Raised by a village

It has been forever since I have posted and this particular post is long over due but here is a post for my friend Alyson, her husband, Chris and their newest addition Walker David.

I want to start this post with a story dated to Christmas of last year when I had a lunch date with Alyson and our friend Laura.  At this lunch we talked about married life and our futures and most importantly, the possibly of babies in the near future.  At that time, Alyson said that she thought that she and her husband would wait just a little while longer before starting a family.  Then....three months later, my good friend Alyson called me to tell me that she was 3 months pregnant.  I was so very excited for them. 
Alyson expressed to me one time a worry about being prepared to be a mother but I must say that I have no worries at all.  Alyson will be such an amazing mom because she has some very great qualities that anyone would be lucky to inherit.  Over the years, Alyson and I have gone through phases when we didn't talk as much and other times when we talked a lot but she is one of those people that I know I could go 10 years without talking to and feel as though the conversation never ended when we were together again.  She is one of the most honest individuals that I have ever met but still sweet.  She is easy to talk to which will be such a great thing for her new little man.   She is also very openminded and good.  I know that good is such a weird adjective to use and perhaps pure would be better but it isn't hard to understand what I mean by good if you know her.  She has the most pure of intentions and there is not a cynical bone in her body.  I hope that Walker inherits that quality from her.  But the best quality about Alyson is her loyalty and devotion to family.  She and her husband are both so very close to family and it is really such an amazing thing to see.  The day of her baby shower, I was astounded at the number of family members that came from near and far to share in Alyson and Chris' special news.  I love being around their family because you get a real sense of how Walker will be raised by the "whole village."  I felt very fortunate to be apart of that village on that day.  He is certainly one very special little person.  I very much look forward to meeting him.  So without further ado, here is my present to Walker David Clark, born September 18, 2011 at 6 lbs 15 oz.

This cake was a hole in one

So for today's blog, I am going to introduce you to some very special people in my life.  And how fitting that I am posting this blog on Father's day because this tale is about my best friend and her husband who are about to be new parents. 
I have known Kristen since our freshman year in college and we have really been great friends since the very first moment that we have met.  In the nine years that we have been friends, I can not recall a single fight or disagreement between us.  Now that isn't to say that we did not get under each other's skin every once in a while but our friendship has been one of the easier things in life.  In the past nine years, we have been through break ups and make ups, countless road trips, weddings and funerals and even a few cocktails every once in a while.  But from the very moment that I met her, I knew that she was going to make the most incredible mother.  In fact, she was often my surrogate mother in college or maybe more accurately, she was my Jiminy Cricket.  She is kind and happy and fun and she has the most amazing heart so when I found out that she was pregnant, everything inside of me knew that her child would be supremely loved.  I know that she and her husband had been trying for a little while and it was breaking my heart to see that two people so deserving were not getting the one thing that they most wanted so when she told me about baby G in November, I could not help but well up with tears for these two special people.  And Matt, who I do not often compliment(we don't want his head to get too big), is going to be an amazing father.  He has time and time again shown how great he is with other people's children that I can not imagine how wonderful he will be with his own. 
With all of this being said, yesterday was Kristen's baby shower and it was such a great day!!  She is very blessed with some amazing people in her life that came and shared the day with us and other's that could not, sent along some wonderful gifts for baby G.  She was absolutely glowing with joy over this precious gift that she has been given and as her other 1/3, I couldn't help but feel so happy for her and her new family.  Now, just to fill you in on my back story, Kristen would leave me notes in college telling me to have a great day and would sign them "Love, your other 1/2"  which may sound strange but we were pretty inseperable in college and it was a little joke between us.  Then, when she got married, in my toast to her, I gave my other 1/2 title to Matt but then Kristen informed me that I would just become her other 1/3.  Well, in about 5 weeks, I will be turning my title over again but I will give away my title as the other 1/3 with all the happiness and joy in the world because I know that I will be giving it away to someone much more special than me...the title of other 1/3 will go to baby G.

