Specialty Cakes

I received a Wilton cake decorating starter kit back in '89 and have enjoyed making these fun cakes for friends ever since. Though time-consuming, most are actually a lot easier than they look. The hardest part is timing - Sundays are always best as it gives time to bake the cake(s) (which sometimes takes longer than usual if they are large or oddly shaped), make and color the icing, allow the cake(s) to cool and then, finally, spend a few hours actually doing the decorating.

I'm a sucker for the colors and symbols of holiday/seasonal ambience (i.e. autumn leaves and new pencils in autumn, snowmen and holiday greenery for the holidays, etc.) and cakes are a neat way to express those elements. Anyway, here are some of the cakes I've done in recent years...