Rambling #2 I can do that!

Ok so I have mentioned the joy that I get out of making things for others to enjoy. Well a couple of months ago I was talking to one of the girls that I work with and she was talking about her daughter's upcoming birthday and the party she was planning. Now I must pause in this story and tell you that in the ho-hum town I live in, if you want a decorated cake there is really one place to go in town (other than a grocery store). This bakery kind of has a monopoly on the decorated cake industry. Well Melissa's daughter wanted the face of Hello Kitty for her birthday cake.

So she went to the bakery and the price they quoted her was HUGE! They wanted $85! I couldn't believe it because truth be told all of their so called fancy cakes start from box cake mix. I said if it is just the face you want I think I can do that. She needed the cake in two weeks and so I decided that first week that I would do a trial cake to make sure I could do the actual shape of her face right, that way if I couldn't then she would still have time to order the other one. Well week one, I made the trial cake and was surprised that getting the shape was actual really easy and so it was on. I spent most of the second week trying to figure out what I was going to use for the eyes, nose and whiskers. I originally thought jelly beans and black licorice, but the jelly beans weren't the right size and I couldn't find licorice that wasn't little chunks. So, I decided I would make my own fondant and dye it. Just a little bit of info, if dyeing fondant using black food coloring make sure to wear gloves otherwise you will have black nail beds for a week and half. Anyways, after baking the cake (Valentine funfetti), making the shape, frosting and smoothing (thanks mom!), making fondant, dyeing it, making the eyes, nose, and whiskers, and making a bow out of ribbon I had a face of Hello Kitty that was quite cute and something I was very proud of! I had some leftover batter so I made some cupcakes and put them around Kitty with some decorative flowers on top. Melissa and her daughter were thrilled and I felt like a master cake baker/decorator.
Well here is the face of Hello Kitty


Here she is as a final project with the cupcakes around her


So in conclusion dear friends should any of you need a Hello Kitty face cake just let me know!