Our Bridal Expo Booth

Isn't it beautiful??  I was so happy with the way our booth looked.  Almost as happy as all the people who tasted our cakes!  We handed out over 900 mini cupcakes in 4 hours!  It was fun to meet the brides and their families and get to share my passion for good-tasting cake with everyone.  Can't wait for the next show.  Come taste our cake and see our booth at the Bridal Expo at Dove Canyon Country Club next weekend: Sunday, October 29th!!!

"Twilight" Saga Showpiece Cake

Well, the cat is out of the bag.  After fighting it for years, I finally succumbed to the "Twilight" series (both books and movies) and it is safe to say that I am a closet Twi-hard.  So when I had to decide on a design for a show piece cake, it had to be my favorite vampires.  I figured that if I was going to put this many hours into a sugar sculpture, I might as well make something that I loved.

My design was dedicated to the Cullens in anticipation for the opening of the last movie in the series - "Breaking Dawn Part 2" which will be released this November.   Edward and a newborn vampire Bella are featured at the bottom, and at the top of the cake is the engagement/wedding ring featured in the last 2 movies (Eclipse and Breaking Dawn Part 1).  Also displayed is the bracelet that Bella wears in "Eclipse" with a carved wooden wolf and a heart shaped diamond, representing the two men in her life.  The last element on the top of the cake is the Cullen family crest, which features the lion (as in "so the lion fell in love with the lamb").

The cake was made using royal icing on styrofoam dummies, then each tier was covered in white fondant.  For the top tier, I masked a circle for the moon, then airbrushed a red and purple "twilight" sunset.  I then removed the mask and finished the moon with airbrush color.

The middle tier was airbrushed in red and orange, then masked with a hand-cut lion stencil and the black airbrushed around the stencil.  Once all the lions were in place, I hand painted the details on each lion to match the detail in the crest.

The bottom tier was airbrushed with red and purple, then I airbrushed black over swirly stencils so that the colors came through the black.  The portraits of Edward and Bella were sketched and hand painted on fondant cutouts using airbrush colors and fine point paint brushes.  Once the portraits were dry, they were attached to the front of the cake using isomalt.

I then stacked the cake and secured it with a dowel.  Then I piped on the pine tree border around the top tier with black royal icing.  I also piped patterns around each of the bases of the tiers, using designs from the crest at the top of the cake.  I also painted the borders with a little luster dust in a silver "moonstone" (seemed appropriate!)

The crest at the top of the cake was also hand-drawn on fondant.  The ring box was hand-molded in rice cereal treats, then covered in fondant.  The ring was hand-molded to actual size (fit on my finger!) in gumpaste and finished with edible glitter and silver highlighter luster.  The bracelet was also molded from gumpaste using the extruder; I made long strands of paste, then cut each link and wrapped it through the next, making a chain.  Once the chain was dry, I painted the links with silver luster.  The wolf charm was hand molded in gumpaste, then hand-painted with airbrush colors.  And the heart shaped diamond was molded in isomalt and touched with edible glitter for extra sparkle.

This show piece cake, from design conception to creation to finish, took 16 hours of work!  I packed it carefully in a box and tucked it lovingly in the back of my fully loaded van.  Then it went with us on a 10 hour car ride (and back!) to Reno NV (with 4 squirly kids on board) where I attended the ICES Cake Convention.  I was excited to get to bring my creation to the convention's exhibition this year, and now my dining room table at home has never looked better!  If anyone out there can get me and my creation into the movie premier party for "Breaking Dawn 2", there's a free cake in it for you!!  Let's go Team Edward!!!

Thanks for indulging me!  :)

Caddyshack Gopher with Golf Ball Cake

Those of you who attended the Charity Golf Classic and Carnival last weekend at the Aliso Viejo Country Club may have just seen this little guy in person.  Plumeria Cake Studio donated 200+ cupcakes to support the American Heart Association, MDA, and some other great charities.  Not only did I get to come up with this fun display (complete with astroturf), but I also got to make a "display cake" to celebrate their event theme: Caddyshack.  The "cake" was actually molded rice krispie treats covered in royal icing.  All the other details on the gopher's face were made with fondant, the eyes and nose covered with piping gel for a little shine.  The golf ball was molded out of white chocolate, and the flag cut out of gumpaste.  It was a fun project and a great day.  Thanks AVCC!!

Cupcake Wars Update

So many of you are watching and supporting my bid for a shot on Cupcake Wars that I thought I'd give you an update. I did hear back from Casting this week, and they wanted me to shoot another video. I figure that they wouldn't waste their time asking me for another look if they didn't like *me* on the last video. So I am considering this as a good sign. (And my "agent" [i.e. my neighbor who knows the industry] agreed that it was like getting a second interview. Thanks Jeff!) So check out the new link at left to see Interview #2. It's a lot more rough, but it's a pretty accurate picture of how we roll 'round here. So keep those fingers crossed!

"Cupcake Wars" Video Audition!

This last week was a whirlwind! I've been battling a sinus infection (like everyone else in town) and not feeling up to par. But when I got a call from the Casting department of the Food Network show "Cupcake Wars" on Tuesday, I got a second wind! After a 30 minute phone interview, they asked me to make a video audition that I could post on YouTube by the upcoming weekend! So I agreed and started thinking about how I wanted to approach the whole thing. I had a vision of my husband and I with our new flip video camera shooting something around the house for about an hour on Saturday. What actually transpired was a whole lot more than I bargained for!

We had a friend "volunteer" her husband (a professional camera man) to come shoot and edit the whole thing for us! What a gift. Our house looked like the set of the Martha Stewart Show with all the lights and ginormous camera. It was quite an experience. The video we ended up with was something WAY more professional and beautiful than I ever thought possible. I asked him to use the Angelina Jolie filter on his camera, and I think that helped. I am so grateful for their generosity (THANK YOU DAVE AND KAREN!)

For my first time in front of the camera, I was pretty proud of how it came out. I was, however, pretty horrified to see myself on film (or whatever you call it these days!) I hear that's a pretty standard reaction in the TV world, but that didn't make it any easier. I guess I'd better get used to it if I'm going to go on the show and wipe the floor with 3 other cupcake "posers". (I gotta get my "game face" on... not sure why I revert back to the 1980's for my insults).

So, to see the finished product, check out the YouTube link at the top of the blog (left). I could use all the good thoughts and crossed fingers that I can get. As far as the timeline, I'm not really sure what to expect. I know they received my complete application and video. I have been told that "things are moving very quickly" for Season 3 casting, and that they would talk to me soon. Not being familiar with Hollywood lingo, I'm choosing to believe this is a good sign (if it's a brush off, don't burst my bubble).

Bring it on, Food Network! A pulled pork cupcake? Really? That is NO winner. I'm just glad they already did an event at Sea World...

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!