One Week Wedding

This wedding was VERY last minute. A friend of a friend needed a wedding cake and hadn't booked anyone a week before the wedding. I agreed to do it, but it was a stretch to get all the prep work done in a week (not normally, but being 9 months pregnant and having a one-year old adds a lot).

She wanted a white cake with butter cream icing and roses. I like the look of the chocolate roses and people can actually eat them, which is nice. After all that work I want people to enjoy them. I had a couple of friends who came and helped me work on roses, leaves, and petals throughout the week, which was a huge help. I finished the final ones Friday night, just in time to let them dry overnight and place them Saturday. The cake was delivered exactly one week (to the hour) after it was ordered. Not sure I'd do that again, but they were happy with it, so that counts for something...

Happy Birthday Sweet Addi!

Our niece Addison recently turned 4 and to celebrate we made the 5-hour trip to make her a Hello Kitty cake. We haven't been able to celebrate with her for her birthday since our wedding (which was just days before her 1st birthday) so this needed to be special. I decided to try my first ever topsy turvy cake for her because she such a spunky little girl. She asked for pink and chocolate cake, so this one is strawberry on the bottom and chocolate on the top, all with butter cream icing. The decorations are fondant, except the rings (which the little girls loved) and the Hello Kitty candle. It turned out pretty well for my first try.

Mini Cupcakes and Giant Cupcakes

These mini cupcakes were pumpkin cinnamon with cream-cheese icing and glazed pecans on top. They were made will real (from the pumpkin) pumpkin that my neighbor brought me. Wow! I didn't realize what a difference using non-canned pumpkin really makes. The pecans were also a very yummy touch. The two offices these went too gave great reviews.



These 4 giant cupcakes were for the birthday of the sister of a lady my husband works with (wow...). She ordered them just the afternoon before she needed them, which made them a quick job. They are dark chocolate with butter cream icing. The simple decorations are white dragees and m&ms. Go Colts!!

Thomas the Train

While I consider Thomas the Train to be a rather disturbing cartoon, MANY kids love it. I wasn't surprised when a grandmother ordered these cupcakes for her grandson's 4th birthday.






The cupcakes were dark chocolate with butter cream icing. The decorations are fondant and trains are plastic Thomas figures. I like to give little ones something to keep after the cake is done.

Harley Davidson

This Harley birthday cake was banana chocolate-chip with cream-cheese icing. The logo was made of fondant and the lettering is icing.

Nature lover

This cake was banana chocolate chip with cream cheese icing. The decorations were made from white chocolate. The birthday girl is a nature lover and since it's fall, I had to go with leaves.

Sunflowers

These were chocolate "surprise" cupcakes with butter cream icing. The decorations were oreo cookies for the center (mini-caksters for the minis), frosting petals, and ladybugs made from peanut butter m&ms and black jell. They were fun to make and fun to eat.

18 Holes

This golf cake was for the 50th birthday of a big golf fan. The cake is yellow with lemon filling and butter cream icing. The decorations are mainly fondant, but I had to get plastic golf balls (around the bottom) and golf bag because I only had a couple of days notice on this one. It should feed around 30 people and I hope it makes his birthday special.

My Phoebe's First Birthday

I wondered what to do when it was my daughter that turned 1... I've made countless cakes for other people's celebrations, but this was my baby. She loves her furry puppy and that's about her only obsession at this point, so I decided to make her a replica. I wasn't taking pictures as I was getting everything ready so there's only one picture of her first birthday cake (way to go mommy)... She loved it and it tasted great.

Navy and Yellow Wedding

This wedding cake was entirely chocolate with butter cream icing for a wedding with about 150 guests. The flower and swag decorations were made from fondant with clear dragees as accents. (There were also two white sheet cakes for those people who didn't like chocolate.)

Mari's Farm Cake

My niece just turned 2 and she loves animals. I thought it was only fitting that she had her own farm cake. The cake was confetti with butter cream icing. The fence was made from tootsie rolls, animals from fondant, and the barn from rice krispie bars covered in fondant. She was one happy girl!

Sweet 16

This was a cake for a sweet 16 party. She loved zebra print and had a pink dress for the party, so we went with both for the cake. The cake was fudge marble with almond butter cream icing and fondant decorations.

