Day 0:The Cakes are Finished.

The party is today at 4pm but I finished yesterday. I'm glad. This give me a chance to enjoy my hard work for a while before we take a knife to them.

So here they are. Jordan's:

And Isaac's:

Jordan's took about two hours yesterday to complete and Isaac's took most of the afternoon.  I'll walk you through it.

JORDAN

The first thing I did, obviously, was cover it in a thick coat of buttercream.  Then I could tell you that the look with the black went exactly as I planned but it didn't so I won't pretend it did. My original plan was to cover half the cake in fondant but every time I tried to attach the half circle it screwed up. I tried, literally, four times to reroll out the fondant and attach it but every time it cracked and slid and was a general pain in my ass.  After I got tired of screaming "shit!" I finally figure out that I simply wasn't going to make it work right so I did what you have to do sometimes, I punted.  I used the baking pan as a guide and cut out the half circle for the top. Then I made two different sizes of stripes and adhered those. You know what? I liked it better than having solid black sides.  It added a lot of interest as you turn the cake or walk around it.

Next, I placed the flowers down the center line between the white and black and then I rolled the fondant balls that I made the other night in pearl shimmer dust and arranged the border.

I had never really planned beyond that so I messed around and figured out the black dot border and the design for the white side and then finished with Jordan's birthday message.

ISAAC

Again, the first thing I did was cover the truck in buttercream, then I worked blue food coloring into a big chunk of fondant.  That's a hell of an upper body workout to get that coloring worked completely into the dough, let me tell you.  Then I rolled it out and covered the truck, made a few seams and had a couple of little mishaps.

To fix the seams and the one mishap on the front fender, I trimmed the fondant neatly, brushed the edges with water, and used a gumpaste flower tool to smooth the edges together.

Then I covered the back hitch portion in black and fixed the seams in the same way.  And then....and then that's when I forgot to take pictures. I go so involved in decorating the camera completely left my head.  Basically all of the decorations are made out of fondant that I colored and rolled out or fashioned like playing with playdough.  The one exception is the antennas which are white florist's wire. One little tidbit is the running lights. Gene was very impressed with how perfectly round they are.  I cut them out with a straw and then had to blow into the other end to get them to pop out.  Worked for me... And lastly, the wheels. Since I'd accidentally shortened the perspective on the truck, I made the wheels all half wheels and then piped grass around the bottom as if the truck were sitting in grass up to its undercarriage.

Whew! That's done. Now all I have to do is clean the bathroom and make potato salad by four and we're set.

By the way, THIS is why I can't decorate cakes very often anymore.  I get asked a lot why I don't bake anymore or if I can just  do a cake now and then. Besides the time factor of working a full time other job at the hospital and a part time job of writing,  my hands and the cost are why I don't decorate for a living anymore.  Just from working a few hours yesterday the backs of my hands swelled up to where you cannot see the knuckles, and my palms and inner wrist hurts like crazy.

The other reason I don't bake cakes anymore is financial. Unfortunately, I don't live in a market for cakes this elaborate.  I love to look at the cakes of Collette Peters or Sylvia Weinstock or to watch Duff of Charm City Cakes on The Food Network (Ace of Cakes) and I think with practice I could do that.  Maybe that's my ego talking but I think I could (with practice) and I know I'd sure enjoy giving it a shot.  But that kind of cake work is extremely time consuming which means it costs more for me to recup my investment in labor.  In Springfield, MO, especially 10 years ago when I had my business, people loved the complex cakes and gumpaste flowers from the magazines and TV shows, but I didn't have many clients who could afford for me to make them.  There was also an element of ignorance there too. I'm not being insulting. I mean, at the time, gumpaste flowers and cake sculpture were very new to this area.  As a matter of fact I knew of no bakery that did either one and there's still, ten years later, only one I can name for sure that does either and I'm not sure they do the cake sculpture.  So people were used to getting regular cakes and buying them at grocery store or local bakery prices.  Sure, Collette, Duff, and Sylvia can pull down thousands of dollars a cake and God Bless 'em for it but we're just not a big market for parties quite on that level. I'm not saying no one in Springfield can afford it, but as far as I know, there still isn't a market for a steady flow of cakes that upscale.  And hey, that's fine. I understand completely.  I couldn't afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a kids' birthday cake either. Wish I could but hey, I'm only a respiratory therapist, you know?

Most of the people I baked cakes for were lovely people, and since most of my customers were also my friends or friends of friends, I did give away a lot of gumpaste flowers for nothing and I did spend hours and hours on a lot of my cakes just for the joy of it and for the experience.  I knew that the people I was baking for couldn't afford to pay me what it was worth and most people were usually very kind and appreciative, BUT there were a few bad apples, a few people who expected something great for nothing.  A good example was that one wedding cake I told you about a while back (click HERE) where the bride acted like I was getting rich on her cake even though I had to buy $15-20 worth of plastic stairs I never used again, drove it 45 minutes out of town, and the cake design had a specialty piped heart that had to made ahead of time out of special frosting. When all was said and done I made slightly less than minimum wage on that cake but she honestly believed and told me that I ripped her off on the price. She's an example of one of the bad apples I remember and think of when I do elaborate cakes, a person who had no concept of what was involved and didn't care.

