Caterpillar Cake

Dear Readers,

This cake was one of my first cakes. It is very simple and was made for a dessert auction at my church in order to raise money for the youth group. This caterpillar cake is made from one bundt cake, some vanilla wafers, pretzels, gumdrops, and a few chocolate chips. With this cake I just cut the bundt cake in half and one of the halves in half again. I made the shape by placing the two smaller portions on either end of the large middle portion. After coloring the buttercream frosting this shade of green, it was very simple to place the decorations for the feet, eyes, mouth, and antenna. I really like this cake even though it is a very simple design. This cake woule be easy for anyone to do at home. I only wish that I had done a more complex design method, like fondant or gumpaste since it would have looked much nicer. If the whole body was covered in fondant it would have made the ridges look more defined and clean. All in all, this cake was a good cake to start with.

Written With Love,
Nicole Love

Christmas Tree Cake - Olive Crest Alumni

Dear Readers,

I made this cake for the Olive Crest Alumni Christmas Party. This was a fully donated cake for a wonderful group of people. If you arent familiar with Olive Crest, here is their description from their website (fully their words, no credit to me.)

"Since 1973, Olive Crest has transformed the lives of over 50,000 abused, neglected, and at-risk children and their families. We work tirelessly to meet the individual needs of kids in crisis by providing safe homes, counseling, and education for both youth and parents. Our many innovative programs reflect our conviction that strengthening the family is one of the most powerful ways to help heal children. With unwavering compassion, the Olive Crest family maintains a lifelong commitment to the youth and families we serve even after they have graduated from our programs. Established, proven, and respected, Olive Crest serves nearly 1,000 children and families each day throughout California, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest. Our Mission: Olive Crest is dedicated to Preventing child abuse, to Treating and Educating at-risk children and to Preserving the family… “One Life at a Time.”®"

To find out more about Olive Crest visit olivecrest.org.

Back to the cake.... this cake was insane! It took me 3 days, 2 - 16" cakes, 4 - 12" cakes, and 5 - 8" cakes, 4 batches of marshmallow fondant, and I dont even know how many gumballs! With the help of my sister, my dad, and my friend Nettie we got the cake done in time for the party.

I made this cake in 3 sections so that it was easier to carry and so that it was more stable during transportation. This cake had to weigh at least 100 pounds. It was over 2 feet tall as well! While this cake was a very simple design, it was extremely difficult due to its size. Everything on this cake is edible except for the supports inside the cake, the toothpicks holding the gumballs, and the cake boards at the bottom of each layer. Stay posted for my other cakes.
Written With Love,
Nicole Love

Starting Out - About Me

Dear Readers,
Let me introduce myself, I am Nicole Love, I am 18 years old, and am now attending a junior college in orange county. As you may have guessed, I want to become a cake designer and decorator. I do cakes for all occasions and I enjoy it! It has been rough starting out though, since I dont have any formal training in the art of pastry or cake. I work completely on trial and error. I started out baking and I use to really love to bake everything from cakes to cookies to brownies to biscotti and cinnamon rolls. I use to even make something new every week for the worship team at church, they were my guinea pigs (hahaha). Now I have switched to cake decorating mostly. I do all of my cakes from scratch, I dont make any boxed cakes whatsoever. Luckily, my sister works along side with me to bake my cakes if she is available since I no longer enjoy that portion of the process as much. I want to open my own bakery and cake decorating shop, well, eventually. Enough about me, you want to see the cakes, well, Ill be posting later tonight.
Written with Love,
Nicole Love