So, on this special father's day, may I present a cake dedicated to Kristen, Baby G and especially Matt.  This cake was meant for a little boy who will grow up to be the best darn golfer in our group!

the Mommy-to-be

Picture is worth a thousand words

So I just realized that there are quite a few cakes that I have not shared with you.  Some will forever remain a secret because they aren't really worth showing but some are pretty fun so I want to share them with you.  I have been pleasantly surprised with the number of people who have contacted me recently about my cakes.  Everyone has been so incredibly kind and I am really thrilled every time someone says something to me.  Tonight was the icing on the cake when my roommate from college, Caroline, complimented me on my "talent."  I say quote, unquote talent because I don't really consider it a talent.  I am by no means the best and actually feel as though there is much room for improvement but I do love when people call it my "talent."  So, with the risk of sounding arrogant, I just thought that I would share my "talent" with all of you.  Thank you all so much for encouraging me to keep baking!  It really does mean a lot!

Kristen's baby cake...the next baby cake will be for Kristen's little guy!

Ma Duke's birthday cake...I took her to the beach!

Part 1 of Kristen's Cravings birthday cake

Part 2 of Kristen's Cravings Birthday cake

Dr. Seuss Christmas cake

No Quarter

Interesting title for tonight's blog.  For those of you that are not ECU fans, No Quarter is a commonly used term among pirates (haha) meaning the vicor gives no mercy (or no quarter) to their enemies.  Not totally uncommon in the terms of marriage.  Just kidding but it does sort of segue into the blog for this evening, in two respects.  First, the cake relates to marriage because the cake is a groom's cake for my friend Heather and her fiance Grahm.  Second, the cake relates to pirates because, well, it is a pirate. 
This beautiful cake was for a beautiful couple, who just so happen to be fellow pirates.  For tonight's blog, I want to do something a little bit different.  I have already written a little bit about Heather in a previous blog so for this blog, I want to wish my friend the best life possible and maybe give a little advice.
First, the well wishes.  Where to start?!  Well, first, I have to say that Heather may not always realize this herself but she is really truly a fabulous and special kind of friend. I want her to have the most wonderful life.  I know that Grahm will be a wonderful husband.  I have seen him with her and they really are best friends.  I know that this is something that you are suppose to say but I'm not just saying it, I really do mean it.  So, I wish you happiness, playfulness and a little bit of sass for the next 80 years.  So, now for some advice.

• Now, I know that weddings are stressful and exhausting but I also know that honeymoons are relaxing and rejuvenating.  So, my first piece of advice, even though you will get this after your wedding, is to enjoy the wedding but really REALLY enjoy the honeymoon. 
• Second piece of advice (because I am such an expert after 9 months) is to be happy every day, Even when he sucks (because I also know, after 9 months, that the wife NEVER sucks) because honestly, being married to your best friend is about as good as it gets.  This is actually the hard one to realize.
• Last piece of advice- Call me when its time for your anniversary cake OR baby shower cake. :)

So, now that I have provided you with my infinite wisdom, I will display the cake that I made for my amazing, beautiful, fun, road rage driver friend and her soon to be husband.

The cake

The inspriation

A Berry Happy Couple

Sooo...it is time again to display a cake and this one is so super special.  If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know that I made my first large wedding cake with Christina Garrou.  Well, this past weekend, I had the pleasure of making Christina's wedding cake and it was really such a great day.
Trey and Christina have been such an inspiration to me, as a cake decorator, because they are so extremely talented and have been kind enough to give me tips along my path in learning to bake.  I am absolutely excited for this wonderful couple.
This couple is a true example at love at first "night."  I say this because they were in love from the first night that they met and are really an example of a perfect couple.  They compliment each other very well and are so similar that it is scary.  Christina is one of the kindest, happiest people that I have ever met.  She drove all the way to Charlotte to decorate my first wedding cake with me just because I asked her to.  And Trey was the first of all of Bryant's first to really make me feel like part of their group.  I really think the most of this couple and so this cake was really important to me.  I swear, on their wedding day, I seemed more nervous than Christina OR Trey.  The cake was a design sent to me by Christina, and although mine is not as beautiful as the one in the picture, Trey and Christina made me feel so great about my first real wedding cake.
Best thing about the cake was the taste.  I did a butter pound cake with a butter sauce soaked in and vanilla bean buttercream with strawberry filling between each layer.  It was the most amazing cake that I have ever baked and I cake truly say that I put more heart and soul into this cake than any cake that I have made this year.  So, without further adue, allow me to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Trey Prescott and their wedding Cake.

