Doraemon - Robotic Cat from the Future

Doraemon, a robotic cat from the future, is a famous Japanese comic book character and a definite favorite of my brother's.  He suggested we make the iconic cat, and once we had the idea in our head, we couldn't rest until we turned Doraemon into a cake treat!

I'm frequently asked: 1) how long do these projects take, and 2) where and when do you find the time?  My answers are: 1) it varies from project to project, but generally, if we're creating something completely from scratch, there is about a 2 hr brainstorming, researching, designing, and prototyping session before we actually start a batch of something, and 2) we don't really "have the time" but we're passionate about our creations, so for right now, the time we spend working on projects is on weekends and at least a couple of times during the weekdays; today I went straight from work to my sister's house around 4:30 pm (work for me starts at 8 am and lunch is usually a 25 minute working lunch), and I didn't get home until after 11 pm (hence my 1 am posting).  However, we wouldn't be doing this if we didn't enjoy it so much!

These Doraemon (or should I say Dorae-men), were made on Monday; I just haven't had the time to post them until now.

Bon Voyage!

The production of these airplanes began with some sketches and a prototype.  After a few design modifications, this fleet was manufactured and is ready for its maiden voyage…Destination: Boston.  Seriously - we’re sending these lil’ fellas on a transcontinental flight from California to Boston, and I’m going to ask my friend to take pictures of them.  Too bad I won't be accruing frequent flyer miles...Bon Voyage!

 

Below is the first plane on the runway for take-off, and the subsequent picture displays the airplanes in the formation of a carnival ride.  I couldn't resist!

A Day at the Beach

Apparently, we weren’t the only ones that thought it was a nice day in Southern California.  Sea turtles are usually found in Baja California, but this turtle family was spotted basking in the sun, enjoying a day at the beach (maybe at Crystal Cove)! 

Weddings, Bridal Showers, and Bachelorette Parties

We were super-duper excited when our cousin gave us the go-ahead to make her wedding favors, so even though her wedding is months and months away (8 months away), I popped myself on over to my sister’s house after work the very next day, and we came up with this 2-tier wedding cake favor.  The designs on the sides are all hand-piped, and the flower on top is made from fondant.  Each pearl is carefully selected (like at a pearl market) and delicately situated.  This is of course just a trial, so the final product will reflect customized flavors, colors, and designs.

Ironically, the day after designing our cousin’s wedding favors, a dear friend booked us for bridal shower treats this summer.  Now I’m just waiting for someone to book us for a bachelorette party!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day treats are a simple way to spread the love...remember when you passed out cards and candy in elementary school?  These were for my niece's Valentine's Day party at school.  People do say that the way to a man's heart is through the stomach!  Happy Valentine's Day!! <3 

Happy Notes at Home

Here are the Happy Notes again, but this time displayed on a platter with a treble clef and staff piped directly on the plate.  You'd have to be a pretty good pianist to play this!

Happy Notes

A symphony of sixteenth and eighth notes for a preschool paino recital.  Doo-doo-dee-dee-da-da.....

Super Bowl Sunday

Aside from playing in the marching band at football games (speaking for myself), Super Bowl Sunday provided us with the opportunity to advance our creativity.  The Steelers logos were hand-painted, and the Packers "G's" were hand-piped.  Here's a field-level shot:

Pooh Bear & Hunny Pot

This was completely experimental.  I wanted to see if I could come close to making a cake look like Pooh.  And Pooh without honey would be an unhappy bear, so he got his Hunny Pot even though it was neon orange.

The 'Bugs and the Bees - Ladybugs, that is...

Fast forward several weeks, and the two of us were wondering what we could (notice the "could" and not the "should") make for my niece’s school birthday party.  The owls were cute, but we didn’t like how the cupcakes tasted dry just after one day.  My sister picked up a “Cake Pops” book, and while the pops looked adorable, the idea of sticks in a cake didn’t quite resonate with us. We decided to go for the cuteness and forego the “pops” of the equation.  We happened to make strawberry-flavored cake and wanted the outside color to match, so after some time, the ladybug in the book looked cheery and harmless enough, and we started making cake balls.  The dipping took some practice, and if you’ve ever worked with melted chocolate, it can be a nightmare.  Candy melts are much more forgiving than chocolate, but getting the right consistency and covering the cake pockmark-free were not.  But before long, my sister was dubbed the “Dip Master,” and I was the one giving life to the ladybugs (let’s just say I hand-painted, piped, and dabbed an awful lot).  My favorite part was giving each ladybug eyes and a smile, at which point I found it too difficult to eat a creation that was staring back at me.

Our next task was coming up with something to accompany the ladybugs, and sunflowers didn’t quite work out, and neither did anything else we saw in the book.  However, the sunflower idea led to bees (yellow as the common denominator), chocolate chips became the perfect stinger, and I became the Creative Director!  By the time my niece’s birthday rolled around, we figured out how to pipe the wings beforehand (on wax paper) and to make green waffle leaves for the critters to rest on.  Each lil’ fella went into individual treat boxes, and my sister delivered them to school on time!

The Beginning

As with many things, there is usually a beginning.  The very beginning really started when two young girls started baking when the older fourth-grader brought home a hand-bound recipe book of brownies, chocolate chip cookies, 7-up Cake, and much more.  (Yes, kids learned how to bake in classrooms in those olden days; this was the time before Pillsbury "easy-bakes".)


However, we'll start in December, 2010.  My nephew needed cupcakes for his pre-school birthday party, so we decided to make these adorable owl cupcakes we saw in a cupcake book.  Our cupcakes ended up being entirely too small for the Oreo eyes, so we ended up with oversize-eyed owls that looked pretty comical.  In fact, the whole process of making them was entirely hilarious.  After 15 minutes of experimenting, we had my dad twisting open the Oreos (the cream had to remain a perfect circle on one side), and we had my husband carefully sawing the non-creamed Oreo sides into thirds for the ears (Oreos are very brittle, so that was no easy feat).  My sister and mom frosted the cupcake tops, I added the eyes and placement of the pupils (very important part in expression), my nephew popped on their little yellow "M&M's" beaks (banana Runts are good too), and the owls cycled back to my sister to receive their feathers.  The last step was to add a glimmer of mischief to the eyes, and voila - we had owl cupcakes!  If you'll notice in the picture, there are also cupcakes topped with "bugs" which my sister piped together with "M&M's" on wax paper.

Welcome!

After the urging of many, my sister and I decided to set up a blog where we could post and share our adventures in cake making.  We hope to inspire and delight your senses.  Enjoy!