Sugar Rush Revelations: 2010

"Butter CREAM on your Popcorn?" That's right. This is the sweetest tasting bucket of popcorn that you'll ever have. You can even eat into the bucket! Maybe this will be a trend that will catch on with the movie theaters Next time your catching your favorite flick we'll hear you saying, "I'd like a large butter cream popcorn cake and a diet soda" ;)

I LOVED making this cake. My client sent me a picture of a cake that looked just like a bucket of popcorn. Her daughter was having her birthday party at the theater and this was just perfect for her and all her friends. I never attempted at stacking the same size cake on top of each other without the tiered effect. I love a good challenge and learning new things. So the journey began...

This cake was four 9 in rounds stacked and then slightly carved to resemble the popcorn bucket shape. After icing the bucket and applying the stripes and wording I began the tedious popcorn. This took much longer than expected. And with my gift of obsessive compulsiveness and perfectionism I was actually at it for probably an hour or so. Every time I'd finish a kernel I'd step back examine it and then call my supportive, patient husband to come look at it too. I find it helps to have an honest, fresh set of eyes inspect my work. So after what felt like forever it was finished!!! YEA!

The client came and picked it up and was ecstatic when she saw it. I love the initial reaction people give when they see their cakes! I said my final goodbyes to my edible masterpiece and off it went. What I didn't know was what lied ahead was a long drive back to Niceville in the harsh Florida July heat. Not having anywhere to shade the cake from the magnified sun rays coming through the windows they decided to rush straight home and put the cake in the refrigerator until they would have to drive back to the theater for the party. I received a call from a concerned client about 20 minutes later when they got stuck in the summer traffic on the Mid-Bay bridge. This was nerve-racking knowing the cake was melting in the HOT summer sun. The got it home and I was able to give them a few tips to help correct any flaws and from what I was told the cake made it perfectly to the movie theater in one piece! Let me tell you something... It doesn't matter if I'm the one delivering the cake or the client picks it up I HATE transporting cakes. I swear I'll have a nervous breakdown one day :(

I love it when my clients give me complete creative control over their cake. When I got the call for this cake they told me, "Just do something fun. The birthday girl likes neutral colors". Wow! Not a lot of information to go by, they didn't even give me a flavor. But anyone who knows me knows I accepted the challenge. I had just designed a wedding cake a few weeks before that was a delightful dark chocolate with cherry filling and everyone loved it. So deciding the flavor wasn't that hard but I couldn't deliver a naked cake! After countless hours searching the internet, drawing sketch upon sketch and getting discouraged thinking that I'd never find a design that I could be happy with I finally decided to take a break from this cake and focus on a baby shower cake that I was in the process of completing.

I put the finishing touches on the baby shower cake and loaded it up for delivery. I must always stress the extreme dislike I have for delivering cakes! Nonetheless, the cake arrived without a flaw. I eagerly placed the cake down on its resting place and as I was turning to leave what should my eye behold? It was a divine vision I stopped dead in my tracks and the light bulb went off! It was a dear friend who was attending the same baby shower and she was wearing an amazing dress with browns and soft green and blues. It was amazing and I knew I had to translate it into a cake design. I must admit asking someone if you can photograph their dress so you can turn it into cake is a bit awkward. The picture was taken and I rushed home to recreate the cute retro dress atop chocolate butter cream. This cake was a hit with the recipient who loved not only neutral colors but also circle patterns and retro designs!

Yummy Never Looked SO Good! (Thanks Missy :) )