I love this!!!

a little lean with it...

this is the design idea

Something Borrowed...Something Blue

I had the pleasure of making a cake this past weekend for two of Bryant's friends from Law School.  These were the same friends that hosted a shower for us when we were getting married and they are the ones that took care of Bryant at school.  Sort of his Law School wives.  Well now one of them, LeAnn, is getting married and the other one, Hilary, is having a baby boy...Thus the title of today's blog-Something Borrowed and Something Blue.  Since they were so thoughtful to throw us a shower, Bryant and I, as well as our friends, Corey and Elizabeth, threw them a shower.  The cake was a nice touch to a wonderful evening with friends.  I only have one picture to post right now but I will post more later.  In case you are wondering what is on top of the cake, it is a wedding dress and baby booty.  Also, under the picture is the recipe for the vanilla pound cake and the buttercream recipe is in a previous post.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. salt
6 lg. eggs
3 cup flour

Directions:          
Preheat to 350 degrees
Beat sugar & butter
add vanilla & salt
add eggs, one at a time
gradually add flour

Bake for 30-45 minutes

Added Bonus: Nutrition Facts
13.8 g   fat
43.8g    carbs
5g         protein
6g         fiber

The Perfect Pair!

I am overdue for a new post and I have just the cake to use.  This past Friday, I had to pleasure of working with Christina Garrou, who I consider to be a far better cake decorator than myself.  I did my first large wedding cake.  This cake set a few new milestones for me because it was the largest cake that I have ever attempted but it was also the first one that I did for a stranger.  And one day, when I am a fabulous cake decorator, I will look back on this cake as my first real accomplishment but I truly could not have done this one with Christina.  I baked the cakes on Thursday night and let them cool in the refrigerator then on Friday, before Christina came, I iced the cakes and stacked the layers (not the tiers).  When Christina got here, we both start in on the roses.  We figured that we would need about 20 fondant roses to fit perfectly for the design for the cake (more accurately, we needed 9).  We rolled out fondant and cut 1 1/2 by 7 inch strips and began rolling them up to form the base of the flowers.  While I finished forming the inside layer of the flowers, Christina began forming the outside layer.  She is actually brilliant for the way that she went about doing this.  She rolled out fondant in the shape of a circle and placed the base of the flower in the center of the circle and formed the shape around the inside.  Sort of similar to the orange flower on the anniversary cake that I did but thinner and with a rose in the center.  Then Christina rolled out the fondant and showed me a much better way to lay fondant over the tiers of the cake.  My biggest mistake, thus far, is that I do not roll out the fondant thin enough before I lay it over the cake.  Next, we stacked the layers and wrapped red satin ribbon around the base of each tier, put the cake topper in and began positioning the flowers.  Now, to keep the flowers in place, we used pins with pearl tops and pushed them in the center of the flowers.  It added a little flare to the flowers plus kept them in place.   Added a few leaves and, presto, a beautiful wedding cake was born.
        It was truly a wonderful day.  Working with Christina was so much fun that I really want her to consider working with me again in the future.  She is so amazing at what she does and I can learn so much.  I am not quite as fabulous at this whole thing as she is but I am learning and getting better.  Decorating cakes is the most relaxing thing that I have ever done for myself.  For someone that does not sleep and is constantly worrying or stressing about something, it is nice to know that I have found something that keeps my blood pressure at normal levels.  So for those of you that read this little blog of mine, thanks for letting me share my hobby with you.

  

Do baby's love cake?

Do Baby's love cake?  Because if they do, I think that this would be the perfect cake for them.  I am just so excited about tonight's cake.  It took me a total of 7 hours to do this cake but I think that I have found my niche.  I wish that every cake request was for a baby shower cake!!  So tonight's post will be short.  I will share a recipe for Lemon Cake and just post the picture because it really feels like I can put this one in the win column.

