Cuckoo Clock Cake

Cuckoo clocks, in use since the middle of the 18th century have become cultural icon of Germany. I got my first one from the Germany pavilion in Epcot Center, Orlando, Florida’s Disney World.   It was a pendulum regulated clock so needed to be winded every day.  This cake design is very similar to the clock I had many moons ago.  I had to build a support structure to give it a suspended look and also to include the weights and pendulum.

It was my famous carrot nut cake with cream cheese filling. 

Cauldron cake

For Halloween this year I made a cauldron cake with tea lights behind a fence of fire and dry ice for the boiling effect. All best observed in the video below.  I made a small pocket at the top of the cake to fit a small shot glass for the dry ice. It was a simple cake but the effects made it a lot more fun. 

It was a decadent almond cake with cannoli filling. The little tentacles trying to escape the boiling are more cute than scary Halloween. 

 Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble-- William Shakespeare

Microscope cake

I consider a microscope to be my signature, although I have really not practiced microbiology since my Masters in this topic.

This cake was tough to make. But thanks to Tom’s construction of a structure I was able to construct this. It was still top heavy, since it was all cake and filling so I had to add a little reinforcement in the front.  Tom is not a carpenter, he is a brilliant scientist with crafty hands.  Thanks Tom.

This was a carrot cake with cream cheese filling. It did not come out as neat as I would have liked, but I am just thankful it did not topple.

  

Tea time cake

Teatime! shall I pour? The teapot is a carrot cake with cream cheese filling. It sits on an inverted cookie jar. If the cake was for a large number of people I would have it sitting on a tiered cake, but for a small party it was a fun experiment. The teacup and saucer were made of gum paste.

I think the taste and quality of tea quite depends on the water- I don’t know the science of it but I do know that the same teabag will make a much tastier tea in London than New York.  But that’s more of the black tea reaction. I also like green tea, but in a cold form. I enjoy a macha green tea frappaccino every day.

I have fantasized about having tea with the Queen, perhaps I could get her interested in trying my favorite green tea frappaccino. 

Emerald Geode Cake

The color green is typically associated with Nature. Presently, as the concern about our environment is growing, the color green seems to be everywhere, as a strong symbol of serenity and new beginning. Or is it a vision of plastic contaminating the oceans and Mother Earth struggling to breath under mountains of waste?

Waste of food is most upsetting for me. Not only because there are so many starving people in the world, but also because this food waste is destroying our planet.  When we toss that half eaten sandwich in the garbage lets remember that  wasted food contributes billions of tons of greenhouse gases. Once in a landfill, decomposing organic waste generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps 23 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide; more than 20 percent of all methane emissions come from landfills. 

Lets save this planet ------  reduce waste ----- recycle--- conserve energy. 

This cake was for my sister. Her favorite color is green. I tried to make it look like an actual geode rock pried open.  The rock candy crystals were quite edible. The cake was a plain vanilla cake with cannoli filling.  Enjoy sister bear!

“I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.”

—Mother Teresa

Pill bottle cake

This whimsical cake was for a good friend who is a pharmacist; we call her our "legal drug lord".  My rendition of the best prescription instructs state:"handle with love and care every day, hugs twice a day".  Good instructions !  should work with all medicines. 

Even in this day and age of natural prevention and remedies we need conventional medicine for quick and immediate effect.  Traditional medicine treats symptoms and problems of a certain given area, alternative medicines focus on cause and prevention, overall health, and non-traditional, often natural treatments primarily to strengthen the immune system. I think the best way to strengthen the immune system is to avoid stress….. easier said!!  

“It is easy to get a thousand prescriptions, but hard to get one single remedy.” – Chinese Proverb.

Bowl of Noodles cake

Normally I am not crazy about cakes that look like savory food, but this hanging chopstick cake was so fun to make.  I used a pasta maker to make the noodles with fondant. It was a plain vanilla cake with pineapple filling. The noodles, shrimp and peas are sweet since they are all made of fondant, a bit of an oxymoron. 

“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.” 
― Sophia Loren

Geode Wedding cake

Geodes are small cavities in rock lined with crystals or other mineral matter. Geodes grow over many thousands of years through the action of water flowing through rocks. Some geodes form in the cavities of limestone and shale. Others are found in places where gas has bubbled up through molten lava from volcanoes. When the lava cools and hardens, the bubbles leave cavities in which geodes form.

Inside the geode are many sparkling crystals that point inward. The crystals act like prisms, reflecting and refracting light to produce a dazzling display of colors. Nature is amazing, and one can never seize to marvel at the beauty around us. 

This gold geode wedding cake was fun to make. The bottom tier is a vanilla cake with mascarpone vanilla icing and the top tier is a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and chocolate mousse filling.