A bear cake for Zoe!

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine asked me to make a birthday cake for her daughter’s 1st birthday party. I was excited to be able to contribute to her special day!

Her mom decided on a pink and brown party with a teddy bear theme. Adorable!

To fit in with the theme, we decided on a three tier cake with a 3d bear on top and a small smash cake for Zoe to tear into. (Which was super fun to watch!)

Here is a picture of the final result:

And a pic of the smash cake:


The tiers covered in chocolate fondant were chocolate cake with banana cream filling. The tier covered in pink fondant was white cake with banana cream filling. The bear on top was also made of white cake. Polka dots and the 1 on top were also made of fondant.


Happy 1st Birthday Zoe! We had a great time at your party!

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween is a holiday that I never celebrated growing up. My parents were very religious and didn't approve of the ideas behind it. Were my parents the only ones?

When I was asked to make Halloween cupcakes for a costume party, I initially hesitated due to my ingrained response to the day. I've never done anything Halloween themed so I thought it would be fun to try.

We settled on cupcakes since they are so much easier to distribute and eat. I found some really cute halloween themed cutters and wrappers at Hobby Lobby that I decided to use. Here is the end result:

These were marble cupcakes with orange colored buttercream frosting. They were topped with black fondant bats, cats, and witch hats.

Here's a pic of the spider web wrapper:

Cute huh? I was glad to hear that everyone at the party had such good things to say about them!

Did you have any plans for Halloween?

Banana Cream Pie cupcakes

Whenever I am getting together with friends, I am always asked to bring dessert. Last weekend, my husband, daughter, and I headed over to my cousin's house to visit with his family. I wanted to bring cupcakes but couldn't decide on what to make. I thought about my favorite desserts, and Banana Cream Pie was one that came to mind. I love it! Why not transform it into a cupcake?

I started out with a banana cupcake that I completely messed up. I usually take out all spices that I need from my cupboards to save some time before I get started. I did this, but forgot to put away the spices I used to make lunch that day. Unfortunately, I had to toss the batter because my garlic and cinnamon are stored in identical containers. Garlic banana cupcakes? No thank you.

After the mishap, I decided to switch gears completly and go with a chocolate cupcake. I had already made the filling and icing for the banana cream pie cupcakes, so they turned into chocolate banana cream cupcakes.

Here's a photo of the end result:

Chocolate cupakes filled with banana cream, iced with vanilla whipped cream icing and garnished with graham cracker crumbs and banana chips.

They were a pretty big hit! I embarrassed to share how many of them we all ate!

Because they were such a big hit, I decided to make them again this weekend for our girls day. My best friends and I make sure that we get together at least once a month and just hang out and talk. We have 4 kids between the 3 of us so we decided to have a potluck pool party this time!

One of my friends doesn't care for chocolate cake (What?!) so I altered these just a bit.

I made a cinnamon (no garlic) graham cracker cupcake with banana cream filling, vanilla whipped cream frosting, and graham cracker crumbs and banana chips for garnish. Here is a photo:

They were enjoyed by all!

What flavor cake/cupcake would you guys like to see next? Any ideas or suggestions?

A Hawaiian Sponge Bob party!

One of my long time friends (We met our first year of High School!) recently asked me to make cupcakes for her daughter’s upcoming fourth birthday party. Her daughter loves SpongeBob so they decided on having a SpongeBob Hawaiian Luau party!

I started off by finding these SpongeBob cupcake liners. Cute aren’t they?

My friend wanted the cupcakes to be bright and colorful and asked if I could make pink, yellow, and blue cupcakes with alternating pink, blue, and yellow frosting. She also wanted half of the cupcakes to have an umbrella and the other half to have a flower on top. I was excited to get started and so was my 3 year old daughter once she saw the mixing bowls and Kitchen aid being taken out. She loves being my frosting taste tester!

Here was the end result. Flowers:

Umbrella's:


All set up on the cupcake stand:


These cupcakes were vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. The flowers that you see on some of the cupcakes were edible. I think they came out pretty cute and were enjoyed by all!

Happy 4^th Birthday Kayla!

Mod Turtle

A friend of mine asked me to make a birthday cake for her son's 1st birthday party this weekend. She wanted to do a Mod Turtle birthday theme and asked for a 3d turtle as a topper.

