Camille's Cakes

My Husband does not like cake. I know! There goes all my wonderful talent. sigh. Each birthday we try to come up with some sort of non-cake goodie to celebrate. This year was one of the better selections in my opinion. We had brownies (just from a box, but they were so yummy) and ice cream with ALL the toppings! Sprinkles, whipped cream, nuts, carmel, and homemade hot fudge and butterscotch sauce! Mmm!

As requested by my friend, here is the recipe for the butterscotch topping:

Creamy Butterscotch Topping

1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. corn syrup
4 Tbsp. butter
3/4 c. evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt


Bring sugar, corn syrup, and butter to soft ball stage (235 to 240 degrees). Cool slightly. Add evaporated milk slowly, stirring constantly.


Will keep in refrigerator indefinitely.

My baby turned one! I was having the hardest time trying to come up with a cake for him. My other two kids both had something they just loved, so it was no problem making a cake with a personal touch, but I was stumped. Originally I planned to make the safari cake, since it is one of my very favorites and it feeds a lot of people, but since I'm taking summer classes and this cake takes a LOT of time, I was worried about stressing myself out. For a while I thought monkeys would be perfect because he just loved bananas, and devoured them. Well, then he grew out of that. But he was so stinking cute in this outfit from Stephanie, and Amme had given him the cutest monkey blanket, so it just kept sticking in my mind.

So today I finally got around to making this cake that has been in my mind for over a year. I thought up this combination last year after tasting the



I made Grandma Mary's chocolate cake, and used the rum frosting from my sister's wedding cake. Then, I topped it off with these most delightful gems! The best part about this cake is that I needed it for tonight and when I called the shop, they didn't have any rum balls. I was so disappointed, and then the owner says to me,

Kaylee turned eight this year and requested an "8" cake. Simple enough. She declared this the "most beautiful cake you've ever made." Hmm... I don't know about that, but I am certainly glad that she liked it! It was very simple to make and I was happy with it and really happy that she was happy with it.

My little niece was born the day before Kaylee and she turned one this year. So we had a combined party on the weekend. Her mom loves Pooh Bear, so I figured we'd do that. Again, very simple cake, and it looked pretty good.

At the beginning of February is my sister-in-law's birthday. They came up to stay with us, so I decided to make a cake. Nothing terribly fancy (unless you're asking Kaylee), but it was fun to eat all the same. She loves periwinkle, so I tried my best to come up with something close to that color. It looked a little closer in person....

My nephew, aka Squirm, is known for his love of trains. Especially the book Frieght Train by Donald Crews. So, for his birthday this year, that is just what he got. I must say, I was so worried because this cake was being difficult and it was right before Christmas and I was feeling tired and afraid it would be a huge flop after working him up to it. I shouldn't have worried. It was perfect for him! I was very sad that the black tender had to be left out of the fun due to poor health, but Squirm lovingly overlooked it. He is wonderful and I love him!
Before:

After: adding the wheels and putting it in a line made ALL the difference!

The best part about this cake was watching Squirm admire it forever! He walked along and looked so carefully at each part and recited the story:
Red Caboose at the back, Orange tank car next.

Yellow hopper car, Green cattle car,

Blue gondola car (my favorite part to hear him say), purple box car,

missing black tenderand a Black Steam Engine, complete with cow catcher. :)

My friend, Cassie (the one who took my amazing family pics), ordered this cake for her daughter's second birthday. She had the fun idea of doing a blue and black ladybug instead red. It was such a fun idea. Her invites to the party had a cute blue and black ladybug and her little girl wore blue and black. It was so cute. She is the party master and had the cutest decorations and party favors and such. This cake was pretty easy. I hadn't planned on shaping the body of the cake, but after I saw how the head was so nice and round, I went ahead and tried to shape the body. It went surprisingly well and not too many crumbs. We did a vanilla cake with buttercream icing and chocolate fondant for the black parts. I didn't think ahead far enough to make antennae. I did make some, and they were cute, but they were too heavy and hadn't had time to dry out and harden. She had some black candles that she used, which were perfect since her little girl was two.