Louis Vuitton Purse Cake #2

Ever since my trip to the ICES Cake Convention, I have been so inspired to go "cake crazy"! So I was excited to try another purse cake. Especially for a devoted guy who was throwing an elaborate surprise party for his girlfriend's birthday. I opted for a different shaped bag this time with the purse handles hanging down. I started with a 9" square cake that I covered with pink fondant. Then I used a wheel tool to "quilt" the cake and added gold dragees to the intersections of the quilting. This created a base for the purse tier. So I carved the chocolate chocolate chip cake into a purse shape and covered it with chocolate brown fondant. I used a texture mat to give some depth to the fondant to mirror the look of leather. Then I hand-painted the "LV" and designs on the bag with edible gold luster dust. I created the purse details with tan fondant - the piping around the edges, the zipper, the handles, and the luggage tag. I added stitching detail with a wheel tool, and wrote the birthday message with an edible marker. Hope the party was a big success and a great surprise!

More Woodland Animal Cupcakes

Ok, so I've done several batches of these adorable little critters, but I thought I'd give them another post since I added a new animal: the frog. With the party colors of brown, orange and green, I decided to add some more green with this little guy. The cupcakes were lemon and chocolate chocolate chip. Also noteworthy was the fact that the birthday boy got a big, "dairy-free" cupcake of his own. I have a chocolate cupcake recipe that is egg and milk free, and a non-dairy version of my frosting. Another addition to the arsenal!

Cinderella's Carriage Cake

If you ask my mom, she'll tell you that I've been a Disney fan since I was tiny. And my kids are following in suit. So I am always really excited to create Disney cakes. My friend (and party Diva) ordered this cake for her mom's "29th" birthday (you don't look a day past it!!) I created a short round cake as a base for the design (cookies & cream cake) and topped it with blue fondant. I piped on the white details and topped it off with edible "pixie dust" glitter (a must for princess cakes!) and silver ball candy. The top tier of the cake was a lemon cake shaped like a pumpkin. I consider this one a "sculpted" cake, but I admit that I cheated and used my 3-D pumpkin pan. So I covered the pumpkin with white fondant and painted the entire surface with pearl dust for a regal shimmer. I made the fondant details (carriage doors, curtains, wheels and embellishments) and painted with silver highlighter. And I added silver wire scrolls for some interest. The crowning touch was adding Cinderella herself in the window of the carriage. For this piece, I used a clean rubber stamp, pressed it into rolled fondant, and painted the details with edible ink and luster dust. The birthday banner was the final touch. I think my favorite part of making this cake is opening the fridge door and hearing my four year old daughter GASP! "That's what I want for my next birthday!" (Note: she says this after every cake or cupcake order! But I might have to use this theme...it was too cute!)

**Another note: doesn't it look fabulous on my new cake stand? Love it! It's available (as are several other cupcake and cakes stands) for rental, so ask me! **

Noah's Ark Baby Shower Cake

This cake was a fun project! I made a large two-tiered red velvet cake with cream cheese icing between the layers. Then I covered the cake in a light yellow fondant. I found a set of foam stamps in my shopping adventures with really cute animals, so I picked them up hoping to try a new technique (new to me, anyway). So I rolled out my fondant and pressed the stamps into it, then cut out each animal and attached them, two by two, to the sides of the cake. I then piped the outlines of the animals with chocolate frosting. For the top of the cake, I carved a small cake to look like an ark, and topped it with fondant that looked like wood planks (thanks to a texture mat). I added some finishing touches: the branches with shimmery leaves, the pink banner, the tiny dove on the top of the ark. I hope it tasted as good as it looked!

Ariel / Little Mermaid Birthday Cupcakes

Ariel is a princess favorite in our house, and she's been very popular in cake lately. So I was excited to try some new designs. I made the "Ariel" and "Flounder" cupcake toppers out of chocolate using my own hand made patterns. Once the chocolate hardened, I drew in the facial details by hand using a food-writer marker. Then I piped on Ariel's flower and shells with frosting. Flounder got a dusting of teal luster dust to jazz him up. I also made some chocolate princess crowns and chocolate sea shells to top the other cupcakes. I think they turned out fun and colorful, as well as delicious. The cake flavors were Snickerdoodle, Cookies & Cream, Coconut Cream, and Vanilla with chocolate frosting. Yum!