Here is the final product:

This was a white cake filled with whipped cream frosting, iced with whipped cream and covered in fondant with fondant accents. The turtle on top was also made of white cake and covered in fondant. The letters on top were piped on with whipped cream frosting. It was all edible!

I also made the birthday the birthday boy a smash cake to enjoy. The smash cake was white cake with iced with whipped cream frosting with a fondant turtle on top and fondant polka dots around the sides. After I delivered the cake, I also added the the wording on top with blue whipped cream. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the final product.

I really enjoyed making this cake and hope that everyone loved it as much as I did.

Happy 1st birthday Ryan! I hope you had a great party!

Sesame Street has the 1st birthday party market cornered!

My friend Jen thinks that Barney is taking over the world. She believes that Barney and all of his kiddie followers are some kind of cult. I am here to tell her that's she's got it all wrong. Elmo and friends are the real cult. I can't get away from this guy!

So, my hairdresser's son turned 1 this weekend. While she was doing an amazing job on my hair one day, we started talking about what we do in our free time (I have free time?!) and I mentioned to her that I do cakes on the side. She asked me if I do kids cakes. Do I do kids cakes?! Those are my favorites! She asked if I could do her son's cake and I agreed. Then she told me what the birthday theme was.... Elmo. AGAIN. Again, I can't get away from him!

I've said it multiple times and I will sayit again, I don't like making the same cake twice. Since this was my 3rd Elmo/Sesame Street cake, I thought it would be a challenge to find a new cake design to try out. Surprisingly, it was pretty simple! Take a look:

Elmo

Cookie Monster

The bottom cakes were yellow cake with one cake filled with banana cream and the other with strawberry filling. The presents also had fondant accents. Elmo and Cookie monster were 3d made of yellow cake, buttercream, and fondant accents.

I also made a little smash cake for the birthday boy. Don't mind Elmo's football head. Sometimes when you do things free hand, it doesn't come out quite right. Ha! I thought he was pretty cute anyway!


Happy 1st Birthday Elliott! I hope you have great time at your party!

Happy Father's Day

I spent the days leading up to father's day trying to decide how to decorate a father's day cake that would top last year's tie cake. The tie cake wasn't very difficult to make, but my family sure was impressed by it!

When discussing my dilemma with a co-worker and fellow cake decorator, she mentioned that her family was kind of caked out. Dare I say, we kind of were too. I went back to the drawing board and decided on one of my dad's favorite desserts.... cheesecake! I'm not a fan of cheesecake at all (I know, I know, I must be nuts right?) but everyone else loves it so I was confident that it would be a crowd pleaser.

I also decided to make a sauce from fresh strawberries and raspberries to pour on top. It turned out very yummy! I even had a slice!

So, here's a picture! It was enjoyed by all!

I also want to wish a HappyFather's Day to all the wonderful dad's out there! A special father's day wish to my dad who really was a wonderful example of what a father and husband should be and to my husband who is such a wonderful daddy to our 3 year old daughter!

Baptism cupcakes!

A good friend of mine and his wife planned their son's baptism for this past weekend. After LOTS of discussion, they decided on cupcakes for their party. The only decorative piece they wanted was a cross on top in baby blue.

Even though I have about a million cupcakes liners at home, I of course didn't have any that felt appropriate for a baptism. I set out on a mission to find the perfect ones. It took way longer than expected. What is up with the lack of baby blue liners? I should've ordered them online, but didn't know what I was making until it was too late.

They wanted chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate chip cookie dough icing and whipped cream frosting. These were alot of fun to make. They were my first filled cupcakes that have been ordered as opposed to me bringing them along or gifting them to someone.

So here they are:

I hope they were enjoyed. Congratulations Reid!

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

I know, I know, I'm really late! Somehow, I seem to keep forgetting to take photos of my cakes and cupcakes before they get picked up. I had to wait for my customer to take a develop her roll of film so that she could give me the picture of the cake that I made for her mom.

This year, her mom's birthday and Mother's day fell within a day of each other. She decided that she wanted a combo birthday and Mother's day cake.

She shared with me that her mom's favorite color is purple and that she wanted the cake to have the same flowers as the going away cake that I made a few weeks before. She loved them!

