Nicole Enjoli Blog

I just made this graduation cake last week and posted some of the pics on facebook, I thought I would post the rest of them.  Making a cake like this is a lot of work- It looks so quick and easy and fun on t.v. but when you do every single thing by yourself, it is quite a process.  I am not really into the actual baking process so much, I try, people seem to like the way they taste, but I like the decorating process, If I could have someone hand over the cake just covered in plain fondant, that would be great!  But this is not the case so first I baked 6 layers of cakes, 3 ten inchers and 3 six inchers.  Then I filled them with fresh strawberries and chocolate mouse filling.

Above is when I drizzled the chocolate ganache over the strawberries.  Then I stack all of the layers and try to make them even so the cake ends up straight.

The next step is to “dirty ice” the cake, a layer of frosting that doesn’t have to be perfect because its going to be covered, but it should be smooth.

I cut out fondant pieces that I had to color blue and yellow, the school colors.  Coloring the fondant is probably my least favorite part.  This was probably taken at around 1 or 2 a.m.

The next morning I covered the cakes in fondant, this part always scares me a little because it could go really wrong, luckily it went well, there were a few little cracks but I was satisfied.

And here is the cake finished.  By this time I kinda hated the cake a little- I was just sick of it and wanted to finish.  I did like it, I was happy with it but there were some parts I wasn’t happy with and ran into some small issues but that is to be expected.

The “M” is for Montebello High School, Justice is the graduate, class of 2010!!!  His football number is #76, and they are the oilers- thus the derick…spewing oil

This was probably my most worked on cake yet.  A few hours after I took this picture this cake was ripped to shreds and devoured….I was ready to let it get eaten anyway

Haha check out this picture- this was Jasons birthday 4 years ago, BEFORE I started to decorate cakes- this is what they used to look like The tiny woman in the nighty- was to distract from the cake I think

Hello again! Since my last post we celebrated my husbands birthday by going out to the Commonwealth, one of our favorite spots with our friends…. I got him some great gifts, he is so easy for me to shop for, his favorite gift I think was the full tilt. swivel, slide t.v. mount- its already up and it’s awesome, now he feels like hes in a sports bar- thats what he said  His man cave is pretty complete now…. Also celebrated Fathers day, my dad unfortunately wasn’t feeling too hot, he got bit by what he thinks was a spider in his sleep and didn’t tend to it, so now he is healing, it turned into an emergency visit, Dr.s had to cut a whole in him to drain the fluid out of the 3.5 wound and stuck gauze in it….OUCH!!! I hate spiders and this is a fear of mine- So Dad is okay and hopefully making a speedy recovery!!

This weekend I am making a cake to feed 100 people at a high school graduation party! So I am baking today, just finished the two 10 inch rounds and three 6 inchers- I am undecided with either doing two 8 inch or another layer of 10… I want it to be pretty big, I have alot of decorations to put on it…. I love decorating, once the cakes are filled and stacked and then covered in fondant, then the fun begins…. I think I am going to attempt to fill with chocolate ganache, Cake boss inspired me- it looks soooo good when they do it on t.v…

Saturday I am just working and preparing for Sunday, I’m shooting an engagement session with Teale! Monday I am doing make up for the models of the socal shootout and also going to shoot after!! So I am busy with things I love to do- I will post about them later!  And I almost forgot Tuesday I have a meeting and hopefully I will be reporting some very exciting news!!! Cross your fingers and toes everything goes great!!

These beauties are my new photog friends!  Aren’t they cute, all blondes….they are all super nice and I look forward to getting to know them better over the summer while we soak up all of  Teales’ professional knowledge.  Teale is so sweet to pass on what she knows as a professional in the wedding industry, unlike so many pro’s who help you only for profit, Teale does it because she truly enjoys helping others.  On this day we photographed each other to remind ourselves how uncomfortable being photographed can be and to practice giving direction and making the person your photographing feel good and have a good time.  I learn best in hands on situations so I plan on learning alot in the next three months, I will be able to 2nd shoot an engagement and two weddings along with other shoots.  It isn’t easy to come by this kind of learning opportunity, I am glad to drive to San Diego for this, it is a beautiful place and I am having fun!  In other news I am happy to announce that while I have been going back and fourth with investing in the mark ii I made the decision to instead buy myself a flash and the Tamron 28-75mm since I cannot afford the canon 24-70mm right now….This way I have a great all around lens, the 580 ex ii flash, my primes, and for now the 450D will do just fine……for now  Hopefully after this summer I will be adding the full frame to my list !!

My favorite flower….The Orchid.  So many different varieties- all beautiful.  What I love most about orchids are that they live long….months and months….right now they are all blooming.  Another thing I love is that they bloom again year after year! I get a little excited when I see my orchids growing little buds, then opening! What other plants, this pretty, do that??? I love this time of year because everything is in full bloom and its just prettier that way  This is my first photo collage I made since I finally got photoshop- I was lucky-!  I’ve used it before, I took a class in college, but I am going to have to brush up on my skills.  I got the whole creative suite!!  AND lightroom!!! Do you know how much I needed these?  2 more things to check off my list!! check check