Friday, December 12, 2008

Gingerbread Extravaganza


Last night we held our 2nd Annual "Gingerbread Extravaganza" Christmas party. We construct two large Gingerbread houses, make lots of sweet treats, and invite our favorite people!

The only thing we ask everyone to bring is a bag of candy to decorate their house. At the door, we tag our guests with either a red or a green "tinsel" bracelet to differentiate the teams, then dump their candy in big buckets.


When the competition starts, we set the timer for 1 hour while both teams usually huddle up to form a design plan. This is where the fun begins!







For judging the competition, we "WEB-CAMMED" in two gingerbread house experts all the way from Texas. My 8 year old twin sisters, Aubrey and Emily, were tough critics...but I guess someone had to be!
After much thought and consideration, they made their decision. "It wasn't easy..." they said, "but the GREEN team wins!!!!!" Everyone cheered.

Great job everybody! Can't wait 'til next year. If you want to join us in '09, let me or Faith know and we will add you to our guest list. Thanks for checking out our blog and Cheers! to a sweet and fabulous Christmas.

Love,

Cara

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

SOUTHERN FUN

We just got home from our trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana!
It was relaxing, slow-paced, and refreshing! If you live like we do in the big city, you MUST plan a trip to the south. Everyone is laid back and friendly and let me tell you, the men know how to treat the ladies! I don't think I opened one door while I was there.

It was a much-needed getaway! Another plus - I got to spend time with my amazing family and my two adorable nephews.


We made a "gingerbread house" cake. My dad and nephew, Whitaker, even contributed their own touch of creativity.

We even made time for dancing to some Christmas tunes :)
We won't see each other at Christmas, so this was our "early" Christmas picture. This is me with all my siblings. (from left: Tyler & Crystal, Whitaker & Campbell, Me, Neil, Emily, and Aubrey) We are all spread out location-wise but when we get together, it is always a FUN TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Faith and I even had time to squeeze in a Cake Class one day. We drove to Thibodaux, LA (my college town!) to hold a class. Thanks to my friend Breanne and her lovely mother, Mrs. Chris, who got a group together for us. It was fun to be back there.









Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Sweet Christmastime


We've been stringing the lights,
Hanging stockings just right,
And making sure all the cookies are iced.

Gingerbread baking
Ornament making
Tree Decorating
And of course, picture-taking!

This season is full of fun things to share
So be sure and ENJOY your Christmas this year!

Enjoy our sweet pics

Love, Cara and Faith


Every year, Faith and I make our own ornaments out of sugar cookies and royal icing and yes, our tree topper is definitely covered in fondant :)

Neil (my brother) couldn't resist joining in on the fun





Trimming the tree was only the beginning of our planned projects! Gingerbread houses were #2 on the list. I let Faith be in charge of this task and I must say, she did a FABULOUS job. Check her out!









The houses are TO BE CONTINUED. They are a little messy but the detailed decor will cover all of that! After our Gingerbread House competition party on December 11, we will post the finished masterpieces....STAY TUNED!!!!



We are flying out tomorrow morning to hold classes in the Baton Rouge area. If you are interested, let us know! We still have room in our classes.

Until next time everybody...
Enjoy the season :)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Just Let it Flow


A client ordered this cake for his wife's birthday. All he said was, "She's an artist, fashion designer, painter, and seamstress. Come up with something!" As I set out to start on a cake, I had a sketch drawn and somewhat of a vision in my head, but nothing too specific.

I usually have it planned out in detail for the most part, but this cake was different. I just couldn't quite grab hold of the inspiration I knew it needed. A dress-form manican with a piece of fondant fabric across the chest is what I had in mind...but it needed something more.

Despite my blurry vision, I started. (Sometimes as I get going, the inspiration just develops naturally. I was believing for the best :)

I filled my cake layers, sculpted the dress form shape, then covered it with fondant.
Now what? Hmmm....



I began flipping through fashion magazines trying to get inspired. I began to envision the cake with a raw piece of fondant fabric roughly pinned up, maybe in a flowery fall print. (Ooh yeah! I was going somewhere.) But what type of fabric? I kept flipping pages, hoping to find a print or color pattern I could fall in love with. Nothing.

My vision? Still blurry.

I opened my bucket with leftover fondant colors from past cakes. I found a ball of purple that caught my eye so, "Why not?" I said to myself. I pinned it up to get a preview. Yeah, I liked it.

I rolled it out, then found some white lace in my inspiration box. I impressed the lace into the fondant...
then sponge painted it with black dye.
I came up with this technique in hopes of creating a lace look, but it actually looked more like snake skin. (Even better!) I finished by dusting it with burgandy luster, then my fondant "fabric" just sort of formed itself around the cake manican.
I added the tape measure and the pin cushions to give it an alive "project in progress" look and voila!



Upon completion, I stood back to admire the masterpiece. I was pleased with the finished product, (even a bit surprised to be honest.) "Did I do that?!"

Before starting this cake, I asked God to anoint my hands; to let His creativity flow through my mind. It's funny what He will do!
I didn't have to plan it out perfectly or force inspiration; it just flowed naturally and turned out beautiful.

This was a good life lesson for me.
Sometimes we think we have to know it all in the beginning before we take a leap of faith, but sometimes the vision just needs to develop naturally. Take a step of faith and start with what you have - the inspiration will follow. And chances are, the end result will be more beautiful than you could have planned!

Put your hope and trust in "God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within you, to accomplish infinitely more than you might ask or think." ( Ephesians 3:20)

Until next time...HAPPY THANKSGIVING, enjoy the cake, and check out Faith's blog to see her latest creation ;) http://faithinnyc.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 17, 2008

This Week at Cara Linn Cakes

CAKE DECORATING CLASS

Last night we had our LEVEL 2 Cake Sculpting Class in Manhattan. In this class, everyone learned how to sculpt a handbag cake! I always love seeing the creations at the end of the night. Great job everyone! Thanks to all who registered and we hope to see you again in another class soon!!!










(If you are interested in taking one of our classes, contact Faith Lange at faith@caralinncakes.com OR visit our website at www.caralinncakes.com for upcoming dates and locations. We would love to see you there!)

CAMERA CAKE

This was our favorite cake of the week! It was for the birthday of a photographer. Inside was our Red Velvet Royale with pink Cream Cheese filling. Nadra, we hope you enjoyed your cake...Happy Birthday!



to see this video click on: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=704044576883#/video/video.php?v=704044576883&subj=1370681152