Scuba Cake

         One of the things we love here at the bakery is creating new cakes we've never done before. Our latest project is a scuba cake. A customer has called in a birthday cake for a scuba loving friend. It is going to be complete with a marzipan scuba diver, fish, shells, and all sorts of under the sea things. Here are some photos of the beginning stages. Looking forward to seeing the final product!

Fish and Crab

Scuba Diver

Octopus

Fruitcake

          Christmas is the season for fruitcake. If you take notice to our Latest Creations page,  the Santa Face Cake and the Winter Wonderland Cake are both fruitcakes. My name is Carolyn and I am a recent addition to the Family Cake Company, though this is my second time working in a bakery. From what I have seen everything made in Family Cakes is about as fresh as it gets. The bakers here come in at about 4am to make everything for the day ( I know this is not a unique ritual for bakers to do but I have huge respect for anyone who gets to work earlier than 7am). However theres one thing I noticed that is almost the opposite of fresh...fruitcake.

Fruitcakes in the process

          I was writing a document involving our Christmas fruitcakes and my boss informed me that I should mention we only have a limited amount of the fruitcakes available. My immediate reaction was, "have we run out of fruit?" (stupid and improbable for a bakery, i know), obviously the answer was no. He told me that fruitcakes are like red wine, they get better with age. Apparently fruitcakes take about 10 months to make and the best ones are started in February. Unless your my Stepfather (who freezes the leftover Thanksgiving stuffing and serves it at easter) this amount of time seems questionable as far as food is concerned.

Adding the  decorations

         As it turns out, a fruitcake is much like Thanksgiving turkey, it takes a lengthy process to make it the most delicious. In short, you put all the ingredients together, make the cake, then let it sit and soak in all the favors. Then you continue to finesse it and let it mature until finally, weeks later, its ready to be eaten. You should be aware that when our cakes are in the process of maturing we wrap them and store them carefully so that when they are finally done they are as fresh as fruitcakes can get. 

         So if you are planning to purchase one of our fruitcakes (or anyone else's) thats why you should do it asap. We are not able to make new ones when the old ones are sold so thats why you should order them before they are all gone. Worse comes to worse, if you purchase one and realize you are no longer in the mood for fruitcake, you can always use it as a traditional Christmas doorstop!

-Carolyn

Christmas is Coming

Christmas cheer has just hit our bakery this morning and our bakers have been up since 4am working on the first Christmas order of the season. Here's some pictures of what they're working on. Check out our New Creations paged to see the finished cakes!

 

Tips for the Kitchen

Heres a few tips to help you with your own baking:

-Not sure how fresh your eggs are? Put them in a big bowl of water. If the eggs sink, they are fresh. If they float, dont use them. If one end is up and the other is down, use it soon because its about to go bad.

-Always keep your bananas separate from your other fruits. Bananas release a gas that causes other fruits to ripen more quickly.

-If you burn yourself, put mustard on it. It will help the pain and prevent blistering.

-To keep cookies fresh, put crumpled tissue paper in the bottom of the jar.

-If you find you never use all your milk before it expires, put a pinch of salt in a freshly opened carton so it stays fresh longer.

We Gotta Try This

Rainbow Cupcake

I was "stumbling" through the internet and found this incredibly cool cupcake. It looks like someone took a bite out of a rainbow. I think we should try making a cake like this...who's with me?

Family Cake's First Blog

What do cake, bugs, and anger have in common? Absolutely nothing! Which is why I love cakes so much. There is nothing bad about cake. They are not gross, they are not ugly, and they never make anyone sad. They make people happy and satisfy their bellies, and whats better than that? My love of cakes has driven me so far as to start my own Family Cake Company. Cake is my passion, and what I know best. So why blog about cake?

 I have a long history in the cake business and I have learned a thing or two about the art of baking and its something worth sharing with other cake lovers as well. The point of this blog is to share some of my experiences, creations, some baking tips and tricks, and to engage other cake lovers to share some of their thoughts and ideas as well. I welcome all sorts of feedback with open arms and appreciate all comments, whether its that youve enjoyed something I've made or that you disagree with something I've said. Looking forward to this new adventure!
-Daniel



I would also like to add a special thank you to Mimosa Planet for providing me with some useful tips on getting this blog started. Thanks!