A Little Update

I'm WAYYYY behind on updates to this blog but I have so many exciting cakes I've worked on and several fun cakes coming up and I can't wait to share them.  I promise I have a little break later this week to update all of you so please don't give up on me!  For now, it's back to caking!

Love,

G

An Amazing Day

A few weeks back, I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer with the Partners of the Americas, a wonderful organization that allows professionals from Latin America and the Carribean to partner with their counterparts in North America (and vice versa).  It creates an amazing opportunity for those involved to learn so much from each other.  I've hardly been able to wait to share these photos with you (thank you, David, for these beautiful memories).

These beautiful ladies visited us from Honduras.  Two of them are teachers and spent their time partnering and learning from teachers and schools here in the Atlanta area (and I had the lucky opportunity to share in a day of that too!).  The other beautiful woman (seated) is a baker/cake artist from Honduras!  Their ambassador tried and tried to get a bakery in Atlanta area to welcome them in for a day of learning but all of the bakeries turned them away; I know these bakeries are busy but, seriously, how rude!  All I can say is they missed out!  I'm so glad I got the honor of partnering with them that day.

I can't explain what it's like to meet someone from another part of the world who shares your passions and love of "caking" but who does it with so much less than what is available to us in the U.S.  Making custom cakes isn't cheap but do you know how expensive it is to buy some cake supplies in Honduras?  It's overwhelming to me and I learned so much from this sweet lady. 

We baked a "secret" family pound cake recipe together, did our best to communicate in our different languages, ate some yummy pizza, and then finished up by decorating (and eating!) the cake we made.  The best part of the day for me was showing Dulce, the baker, how to make fondant from scratch so she can make it in Honduras.  Fondant is expensive to buy in the U.S. but usually so cost prohibitive in Honduras to the point where most bakeries there don't offer it.  I always make my fondant from scratch because, to me, it tastes so much better than store-bought stuff and it cuts down hugely on the costs of my cakes.  Since this day, I was beyond excited to learn that she has been using my recipe and creating new things at her bakery in Honduras!  I couldn't find a better way than photos to express what happened that day so here's the day in photos....

A little inspiration from my kitchen

The two cake ladies

Measuring and mixing

Love the sound of this thing

Sharing my fondant recipe

Making the fondant

Is the cake ready yet?

Dying and kneading the fondant

I was in awe over Dulce's lightning fast crumb-coating speed.

Eyes watching closely as the fondant gets smoothed

Making the sugar roses

The final creation

Can we just eat it like this???

Cutting the cake, moments before enjoying it!

What an amazing day and an amazing opportunity. 

Yes, I can do that.

A lot of people have asked me lately if I just make “regular ol’ cakes.” Yes, yes I do. Then I get the questions… “How do they taste? Are they any good?” The answer is absolutely “Yes!”
How can I say that so confidently? Arrogance, you say? Nope. I know they’re good because another bakery in town is making a pretty penny off some of the same recipes I use. Wait, what?

Did I steal the recipes from another bakery? Nope.

Did I buy them from that bakery? Nope.

You see, I am very blessed. I’ve always had a love of baking and then I ended up marrying a devilishly handsome man whose grandma was a “famous” local baker. She was the original “Marietta Cake Lady.” Her recipes have been published in the AJC and by the yummy local bakery that now uses them on a daily basis. Mrs. Mary Moon may have given her recipes away way back when she retired but, guess what? I have a copy of them too. And they are delicious. So, yes, yes I can do that. I make regular ol’ cakes too. I just happen to love decorating cakes.

“Regular Ol’ Cakes” (AKA non-fondant decorated cakes) I make include Vanilla Pound Cake, Lemon-Iced Vanilla Pound Cake, Hummingbird Cake, Carrot Cake, German Chocolate Cake, Red Velvet Cake, Italian Crème Cake, and Coconut Cake, to name a few. And I can tell you confidently that they are delicious. (Of course, I have my own recipes too and everyone who has tried them thinks they're yummy.)

There may be a new “Marietta Cake Lady” but you can call me The Cake Gal.

How it really began...

This is how it all truly began, I think...

This is me at my 2nd birthday party with a cake my Mom made. Do you see the look on my face? I think my obsession started young.

And I've always loved being in the kitchen (though I think my love of dish washing has waned).

we always had amazing cakes growing up. I think this was my 8th birthday party. I'm the one in the pink and yellow stripes (OMG, ya' think stripes were popular in the 80's? Also, look at that massive video camera my brother is holding!!! ha ha)



Oh, and Halloween... I loved Halloween! It was always so much fun to dress up and get all that CANDY! I'm Cinderella in this picture and I think I'm holding a Tootsie Roll. I still love Tootsie Rolls (and they make great cake decorations too). So, yes, I have always loved sweets.

Then, my creating started with candy. In middle and high school, I made divinity for my teachers for Christmas, every.single.year. Around the holidays, I'd make sugar stained glass and taffy too. I just loved being in the kitchen and making sweets. Then, somewhere along the way, I started making cakes.

These are my first few (sad) attempts at cakes...

These are cakes I made waaaaaayyyyy back in college. It was a game weekend and I had a friend from the rival school visiting me (can you guess where I went? Sorry, any of you Tech fans).

And I just had to throw this picture in here because it's another example of cakes and their importance in my life. This is me and my husband several, several years ago, on one of our first dates. We baked a cake together. Awww....

More posts of my recent cake creations coming soon...

I caved!

So, after much careful thought and consideration, welcome to my blog. I finally caved and started one so, there, all three of you who've been asking...

How it all started....
I've always had a love of cakes. I blame my mother who always made her children the most amazing birthday cakes. So, after several years pursuing a different career (and actually using my college degree), I just knew that it was time to get out of that world. I wanted to make my cakes and try to make people happy every day. So, here I am. If you like what you see, contact me. I specialize in fondant decorations (homemade and yummy fondant, NOT store-bought and yucky) and sugar flowers. I'm learning new things each and every day so send me your thoughts or a picture and I'll bake it and make it... with sugar!