Lemon Pound Cake
3 cups of self rising flour
2 cups of sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 1/2 sticks of butter
about 2 large lemons (w/ some zest- should be about 1/3 cup)

Cream together sugar and butter in mixer
Then add eggs, one at a time
Next add juice and zest
Gradually add flour
Last add sour cream
Once mixed well, pour in greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes

The Cake wore white

So this cake is very special because it was made for my friend Heather.  Yesterday, my friend Laura and I went to Raleigh to see our friend Heather.  We told her that we were just going to meet her for lunch but we really were surprising her with some gifts for her upcoming wedding.  I guess that you would call it a mini bridal shower because we had a great lunch, close friends, some peach bellinis and a beautiful cake (oh yes, I will gloat about this cake).  
This cake was actually pretty important for me to get just right.  Heather has been a pretty great friend to me and when I was getting married, she dealt with her fair share of phone calls from me being stressed out and as a bridesmaid, she made my whole wedding experience just that much better by being such an amazing friend (I also have to give a shout out to Laura Dough for this).   Laura and I didn't do much but we just wanted Heather to know that she was loved.  Now Heather and I are not the mushy type but this is my blog so I can be any way that I want and I want to be mushy for a minute.  She is the one that introduced me to my husband and my husband introduced her to her soon to be husband so I really feel like we have a special friendship.  Plus, two years ago, we worked on a campaign together in Charlotte and she was really the only one that kept me sane some days.  I am just so happy for her and everything that life will bring for her because she really is such a great person and friend.  And honestly, pretty damn hilarious too!!  So Heather...I dedicate this blog post to you.  You are going to be such a beautiful bride and I really am so thankful to have you as a friend!!  


P.S.  This cake is the bomb.com...seriously one of my favorites :)

This cake soars to new levels

So this weekend I had the honor of making two beautiful cakes for some very special people.  Since I want to give each of them their own blog, I will write about one tonight and one tomorrow night.  
The first cake of the weekend was for a little boy named Evan who turns one on Tuesday.  Evan is one of the happiest children that I have ever been around.  He does not fuss and boy is it easy to make him smile.  It is true what they say, smiling is contagious because being around that little man for just ten minutes will absolutely make your day.  So for his birthday, I did an airplane cake.  The cake was surprisingly hard to make and not my favorite cake but it was such a great challenge and I have learned some new dos and don'ts about making odd shaped cakes.  The first lesson that I learned was: be careful of what type of cake you are using when making a decorative cake.  Thus far, my cakes have been mostly of the pound variety which is a more dense cake making it easy to mold and ice.  The cake that I used for this cake was red velvet which, while it tastes good, is a very crumbly cake.  Plus, to make matters worse, the icing that goes with red velvet cake is made with cream cheese.  And here comes the second lesson: be careful which icing you are using when decorating a cake.  Buttercream is the best icing to use if your end goal is to have a pretty cake.  Do not expect to have the most beautiful cake if you are going to use cream cheese icing because it is sticky.  Now that may not be the most descriptive word but I can not really think of a better way to describe it.  Buttercream is light and it spreads smoothly and evenly but cream cheese icing has a mind of its own.  But the biggest lesson of all: Do not do a very difficult cake for your first uniquely shaped cake because you will be heartbroken if it is not perfect.  Try a car or a train first.  There aren't as many curves to work with so your blood pressure will not skyrocket.  An airplane is not for amateurs like myself.  With that being said, Erin, Lane and Evan seemed very happy with their cake and that is really all that matters.  Seeing that little guy smile brought my blood pressure back down and made all the frustrations seem totally worth it. 


So Happy Birthday Evan!!  I can't wait to find out what cake I will be making next year.  I hope that two year olds are into iphones because I've got that one down pat.  :)

The key ingredient to a happy life...

So I just baked two cakes this evening...one for my friend Erin's baby boy and the other is a surprise for the recipient so I will reveal later.  But for my friend Erin's little one, who turns one on March 8, I am sooo honored that she asked me to make the cake.  I have not finished it yet so I will not post any pictures until this weekend but I had to write tonight.  


