Catching Up & Cherry Blossom Flowers...

I can sum up my life over the past six months since my last post in one word...

WORK.

I finished up August, September, October & November with weddings--only to realize that Thanksgiving came quickly, then Christmas and now it's 2011.  Of course there are always more things going on in my life other than work, but I would have to say that the majority of my focus, time and energy has been spent on my passion and trying to figure out what the next step is for Jillicious Desserts. 

It's time to expand my business and I spent the greater part of last year (starting in March 2010) looking for the right space to open a Jillicious Desserts Bakeshop.  This has been a very long journey, and I'm still in the midst of this idea of creating a retail store front.  I'm a planner and if I had my way, I would have had my Bakeshop open last May or June, but alas, I have discovered that I don't have total control of these things.  So now that the holiday season is completed, I'm reviewing my ideas and options of what I want to do and where this should take place. 

October is the Month of Birthdays

It's all about the birthday cakes this month. Most of the orders for October so far have been birthday cakes. A favorite cake design that many people love to order is the Gift Cake. I think that the idea of cake all wrapped up like a present is very appealing (like getting two for the price of one). I have to admit, it is one of my favorites to make and today's might be my favorite to date. The client ordered it for her friends that were both turning 50 and there was a surprise party being given for them.

She wanted the colors from the invitation to be incorporated in the design on the cake, so we decided on making the main color the apple green from the invitation.

I colored the fondant into the three colors; apple green, sky blue and navy blue and then cut out various sizes of circles.

Since the colors were bright and cheery, I wanted to only add small accents of black and that was in the slightly pearlized black sugar pearl details.

Around the base, I added the three colors (apple green, sky blue & navy blue) to accent the piping with sugar pearls colored to match the fondant circles.

I choose the gold cake board, since it was a nice contrast to the colors and because the recipient's were turning 50, which is usually denoted as the "golden years."

Gift Cake Details:

12-inch square cake is a Dark Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Buttercream Icing.

Last, but not least, here's a little shout out to my sister who also has a birthday today--Happy Birthday Sandi Rae!! I hope you have a great one!

It's Official! I'm One Year Older Today.

That's right, today is my birthday. And because it is MY day, I thought I'd share a few past birthday cake pictures, some thoughts and maybe a little extra information about ME that you might not know.

I'm 38 years old.

I thought I would just put that out there, since my philosophy has been to always just say how old you are. I think this came about as a child observing several adults (mostly women) who when asked by a child of any age what their age was, always responded with some ridiculous answer like "Oh, I'm not a day over 24"--yeah, right. Even at the ripe old age of 9 years old, I know that you are NOT 24 yrs. old (even my math skills aren't that poor). So since then I decided that I wouldn't EVER lie about my age to both the young and older folks that inquire.

I love October 1st for several reasons (besides the obvious birthday thing).

Reason #1:
Even though the Autumnal Equinox began technically on September 22nd, October FEELS like it is the true fall month and so I begin to recognize it as such.

Reason #2:
Besides January 1st, October 1st is the other day that I feel I MUST set new goals for myself. It's a NEW year for me, and I love that my birthday is on the 1st--very much another type of beginning. A new year, a new age, a new month, etc... The organizer in me is very much in charge today.

The really great birthday year is when October 1st falls on a Sunday--then it's all about the firsts; a new year, a new month, a new week, the first day, etc.

Reason #3:
It still can be warm enough to be considered a late summer, and is still far enough away from winter (unless you live in places like Utah or Idaho that recently had a freak snow storm--then all bets are off).

Reason #4:
As a kid October was far enough into the school year, that you didn't get missed having it in the summer or right after Labor Day. I had a friend who's birthday falls on Veteran's Day and we never got to be at school on her birthday--bummer!

People always ask me if I make my own cake for my birthday and what kind. I have to say that since becoming a Pastry Chef I haven't made myself a special cake for my birthday--which isn't to say I wouldn't, I just haven't yet. I suppose that if I was hosting a little party for myself, I would make something fabulous, but I honestly hadn't really thought about doing it. It's more exciting to make OTHER people's birthday cakes.

But it got me thinking...what kind of a cake would I make for myself? [Answer: Probably something with chocolate and caramel, chocolate ganache, something that would go great with a QUALITY brand ice cream on the side.]

Or better yet, who would I have make my cake?

My Mom has made some AMAZING cakes during my childhood--all of which I remember very well and with fond memories. When we got a little older (past 2 or 3 years old) we got to request what character or shape or theme we wanted our cake to be. I remember thinking I was pretty smart if I could ask for a cake with lots of details, because details on a cake = lots of candy.

I love how clever my Mom was with many of my cakes. See, we have NEVER owned one single shape pan (you know that kind I'm taking about--dolls, animals, etc.), she could just figure out how to carve it from a rectangle or round cake. Many of my cakes were from a cute little character on a napkin or party tablecloth and my Mom would magically create that theme or shape in a bigger-than-life cake that I would watch with such excitement and awe.

Here are a few of my favorite childhood cakes, actually I have eight pictures to share with you. (Eight may sound like a lot, but keep in mind it's way less than 38 potential birthday cakes I could bore you with).

Jill's 1st Birthday Cake: Raggedy Ann (1972)

2 years old: Bunny Birthday Cake (1973)

3 years old: Bear Birthday Cake (1974)


4 years old: Rocking Horse Cake (1975)



5 years old: Elephant Birthday Cake (1976)


6 years old: Cute Hippopotamus Cake (1977)

8 years old: Little Girl Cake (1979)

10 years old: Butterfly Cake (1981)

A big THANK YOU to my Mom for each and every birthday cake she has made me over the years and for making my day a special one!!