Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Babies, Bloodshot Eyes & Buttercream Frosting

Babies are popping out all over the place lately! Some friends of ours just had twin baby boys last night and one of my friends and co-workers is due in a couple of weeks. Today we threw her an office baby shower and I was in charge of wrapping the presents and taking care of the cake. Oh........the cake.

I found a picture on Pinterest about 2 months ago of an ADORABLE cake and so I got a quote for it.

I didn't like the quote. I thought it was ridiculously expensive so I decided I was going to teach myself how to use fondant and make it myself. Oh what a decision. In anticipation for this grandious cake, I have been going to Michaels and Hobby Lobby frequently armed with one 40% off coupon a day (since they have silly rules and you have to play their games like that) to purchase all my new tools I would need to work with fondant and build a tiered cake.
Yesterday was THE day. Unfortunately yesterday was also one of the busiest days at my work also. I was on my feet walking for about 5 hours straight yesterday and I was dog-tired when I got off work. I was running off adrenaline though and started to back immediately when I got home. I made 8 different layers (4-8" rounds and 4-10" rounds).


 
There were cake layers all over my kitchen. Mitch and I left at that point to go have dinner with his parents. I was in no mood to cook and I honestly had no room in the kitchen to do it.... plus I just desperately needed to sit and take a break off my feet. When we got back I went at it full force and made my frosting from scratch. An EXCELLENT receipe that got rave reviews from everyone at my office that I got here.


 
After that I started the layering process:




Then the moment of truth. The first time I've ever actually worked with fondant. I would have taken more photos of the actual working of the fondant but it was quite a workout in itself and I was just in the mood to finish. The fondant originally was white and I had to work the color in. It took like 20 minutes of kneading and rolling to get it all even. They need to put a warning on fondant tubs that says your arms should be in a physically fit state before even attempting to work with it. Heavens....what a workout.



And now the final product!!!


That whale is a bathtub spout cover off the mom-to-be's registry. It worked PERFECT as a cake topper!
So this total overall "can't be THAT difficult" project took me 8 hours!!!!!! Oh my gosh, I was NOT anticipating that. My poor husband felt bad for me around hour 6 and offered to help me cut the decorative lines and rolls the balls on the bottom of the layers. He even did the letters for me! It seriously would have taken me an additional 2 hours if I had to do all of by myself. He was such a big help last night. So, around 12:30 a.m. this haggard couple finally stumbled into bed with bloodshot eyes and a ridiculously sore body. I felt like my whole lower half was swollen and stiff from being on my feet all day.

Here are the gifts I wrapped for the shower. I LOVE making big bows.




I wish I had taken a picture of my eyes this morning to finish this post off. Literally.....no white to be found on my eyeballs. All the white parts were completely red. Needless to say it was a coffee morning. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fall asleep at my desk.

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