Gotta love repeat customers!

Because they can help you to fine-tune your product!

On the phone with this particular repeat customer, as she was describing how she wanted her son's birthday cake, she was a wealth of ideas, right down to the buttercream icing. I love it when people make it this easy! I never would have considered adding whipped cream to the buttercream to change the texture (it tasted the same, it was just fluffier!) I was darn proud of how the cake turned out, and with the feedback I received, I know the recipient was too!

One month away from Christmas, and I know I'm going to be busy. With an order of gingerbread cookies and a fancy Christmas cake to make, in addition to my own Christmas baking, decorating, not to mention my wedding anniversary is coming up... I have a full plate.. no wonder I'm exhausted just thinking about it! LOL! Wouldn't change a thing though! It keeps me going!

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year... I've been feeling the spirit, especially at work, since they've begun playing Christmas music... however, I'm having a hard time feeling that way at home, especially on my walk home from work, with all this mild weather, and some flowers still blooming, it just feels too early to decorate when there is no snow, and you can walk outside in just a light sweater and be fine! Ahh, but I know the weather's going to get colder this week, so maybe we'll decorate with the kids by the weekend :) It will be interesting to see what our cat thinks of everything, since this will be her first Christmas! I'm sure she will want to sleep under the tree like our other cats used to, years and years ago!

Off I go, to bake or clean something! Stay sweet! <3

How can 2 cakes make me busy the entire day long?

Cake was not my friend yesterday... but I came, I saw and I conquered. Red velvet was giving me issues all week long, and then I realized halfway through the day, I was clean out of red food colouring, so I sent my son to the store for the first time by himself. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but had no issues, and totally saved the day!

Regrets? Not a one! I thoroughly enjoyed making both cakes, even if it was time-consuming! The second cake was kind of a spur-of-the-moment order and Devin wasn't sure if I'd accept it, since it was short-notice and I had another one due already... but the challenge was fun! I think the biggest difference in doing cakes at a store and doing them at home is that at home, everything is home-made... I don't have buckets of icing kicking around and boxes of pre-made cakes.... it's definitely a challenge but the taste of it is worth it, as is the final appearance of the cake! Always worth the time! And I spent today giving myself some much-needed pampering... hair treatment, mani-pedi... sooo worth it!

On the cake horizon, not a lot coming up... I have a Christmas cake order, but until then, I'll just see what pops up!

The next couple of weeks will be just baking for family, and to the ever-present question, "Looks good, mom... IS IT FOR US?" the answer will be YES! :D

Stay sweet!
D

Cakes I bake!

Just finished a thing of beauty...  I've made a Reese peanut butter cake before, but I've totally improved it! I made the cake chocolatey-er, yet not as sweet... I added mini pb cups to the batter, and topped it with pb cups and Hershey kisses... I can't stand pb and chocolate together, but I have to admit, this cake was amazing!

I've decided that even on weekends when I don't have orders to fill, I'll be baking cakes or cupcakes or cookies for my family. I think that by doing this, it will allow me to come up with more options, perfect the recipes I'm using and stay in touch with followers of my FB site :) Anything that gets my name out there is a plus!

Oh, and I'm having business cards done up by a friend... I have some that I've made myself, but we're kind of helping each other out. She needs to build a portfolio, as she's a graphic designer, and I need some exposure, so this can only be seen as a good thing, in my book! I can't wait to see what she's come up with! But it might be a bit before she actually has time to work on it... she's the friend who's getting married, I mentioned her in a previous post :)

So yes, life is good. We're having familyChristmas photos done tomorrow. So I spent my morning making sure my men were groomed... haircuts all around! My poor husband hadn't had his hair cut in WELL over a month and was starting to look homeless. Yes, I said it... and even though he'd hate my putting that here, he knows he can't disagree lol!

So there you have it! I think my next creation will be a vanilla mint cake... see if anyone wants to take a bite of that! :)

Stay sweet!
D

Wow October was SO busy!

I cannot believe I am sitting down after the whirlwind I've had these past few weeks! I've had personal cake orders every weekend this month, which has been awesome! To be able to share someone's day with them is truly a blessing. If I were still working full time in the bakery, I would never have been able to accomplish that! Thank goodness I got out of there because I have time now to focus on the important things in my life, my family being at the top of that list!

So, here's a cake with cupcakes I made for a Halloween party we attended.. they were sooo yummy!

It was an easy enough cake to make, but it was a little time-consuming on an already busy day at home. So much fun though... I never regret a cake I've made, but I usually feel I could have done better... it must be the perfectionist in me.

So I've recently become interested in Pampered Chef. Have you ever tried their products? My friend Angela invited us to a party she was hosting in October and I was very impressed with the stoneware. So I had a party as well, and bought some cool things... even my husband is excited to receive them lol! I really want the deep covered baker and hope I've earned enough to get the discount on it! I have yet to try a cake in my 9X13 dish but I think I'll have to try it soon... inquiring minds (and mouths in my household) want to know what it'll be like!

I am excited for November. It's going to be quieter (at least from the way it looks right now), and I'll be able to better focus on Christmas. I was off to a great start in September, but then my husband had a surgery and was off from work for 3 weeks, so it threw my entire routine out of whack because instead of doing what I would normally do on any given day, I wanted to take advantage of spending time with him because he was home. It's a double-edged sword, I think. Crave the time together almost all the time, but when I get it, I can't do what I need to get done! LOL!

Have a couple of cakes in the works for this month... a wedding to attend: I am so excited, it's two co-workers that met on the job! <3 So cute!

Until next time, be sweet! :)