Very busy over here doing some freelance work, wrapping up a project for a cartooning /illustration class, and getting ready for a July burlesqueathon (more news soon). This would explain why I saved three draft posts as “Published” instead of  “Draft.” If you were wondering why my ruminations were so unpolished, that’s why.  So, as a filler post while I perish of mortification, have some cakes that I made. I also recommend reading The Hectic Eclectic by the delightful Mrs. C – she’s boosted her posting about crafts and cuisine lately and is working on a frock coat.

Cakes! I baked this one for a burlesque travel fundraiser. Was she inspired by Arthur de Pin’s Peches Mignons characters? Mais oui! (Link here, NSFW). I didn’t make it to the fundraiser myself, being hammered by the flu, but I am told she was delicious. Red velvet cake and vanilla buttercream inside.

The other cake was my birthday cake this year, for my steampunk-retro-burlesque-dinosaur birthday party. Orange cake and chocolate frosting underneath the chocolate fondant.

As you can see, I come from the Ed Emberly school of fondant use. Each of these needed a custom-made cardboard mat which is simply heavy cardboard from a clean, food-grade box, cut to size and wrapped in shiny baker’s paper. The baker’s paper allows you to wipe off frosting mistakes easily.