Clone Wars Birthday Cake

Being a child of the 70s myself, and having a 2-year old son, I was not real familiar with the Clone Wars saga. (Make no mistake, I've watched the Star Wars movies hundreds of times!) So after some internet research and a coloring book purchase, I came up with this design for a 4th birthday cake. The cake was Cookies & Cream with vanilla custard filling. I frosted the bottom layer in blue and piped white borders. The cake on top was modeled after a gunship (special request from the birthday boy). I carved the top layer of cake into a ship and covered it with white fondant. I added fondant and food marker details, as well as wings made out of gum paste. The "guns" and light sabers were the only inedible items; I used long crystal toothpicks and stuck them in the molded fondant. For the sides of the bottom cake, I made 4 characters (one for each side) out of fondant and food markers. Yoda and the Stormtrooper were a cinch with my cookie cutters (Well, at least the faces. The rest I had to just cut myself). Anakin and Obi Wan were a little harder (I had to mold them entirely by hand). I wanted to add a "4" for the birthday boy, and I thought I should add "May the Force be with you", so I combined them into one galactic birthday wish. Hopefully they didn't end up with a ton of cake leftover (that sucker was HEAVY when it was all done). Well, I guess there are worse things...

Circus Themed Cupcakes

These bright colored cupcakes were for a couples' baby shower with a circus theme. I made 3 types of cupcakes: chocolate chocolate chip, lemon, and vanilla with strawberry filling. For the chocolate cupcakes, I created 4 different animal faces with frosting and chocolate. The lemon cupcakes got topped with "popcorn" (mini marshmallows that I died with some yellow food color). And the vanilla cupcakes got a swirl of frosting and rolled in rainbow sprinkles. Then I topped them with either a mini animal molded from chocolate or a fondant lollipop on a stick (I figured they were kid-like and festive, like the circus). I hear they got rave reviews at the shower. Yay!

August Flavor of the Month: Maple Bacon Cupcake

I thought I would try a new idea and post a "Flavor of the Month" for cupcakes. This flavor was inspired by watching an episode of "Cupcake Wars" (have you seen it yet? I'd love to compete! Hint hint hint). I am a HUGE fan of breakfast foods, so as soon as I heard the word "bacon" on that show I was IN! I tried a chocolate chip and bacon cookie recently, and wasn't impressed (not enough bacon!) So I tried a couple recipes and ended up with the winner (well, the winner among the neighbors...it didn't win at the Cupcake Camp competition). I think they are AWESOME...sweet and salty, meat and cake...it's like a maple bar donut with a side of bacon, all in a little paper wrapper. I'd also like to take this opportunity to dedicate this cupcake to my brother Alex, bacon's #1 fan. I can't wait for him to try it this weekend. Got bacon?

Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat Cake

This cake turned out so fun! The cake was red velvet with cream cheese icing that I tinted turquoise blue. I added red and white fondant stripes to the sides of the cake. Then I piped the white borders and the black stripes with icing. For the top of the cake, I cut out the shape of the cat in the hat from white fondant. I added red fondant stripes to the hat, then drew on all the details with a black food-safe marker. I topped it off with a red bow tie and a red sign with happy wishes for the birthday boy. I added the popsicle stick to the sign and piped on black whiskers to finish the design. This was a really fun technique and a great party theme. I look forward to drawing on more cakes!

Teddy Bear Baby Shower Cake

This cake was for a wedding / baby shower! The couple, who got married in December in Hawaii, are also expecting a baby, so they decided to celebrate both with their families with a Hawaiian themed couples shower. The top layer was coconut cake with coconut custard filling, and it represented the "wedding" portion of the shower. (The hostess was putting fresh flowers on the top of the small cake). The bottom layer was red velvet cake with Bavarian cream filling and represented the "baby" portion of the shower, with whimsy polka dots and a pink teddy bear for the new baby girl. The whole cake was covered in white buttercream icing and topped with fondant decorations. I went with bright colors to mirror the Hawaiian decor. Aloha!

Cupcake Camp OC

WOW! What an event! We had a packed house and TONS of cupcake fans were there in support. It was a fun and crazy day. Thanks to all of you who stopped by my table to sample my cupcakes. I offered mini cupcakes featuring the following flavors: Cookies and Cream with Vanilla Buttercream, Champagne Orange with Vanilla Buttercream, Peanut Butter with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing, and Maple Bacon cupcakes with Maple Icing topped with crumbled bacon. I came with almost 200 cupcakes and left with 8. I'd say it was successful, even if I didn't win in the tasting competition. But how do you compete with a "Chicken and Waffles" cupcake? I don't even want to go there.

I thought I'd post a couple photos from the day of me and my pretty table. Enjoy!