chocolate leaves and raspberries

My 10-year-old son described how he wanted his birthday cake to look: "a really big tall round chocolate cake filled with raspberry filling between some layers and filled with chocolate frosting between some layers, the outside covered all over with chocolate frosting--NO FONDANT, and decorated with chocolate leaves, and also raspberries." We carefully peeled away real oak leaves, picked from our backyard and washed and dried, from the backs of the hardened milk chocolate. My son added the finishing touches by carefully placing raspberries on and around the cake. 

spells, potions, and birthday wishes

We celebrated my daughter's 15th birthday with a little Harry Potter magic this year. 

The blue book of spells was a white cake; the thick middle book was chocolate cake filled with whipped cream and toffee bits; and the book of potions was pumpkin spice cake. The exposed "pages" are frosted with whipped cream. The Sorting Hat was white cake iced with chocolate frosting; making the Sorting Hat was somewhat like carving a jack-o-lantern--and then frosting it.

under the sea with a little mermaid

I made this under-the-sea mermaid cake for my daughter's 8th birthday. I iced the vanilla cake with sea-blue buttercream frosting and then attached the fondant sea decorations. The starfish, seahorse, and mermaid I made in advance out of gumpaste (fondant with a little tylose powder kneaded in to help it harden as it dries). Chocolate pearl candies accent the top and base. My daughter's favorite character was the happy blue octopus. I was most pleased with the pearl necklace which I carefully attached to the mermaid.