Happy National Cake Day!

National Cake Day is a celebration dedicated to the enjoyment of cake, a popular dessert that comes in various flavors, shapes, and sizes. While the origins of National Cake Day are not entirely clear, it is observed annually on November 26th in the United States. On this day, people often indulge in baking or buying cakes and sharing them with friends and family.

The celebration of National Cake Day provides an opportunity for people to come together and enjoy this sweet treat, whether it’s a simple homemade cake, a decadent layer cake, or a creative and elaborate cake design. People may also use the occasion to try new cake recipes or visit bakeries to explore a variety of cake options.

It’s fun to look back on some of my favorite bakes from the past. Those full time baking years were not easy, but I am grateful for the experience and opportunity to explore my creativity.

Here are TEN of some of my favorite cake designs from over the years.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

I made this quadruple chocolate cake for two nice gents that were getting married. The inside is chocolate cake and it is iced with fudge frosting and chocolate ganache. The decorations are hand dipped chocolate covered strawberries and handmade chocolate shards.

The Fat Unicorn Cake

A customer asked me to reproduce this Fat Unicorn Cake originally designed by Amy’s Sweet Delights. It is made with chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream, and a hand sculpted fondant unicorn. I piped and painted the finer details such as the unicorn’s hoofs, horn, eyes, and mane.

Dark Roses Cake

This was one of the first wedding cakes I made by myself. I don’t remember what was in the inside, but I do remember airbrushing the heck out of the gum paste flowers to get a dramatic color effect.

Succulent Cake

This fancy vanilla cake is completely piped by hand. I remember my hands cramping up from squeezing the piping bag so much. The end result, however, was very pretty with its giant succulents and variegated color work. It was for a first birthday party.

Chocolate Bouquet Cake

I have to be honest: I HATED piping this cake. Piping roses sideways is not for the faint of heart. The cake was based off of a design in one of our portfolio books, but the request was made last minute with no time to order the appropriate decorations. So, I did my best with what we had in the bakery, and fortunately our customer was happy!

Cookies and Cream Cake

This Cookies and Cream cake is made with chocolate cake, chocolate whipped cream, chocolate ganache, and a mountain of crushed Oreos! Dripping ganache over whipped cream is tricky, but not impossible. To prevent a melting mess, always freeze whipped cream iced cakes before adding thin and room temperature ganache.

Mermaid Cake

I made this mermaid spectacle for one of my baby cousins. She had a mermaid themed party, and I made her a cake with yellow on the bottom and chocolate on top. I iced everything with Swiss meringue buttercream and decorated it with fondant and air brush colors.

Witch’s Cauldron Cake

I’m obsessed with making mini cauldron cakes, especially for Halloween. I made probably hundreds of these over the years in different flavors. My favorite part about decorating them is fine tuning the colors and textures using an airbrush. They look real afterwards.

Blue’s Clues Cake

This was another baby cousin cake that I made with yellow cake and marshmallow frosting. Originally I planned to buy Blue’s Clues toppers, but not one store in my area sold even a Blue’s Clues toy! So, I rolled up my sleeves and made the figures out of fondant. It came out really cute!

Rose Gold Valentine’s Day Cake

I’ve had to make all sorts of lovely holiday cakes, but I just live this one for its color scheme. It’s elegant and pleasant to the eye. I made many of these in both chocolate and vanilla cake.