2 Princess Ariel cakes for 2 special granddaughters...

I have two sweet little granddaughters, both celebrating birthdays on June 24th. Lucy turned 5 this year and Lexi turned 6. Both wanted Princess Ariel cakes for their birthday. So, since I was visiting Lucy in California a couple of weeks ago, I made her a Princess Ariel cake with lemon cake and raspberry filling (Lucy's request) a little early. Lexi, on the other hand, is like her mom and prefers RK treats over cake, so I made her a Princess Ariel "cake" from RK treats, and we set it on top of a 10" round layer of strawberry ice cream (Lexi's favorite). I lined a round cake pan with plastic wrap, softened the ice cream and spread it in the pan and froze it overnight until nice and hard. Just before eating it, I iced the ice cream layer with whipped cream, and then put Ariel on top. The girls each got to play with their "Ballerina Ariel" dolls after being cleaned up. These dolls were perfect for the cakes... inexpensive (just 6.50 @ Walmart), and came with an attached outfit that resembled a camisole which worked nicely under her gown of pink and white fondant/modeling chocolate. She also came with a crown already that I just covered with white buttercream dots. 2 Princess Ariel cakes = 2 happy granddaughters. 

 Lucy, 5 years old

 

Lexi, 6 years old

New tools to make a decorator's life easier...

Rolling out my gumpaste and fondant/modeling chocolate to the right thickness by hand...a thing of the past. I've been debating on whether or not to buy a pasta roller attachment for my KitchenAid for some time now, and I finally made the decision to buy one. Why didn't I do this a long time ago? What a time saver this new tool has been. Just a couple of days ago, I made this humongous wedding cake...6, 8, 12, and 16 inch square tiers. The 8 and 16 tiers were covered with ruffles that were half modeling chocolate/half fondant (tasted really yummy), and I ran the combination through my pasta roller attachment and then cut the ruffles out with this new handy dandy double frill ruffle cutter. With a little thinning out of the edges, they were ready to be placed on the cake. The pasta roller is also great for rolling out gumpaste very thin to use with my Cricut Cake, and to make flowers, and to roll out modeling chocolate or gumpaste to use with my Tappits letter cutters.

The finished product...

Lessons I should have learned from the Bible about feeding the multitudes...

Remember the incident in the New Testament when Jesus was preaching to the multitudes, and did not want to send them away hungry? So he gathered a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, blessed it, and proceeded to feed thousands. When the multitude had finished eating, they gathered the remnants and several baskets were left. 

I swear that this is what happens when I serve beans and rice at a taco bar. I do not claim to be a prophet, by any means, but beans and rice just seem to multiply whenever I serve them. For example, last night we did a taco bar for 230 guests, so I made enough beans and rice for approximately 150 guests, knowing that not everyone would eat them. I think we had 200 servings left! So I have decided that from now on, no matter how many guests I'm serving, I will only make 1  recipe of beans and rice. If doing a a taco bar for 50, I will only do 1/2 recipe. Do people just not eat beans and rice? I don't know, but I do know that I left allot of beans and rice for the family to take home. Same theory goes for lettuce, tomatoes, and taco shells.

 Taco bar for "big fat Mexican wedding"

The cake I made last night was enough to serve 240...it was HUGE! No way was I going to serve regular size pieces. So I cut the pieces at least double of what I usually do, and many guests asked for a piece of each, which I gladly agreed to. There was still cake left over. The cake was all iced in buttercream. Two of the tiers were covered with icing "roses" and the other two tiers were covered with ruffles, made with 1/2 fondant and 1/2 white modeling chocolate. 

Cake flavors...Swiss chocolate with raspberry mousse and

 lemon with cream cheese and strawberry