I learned my lesson though... Picasa web albums from now on).

On your marks.... Get Set... GOOOOOOOOOO

Craftsman Themed Birthday Cake

Sunday, May 16th, 2010.

Hi my webbies.... Hope everything is good with you and that you have some free time to read through my (our) journey through making this SuperFantastic project!

Ok so I was approached to make a cake for someone's 50th birthday... this was to be a surprise birthday party so we needed to do this on the hush hush... So I am one to never, ever just do a cake with a shell border and smack something on the top and call it a day... I MUST make each and every cake custom, personalized and made for that one person... so I go on to ask my usual questions when placing the order... I asked: "So, what does he like? Any Hobbies? Sports? Fishing? Video Games?", she answers: "Well there isn't really anything that I can think of.... he does like watching sports... you know, the Eagles and the Phillies..." I knew that by that answer... it wasn't that he was a super huge sports follower... so then when I think to myself... lemme just go with the sports theme... that would be fun to do for sure... I have been wanting to do a sports themed cake and this would be a great opportunity.... but before I say anything, she adds: "He DOES love to work with his hands, hand-making things".... and my light-bulb went ON.... I said to her... no need to say anything else... I can go from just that and it will be awesome, within seconds I had my cake in my head... it's incredible how quickly things just click... well I knew I will be doing tools for sure.... question is.... How? I have never done any tools!, but I knew I would figure it out...

So I go online to do some research... and look at some of my reference books... online I found 2-3 that looked okay... in my books.... I found only one... and although I liked the idea behind it... I wasn't too happy with the execution, it was just too cartoony looking... tools had a cartoon look to them and I always like to go with more realistic that not... But it was a good start for sure...

So I start doing my sketch... and of course I want to add so much to it.. but I know what I quoted, I know my budget and I can't continue to add more and more things because then I will be forced to either up the quote or give some freebies... well... I cannot do just the bare minimum.... I have to do what I have in my head or I won't feel like the cake is finished... well I decided to give some freebies hehehehe...

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Here is the finished cake... I must say that this has been one of our biggest crowd pleasers because the client requested a strawberry shortcake and this is what she thought she would be getting:

Boy was she is for a surprise... I mean she had that! bit inside a work of art hehehehe....


The cake drum (where the cake sits) it's made with fondant and I textured it to look like a dusty garage hardwood floor, I used powdered sugar to smooth it in place, but when I looked back it kinda look good cause it made it look like it was being used... so it's edible and looks amazing!

The note is also edible and it's written with edible markers, they couldn't believe that they could eat the note lol.


The nails where a bit of a challenge at first because I had never done them before but once I got the hang of it, doing both types was a breeze and it gives it a "Je No Se Qua" that just pops...


THe screwdriver was my first piece and when DH came home from work he thoguht I was joking when I said that it was made out of sugar... the truly thought it was real, same thing with the pencil...
I studied a lot of pictures to make each piece look as realistic as possible...





The ruler was a breeze, I have one just like that one (you know the ones with the corked backing...) and it was just like using a mold...


Here it's a shot of one of the corners...


Almost finished...


With the main detail on... small details to come..


The hammer was my personal favorite for sure...




The measuing tape was real and I placed it in a way that it would show his age in the middle of the cake drum... cute idea huh? :)


I love a blank canvas....


FLawlwss fondant... it's like a dream...


Cake board....


Hammer...

Well I hope you enjoyed this one as much as the clients and their friends and family did... I had a balst and can't wait for the next one so I can see how I can "kick it up a notch!"

C'ya
D.

Bridal Show at Cape May, NJ

Hi Everyone...

Here is your journey into the world of Bridal Shows..
We have been doing more wedding cakes and wanted to go ahead and dive in into Bridal Shows... Bridal Shows are very new to us at Natalie Cakes and as you will read... we were pleasantly surpised and elated by how wonderful of an experience it was and will continue to be as we have already planned our next show.

This show was in beautiful Cape May, NJ, if you know about "Joesey" hehehe, Cape May is in the south on NJ... it's a small beautiful town with nicely decorated houses and many vacation homes, hotels, retaurants and more. We went to the Grand Hotel and they had the most amazing view of the ocean... we were all the way on the 5th floor (I know... not too high... considering we just cam back from staying on the 21st floor at the Tropicana in Atlantic City) but the 5th floor was the top floor... huge room and very nicely decorated... the staff was just so welcoming and helpful. The coordinators were atentative and there was always a rep close by in case you needed anything.