Below is the end result. This was a vanilla cake with a strawberry filling and iced with a vanilla buttercream. The flowers, vines, and wording were made of buttercream.

Please excuse my photo of a photo! I wanted you guys to see it.

A bridal shower Cake

A co-worker of mine has been looking for an excuse to order a cake from me for a while now. One of her friends is getting married this summer, finally giving her a reason to order a cake!

She wanted a cake that would include the bride and groom's wedding colors, moss green and chocolate. We decided to keep it fairly simple with stripes and a bow.

Both tiers of this cake were chocolate. The top layer was filled with chocolate ganache, and the bottom layer was filled with a chocolate chip cookie dough filling.

Sorry that the photo is a bit out of focus! I was in a rush to get out of the house with it.

Shannon, I hope the shower was a great one!

Dora the Explorer

Hi guys! I haven't written or posted much latelybecause unfortunately I've been sick. Sick Michelle = no cake making or decorating! Thankfully, I am starting to feel much better and am getting right back to it!

My daughter turned 3 last month, so of course we had a birthday party for her. These days she really enjoys Dora's little monkey friend, Boots. Let me clarify, she couldn't care less about Dora, it's all about Boots! We set out to find a Dora set for her party. Thanks to the internet, we were able to find quite a few items that included Boots and even stuff where he was the star!

After I figured out the decor, I was on a mission to figure out her cake. I really enjoyed making the fondant sesame street figures for my nephew, so I decided to attempt fondant figures for my daughter's cake as well. I made Boots, Dora, and Backpack out of fondant and gumpaste about a week and a half before the party. My daughter was super excited as I was making them and really wanted to use them as toys! I was pretty happy with how they came out.

On to the actual cake! The bottom layer was a chocolate cake filled with a peanut butter mousse. The top layer was a rainbow cake with a strawberry mousse. Can you guys tell I REALLY like making rainbow cake? I just think it's so much fun!

Anyway, before we get to the photos, I wanted to mention that we had a few mishaps along the way. The party was held at my parent's house since they have more room. We decided to get there before Anjali's nap so that we wouldn't be rushed later. We packed up the car, and headed into the city. On the way, we got cut off quite a few times which has always been a nightmare for me when delivering a cake. It's stressful enough without having to worry about the others on the road.

Unfortunately, one of those times we had to stop very suddently causing the cake to go slamming into the back seat of our SUV. I kind of freaked out. I made my husband pull over so that I could survey the damage... there was a lot of it. Dora's birthday hat flew off her head and cracked in half and half of the cake itself was stuck to the back of our seats. The colored striped along the side were also smashed together and were crooked. After all that work, it was ruined in seconds. Thankfully, I brought some of my tools with me and was able to repair some of it once we got to my parents house. Of course I should have took pictures before I left, but didn't think of it.

So here is the final result!

And a picture of the inside of the top layer.

What do you guys think?

A going away cake

One of my co-workers recently announced that she was resigning from her position to be a stay at home mom to her 6 month old son. We were all very sad to hear of her decision to leave us, but excited for her to follow her heart at the same time.

We had a going away party for her before she left and I was asked to make her cake which I was honored to do. I made a white almond cake with strawberry filling. Her cake was frosted with vanilla buttercream and decorated with buttercream vines and flowers.

I was veryhappy to hear that the cake was enjoyed by all! What do you guys think?

Coconut Cupcakes

I've been testing out a few new recipes and stumbled across a coconut one that I really love. I'm not a big coconut fan, but my dad is so I am always looking for recipes that I think he will enjoy. He is after all, one of my #1 taste testers! It took a few tweaks, but here is the end result.

These were coconut cupcakes with a coconut buttercream frosting.

Dulce de Leche

I was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital this past weekend and my parents (who are saints) stepped in to care for our daughter while my husband and I were at the hospital. I am so greatful that I have them so close by.

To thank my parents, decided to make them a batch of my dulce de leche cupcakes. For those that don't know, dulce de leche has a caramel flavor and is made from milk.

I've been testing and tweaking this recipe for quite some time but haven't given them to anyone until now. Here they are:

I'm happy to report that these were a big hit!

It"s a boy!

