Anaheim Mighty Ducks Hockey Cupcakes

Cupcakes are topped with hand-drawn logos on fondant.

Roller Coaster Cupcakes

Cupcakes topped with buttercream piped "grass", "tracks" out of edible wafer paper, and roller coaster cars from Starburst candies for a birthday at Knott's Berry Farm.

Hockey Cupcakes - Los Angeles Kings

Cupcakes topped with fondant circles with hand-drawn hockey sticks and crowns in the team colors of purple, silver and black.

Rapunzel "Tangled" Cake and Mini Cupcakes

Rapunzel was molded in gumpaste and hand-painted.  Bottom half "skirt" is cake.

Pink Peony Engagement Cake

This sweet and simple cake was for an engagement party.  The bride chose shades of pink for her wedding (makes me think of "blush" and "bashful" from Steel Magnolias!) and selected the wedding date according to when peonies are in bloom.  So I created this 2 tier chocolate chocolate chip cake covered in pale pink fondant with a pearl shimmer.  Then I added the bright pink peony as the star of the cake.  I started with a gum paste center that I covered with smaller petals.  Then I cut each larger petal out of gum paste, rolling them thin and curling each one.  I wired each large petal and pulled them all together with floral tape to create one large, semi-open bloom.  It took over 20 petals in all, and I brushed each one with a darker pink petal dust to give the flower some depth.  I placed the bloom on the lower tier and to the side of the cake to add some interest.  Then to keep the cake clean and sleek, I wrote "congratulations" to the happy couple by piping onto the cake board.  The peony was a labor of love - these flowers are spectacular in person and a lot of work in sugar.  But SO worth it.    [Side-note to self: Who knew that even my love of flowers would be nurtured in this career path?  I am so lucky to love my job!]

Jet Ski Cake 50th Birthday

This cake was a fun experiment in "not quite 3D".  I decided to do a different technique here by covering the cake with fondant, then spreading icing on top to create the water effect.  Then I molded the jet skiier out of fondant, using a push mold for the body parts and hand molding the jet ski myself.  I added the clothes in fondant, made the jet ski handle and the skier's right side kind of pop out of the cake.  Then I added details (hair, cool guy glasses, tattoo armband, jet ski markings) with edible paints, markers and luster dusts so that the skiier resembled the birthday boy.  The background hills I cut out of fondant and brushed on some color to resemble a scene at the river.  Then I piped blue icing waves around the edges, added some white wave designs for interest, and added buoys to the corners to drive home the 50th theme.  The cake was vanilla with strawberry filling and was a giant hit with the guests.  From the photos I saw, it looked like a great party!  

Martini Birthday Cake

So with the weather so hot lately, I guess we're all looking for a summer cocktail.  This cake was inspired by a fan of the Stoli Blueberry Martini.  I made a fun, girly cake by covering a red velvet cake with fondant zebra stripes and adding a blue ribbon border and bow.  I topped the cake with a fondant cocktail size napkin which became the perfect coaster for the martini on top.  For the drink, I again used a plastic martini glass and filled it with pineapple cake.  Then I actually poured a little Malibu rum over the cake and topped with frosting (rum cake, right?)  So I guess it was more like a pina colada in a blueberry colored glass.  Still tasty though.  For a pop of color, I added the rolled roses in hot pink and tucked in a couple of rhinestone picks for a little bling.  The finishing touch was the fondant olive on a drink stirrer for the top of the cocktail.