Whales and Monsters

These whales were a challenge... They are made from twinkies, round cookies, frosting, and a bunch of other props. They turned out well and the kids LOVED them.



These monsters were fitting considering they were for middle schoolers ;)

Ants and Apples

These are two more of the cupcake styles from the awards ceremony.
The ants go marching...are chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and chocolate covered almonds and blueberries for the ants. The ants are carrying fruit slices (sugared).






The apples are spice cupcakes with mini-donuts on top, frosted with vanilla icing and topped with a tootsie roll and laffy taffy in the shape of a leaf.

A piece of pie?

These pies are vanilla cupcakes with m&ms for the pie filling (green apple, peach, cherry, blueberry) and vanilla frosting for the pie crust.


I was asked to make refreshments for a middle school (end of the year) awards ceremony. I got the budget and made up some possible menu suggestions when I got the best idea. Cupcakes, fun ones (125 to be exact)... Middle schoolers would love it, and they did! The next few posts are all cupcakes from that event (I just can't get them all in one post).

MONSTER Truck

This truck was for a little boy that was turning 4 and LOVES monster trucks, especially The Grave Digger. The cake was fudge marble with vanilla almond butter cream icing (with LOTS of black food coloring). It's all edible except the trucks, cars, and supports. The most difficult part were the treads, wow... but after a few tries, it worked out.

Broken Eggs!!

Isn't it frustrating when you get home from the store only to find that your eggs are broken??? UGH!!

Well, it's a good thing these aren't real eggs then.

These are mini cupcakes that I made for my step-mother-in-law's birthday. She's a fun lady who works in managing resources and also helps my father-in-law with his hobby farm, (including egg laying chickens). I thought she'd get a kick out of these.

They are white mini-cupcakes with smooth cream cheese icing. The yolks are homemade lemon curd and the shells are white chocolate. It was very challenging to get the eggs to turn out properly. I used plastic Easter eggs, greased with Crisco as the molds. I then melted white chocolate and painted the inside of the eggs, let them sit, repeat painting, then let them cool. Sliding them out proved a challenge, but it just takes time and patience. The end result was a lot of fun and VERY tasty.

The Head(s) of the Class

I recently bought a new book full of great cupcake ideas. I get stuck on fondant decorations, but this book has some really good prop ideas. These were the first set I tried and they were a HUGE hit.

I made them for the seniors at the school I taught at last year. They are a good group of kids and I wanted to do something fun for them in their last few weeks as high schoolers.

There are white and chocolate cupcakes with white and chocolate icing. The hats are small peanut butter cups (up-side-down) with a chocolate covered graham cracker on top. The tassels are piped icing in their school color. The hair is made from a variety of things; sprinkles, sugar, icing, gum, fruit loops... and the ears are orange fruit loops.

I'm not sure if all the heads were the right color or shape, but their were 40+ graduate heads and they were enjoyed!

Fit for a princess...

This cake was for a little princess' 4th birthday. She went to Disney Land over the summer and really loved it. She wanted a cake for her birthday that reminded her of her fun trip. She loves pink and wanted strawberry cake so that the inside would be pink too.





This cake should feed between 35 - 40 people, is strawberry with almond butter cream icing, and has fondant decorations. The figurines are from Disney for her to keep after her party. Most little girls love princesses and I hope this princess cake makes Makena's 4th birthday really special.

Kattie,
Thank you so much for the cake! Makena LOVED it and was so excited to take it to her party. It will be hard to top that cake next year.
Thanks again,
Abby

Mom needs a cake too...

I made Tinkerbell and Hello Kitty cakes late last year for two sweet little girls. Their mom is a good friend of mine and she LOVED their special cakes. She picked them up, ooooed and ahhhhhed over them and left. On her way home, she called and asked if she could book me for her cake too. I was delighted to make this special cake for her. She is one of those selfless moms who eagerly takes care of her family, without regard for herself.





I told her that she could choose whatever she wanted for her birthday and so she did. She chose an Italian creme cake with cream cheese icing. She also mentioned that she loves roses and chocolate. I made the roses, leaves, and sign out of home made chocolate plastic (white and milk chocolate) and finished it off with fresh berries and chopped pecans. I hope she loves this cake and feels very special as she is celebrated! Happy Birthday Ruth!