XBox 360 cake

I don't think I did a great job. It looked differently in my head than how it came out and I definately will do things differently next time BUT the birthday guy loved it and so did all his friends and family. I got a lot of compliments on it and was told how much it really looked like an xbox plus everyone loved the taste so that's what counts, right?

The controller is made from rice krispie treats (see the pan in the back?). It's covered in buttercream (real) and fondant (which tasted pretty good btw). The knobs are rolos I cut in half and covered. The A, B, Y, X buttons are M&Ms upside down. I wrote the letters on them with edible food markers. The cake was yellow boxed cake (x 2), a box of pound cake and 1 package instant pudding powder (pound cake and pudding help make it more dense for carving) with buttercream frosting, pineapple preserves and fondant. I used silver luster dust to make the silver metallic details and edible markers for the writing. All the air holes were made from poking a food thermometer into the fondant. I won't go into my mistakes but I'm sure you can see them. LOL This is only my 2nd time working with fondant though so I won't beat myself up too much.

Spring Break Is No Fun

It's Spring Break here. I haven't blogged much so you must be wondering what we've been up to. Let me tell you. Nothing, nada, zip. I've had at least 2 kids sick all week long. Bella's been super cranky and has had no appetite until today (teething perhaps?). Ian got sick Tuesday night so I had to keep him home Wednesday of course. We missed our annual Easter Egg hunt/party with our playgroup as well. Partly because Logan wouldn't be able to play with his friends on the playground due to his cast but mostly because Ian was sick.

I finally got everyone out of the house today. No, not a fun trip. I volunteered to make my BIL's birthday cake for his party on Saturday so I had to go on a fondant run. The closest place that doesn't carry the yucky Wilton brand is a cake shop/supply store about 40min from me. Yes I could have made it but I was scared to. I read a lot of mixed reviews on the recipes. Bella was so cranky when we left that I came straight home afterwards and attempted to put her down for a nap. Yeah right. Ian took one though despite the fact he told me he wasn't tired. When he woke up I packed everyone up to go to Micheal's for more supplies. Once again Bella was Ms Crankypants. I gave up the idea of hitting Publix and came home yet again. Thankfully I was able to get out and go to Publix by myself once dh got home from work. And then I had to make a second run when I forgot key ingredients. Ugh.

Want to know what I'm making that I'm driving all over town for? An Xbox 360 cake with controller. Ambitious I know! I think I can pull it off though- or at least I hope so! I baked the cakes tonight and they are chilling. I made the rice krispy treats and shaped my controller and it's chilling in the fridge. Tomorrow I'll make some buttercream, trim and fill my cakes with buttercream and pineapple preserves and freeze the cake for a bit before carving it. Then I just need to roll out my fondant, cover the cake and controller and decorate it. Send me some good cake decorating ~~vibes~~. I need them! This cake has to be ready to go by 2:30pm Saturday afternoon! Now I know why cakes cost so much thru a small bakery. It isn't cheap to make one and it's time consuming! I know my BIL will appreciate the effort though and hopefully everyone will enjoy it. I'll take pics and post them once I'm done.

As for Spring Break, it's basically over and there's nothing much I can do about it. We'll do something on Sunday I'm sure and then next week while dh is on vacation we'll do something too. Maybe we'll hit the zoo after Logan gets out of school one day. Or go over to Downtown Disney. Or maybe we'll just veg and wait for summer break. ;)

Cake Wrecks

From the strange to the outrageous to the disastrous, this blog is full of cakes that you have to see! I'm not even sure what these "decorators" thought they were doing. Scroll on down to the Beyond Bizarre post. You'll know which one it is! The "cake" has a jello top, slime and pink ruffles!

More Cool Cakes

Check out this slide show.

Cake Decorating

I love decorating cakes but I don't think I have the skills to make these. Go check them out!

http://photowebs.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-cake-decoration-ideas.html

http://photowebs.blogspot.com/2008/03/unusual-cake-idea-for-birthday-or.html

And if you ever want to see someone make cakes like these- go check out Ace Of Cakes on the Food Network. They make some awesome stuff!