two jude cakes.

april 1st is my friend jude’s birthday.
jude happens to hail from western new york and we share an affinity for the buffalo bills.
so, it seemed obvious that i would make her a buffalo bills cake to celebrate.

i opted for a zubaz print on the sides. what are zubaz you ask? well, they were these ridiculous pants that were popular in the 90s. they were cut like weight lifting pants and patterned with a sort of zebra stripe, in various nfl team colors. i estimate that at least 25% of my high school classmates had a pair. well, they are having somewhat of a resurgence in popularity (i NEED a pair, if you’re buying), and so it made for a fun cake design.

the logo turned out pretty sweet. i was my second attempt at a fondant bills logo, and i think i just need to get derek to print me some cutters with the 3d printer.

we had the bills cake at a little celebration at my house before jude’s birthday, and the next day, jude’s husband texted to order a cake for her actual birthday, for the family celebration. he requested a cardinal theme, but gave me free reign from there.

i am really trying to work on getting my buttercream perfectly smooth and this might have been one of my best efforts to date. i knew i wanted to keep it kind of simple, so i didn’t want to have to hide air pockets or spatula marks. i found a simple cardinal design on the internets and got to work, smoothing out the buttercream to give it a clean look. i was inspired by the cakes at the white flower cake shoppe, and they put this tidy, black, bold border around the cake top, and i love how it turned out. my only frustration was the lettering. i need much more practice. then, at the last minute, i decided it needed some flowers.

the flowers gave it just the final touch it needed.

and that’s the story of the two jude cakes.