Baking cakes is so therapeutic for me.  Sometimes I cry and sometimes I laugh but by the end of the whole process, nothing makes me feel better about myself.   There is such a sense of accomplishment in doing something that you know other people will enjoy.  And, even though I gripe about this, Bryant always comes in the kitchen to help.  Normally the help annoys me because he has a tendency of taking over my projects but still, it is nice to share it with him.  There aren't many cakes that he hasn't had a hand in, figuratively, of course.  
Recently, we have been trying to find some hobbies to do together.  My friend Kim does some really fun and quirky stuff with her husband and I think that Bryant envies that because he keeps stealing their cool ideas.  Like this past Sunday we went geocaching.  Now for those of you who do not know what this is, I will explain; it is a website that gives you GPS coordinates to a location with a box that has all different kinds of treasures.  Not exactly my thing but he really enjoys it.  
Another thing that he wanted to do was start a book club together.  I have to admit, I am in a another book club and I have to read for school so I have not been all that great at participating in our couples book club.  But I have to say, of all of hobbies that we are trying to do, nothing is better than having him interested in one of my hobbies.  I love that I get to share baking with him.  So, since baking cakes makes me happy and Bryant makes me happy, tonight I am going to just post some pictures of cakes that I have baked with my husband!


P.S. The Family Law book cake is from our wedding.  It was the groom's cake.  I have to say that I feel pretty witty about that one.  For our wedding...Family Law...Bryant is a lawyer...Morrison is the author...funny right?  :)

A Cake Baker's dream

So I just had the most amazing day with respect to my cakes.  Last week in class, my marketing professor was explaining the concept of market segmentation by showing us the cake mix market.  He asked if anyone would like to make cake for the class and bring it in on Monday.  I, of course, was a little over zealous in my response because an assignment like this is a dream come true.  How often does someone get to show off their talents to a class full of their peers?  Sometimes it is hard for me to admit but I don't really think that there are too many things that I am good at but I am sure that I am good at three things.  
1.  Baton Twirling- I did this as a kid but I am sure that I still have some sweet moves.
2.  Being a wife- It is easy to be good at this when you are married to your best friend and love of your life.
And lastly...
3.  Decorating cakes.
I had a class of 80 people to feed, which is larger than any amount that I have ever had to feed before.  To be creative, I decided to do 3 different cakes that would represent market segmentation.  The first would be a light, low fat lemon cake with a light buttercream icing; the second would be the biggest cake made of butter pound cake with chocolate ganache filling and chocolate buttercream icing; the third cake would be a dark, fudgy chocolate cake with the chocolate ganache filling and chocolate buttercream icing.  It took me (and occasionally Bryant) 5 hours to complete all three cakes but the feeling that I had when I brought them to class is indescribable.  Am I the kiss ass?  Yes.  Am I the nerd? Yes.  But did I make everyone in that class a little happier today? Yes.  
I have been wondering for quite some time if I am ever going to find satisfaction in a career path.  Throughout high school, I dreamt of becoming a History teacher.  Then, in college, I wanted to have a career in politics but one year doing that and I found myself changing my path again but this time to the field of accounting.  Now I know that most people do not work in the field for which they received their degree but I think that I am surrounded by friends that are actually using their degrees and I envy that.  Well folks, I have changed my mind once again.  More than anything, I want to bake cakes for a living.  I want to get that feeling that I did when I delivered that cake to class today.  Because the truth is, I am really good at making cakes.
So I want to give all of you a taste of the happiness that I felt.  Here is the recipe for Cassie's fudgy chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate buttercream icing.  Enjoy.


Cassie's Fudgy Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cup Sugar                             
1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup unsweet cocoa powder     
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda                     
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk                              
3 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla                               
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup hot coffee
Preheat to 325 degrees
In a large bowl, whisk sugar with flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt
In small bowl, whisk buttermilk with eggs and vanilla
In yet another bowl, melt butter with coffee
Beat half of buttermilk mix with dry ingredients.  Then beat in half of coffee mix.  Scrape bowl and mix the rest of the coffee and buttermilk mix with the other mix.
Pour batter into two 8 inch pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.


