Corduroy Bear Cake

My next commission is due at the end of next week, so I got in touch with the mother of the little boy who the cake is for. We discussed the previous sketches I sent her and she explained that she really liked the teddy bear playing the drum, but also liked the baby blocks cake I had done in the past. She also mentioned that her husband perhaps wanted something based on one of the little boy’s favorite characters: Corduroy bear. So I came up with the idea of creating a Corduroy bear in a similar position to the sketch she originally liked, playing with blocks rather than with a drum. She loved the idea and is very excited about the final product. I put together the below sketch for me to work from. I used Adobe Illustrator to create the sketch rather than sketching it by hand, so it’s not as lifelike as it will hopefully turn out in the end, but it’s proportional and scaled accurately, which will help me in constructing the cake.

More to come…

Curious George Themed Cake

My boyfriend’s family recently gave me their grandma’s amazing cheesecake recipe - or rather, they gave it to my boyfriend and he promptly handed it over asking me to make it. :) It goes without saying, but the recipe is now being kept under lock and key.

In any case, my first attempt at the recipe did not go entirely well. It is supposed to be a two layer cheesecake, but after the first layer was in my pan there was no more room for the second layer. I swear I followed the directions, I just wonder if she used a 10 inch spring form pan instead of a 9 inch one like I did.

In the end, I found the cheesecake that I did prepare to be really delicious. I topped it with strawberries. That part I can give you the recipe for. It would be a great addition to even a store-bought cheesecake.

Strawberry “Sauce”

Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries, quartered
1 1/4 cups strawberries, sliced
3 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
1. Blend quartered strawberries and sugar in a food processor until smooth.
2. Pour into a large bowl. Gently stir in the sliced strawberries.
3. Cover and chill.

Enjoy!