Hello Kitty Cake!

My friend, Nina, asked me to make this cake for her 32nd birthday. If any 32 yr old can rock a Hello Kitty cake, it's Nina!

On a side note, this cake should have been really easy...at least it was in my head before I started. I used this template to help with the carving. It was really helpful and I just used the zoom button in my photo shop program to get it the size I needed.

Here's where I went wrong: I had two options on what size to bake this cake, my sheet cake pan and a 12 in round. I realized the sheet cake pan meant I would be able to carve Kitty out in one piece, but I would have GOBS of cake scraps leftover. If I used the 12 in. pan, I would have to carve Kitty's face and then carve and attach her ear's separately.

I opted for the 12 in pan because I thought it would save me lots of materials cost and carving the ears couldn't be that difficult, right?

I couldn't have been more wrong. Those little ears got the better part of at least 2 hours. And carving Kitty's face "just right" was at least another 2 hrs because my 12 inch cake pan was just a little on the small size.

Well, lesson learned! Don't ever try to cut costs with materials b/c it will just cost you in the long run with your time....which is far more valuable than materials most for the most part!



Oh, but isn't she just so cute!!!

And since Nina and I go back more than 20 years, I wanted to do something a little extra for her, so I made these super cute Hello Kitty cookies!

Superhero Cake! Spiderman, Batman and The Hulk!

Somehow this cake didn't make it to the blog until just now. Not sure how I overlooked it, but I did. Busy = Careless? Probably.

This was Asher's 4th birthday cake. Did I slave for hours over it? Not really. Those little plastic super hero figures did most of the work for me! But, I would've put in double duty for my best boy if I needed to!

The only tricky part was getting my red really red. I actually had to use some spray color on it..it was the perfect, quick fix.

The best picture of all? My birthday boy with his cake!

Toy Story Cake -To Infinty and Beyond!

This is another cake that I made weeks ago and am just getting around the posting it. I had this cake on the books the same week I made Maryclaire's 3 tier 1st birthday cake and 3 dozen pretty tree cookies. In hindsight, I guess it was an easy week compared with 45 dozen decorated sugar cookies. But, it was my first time undertaking two cakes in one week, which is my goal for this year (2 baking projects a week).

I would have LOVED to have the time to sculpt these little figures out of fondant, but I just didn't have the time! All in all, I thought it turned out pretty cute.

I found the the little figures at Party City. They were being clearanced out so I stocked up on them just in case I have another order for a Toy Story themed cake.

What's inside? White cake with strawberry buttercream and fresh strawberries.

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Paisley, Polka Dots and Stripes, Oh My!

My baby girl turned one a few weeks back. I dreamed about this cake ever since she was born. I would sit rocking her in her room, admiring her nursery and thinking about how I wanted to design her cake around the fabrics we used.

While the colors were a little off (I wanted much softer colors) I love this cake! I added in a little red to reflect the fast approaching Christmas holiday. It was a labor of love for my sweet girl!

This was my first 3 tiered cake. The top tier came off and was Maryclaire's smash cake. The stripes on the bottom tier were so much harder than I thought they were going to be! I think I'll be ok if I never try stripes on a cake again! Ha!

Happy First Birthday, Maryclaire!

Harry Potter Cake

I have neglected my caking blog terribly. I guess you could say I've been too busy making goodies to post about them! That's definitely a good thing for my little business!

My niece turned 10 around Thanksgiving and wanted a cake that looked like Harry Potter's robe.

I was nervous about carving a cake, but this one wasn't so complicated.

I love the way the fondant gave it a smooth look and I didn't have to fuss with trying to make the buttercream perfect over all those curves!

That same week I also made over 100decorated cookies...cute little owls, pumpkins, fall leaves, and lots of Christmas designs! It was so busy I didn't even have time for a picture!

Holiday Menu and More 2011

Who's Ready for Christmas?

Can you believe it's that time of year already? Candy canes, tinsel and lots of yummy treats!


I have been baking up a storm the past few weeks and have some real winners to share!

Don't see what you're looking for? Just ask!

Below is just a sampling of what I can do.

Cookies
Priced by the dozen

Snowflakes-$13 Stockings-$14
Christmas Tree-$13 Snowman-$13
Peppermint candy-$13 Presents-$18
Ornaments $14 JOY-$13
Reindeer-$18 Santa Owl-$16
Mini gingerbread man-$7
Mini Christmas tree-$7 Mini peppermint candy-$7
Mini Trio-$8 Assorted -$15

Most cookies can be personalized-No charge!

Cakeballs
Priced by the dozen-$9.50

Flavors: Mint chocolate (white or dark), Chocolate Peanut butter, Dark Chocolate Toffee, Classic white, Classic yellow and Classic chocolate

Coconut Snowball (cakeball rolled in coconut)-$10 doz.


Snowman Marshmallow Pops - $10/doz.