Above is the picture of the hotel sign and below is a picture of the breathtaking tulips they have all over the front of the hotel... the weather was nice... not too hot but not cold either... perfect for a day down the shore...

The floor set-up was an open floor plan and they had ivory colored covered tables and they were all attatched, not like the other show set-ups I had seen before... Esach vendor had an 8 foot table to set their "product" on...so our assigned table was in the perfect spot... right in the walkway where everyone had to walk by to come in or out of the venue... then... God gave us a little "present"... there was a mix up in the vendor placement and the table next to us was assigned to a vendor that was not going to be there.. so they organizer approached me and asked if we wanted more room.. I of course was like: "Well... you need to talk to..." (I was wondering if we had to pay anything for the "additional space"...but before I could finish the sentence... he said: "Ohh no, no need to pay anything... there was a mix up and the table next to you is available, so if you want it, you can have it... of course I said a big huge Y_E_S_!_!_!... As it was.. it looked like our table was going to feel a little crammed because of the number of cakes we had to display and the tasting set-up we came up with, we had started thinking that we might have to keep some of the cakes boxed and just display fewer ones...so this was a blessing for sure... we went ahead and started to set-up our tableS (hehehe) and because we now had 16 feet to work with... it was super nice and roomy... we were able to display all our cakes... our sugar flowers.... and our tasting samples to name a few and we still had plenty of space so it didn't look crammed...
Here are some pictures of the set up and of the display cakes we brought...
Here is our Show Stopper.. this cake was hand-painted by my husband (let me just mention that we had no idea He posessed this incredible talent).
Here is MY master piece.. this cake took over 40 hours to make but the end result is worth every minute I spent on this cake... everyone loved the cake and they refered to it as COUTURE...
This cake is one of my favorites... Love making the chocolate fondant and the blue gumpaste roses give it just the perfect contrast and a great color combination. Always a crowd pleaser... the classic black and white it's always well received and it's a cake that can be incorporated into a summer wedding as well as a winter wedding...
Here is our take on a nicely done pastel colored cake... it's a cake design that complements a sunny spring wedding, maybe even out doors.

Let me take a side turn here for a few.. I want to talk a little bit about how we got our samples ready for the bridal show. We were not sure if we wanted to take some basic vanilla cake with plain buttercream or if we wanted to do some specialty flavors to take with us. After carefully going over our options and doing some research on the subject, we opted for something in between.

We featured 3 flavors:

1.Cocoa Bliss, which is a super rich chocolate cake with Boston cream filling and a whipped chocolate ganache.

2.Vanilla Dreams, is was our famous vanilla bean butter cake with our signature wedding bouquet buttercream.

3. Velvet Dream, is our best selling Red Velvet cake, nice and moist with a hint of cocoa with our super delicious creamcheese buttercream.

Here is a picture of our Red Velvet freshly out of the oven.... notice how even it bakes and that famous deep red color that makes it look so amazing.

We took the cake and cut it in small bite size pieces (we debated on making cupcakes, but we kind of figure brides wouldn't want to be walking around looking at other vendors while eating a cupcake....) we did 1 1/5 X 1 1/5 inch sample and place them in a small lidded container labeled with our information and the flavor they tasted. We also got the cutest little silver little forks and the brides went crazy over them.... that was nice... cause it's all in the small details... well not all... but they do count! They were plastic, but looked like real silver!!! NEAT! I'm glad we opted for this, as we saw other cake vendors giving out cupcakes and most of them ending up in the trash can with just a bite off, not because of the flavor, but because of the size. With the way we did it, if they didn't want it then, they could take it with them or even take home a piece for someone they would've like to have a taste.

Here pictured below is how we placed our samples... as they were taken, we would just re-stock with more, it worked perfect.

Here is a close-up of our tasting samples, we added a label like I stated before, with our company name, website, telephone number and cake flavor. Notice the cute little forks?? hehehehe

(DO NOT ask me how I was able to fit all that into a 1 1/4 X 1 1/8 sticky label lol).

Here are some shots of our table (ahem... make that tableS! lol). Overall, very happy we did this, can't wait until we do another one and it's a whole new side of the business that I am excited about and working towards mastering.... Please feel free to comment, suggest, advice, etc. We welcome any and all you may want to share with us...

PS... Sorry about the amount of time it took for me to update this, we have been very busy with the CAKIN BIZ! :-)

Cya!