The Last One...officially

This is the last cake that I will be doing under the name of Karren's Specialty Cakes. It was a sweet sixteen cake for a girly-girl who likes purses, shoes, and purple. This is what we came up with.
I will still post fun little cakes I do for family and friends along with, perhaps, some of my secrets and tips in the future. Stay tuned...

Food that looks like food....

...that it tastes nothing like. I promise you that these Tater Tots do not taste like nuggets of fried and salted potato mush:-).

The Battlestar!

Believe it or not, this is actually a Wedding cake. It was for a SUPER fun couple, with the groom being a huge BSG fan.

They even let me stick around to watch it's demolition! So much fun!

A Pretty Garden Wedding

This wedding cake was designed to match the flowers of the family's backyard garden. Unfortunately, this past Saturday topped out at over 100 degrees, and the cake needed to be set up in the air conditioned living room.
This will be one of only a few remaining cake posts, as we will be discontinuing our business. Stay tuned for the final 3 weddings remaining on our schedule.

Closing shop

We served the greater Portland area since October 2006. Sadly, due to health reasons, we have decided to discontinue our business. We will miss interacting with the community and participating in the special events of your lives. There are many qualified bakers who have arrived in the Portland area since we opened shop. They should be a great resource to you. One in particular is Artisan Cake Company whose business model most closely mirrors that of Karren's Specialty Cakes. Once again, thank you for all the business and loyalty!

Can you name the movie?

What movie is the cake based on?

If you said Wizard of Oz, you would be correct.

The Lough Road

A well know Wilderness Photographer, Rodney Lough Jr., celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday.

In celebration, his daughters ordered him a cake in the shape of his camera. Here is Karren's interpretation of his camera strapped down for display.

Happy birthday Rodney!

If Big Foot could skate .....

He would use these:

To give you a reference, the wheels are over 4 inched in diameter.

These old school roller skate cakes were for a skate instructor's surprise 50th birthday at Oaks Amusement Park.

80's Style Wedding

The wedding cake was commissioned to match the wedding invitation and the colors of the wedding.

The groom's cake was an 80's style boom box.

Girls' Camp

Karren attended a Girls' Camp in Washington for an afternoon to teach garde-manger to some teenagers. They learned quickly as you can see from the photos. Karren only did the small melon in the first photo as a demo. The rest was all them.

Yet Another Gaming Cake

Relay For Life Cookies

Man, 10 dozen cookies is a lot of cookies! The American Cancer Society is a great cause, right? We think so. You can purchase these cookies at the following events:

Bark For Life
Evelyn Schiffler Park
SW Erickson Ave and SW 10th St.
Saturday June 26, 2010 10:00am - 2:00 pm

2010 Relay For Life of Beaverton OR
Valley Catholic High School
July 24th, 10:00am to July 25th

All proceeds got to the American Cancer Society!

Tea for Two

What do you give twin girls for their 70th birthday?

Purse

This cake was for Amanda's High School graduation party. Karren was commissioned to copy her purse and some of the items found therein. Congratulations Amanda!

Here is a side by side comparison.

Candy Cake

This cake was designed for a candy themed girls birthday party. The cake delivery revealed a that home was FILLED with candy of every conceivable type and color. There was enough sugary stuff to make an entire middle school sick, but a mere 15 young girls were given the task! How they were able to save room for cake, I may never know! (I was informed that a toothbrush was included with every goody-bag:-)

Last's Weekends Graduation Cake

Can you tell what this mother is graduating in?

Can you tell where the cake is?

Karren threw a "little man" themed baby showers for one of her best friends this evening who is having twins. The cake is on the table below. Can you tell which item it is?

Did you guess right?

Every element of the cake was edible! Yummy hammer anyone?

A Love Story

My first purse cake deserves a telling of a tender little story. I recently made a cake for the wedding of Mr and Mrs X. Several months later, Mr X was planning an elaborate birthday party for his bride, and placed an order for one of my cakes. The cake was to be a Gucci Handbag (what girl doesn't want wonna'them?!) to exactly match the bag he was going to give her on her birthday! So fun! Well, it turns out that tonight, Mrs X was rushed to the hospital and her whole party was canceled. Our chivalrous Mr X however, was not detoured! He swooped by late this evening to get the cake to present to her in the hospital room, complete with dinner and a present. He said that they would just eat the cake with some plastic forks and a couple of nurses. I love the image of a man spending well over a hundred dollars on a cake, and then digging into in with plastic cutlery...just to make sure his beautiful wife gets cake on her birthday! It's sooooo sweet and romantic!

Next Consultations Will Be Held June 19th

Please let us know if you would like to meet with Karren.

Gamers Paradise

What is better than playing video games and eating cake?
Answer: Eating video games that are cake!

The recipient of this cake (a little boy) was so excited, he ran up to his room to get a tip for Karren (two dimes and two quarters). Karren graciously declined and requested that he open the door for her. He carefully placed the money back into his pocket and swung the door open for her. Now that is what I call a tip!

From Birth 'Till Death

This week, Karren made two cakes that represent both ends of one's life.

From a baby's birth, he or she sleeps peacefully in a crib:

As a man or woman ends their life, they slumber (hopefully also peacefully) in a grave capped by a stone like this cake depicts (although figuratively as it is an over the hill cake):

Next Consultations are April 10th

Karren will be holding consultations next Saturday (April 10th). Please let us know if you would like to meet with Karren.

How to Make the Original Crib Cake YouTube Video

Karren designed this cake a few years ago and many people have inquired about its design. Here is a two minute video showing stills of Karren making the cake from start to finish. The photography is by K. Everton Photography. Please leave us a comment if you like it or have questions about anything in this video.

Nothin' says 'love' like an armadillo!

This is a Groom's cake with red velvet (inspired, of course, by Steel Magnolias). It was to be wheeled out during the reception to be butchered by the groom. Poor thing ...

Next Consultations Will Be Held Feb. 20th

For those interested in cakes, Karren will hold her next consultations on February 20th. As always, please check availability. If your date is available, set up an appointment, come in to taste some cake, and chat with Karren about your awesome ideas for an edible masterpiece.

Consultations on January 23rd

Karren will be holding consultations the afternoon of January 23rd. For those who would like to meet with her, please email her at karren@karrensspecialtycakes.com.

Karren is taking a strict one cake a week this year on a first come, first serve basis. A $50 non-refundable deposit reserves your date. Please check http://www.karrensspecialtycakes.com/Availability/ to see which dates are open.

Karren looks forward to helping make your event a huge success!

XBus

Karren created this cake for a recent XBus Games birthday party.