Just as an exercise in breaking down what's involved, I counted up that I have about 7-8 hours worth of labor in Isaac's truck cake.  Most people in this town would have paid me $25.00 for it, maybe $30 if they were feeling generous. Anything more than that to most people would seem unreasonable to pay for a cake, any cake to feed 24 people. So let's do the math on that.  Food cost is usually about 30%, so 30% of that $25.00 is $7.50.  That's just my cake and frosting ingredients.  Then add another $2.50 on for the boards the cake sits on and the box it's delivered in (and that's if I get them both at wholesale prices, not at a party supply store which would be twice that).  Now we're up to $10.00 in materials.  So that leaves me $15.  Divide $15 by 8 hours.  Who do you know who would take a job for $1.80/hour?  I guarantee you that one bride who was so hateful to me wouldn't have. 

So now let's go the opposite way.  In reality, if I added up my expenses on the truck cake,not including electric, base equipment, or anything like that, just cake, frosting ingredients, and cake boards, and then added in per hour what I make, let's say as a respiratory therapist which is not being rich but not working minimum wage, that cake would cost, minimum, $160.00.  I rounded up by 32 cents.

Hey, if I could have found a hidden stash of people willing and able to afford to pay $200.00 a pop for a kid's birthday cake, I'd have gladly stayed in the business longer (if my hands had been up to it).  Wouldn't that have been cool?  But unfortunately, I have bills to pay and insurance to buy like everbody else, so instead it's just a fun hobby I play around with for my nieces and nephew and occasionally by taking cupcakes to work for my respiratory family or for the hospital Relay for Life bakesales.  We all have to work for a living but hobbies are what make life fun.

I cannot wait to see Jordan and Isaac's faces when they see the cakes. I'm like a little kid myself.  I can hardly sit still. I always loved making kids' birthday cakes the best.  Weddings are where the money is but the kids' cakes rule!  Some of my happiest memories as an adult are walking into a house with a cool cake and having some kid's face light up. On their birthdays, they live so in the moment it makes me and has always made me joyous to be a part a child's birthday. Tomorrow I'll post pics of them with their cakes and maybe even video too.

Comments

[Cynthia]

Great work Glenna!

Happy Birthday Jordan!
Happy Birthday Isaac!

[Kalyn]

Wow, very impressive. The cakes are just amazing. The kids are going to be so excited.

[Alanna]

Amazing, Glenna - I especially love Jordan's, it's sooo classy. They're lucky to have someone who'll shower them with such love ... for that's what these are, now, labors of love.

[Alisha]

They both turned out awesome! I bet they'll both love what you've come up with -- and that's what it is -- your love for them showing through.

You're right on target about people and cakes and what they're willing to pay ... the one cake I made for a wedding I charged just my material fees (which was about $75) and got the hardest time for it. I swore I would only bake for my love of baking and my family from then on.

[sher]

They look so beautiful! I knew they would be fabulous, but they really blew me away with admiration. And by the way, your hands were swollen--but your nails looked great! :):)

[Ulrike]

The cakes are too beautiful to eat. Lucky kids!

[Fruittart]

Thanks for sharing the whole process with us!! They are so great! I love the dramatic black/white design and the truck is just plain cool ;-) I'm sure the kids loved them and know that their aunt loves them.

I had a few 'helpers' at my elbows while making the elephant cake today so I didn't use the knife in hot water to make it smooth like your beautiful white frosting . . . and the 4 yr old doesn't care, she's just thrilled that she has a PINK elephant! :-D I'll have to try it next time I decorate a cake.

Thanks again for sharing your methods!

[foodierachel]

Wow! Those look amazing! I wasn't going to hold my breath on the truck cake, but you managed to make it look awesome... ;) Nice job!

[gilly]

Hi Glenna! Wow - what stunning cakes - amazing work! Thank you for the informative post, and I'm sorry to hear about the swollen hands!

[Margaret]

Hi - the black and white theme is very "in" at the moment in the UK. The cake looks amazing, far too classy to eat! I am envious of your cake skills. The car - I am going to borrow your idea and make this for my grandson in a few months time.

[Glenna]

Cynthia--Thanks! They had a lot of fun last night. I was so glad.

Kalyn--Thank you! They were funny. They were almost shocked at first and then they got into it.

Alanna--Thank you so much. I sure do love them. I hope they remember last night as a great time.

