So, I quit my “real” job.  As I was letting my clients know that April 1 would be my last day as an environmental consultant, one client said it was great timing because she was hosting a baby shower in a few weeks and could use a cake.  Sweet!  I put the message that I’m going to be a cake decorator out to the world, and it presents me with a cake order!

I had actually made the baby shower cake for my client, Sarah, when she was pregnant.  We were working on a project together at the time and I worked more with her on a day-to-day basis than the people in my company.  Pretty cool!  I made a sheet cake with fondant strips to look like letter blocks and a little bear made out of fondant/gum paste on top.

I asked the standard questions:  how many people, what theme is the shower, what flavors, etc.

15 people, which she emailed a week later and upped to 25!

It’s a bathtime theme, with rubber duckies.

Vanilla or chocolate cake.  And “that lemon filling you made for my baby shower”………..ummmmmm, which lemon filling did I make 2 years ago.  I think I’ve made 3 different lemon fillings over the years….whipped cream with lemon extract, lemon pudding, and lemon bar filling (tastes like the top of a lemon bar without the cookie crust).

To go with the bathtime theme, she chose a cake sculpted into the shape of bathtub with rubber duckies in the tub.  Of course she picked the hardest of the 4 options I gave her.  But this was exciting, especially since I would be out of work and need something to occupy my time!

To feed 25 people, I made 3 10-inch round cakes.  I used 2 boxes of Betty Crocker French Vanilla mix with 2 boxes of vanilla instant pudding and 7 eggs instead of 6.

For the Lemon Bar Filling, I use the Wilton Lemon Filling Recipe.  Like eating a lemon bar without the cookie crust, yummy!

And lemon-y buttercream…see Kay’s Buttercream Recipe.

I sculpted the cake into a bathtub shape.