Monogram Wedding Cake

This is the biggest cake I've made so far, and my first official wedding cake. The Bride wanted a simple cake frosted in white buttercream (no fondant) to serve 100 guests for her September 26 wedding. So I created this 4 tiered cake and piped a swiss dot pattern on each layer. The Bride chose cake flavors of white cake with bavarian cream filling and cappuccino cake with cappuccino cream filling. I also made her an additional sheet cake to serve another 100 guests that was cookies & cream cake with chocolate cream filling and chocolate frosting. Once we got it to the venue, I placed her beautiful Swarovski crystal monogram on the top, an "L" for her new last name. Then I added fresh flowers: orange spray roses, deep purple lisianthus, and lime green "kermit" mums. The colors were so bright and crisp on the white frosting; I thought the cake really "popped". The reception looked beautiful when I left, and whatever the caterer was cooking smelled fantastic, so I'm sure that the night was a huge success. Congratulations Kelly and Blake! Hope your wedding was magical!

Donut Tower!

Ok, so I didn't bake donuts. But the Bride that ordered the wedding cake also had me put together a tower of donuts for her reception. She and her fiance love donuts, so they wanted to have them at the wedding. Being a huge donut fan myself, I was happy to get the project. So I hit my favorite donut shop, Royal Donuts in Mission Viejo, and ordered 6 dozen (plus some donut holes) for this impressive display. The Bride picked her favorites: apple fritters, maple bars, old fashioned, rainbow sprinkles, crumb and chocolate glazed. They were cut into smaller pieces for sampling, and they looked great on my custom cupcake tower (thanks Dad!) It was such a fun idea that I thought it deserved its own post. That's my kind of wedding dessert bar!

Bridal Shower Cake with Bow

This shower cake is one of my favorites so far. The client provided some photos of cakes that she liked, and I pulled elements from those cakes to come up with this design. The ivory and gold colors were the brides' colors for the wedding. The cake is covered in ivory fondant which I "quilted" to give some texture. The bows and roses were made of ivory fondant and hand painted with edible gold shimmer powder. I even found gold dragees (the little gold balls that have been on fancy Christmas cookies for as long as I can remember - kind of hard to find these days) and added them to the criss cross design. I piped the beaded border with buttercream icing. The cake was white cake with homemade strawberry filling. It was a fun cake to do, and I think it turned out really elegant.

Lego Cupcakes

These Lego cupcakes were for the President of my Fan Club (7-year old chapter), Joe. He begged his mom to let me make his birthday cupcakes this year, and she gave in (thanks Tina!) The birthday boy picked his favorite cake flavor, cookies and cream, with chocolate icing. I topped each cupcake with colorful sprinkles and these cool, edible "Lego" candy blocks. The candy actually stacked like real Legos too! I told Joe's mom that I would do something simple ("those are simple?!!") and they turned out really cute; perfect for the Lego Party. I'm always on the lookout for cool candy that I can incorporate into cupcakes because I have a personal rule that everything on my cakes and cupcakes be edible (I'm not sure why...I just think that's the way it should be). Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Wedding Ring Cupcakes

Diamond cupcakes are really a girl's best friend! I came up with this design for a bridal shower when I found the cool chocolate mold that made chocolate diamonds. So I molded diamonds with white chocolate, and hand-painted each gem with pearlized luster dust to give it a little sparkle. The silver rings and bands I cut from fondant and hand painted; the real "bling" came from the cool new "highlighter" luster dust that I brushed on the rings to make them shine like platinum. The diamonds rested on a swirl of pink frosting sprinkled with sparkly sugar. These little cupcakes looked fantastic on my new silver & crystal cupcake stand...so fun and feminine. I do!

All Occasion Cupcakes

You don't have to have a specific theme to have pretty cupcakes! My client said they wanted something simple and pretty that included their favorite color - purple. I made about 100 cupcakes: vanilla, cookies & cream, and chocolate chocolate chip. Each cupcake got a generous swirl of purple or chocolate frosting, a sprinkle of sparkly sugar or purple non-pareils, and a little purple flower made from fondant. I always try to match the paper cupcake liners to the theme as well - the chocolate cupcakes got dark brown liners, and the vanilla cupcakes got purple & white checkered liners. The simple design turns out so elegant, and they look fantastic when displayed on a tiered cupcake tower (I have a few that I am renting out now...ask me about options). These simple cupcakes run $2.25 per cake.

