Update on cake tasting day...

Yesterday afternoon was my cake tasting day for prospective brides. It was successful, even though I was pressed for time getting ready. We had several different flavors to choose from:

• Fudge marble with bavarian cream
• Lemon with cream cheese and fresh strawberries
• Chocolate with fudge and raspberry
  
• Spice with cream cheese pecan and white chocolate cream cheese frosting
• Chocolate with coconut pecan filling
• Banana split cake (everyone's favorite, of course)

Bruce was very helpful in cleaning up while I was talking with my customers. Since we had leftover cake as usual, we invited some of the neighbors we had not yet met over to take cake home. It was a great way to become acquainted and they loved the free cake.

Especially for Star Wars fans...

Here's one of the seven cakes I decorated last week. I was asked to do a cake for Garrett, the son of my friend and hairdresser, for his tenth birthday. He wanted something from Star Wars and he let me use my decorator's prerogative to determine what I would put on the cake. I found this great picture of Yoda with a light saver. I thought it turned it out great, and I think Garrett enjoyed it.

Free cake tasting rescheduled for June 20...

My next free cake tasting for prospective brides is rescheduled for Saturday, June 20 from 1-4 pm. If you are visiting my blog and are interested in attending that day, please call me or email me to schedule a time during those hours.

Delivering cakes in the rain...

Yesterday we catered a wedding reception for a friend of ours. It was supposed to be an outdoors reception, but, as we know, the weather here in Colorado Springs can be very unpredictable. So, at the last moment, it was decided to bring the reception inside the house. Diane has a very lovely large home, so it wasn't the end of the world, even though she had planned some beautiful decorations for outside. So anyway, we were late getting everything set up since it was a last minute decision. Everything turned out fine, except delivering cakes in the rain is not fun, and because it was raining when Bruce was bringing the cake in, the beautiful finish on the fondant was marred slightly by the rain drops. The cake was still very nice and, of course, tasted wonderful. We used a beautiful orchid spray on the top tier, and it was placed on a mirror and my newly purchased silver cake plateau, which was perfect for this type of cake design. The bride and groom chose some wonderful flavor combinations. . . chocolate mint with chocolate mint mousse, chocolate with peanut butter mousse, and fudge marble with cream cheese. The picture actually makes the cake look smaller than it was. . . the bottom tier was a 14 inch square and the cake plateau was 22 inches in diameter.

Graduation, Promotion, and Retirement Cakes

It's that time of year again...graduations, promotions, and retirements. This is a cake that I did last last night for an Air Force retirement. Of course, living here in Colorado Springs I have the opporturnity to decorate cakes for military celebrations, especially Air Force. These cakes usually involve alot of work since they usually deal with creating detailed emblems in icing. I can also design graduation cakes for specific schools--colleges, high schools, and middle schools--customizing your cake with a specific logo or emblem. Prior to relocating to Colorado, this was most often my busiest time of year. One year I baked and decorated about 20 cakes within a 3 day period. Of course, I didn't sleep much, and was beginning to run out of room to place the completed cakes, but some how I managed to get through. I'm not sure I could or would want to be that busy again, but I do enjoy the opportunity to do these special cakes. My skill and talent for detail comes through.

Another free cake sampling day...

For those of you who are visiting my blog as prospective brides, here is some information about my free cake sampling day. If you call me at 719.597.6918 to schedule an appointment, I would love to meet with you on the afternoon of Saturday, May 9th. I usually have about 5 or 6 different cakes for you to taste...a variety of different cake flavors, fillings, and frostings, so you can choose the flavor and look that you like the best. I also have many pictures for you to view. If you would like to that day, I can sit down with you and design/customize your wedding cake. Just remember that you will need to put a 20% deposit down to reserve your date. I look forward to meeting you.

Kind and appreciative customers...a joy to work for!

I delivered another wedding cake out to Cathedral Pines today. The family of the bride was from a small farming community in Kansas, the family of the groom from Oklahoma, and they all came to Colorado Springs for the sole purpose of getting married, because they loved the area. I had been communicating only with the mother of the bride through mail and telephone calls. She had gotten my name from the manager of Cathedral Pines, and she just trusted me fully without ever meeting me personally. As I was setting up the cake, she had nothing but kind words, and was so appreciative. Then I began to think of the last several wedding cake customers I have had and how they have all been so kind and appreciate of my work. It is such a pleasure to work for them. Over the many years that I have been creating cakes, most of my customers have been kind, with the exception of only a few. What a wonderful thing it is to have people appreciate you for your talents...it makes it a joy to work. It makes me realize how fortunate I am to have a job where I can use my creative skills to bring others joy!