it's a ...(kimberly+adam gender reveal)

gender reveal cakes are my fave to make. they are especially fun when no one knows the gender. i was super happy when kimberly and adam agreed to let me make a cake and have it be a complete surprise to everyone. she requested a yellow ombre cake, and i was more than happy to make that one.

i picked up the ultrasound envelope from her and got to work. the baking and prep take a while. i made all the frosting that first night too.

kimberly was pretty sure the baby is a girl

it's a boy! i'm sad i missed the actual reveal, but i think it's fairly safe to say  it was a great surprise.

ombre cake plus giveaways galore

i really like making and decorating cakes, but i don't have the chance to do it very often. my friend michelle's husband asked me to make a cake for her birthday i was happy to do it. 

i have made a lot of cakes for kids and gender reveals but not a lot for adults. i had to do something different this time.

 the cake slid off the cake plate while driving to the party. i tried to save it, but it was still a little bit of a mess.

the cake was really fun to make but much less fun to transport. 

somehow i unintentionally have several giveaways going on right now.

1. $150 giveaway to your choice

Brought to you by...

Katy// Gretchen// Aubrey

 Anne// Becca// Elisabeth

Heather// Lindsay// Sierra

Enter below! a Rafflecopter giveaway
2. burlap banner a Rafflecopter giveaway 3. skinagain cream

foodie friday...coconut lemon cake

i posted a cake stand for WHAT WOULD YOU DO this month. i made the cake stand for the post, but i also made a cake for a celebration at work. i wanted something a little fancier than a regular cake, but i also wanted something easy. i love anything citrus and especially lemon. this cake was so easy and so delicious.

i started with a recipe on the back of coconut extract and changed things up a little.

ingredients

coconut extract

white cake/eggs/oil/water

lemon juice/lemon zest

coconut

buttercream frosting

lemon pie filling

 1. make cake per directions

2. add 1 tbsp coconut extract

3. squeeze juice from 1 lemon

4. add 1/4 c coconut

5. bake in 2 round pans, let cool

6. combine buttercream frosting, 1 can lemon pie filling, 1 tsp coconut extract

7. frost cake

8. sprinkle with coconut

9. enjoy

soccer ball cake

i went to a super glam blogger event last night and missed the bach. I'll be back tomorrow for blogging the bach. 
since the world cup final landed on the same day as laurann's birthday, it was only fitting to make a soccer ball birthday cake. she loves soccer almost as much as my brothers (one of which didn't go to school this summer because of the world cup). i've seen the 3D ball pan several times, but this was my first time using. aside from needing to google the pattern for the soccer ball, it was fairly simple and so fun to make.

i always thought cake decorating was way too hard. it really is much simpler than it seems, and i love it.

weddings and wedding cake...steve and rachael

i decided to live tweet the bachelor wedding instead of blog, but i will have a couple of thoughts on the wedding in tomorrow's blogging the bach post. let's just say, i love sean and catherine. 

i love weddings! sometimes as a single person they can be a little rough, but mostly i love them. back in college, one of my bffs and i used to dream about being wedding planners someday. she got married and moved away, and i graduated and went a different direction. i've never forgotten about that dream. it's part of my someday dream right now.

when celsey and i started making cakes (mostly gender reveal), i really wanted to do a wedding cake, but i was also really nervous.

when my good friends rachael and steve asked me to make their cake, i was equal parts flattered, excited, and terrified. what if i messed up their wedding cake?!?

it was a pretty simple cake which took off a ton of pressure. even though i was scared, i really really loved doing it. it was so exciting taking it to the venue and working with the floral designer to make it look perfect. i was so happy with how it turned out. thanks rachael and steve for trusting me with your cake and making a small part of my dream a reality.

photo credit heather ellis photography

what will baby Cardon bee?

before Michelle even got pregnant she said she wanted to do a gender reveal cake for her next baby, and I have been super excited ever since. fast forward a year or so, and she's having a baby. i was a little afraid she might change her mind, but luckily she and Andrew thought it sounded fun especially since they were convinced it's a boy.

celsey and i have been dying to try the beehive cake again. this time we did a layered cake rather than using the beehive pan. 6 cakes, 4 batches of frosting, and plenty of fun later...

WHAT WILL BABY CARDON BEE?

the finished cake

the cake looks tiny in this picture, but it was actually pretty huge

nettie put together a poll of family members. even though michelle and andrew didn't even consider a girl. a lot of people in the family thought girl.

andrew and michelle and the baby girl cake

drew, andrew, and michelle. their other little boy was missing/too busy playing with cousins

michelle's reaction is the best part of this whole thing. these cakes are so fun! i wish more people would wait and find out the gender with a cake.

latest cake(s)

co worker Alyssa is having a little babe in a couple of weeks. it's been forever and ever (since her gender reveal) since I've made a cake so I made a cake for her baby shower. i had tons of extra frosting and decided to make this little green cake for st patty's day for a friend. i wish I had more time in my life to make cakes. it's so fun! anyone need a gender reveal anytime soon?!?

Cakeing 101

a while ago a friend from church (also my visiting teacher and in the relief society presidency) asked celsey and me to do an activity on cake decorating. sounds fun right?!? we decided to do cupcakes and sugar cookies and teach a few different techniques. we way underestimated the amount of frosting we would need, but our 2 days worth of baking seemed to be about right. i don't really know what qualifies me to teach a class since I have never taken one, but i just pretended to know what i was talking about. we had a bit of a mess, but overall i think it went well and people seemed to have fun.

latest cake

coworker Alyssa and fam ARE GOING TO HAVE TRUCK LOADS OF FUN WITH THEIR BABY...

GIRL. This is only my 2nd girl cake. Yay for pink.