Cake, Cake and more Cake!

One of my fondest memories growing up was watching my Mom decorate cakes.  She would transform our ordinary kitchen into a bakery with gallon sized bottles of vegetable oil, flats of eggs, 25 lb. bags of powdered sugar, the sweet smell of cakes in the over and a table strewn with cake decorating supplies.



I loved walking by the pans filled with batter as they waited to go in the oven and swipe a spoonful for a small taste.  I am amazed her cakes turned out, due to the amount of batter I tasted. I watched in awe as she made roses on that little silver spiny thing, and piped beautiful designs on the wedding cakes. I loved sitting in on her consultations for wedding cakes.  And I would spend hours looking through her cake books dreaming of what my wedding cake would look like someday.

I felt so special, as her "assistant" when she would let me place the silver leaf near the flowers on the sheet cakes and when I got to flatten the point on the dots.  I loved helping her deliver the cakes.  I felt like I was so important, carrying the bowl of extra frosting that was used to repair any mishaps in delivery; then graduating to carrying small cakes & being able to help stack the cakes by putting on the pillars (the wedding cakes were old school with pillars between the layers).

 

My Mom always accommodated my requests for birthday cakes too.  I thought they were the very best!  When I grew up I wanted to be just like my mom and make cakes!

 

I decorated my first birthday cakes when Elizabeth turned 3 and then again when Rachel turned 1.  It was then that I realized decorating cakes was a lot harder than it looked, my Mom made it look so easy.  My kitchen was not the lovely bakery I remembered as a child, in fact it was a sweet sticky mess.  And it wasn't very much fun, instead it was frustrating.  I struggled to get my hand to do what was pictured in my brain.  It became a labor of love.

It was a labor of love that I have continued for 9 years. Nine years ago I was creating just two cakes. This year I created 5!  And due to needing cake for the "real" birthday and a party with friends I found myself making cupcakes too! 

This labor of love has turned into something I truly love to do. I love hearing my kids share their dream of what they want their cake to look like.  I love attempting to fulfill that dream.  I love seeing the smile on their face when the cake is finished.  I love feeling their pride when they tell their friends that their Mom made their birthday cake. 

I love to take time away from the mundane routine of  motherhood and delve into my creative side.  I love that I am able to pass along a favorite childhood memory to my kiddos. I love giving my kiddos a beautiful and yummy gift each year for their birthday!

 

So for the months of January and February the Strong house will be full of cake, cake & more cake!