Creamy Vanilla Frosting

1- 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 TBSP. clear vanilla extract (regular is fine but the frosting will have a brown tinge)

2 lb. pkg. powdered sugar*

Cream butter and cream cheese in a mixer. Add vanilla. While the mixer is going on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar, about ¼ cup at a time. Taste it after you’ve added about 2/3 of the sugar, and keep going if you want sweeter, thicker frosting.

-For stiffer, decorator frosting you may add ¼ cup shortening at the creaming stage- and 1 TBP meringue powder (optional) for even greater stability. 

*The brand of powdered sugar you use matters. I always use C&H. It contains less cornstarch than less expensive brands, and gives frosting a silky, non-gooey texture.

My posts have seriously dwindled since I became pregnant. My priorities have shifted (so excited for this baby!!) and cake sort of fell off the radar when the fatigue and morning sickness kicked in…and stayed and stayed. On very rare occasions I crawl into the kitchen to bake—and this was one of them…

 The extra tall top tier is blue velvet cake with vanilla frosting, and the bottom is milk chocolate. I made the purple and green marshmallow fondant at home and handed over a small fortune to buy a little tub of Duff black fondant (because making black fondant at home is just insane). I think it turned out pretty good!

My dear Grandma was born on July 4th. This gives me the chance to make lots of patriotic cakes.

On a hot summer day, lemon cake with vanilla mousse filling and cool fresh berries on top is just the thing! My sister found the cute decorations at Michael’s.

Here’s a the naked cake (before the decorations):

Usually when I make a cake there is some drama involved. Something almost always goes wrong. This time, it all just fell into place. The cake, fondant, and frosting behaved beautifully…. 

…like it was meant to be. The only little blip is on the “congrats”. Someone (you know who you are) made me laugh while I was writing it, and well- now it has character. Here are some photos of the creative process. 

Congrats to Hailey, and all the rest of you 2011 grads out there!

Our big, extended family Mom’s Day celebration gave me the perfect reason to make this cake:

I’m not the best at placing flowers on a cake, so I got a little help from a friend : ) 

The top layer is dense, chocolate cake with cherry pie filling and a thick ribbon of Dutch chocolate icing to keep said filling from squishing out.

The bottom is lemon cake with vanilla mousse filling. The pink fondant was made using my favorite marshmallow fondant recipe. 

Kudos to my uncle Jeff for giving me a lesson on how to use my camera- I love this photo!

I wanted to make an elegant cake to follow Easter dinner, and decided on Red Velvet. The rich texture and red color make it the perfect choice. I’ve also been wanting to use this beautiful cake plate I got for Christmas:

The cake and its plate look like they were made for each other. I used Martha Stewart’s Red Velvet Cake Recipe with excellent results. I’ve included tutorials for both:   Red Velvet Cake Recipe and Cake Assembly.