Chocolate Filling
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar                  3 tbsp. oil
3 tbsp. cocoa powder                         3 tbsp. water
mix well by with fork and pour between layers


Chocolate Buttercream
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups of powdered sugar
3-4 tbsp. milk
Cream shortening and butter.  Once mixed well, add cocoa and vanilla.  Then gradually add sugar and once smooth, add milk one tbsp at a time.  

The way to my mom's heart

So Bryant tells me that I need to be a little more personal in my posts and so I want to give you a back story to the cake that I will be displaying tonight.  
My mom and I have always had a very unique mother-daughter relationship.  Often times I would say that we are more like friends actually (except when I'm sick and then she is definitely my mom because I whine like a child).  Anyway, through the years I have seen my mom go through some pretty bad heart breaks.  My pappy jokes that if her boyfriend could get me to like him, then they are set because I just really didn't think that any of them were worthy of my mom or if I thought that they were, they eventually showed their stripes.  So, last year, when my mom started dating this man named Jimmy, I really didn't bat an eye because I knew that I would dislike him, just like the rest.  Except, I didn't.  
Now let me give you a picture of what I met when I met Jimmy.  He is a tall, solidly built guy who drives a truck and likes Jack Daniels but he also dotes on his little pekingese (or whatever kind of small dog he owns).
Another thing that you should know is that I have two other sisters.  Candace is the sensitive one.  She needs reassurance about things (mainly herself).  I don't mean this to sound bad at all, quite the opposite actually because Candace is a very kind and caring person that she really needs people to treat her like that as well.  Kindness is definitely the way to Candace's heart.  Then there is Maggi.  Maggi is mature for her 10 years of age because she has always been around adults.  Candace and I are significantly older and my mom has always treated her as though she were no different than Candace or me.  But she still likes having a playmate and she needs a good father figure.  Someone to play basketball with or someone to talk to about the Indianapolis Colts.   Play time is definitely the way to Maggi's heart.  And then there is me.  I am sarcastic.  That is my thing and the way to my heart.  And my mom, who has kind of had a bit of an issue with her picker (picker: the thing that helps you decide which man to date), needs someone to treat her like a priority.  She needs someone to handle the good with the bad.  The way to my mom's heart is through her heart.  And this is why Jimmy was different than any other man.  When he met us, he was kind to Candace and he was fatherly and playful with Maggi but with me he was down right hateful... which is why I liked him right away.  But the way that he was with my mom made me absolutely adore him.
I was more than thrilled when Jimmy asked for me and my sisters' permission to marry my mom.  She deserved someone that was sweet to her.  And I was even more excited when my mom asked me to make her wedding cake.  I felt like this was my opportunity to find a way to Jimmy's heart...through his stomach!  


Here is the cake that I served at their wedding.  This one was definitely made with a lot of love.

Roses are red and violets are hard to make

So I did a cake for my friends Tonya and Steve's anniversary.  It was suppose to look like the top of their wedding cake but since they were married in the Bahamas, they wanted some tropical looking flowers around the bottom of the cake.  And can I tell you, flowers are a very hard thing to make with fondant.  I have posted a video about how to make fondant flowers so that anyone trying this will maybe have a better grasp on it than I did.  I am really bummed that I can not find a picture of the original cake but here is the picture of the one that I did for the Taylors.   Enjoy!

The hobby that is making me fat

So for my first blog, I thought that I would give you a background on my new "cake thing."  Last May, my friend Kim asked me to bake a cake for her husband's birthday.  I am still unsure of the reason that I was asked because I don't really see myself as all that talented and at the time, I was still baking box cakes, not that there is anything wrong with that.  But she asked for a specific type of cake; a cake that looked like an iphone.  When I look back at this cake now, I think it is a little busch league but it sparked in me an interest that I had no idea that I had.  But then another friend of mine, Beth, actually liked it and asked that make the groom's cake for her wedding and she also wanted to iphone cake.  Now, in all fairness, the difference between the two is drastic because I did have a little bit of practice in between each event.  But anyway, here is a picture of the cake that started it all along with its much better looking twin.
P.S.- the second one was made with Sara Lee pound cake loaves.