With the holidays around the corner and cold weather approaching, I've had chocolate on the brain.  I recently stumbled on a chocolate company I wanted to share with all of my UK readers. SerenataChocolates.com offers a wide rage on chocolate baskets and gifts as well as wine, flowers and plants!  With their 100% satisfaction garuntee, you won't have to worry.  If you are not completely happy with your order, they will either refund your money or offer a replacement.  I suggest checking out their Christmas Chocolate options for those long distance family members you'll be missing this year.

For me, the men in my life are the hardest to shop for...especially for Valentine's Day!  Serenata Chocolates has many options for people like me.  I'm intrigued by their Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey Fudge and White Chocolate Pizza.  I almost wish I lived in the UK just so I can try it!

Their site is loaded with customer feedback.  Every one was thrilled with the level of customer service Serenata Chocolates provides.  Some may even say it is the best chocolate in Europe.  Their website is easy to browse and ordering online always save time.  Serenata Chocolates is a must try in my book.

Vacaville, California is home to Posh Couture Cakes, a shop that specializes in custom wedding and sculpted cakes.  Not only are their cakes beautiful, but the wide variety of flavors make them sound absolutely delicious.  You can see more photos, their long list of flavors, and all they have to offer at www.poshcouturecakes.com but first, here are a few of my favorites.




 I love black and white wedding cakes, especially this one.









To make a purse cake you must have great attention to detail. Well done!











The gumpaste watch looks great!











I am absolutely LOVE this cake.  Very impressive!










Cake pops are one of the many things Post Couture Cakes has to offer and this lamb is too cute!












I think this is a great idea for any Veteran.








Thank you again to Posh Couture Cakes for sharing your work with us.


Are you a decorator looking to be featured?  E-mail your details to kseals@pieceofcakedecorating.com.

Every once in awhile I come across cakes with an interesting twist.  Today I found these divorce cakes, an uncommon reason to celebrate. I applaud their ability to find humor in what can be a difficult situation and I hope you can laugh along with them when you see these pictures.




Kicked to the curb!
















I think we can see who made out in this divorce.
















Notice the ring...















I like how he is dragging the fondant along with him.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with a fellow NJ hobby baker and am excited to share her work with you today.  Kim Moores is a self-taught decorator who simply wanted to make a wrestling ring cake for her then-fiance.  The rest, as they say, was history...after sharing her pictures with friends on Facebook, interest in her cakes grew and now she has aspirations of opening a shop.  Here are a few cakes and cake pops from Kim's Flicker page.  When you are done here, I suggest checking out the rest of her work.  She has a natural talent.






This modern cake is Kim's personal favorite.  Looks great!














These gumpaste animals are just waaaay too cute!



















More great work.  I especially love Boots!













When looking at these pictures, it is hard to believe Kim taught herself how to work with gumpaste and fondant.
















Uncle Sam is made of Rice Krispie Treats.  Great job on the facial features!















The cake that started it all...










Now for some cake pops...Kim really loves making these and they are becoming a popular request among her friends and family.  There are a ton more on her site.




Remember to check out Kim's Flickr page and you can also follower her on Twitter.


Thank you again Kim for sharing your cakes with us!


Are you a professional or hobby cake decorator?  You can have your cakes featured just like Kim.  E-mail pictures and info to photos@pieceofcakedecorating.com.

Making a template is a great way to get the the right shape when carving and decorating a cake.  With these easy steps, you can create a template to fit any design.

You will need....

several sheets of paper or large poster board
tape (optional)
tape measure
pencil
scissors


Step 1






Take a few sheets of paper and tape them together.  Once they are lined up, use a tape measure to re-size your paper to the measurements of your cake pan.

***Decorator's Tip*** Poster board is another option.  It is already large so it will save you the step of taping.


Step 2



Draw your picture on your re-sized paper.  After drawing, I like to fold the paper in half and cut along the lines I am happier with.  I do this for templates that need to be symmetrical.


Step 3



Open it up and check your work then, make any necessary adjustments.  Here I drew the details on my template to help me visualize the end result.

That's it!  You are ready to use your template.  Here are a few examples of when a template will come in handy.  The template above was used to make the first cake.


Here I used a template to get the shape of the basketball jersey.  It was very helpful in achieving symmetry.






In this cake, the template not only gave me the shape of the house but I cut it up into smaller sections (ie door, window, roof peek, etc) to keep proportions.







Here is another example of cutting the template into sections to keep proportions.  However, in this example I blew up a picture and printed it out.









I used a template on the guitar because, honestly, this is just not something I can free hand.






On this cake a template was used to create the NY on the helmet.  More detailed instructions can be found in my Piping with a Template Tutorial.







As you can see, templates are a big part of my decorating process.  Free hand piping and carving is very difficult and templates are a great decorating tool to utilize in these situations.