Cakes Galore

December 7, 2010: Cakes Galore

The full time cake decorator is on vacation and it is up to the remaining people to make the specialty orders that have to be made.  This is the most annoying part of the bakery. The cake orders take precise actions for them to be pulled off the right way.  We do generic designs such as balloons or roses, simple designs with edible images, and the intricate cake orders with toy kits for children.  We have several different sizes and two types of frosting that can be used.  Our largest cake, a full sheet, feeds about 60 people and ranges in price from $38 to $44.  Next in line is the half sheet: half the size of the full that feeds about 30 people for between $28 to $34.  The final is the quarter sheet: quarter the size of a full and feeds 15 people for between $18 to $24.

Today we had eighteen cake orders that had to be done.  Nine of them were full sheets which was going to be extremely challenging.  Those take the longest amount of time.  My boss and I each took half the pile.  Seems a bit odd that out of eighteen cakes I wound up with all the full sheets...

Oh well.  Time to get to work.

The first order is a full sheet with multicolored roses in the corners that reads "Happy Birthday Gabriela."  Next is a picture cake of a veteran who was turning 85 years old.  A picture is made the same way that a regular picture is printed out of a computer.  There is a sugar paper that we feed through an Epson printer and it prints the image with Edible Inks.  It looks impressive, but when you work in the business it really isn't.  After was a Thomas the Tank Engine cake for a child named Bradley.  To make this cake I had to use the spray gun: a little metal gun that we load with very hefty food coloring to spray scenery on a cake.  I had to draw train tracks and a valley and then place the toys.  Two more picture cakes for a set of twins.  A Iron Man cake for a teenage gentleman who still has that young boy inside I guess.  The rest were all simplistic flower and balloon designs.

It took a lot of time, but it was worth the effort.

Until Next Time...

Stay Sweet,

Lil' Buddy