I have this love-hate relationship with baking cakes. I love the end result if it turns out how i imagined but i hate all the steps i have to do in-between to make it happen. I never realized that my dependence on boxed cake mixes actually hindered me and actually made me afraid to try to make a cake on my own.
Well probably within the last few years i’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried my hand at making cakes from scratch. It’s not that i’ve never made a cake from scratch, i’ve just never made a really GOOD cake from scratch. Practice makes perfect is definitely true in my case. The more cakes i make, the more confident i become with my cake making skills and the better i actually get. I’ve even started working on my cake decorating skills. I’m not the greatest by any means, but i really enjoy it and i’m not afraid to try something new.
I put together some pictures of cakes i’ve made over the years and you’ll probably be able to see how far i’ve come. Of course i’ve had some help along the way to ease me into my journey and many a taste tester to sample my goods. I know my journey is far from over. At least now i know how to enjoy the victories and defeats along the way.
My first attempt to decorate a birthday cake. I made the frosting, which tasted horrible and some cheap gel decorating kit from the grocery storeI used an organic box cake and made my own whipped cream frosting. My hubby made the fruit Elmo design.My first homemade cake. It was a chocolate cake i made from scratch. The frosting was an organic boxed mix.This cake took me ALL day to make. It was a 3 layer chocolate truffle cake. I made it all from scratch, except for the decorative cookies and bow. It was a tad dry but my children loved it.These are red velvet cupcakes i made using a heart shaped cupcake pan. I attempted to decorate them in a festive way.This was an organic marble box cake but the frosting and decoration were made by Diva (in Demand)Cereal cake from a friends recipe that uses leftover cereal to make a cake. It turned out really light and fluffy. I even made the frosting but it wasn’t that great. LOLChocolate mint cake with mint frosting. The frosting was pretty good but the cake was not very moist. I tried to decorate with chocolate ganache.Vegan chocolate cupcakes. These were super yummy. The frosting was homemade too but not vegan.My attempt at making a strawberry cake. It was VERY dense and the frosting was runny. . .and still my children loved it.Two layer sheet cake. It was double chocolate. I attempted to decorate with chunks of chocolate.I made marshmallow fondant for the first time. It tasted good but took FOREVER for me to roll and make designs. The cake was suppose to be a rainbow cake but natural colors didn’t show through, plus i forgot to add eggs and it came out like a cornbread cake.Pound cake i made with yogurt instead of sour cream. It was my first pound cake that was actually moist and delicious.Two layer chocolate birthday cake. Everything was made from scratch and turned out lovely.I’m attempting to decorate cupcakes like i see them in stores.I tried to make a blue cake using natural dye . . . .didn’t quit make it. LOLThis was suppose to be a pink, white and brown colored cake. I used foods to color it but it didn’t turn out. The flavors were chocolate, coconut and strawberryI used fresh pureed mango to make this Mango cake and made a salted caramel sauce for the glaze.Chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting. This was PERFECT. I was so proud of myself.My first checkerboard cake. The cake was a little heavy but at least the vanilla and chocolate showed through. I tried to roll chocolate for the decorations but my children had to help me make the shapes (they’re true artists).I got this dark and white chocolate cake with candy cane recipe from party site. The cake was okay and the frosting failed me. It took me forever to make as well. I may try it again but i’ll do it differently.This checkerboard cake turned out GREAT. It was light and fluffy. The frosting was delicious too. The flavors were strawberry and vanilla, although the red didn’t come through once i baked it.I got this recipe from All Recipes site. It’s suppose to be the cake version of Boston Cream PIe. The cake was okay but the cream part and the ganache was a semi-fail. I probably won’t try this again.Three layer chocolate and vanilla bean cake. This cake was perfect in every way, light, fluffy, nicely whipped frosting and it didn’t take me all day.
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