Mini Cupcakes
Chocolate-$8
Yellow-$8
White-$8
Gingerbread-$9
Peppermint Mocha-$9
Apple Cream Cheese-$9

Hot Pink and Zebra Cake

My friend asked me to put this cake together for her on the fly. Good thing it's easy and one I'm used to making.

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I liked the pink icing overlapped with black. I don't think you can go wrong with this cake!

On the inside: Confetti cake with strawberry buttercream and fresh straw strawberries. It smelled heavenly!

Wish I could have had a taste too!

Holiday Cookies

I waited as long as I could. This weekend I caved and made my first batch of Christmas cookies.

They were so much fun. I hope I get lots and lots of orders because I LOVED making them.

The snowflakes were my favorite. {{{LOVE}}}

Cookies prices vary, but on average are $1-$1.25 a piece and I am SHIPPING for the holidays! They are listed on my etsy page here or you can contact me directly by email or through facebook.

Peyton's 1st Birthday Owl Cake

My friend Ashley asked me to make her daughter's first birthday cake-what an honor! The theme was owls. CUTE!
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She also wanted coordinating cookies. Sure!

I loved how everything turned out. The 20 hours I put into this order was definitely worth it! I thought it turned out fabulous!
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Happy 1st Birthday, Peyton!

About Me

Hi, I'm Jill, aka The Happy Caker.

First off, I am married to an amazing guy and mom to two pint sized kids. Taking care of this crew is my number one job! I carry some wacky hours because baking definitely comes second to my family.


I became inspired by cakes after watching many hours (ok, I'll admit it, maybe hundreds?) of Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes. My first cake I ever attempted was a train cake for my son when he turned 2. Wanna see? It's not pretty. In fact, when I look at it now, I'm a little embarrassed because I though it was awesome.
Well, you gotta start somewhere, right?


No worries, little man loved it and that's what counts now.

I knew with lots of practice I could get better, so I started asking my family to let me make special occasion cakes. Thankfully, I have several nieces and nephews with willing parents! Again, I cringe a little looking back! Ha!

So, here we are, 2.5 years later and many more cakes (and cookies and cupcakes) under my belt. I am thankful I've found my passion and for every opportunity I am given to create some sort of sugary confection.

This part of my life truly is the icing on the cake!

Halloween and Fall Cookies

I know Halloween in over, but I post this for reference next year. These cookies are so much fun, but SO much work!




Unfortunately, I got ahead of myself and forgot to take pictures before I packaged them. Oops! Hopefully, you can still get the gist of all their cuteness.




I made ghosts, pumpkins and witch's hats to pass out at my son's school.



They were a big hit with the kids.



And honestly, I am SOOOOO ready to start Christmas cookie making. Crazy, I know! I just can't help myself!

New Venture-Custom Cookies!

I have been dying to make these adorable sugar cookies for awhile. I finally got on the stick and made a test batch after my friend asked me about making some for her daughter's first birthday.
I was very happy with the way turned out, although they are way more time consuming than I ever imagined.
I spent the next 5 days perfecting the recipe, rolling the dough to the ideal thickness and testing the perfect cook time in my oven. I think I finally have it.


Looking forward to making many more of these!

Pottery Barn Peace Cake

My friend Emily contacted me a few weeks ago about a cake for her future step-daughter, Hannah. Emily was planning a surprise birthday for Hannah's 9th Birthday. Emily wanted me to design the cake around on Pottery Barn's peace sign quilt. Great idea! Who doesn't love Pottery Barn?

Here is a picture of the inspiration.


Here is a picture of the cake.


This was so fun and girly. I loved everything about it...except when I gave my thumb a 2nd degree burn heating some marshmallow fondant! Ouch!

Burn and all, this was a great cake!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

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Spooky Halloween Cake

I love Halloween! Makes me feel like a kid again. I made a test cake the other night for Halloween and this is what I came up with. Love it? I do!



It's iced in buttercream and the skeletons, pumpkins, sign, and scary house topper are all marshmallow fondant.

This would make the cutest centerpiece for Halloween. I'll be making it again for sure...a little closer to the actual day-Ha!

Pretty Fall Ruffle Cake

Cake + Ruffles = LOVE

I have wanted to try this design out for awhile. Can't you imagine this cake with pretty pink ruffles? Oh, I want to do this one again....I'm sure I can find someone to convince they must have this cake! :)


What's inside? Apple spice cake filled and frosted with caramel apple buttercream. I didn't get to taste it, but I was told it was delicious.

First Birthday Zebra Stripes

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Happy 1st Birthday, Madison! This was a giant undertaking! Cake and cupcakes to feed 100. Wow!



The theme was hot pink and zebra stripes and the birthday girl even had the most adorable shoes to match!

Smash cake

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This was also my first cake project at our new house. Can I tell you how much I love all my new counter space? They may be green, but there's a lot of them and I LOVE all the space extra space.

Check back soon for a Halloween themed cake I'm making this weekend!