Sesame Street Birthday Cake & Cupcakes

There's something magical about Elmo when you're a toddler. Maybe it's his big grin. Maybe it's the giggle. Maybe it's how he talks in 3rd person. I don't know, but both my kids were under his spell as well. So it was alot of fun to get to make the treats for my friend Zeena's big 2nd birthday bash for her daughter Zaleeya. The cake was vanilla cake layered with raspberry and cream fillings, covered in homemade buttercream icing. The Cookie Monster, Bert, Big Bird and Oscar characters that were on the sides of the cake I made out of fondant. Elmo's fur was piped on and his eyes, nose and mouth I molded out of chocolate. I loved seeing Zaleeya give her Elmo cake a big kiss before cake cutting.

I also got to make 4 dozen cupcakes to go along with the cake. So I made 4 characters: Elmo (strawberry cupcakes), Big Bird (lemon cupcakes), Cookie Monster (cookies & cream cupcakes), and Oscar the Grouch (chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes). I piped fur and feathers in buttercream icing, then molded chocolate faces for Elmo & Big Bird, and chocolate eyes for Oscar and Cookie. Oscar even got a trash can lid made from fondant and topped with silver luster dust (so everything on the cupcakes were edible). It was fun to see all the kids (and adults!) with blue teeth and red lips from all the wild frosting colors! And it was really fun to see everyone enjoying my treats at the party. We had a great afternoon. Thanks to Zeena, Azeem & Zaleeya for a fun day and a fun project!

Sesame Street Cookies!

So I just had to share these. I picked up a Cookie Monster cookie press in a thrift store a couple years ago and never got to use it until this week. I love making spritz cookies at christmas with my other cookie press, but this one was so fun because it came with discs that make Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird from Sesame Street! So I tinted the butter cookie dough and got to squeezing! They turned out really cute, especially with the addition of chocolate eyeballs and a chocolate nose for Elmo. I think next time I would use royal icing for the eyes (they started melting before they made it to the party...blasted heat!). My daughter loved helping to squeeze the trigger for these cookies. I think the cookie press will be a Christmas favorite for her...and I bet we'll end up with Elmo Christmas cookies this year!

More Mermaid Cupcakes!

So I guess I've become very popular with the 4 to 6-year old girls this summer. My mermaid cupcakes have been the talk of the tot-lots! So I made another batch for Miss Roxy's Birthday. Since I sent them on their way in a box, I didn't get very good photos of my blonde mermaids, but you get the idea. Also, another noteworthy variation on this batch was the addition of the chocolate flip flops on the beach cupcakes. They always turn out really cute, if I do say so myself.

Casino Cupcakes

These cupcakes were for a 50th Birthday party with a "casino night" theme. I made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with chocolate and vanilla icing. Then I topped the cupcakes with diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades that I molded in chocolate. I even made some dice with Starburst candies and chocolate dots. I also found some sprinkles that were the same diamonds, hearts, clubs & spades which made a really cute finishing touch. I "bet" they were a hit!

Margarita Cupcakes

Ole! These cupcakes turned out really fun. I borrowed the idea off the internet, but developed my own recipes for the cake and frosting. And after 4 batches, I finally found the winner. They were for a bachelorette party where the girls started out with dinner at Javier's in Newport Beach. They took the cupcakes along with them to the restaurant, so I thought this would be a great addition to their evening. (And besides, I really wanted to avoid having to buy dirty chocolate molds and make x-rated treats! This is a family blog.) The cupcakes actually had tequilla, margarita mix and triple sec in the cake, and were tinted a light green. The homemade buttercream frosting had a twist of lime. I decorated the cupcakes for the girls with a dollop of lime frosting, a straw, and rolled the "rim" of the frosting in sanding sugar, which mimicked salt. And for garnish, I used candy lime slices. On batch #3 (bottom photo), I used actual slices of lime covered in sugar for garnish, which were also fun. Rats. Now I want chips & salsa! Is it taco tuesday yet?

Pool Party Cupcakes 2

I thought I would post these cupcakes just so you could see a different color variation on my pool party kids. This client saw photos of the pool party cupcakes that I did earlier and wanted some for her daughter's birthday party. I was happy to oblige. I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and used pink and purple as the main colors. Cannon ball!