Sher--Thanks! You're so funny. Now if I can hold on to them for a while without breaking them, that would be nice. :-)

Ulrike--Thanks! But eat them we did and it was fun! :-)

Fruittart--can't wait to see the elephant cake. I know about those helpers. They can sometimes help and they can sometimes help you get tense.

Rachel--You DOUBTED me? Kidding, I was a little nervous myself.

Gilly--thanks so much--glad you enjoyed it!

Margaret--Thank you! Borrow away. I have a feeling I'll be doing it again too. Isaac's uncle (my brother) is a diesel mechanic. He wasn't able to be there last night but I have a feeling when he sees the pics...I'll be doing it again.

[Susan]

Hats off to you, Glenna! What a tremendous amount of work and styling. That car is adorable, and the b/w is all about drama. You must have a lot of patience, although I know an appreciative audience is great motivation.

[Kt]

Those are SO amazing. I'm sure they were well loved by their intended celebrants. Your family must feel so lucky when they get cakes like this!

[Glenna]

Susan--thank you so much! You're right. The kids liking them made it all worth it.

Kt--Thank you! You know, funny you should say that. We grew up with a cake decorating mom so it's pretty much taken for granted by my siblings (that's okay). But the kids' reactions were awesome.

[kate]

Amazing work Glenna...just amazing. If respiratory therapy ever turns bad, you've got a backup plan!

[Bookgirl]

I found your blog through a friend's (Polly Poppins) and I just had to comment. Those cakes are unbelievable. You are such an amazing artist!

[egoldstein]

OMG, these are gorgeous. I especially like the black and white flowers. May I ask why your hands react that way? Are you perhaps allergic to some of the ingredients?

[Glenna]

Kate--Thanks! Yeah, except that respiratory was my backup plan to cakes. Haha.

Bookgirl--Thanks so much. REally appreciate it!

EG--Thank you. Very appreciative of your comments. Ummm...not allergy. More of a carpal tunnel, maybe arthritis, kind of thing.

[Patricia Scarpin]

Glenna,
Your cakes are really beautiful. You're so talented!
A year and a half ago I started making cakes (and some sweets, chocolates and candy, too) and felt like making them for a living, leaving my boring to death job as a secretary. But I faced the same problems - people would behave like I was asking for their kidneys in return of the cake. I gave up after 6 months.

I'm sorry to see that problem with your hands. I hope you're feeling better already.

[Brilynn]

Those are awesome cakes! I don't know how anyone actually makes money doing baking, I've had a few people pay be for goodies but I think I end up making pennies and I just do it because I like to.

[Tanna]

Woman, you are fantastic! Wonderful cakes. Love shines through.

[Glenna]

Patricia--Than you so much. Yes, you get it. It's a great hobby but hard to pull down a living!

Brilynn--Thank you very much! And yes, that's it. It's just a horrible catch 22. You have to be famous to be able to charge good prices but you have find a way to get famous! It's easy to say be the best but there are a lot of very talented bakers out there who can't make a living at it.

Tanna--Thanks so much! You're right. I dig those kids so much. They were worth every moment!

[Deborah Dowd]

What gorgeous cakes! I am not showing these to my kids or they will be expecting a lot more from me than I can deliver! Happy Birthday to Jordan and Isaac!

[Glenna]

Deborah--thank you! That's a really sweet compliment!

[utbtkids]

Glenna:

"I do a little cake decorating"? Thats toooo modest! Those cakes are aewsome. Last year I baked a lady bug cake for toddler and most of the guests thought that it was a baby! You have to give me tips. I am itching to work with fondant.

utbtkids

[Glenna]

Thanks! I'll be working with more specifically in August. I'm not that proficient at it so it's fun to play.

[Ana]

Really cool cakes!!!
I just started making cakes using fondant a couple months ago and simply love it!
Take a peek in my blog to see the one I made last weekend!
Ana
By the way, nice to meet you!! I got here through sweetnicks blog!

[Glenna]

Ana--thanks for the ocmpliment. Glad that you're having fun decorating too! I'll check out your blog.

[Heathers birthday cakes]

Wonderful walk through, thanks for the photographs. I like your modesty! these cakes are no small feat, so congratulations and keep it up. You might want to post your cake at cake-photos.com if you want get some publicity.

[Glenna]

Thanks Heather! I appreciate your kind words. I really loved making those two cakes for the kids.

[Vermont Wedding]

I kinda smiled at the last photo when you like showing your clean fingers. :-) That should fingers be like when preparing that delicious thingy. ;-)

[gemma watson]

wow! your cakes are beautiful! well done :) could I be cheeky and ask how you lay the sponge out under the icing to get the truck shape. thank you x

[Glenna]

Thank you,Gemma. Sure, the preceding days show all the step by steps up to the finished cakes. And this post in particular shows how I cut the shape of the truck: http://afridgefulloffood.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/05/day_1_the_cake__1.html