DJ Turntable Cake

One of my close girlfriends wanted to surprise her boyfriend with a cake for his birthday. Since he loves music, we thought a DJ turntable would be appropriate.  With a lot of cakes, I either just deliver it or it gets picked up so sadly, I have to just envision the person's reaction.  I was super excited about this one since I was at the party and got to see his expression when he got surprised with the cake!

I first covered 3 rectangular shaped cakes with white fondant.

Used edible spray-paint to make it silver.

Started adding the details.  

More details and birthday message. I made the "Happy Birthday Eric" in white so that it popped on the cake against the silver and black.

Also, I cut a cake board so that it would fit in the bottom of a catering tray and placed the cake in there once I was done.  I made up a lie saying that the catering tray was for something else and the birthday boy never suspected a thing.

We gave the tray to the restaurant so that they could bring out the cake after dinner and he said it was the most awesome birthday cake ever!

Fantasy Football Trophy Cake

The birthday guy really loved his fantasy football league so this cake was inspired by his fantasy football trophy.  And nope, that isn't a typo...that is the actual name of the league!  His girlfriend (who requested the cake) was so excited to surprise him...she is super adorable and I loved working with her on the design!

I made some rice krispie treats and molded it into a football shape.  

I centered the football on a rod because although the rod would be supported by the cake, it didn't hurt to have it balanced as much as possible.  

Starting from top left clockwise, I then placed it in styrofoam so that I could work on it.  I then buttercreamed it, smoothed it out and then covered it in fondant.  

At this point, I took a short break to eat dinner and when I came back, the football looked like this.  I literally gasped and was super sad.  The football was too heavy for the rice krispie treats to support so the 4 hours that I put into it just went down the drain.  To be honest, I was pretty discouraged and tired but I sucked it up and just made myself keep going.

I peeled off the fondant, scraped off the buttercream and re-shaped the football so that the bottom of the football would now be resting on the base of the actual cake.

After reshaping the football, I once again buttercreamed, smoothed and covered it in fondant. It's a good thing I always give myself extra time in case I need it (like with this cake).

Added the laces.

Used edible spray paint to make it metallic gold.  At this point, I started getting super excited again since I was able to start seeing the vision of the cake come together. :)

While the football dried, I worked on the base.  

Added the "plaque" part.

Added the border.

Since the football was going to rest on top of the cake, I needed to add some dowels for support so that the football wouldn't collapse into it.  There are a lot of different types of dowels that one can use such as wood, plastic, etc.  The wide straws used for bubble tea also work surprisingly well.  I first stuck the straw into the cake, noted where it will be level on the cake and then cut off the excess.  I also later on added another one in the middle that was longer than the other so I could stick the bottom of the football on it.

Next, I spray painted some plates and let them dry.

Once they were dry, I put in the team names of last year and the current year's winners using an edible marker and added them to the side of the cake.

I added the football and it was ready for delivery.

The Holiday Season

A couple years ago, my husband and I decided that instead of exchanging Christmas gifts, we would each pick charities to donate to and make that our Christmas tradition. We realize how blessed we are and how much we have compared to some others...and even more so during the holiday season.  I like to pick charities that fight childhood hunger, and there is a reason for that.  Here's a bit about me and why this issue holds such an important place in my heart.

As a child, my mom and I had it pretty rough.  My mom already had the odds stacked against her being a single parent raising a child but due to her ill health, she wasn't able to hold a steady job and earn enough to feed us or even provide a roof over our heads at times.  There were days where we literally went without any food.  I didn't care about having pretty clothes or cool toys...I just hoped that I would be able to get some food in my stomach and when I did, it was a good day. 

My favorite childhood memories are not the ones that "normal" children would have.  One time, I remember my mom came back with a zucchini that a vendor gave her from the market.  We were so happy to have a real piece of food.  She made a stew out of it and it not only warmed my belly but it felt like it warmed my soul.  At the time, it was one of the best days I had in my life.  Another memory of mine that still makes me smile thinking about it was that one day, my mom splurged and bought me a croissant that cost her a dollar. It made me so happy and I savored and nibbled on that croissant to make it last as long as possible.  To this day, I still really love croissants.

One of the things that really helped us was visiting soup kitchens.  I remember how much joy my heart felt that I was having a solid meal and even getting a cookie at the end for dessert.  I am a pretty big foodie now (I'm one of those people who post pictures of their food on facebook and not ashamed of it) and I'm pretty sure I know where this love and celebration of food came from.

Because of charities that helped feed us, it helped us survive during those dark days.  It helped me become the person today...into becoming a person who would strive to make a better life for herself.  There are still times when I almost feel guilty that I don't have to worry about when my next meal will be knowing that there are others out there who do need food.  But, by the same token, there are moments when I feel so much joy in my heart and feel so incredibly blessed that I'm alive, healthy and got a chance to live a good life.  And that was thanks to people who cared enough to donate or volunteer to making other people's lives better.  So, if you could help hungry children that need a good meal inside them, I personally would really appreciate it.  I know how much of a difference it made for me and it will be making such a positive impact on children in need.

Last year, my Christmas gift was to Share Our Strength which is an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger.  My gift this year is to Feeding America  which has several programs that assist in providing food for children. If you could make a donation to an organization to fight hunger and poverty -no matter how much, every bit helps- I know that you would be making a difference in at least one person's life. And if money is tight, consider volunteering at a local organization or you can even join me.  I volunteer at the Greater Chicago Food Depository and my favorite program there is Nourish for Knowledge which provides take-home bags of food to schoolchildren in low-income neighborhoods.  It would be a blast to have a friend help out with me.

I know that my posts are never this personal but I hope it reached some of you to make a positive difference.