Perfectly Imperfect

This weekend my youngest celebrated his 5th birthday. I can't believe he's that old already. It seems like only yesterday he was a teeny baby. How time flies!

My littles are big fans of home-made cakes. They don't balk at store bought, but every year they kind of assume that mommy is going to make and decorate a cake to their specifications. I try my damndest to make the best cake I can...and I do fairly well....but these cakes are never perfect. There's always something that's a little bit off. Mind you, they taste fine. I'm talking about the aesthetics.

Cake cooling on my messy counter.

Part of my problem is that I love cream cheese frosting and will go out of my way to use it. Even if that means I have to sacrifice the sculptural qualities of buttercream. So....it looks a little gloopy, but tastes oh-so-yummy!

Cream cheese frosting gets even runnier with food coloring.

I don't self-identify as a baker. Sure I make cakes, some breads, and potica. But it's not my passion. I happily follow a recipe and leave it at that. It's not the thing I think about while driving in the car or before I go to sleep, like I do with knitting, sewing, or drawing. I know folks who's baking is an art form, and I reserve the title of "baker" for them.

I, in my own humble, fumbling way...make cakes with more heart than art. And my kids are thrilled. I call it a win. :)

Take care,

Cassandra

Channeling Charlie Brown

The finished product

I have a little boy who loves two things: Charlie Brown and stuff made by his mama.

Actually, he loves all the Peanuts characters. He adores the holiday specials, feature films, books, action figures...the whole enchilada. He is even going to be Charlie Brown for Halloween this year. It is no surprise that last week he requested that his birthday cake be Charlie Brown themed and made by me personally. Because "mama makes me things".

Finn's favorite shirt

What he doesn't know is that I have never decorated a cake before. Now, that's not to say I haven't slapped some frosting on a baked good in the past. (Carrot cakes are a common occurrence in my home so I know my way around cream cheese frosting and a small spatula.) The results are generally passable, but never something you would see out of Martha Stewart. This was a tall order that required a trip to the specialty cake decorating store.

Charlie Brown yellow

I began my design like I do any design - by sketching. I kept these questions in mind when brainstorming...

1. What symbolizes Charlie Brownieness?
2. What cake decorating techniques have I seen executed on TV?
3. What cake decorating techniques that I have seen on TV do I feel comfortable executing?

In the end, I came up with a sensible design that required me to purchase fondant, gel food-coloring, and a pastry bag with a simple tip. I made a traditional yellow cake and because we love it, cream cheese frosting. I will admit I was nervous about this turning out. I really was winging this.

Here is a side view (top view is above):

Three things I learned during this process:

1. Food coloring and cream cheese frosting are a bad idea (you get little white flecks no matter how much food coloring you add)
2. Fondant tastes awful...but is pretty fun to sculpt.
3. Piping frosting is something I would like to do again, and again.

Messy.

Dude, I made caucasian fondant!

I had a pretty good time trying my hand at cake decorating. I can't see myself doing this activity all the time (don't like sticky hands), however, I will do it again. The success of this cake (in my family's estimation) has made everyone suddenly want a mama-made cake for their birthday. My husband was even excited, he said that it wasn't perfect...but it was heartwarming in a home-made way. This is exactly the reason that I make things for those I love.

And who knows? Maybe my next cake will be an improvement.

–Cassandra