Becky's Daphne Cakes Brag-Fest

Cupcake flower pots for a 4th birthday party

Today I'm going to brag about one of my best friends a little bit.  Kara has some culinary training under her belt, and when we were both living in Germany she started to practice decorating cakes with fondant.  She had always been a great baker, creating delicious confections that made my mouth water at the mere thought.  She also has a very discerning eye for things that are well-made and well-decorated.  She started fairly simply, practicing fondant ribbons and bows that were convincing from a novice.  Kara shared her practice pieces in an online photo album and it was fun to see all of the techniques she essentially taught herself.

I was able to watch her work on this baby shower cake.

Perfectly beautiful and tasteful!

Before too long, Kara's cakes were looking incredible.  She just seems to have a knack for knowing exactly how intense a color should be, precisely how to shape fondant pieces to look whimsical and yet true to form.  Of course it doesn't hurt that underneath the beautiful exterior, her cakes are still completely delicious and, oh, so moist!

This Cars-themed birthday cake was a huge hit!

1st birthday Owl cake

"Look Whoo's 1!"

Now Kara is doing some work for friends (and sometimes friends-of-friends) under the adorable moniker, Daphne Cakes, named in honor of her youngest child.  She has generously provided beautiful, professional-looking desserts for a number of friend's special events.  Kara never backs away from a challenge, either!  She finds an inspiration and figures out how to make that idea come to life on the cake.

A fun Mad Hatter cake

My Little Pony for her daughter's 1st birthday.

This 50th cake has personality!

She has even been awarded the highest prize possible at her county fair, the Best in Show award- and I saw the number of entries, so I can verify that she rightly won against a large number of competitors!

Kara's Best In Show cake

Kara baked my son's first birthday cake to match the theme I chose for the party.  The bottom layer was chocolate and the top, banana cake.  She even made a smaller "smash cake" in banana flavor, my son's favorite.  The cake received rave reviews and I'm still eagerly dreaming of the next time I'll get to eat one of Kara's amazing confections.  

My monkey's 1st birthday cake.

See how perfectly she matched the inspiration design on the plates?

My 1-year-old eats a Daphne Cake with reckless abandon.

Thanks for coming on this photo journey with me.  I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful work that Kara has done with her cakes.  (She did give me permission to write this, and hopefully she doesn't mind my bragging!)  If you are ever lucky enough to eat one of her cakes- well, you are pretty darn lucky.

-Becky