I had the pleasure of making a baby shower cake for one of my best friends this weekend. She knew that she was having a boy so her sister's set out on a blue, green, and brown shower theme.

We talked about a few styles of cake and ultimately decided on a more modern cake look that would match the party decor. Below is the final product!


This cake was a vanilla cake that was tinted blue. The top tier had strawberry filling and the bottom tier was filled with banana cream. Yummy! The polka dots and stripes were made of fondant and the bow was made of chocolate and fondant. Yummy!

Baptism cake

I was asked to make a baptism cake this weekend for three siblings that were being baptized at the same time. Their dad asked me to make a cake in the shape of a bible and I agreed.

Here it is! This cake was a french vanilla cake with a whipped cream frosting. The wording, cross, and bookmark were all made of fondant.

Thanks for looking!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

The majority of the time, I love baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes. Sometimes it's just plain hard to do though.

A close friend of mine asked me to make a birthday cake for her nephew who was turning 3. He was having a mickey mouse birthday party so she wanted his cake to have Mickey's clubhouse on top. I thought it would be a piece of cake (ha!) . Little did I know, how hard it would actually be. Part of the issue was that this was my first time carving something out of rice krispie treats and adding it to a cake. The second was that this was the first time that I've had a part of my cake collapse onto itself. It had to happen eventually right? I'm glad i've gotten it out of the way!

After a second batch of baking, here is a picture of the final product:

This cake was a confetti cake covered in vanilla buttercream. Everything was edible with the exception of Mickey who was a candle. Mickey's clubhouse was cake and his head and foot were made of rice krispie treats and covered in fondant.

I definitely learned alot from this one!

Happy Valentine's Day!

When I think of Valentines Day, I think of Red Velvet. Apparently I'm not the only one since I was asked to make them by a few friends. 5 dozen cupcakes later, this was the end result... all packed up and ready to go!

These were red velvet cupcakes with a whipped cream cheese frosting and a gumpaste heart for decoration.

Happy valentine's day everyone!

Happy birthday Mom!

I know that lots of people say something similar, but my mom is the best there is! She has such a huge kind heart and really does whatever she can to make sure that those around her are happy and comfortable. We all are so lucky to have her!

She always makes sure that our birthday's are special to us kids so we decided that it was time for her to have a wonderful day! We decided to throw her a surprise birthday party this weekend. We didn't have an invite or specific party decor for me to model a cake off of so I spent quite some time thinking about what kind of cake to make for her. Ultimately, I decided on a purple, black, and grey present cake. Anyone who knows my mom knows that she is the present wrapping QUEEN! She has an obscene amount of wrapping paper and fancy bows. Oh, and her favorite color is purple.

I decided to do a multi loop bow this time I did it this partly because I wanted to try something new, but also because it's just something that my mom would love!

So here is the cake I made for her. It was a white almond cake with a strawberry filling. I covered it in fondant and then added the multi loop bow that was made from a fondant/ gumpaste mixture.

Here's a bit of a closer picture of the bow and details on the cake.

What do you guys think of this new bow?

Happy birthday Mom!

More swirls and bows

My neighbor enjoyed the first cake they ordered from me so much that they ordered a second cake for their other daughter. It makes me happy to know that they liked the first one so much.

My neighbor was having some trouble coming up with what she wanted the cake to look like since she wasn't doing a birthday theme. I showed her some of the past cakes that I've made for inspiration and she loved the swirly one that I made for my friend's niece. I asked her if I could change the colors up a bit for the sake of my "rule" (which I suspect is going to have to go out the window soon) and she agreed. She even said that I could do whatever I thought was best. Fine with me!

So, here's the cake!

This cake was a french vanilla rainbow cake with a strawberry filling and a vanilla buttercream frosting. The bow and the lettering are made of fondant.

Happy 2nd birthday, Amy!

Gamer's Cake

My brother turned 23 this past week and we celebrated his birthday this weekend. I wanted to make a special cake for his birthday but wasn't able to think of something that was completely him. We visited him a couple weeks ago and being the gamer that he is, he was playing x-box.

X-box! The perfect cake idea for him! I set out to figure out how I would go about making an x-box cake. Since my immediate family were the only ones going to dinner and celebrating, I decided that making a replica of the controller would be my best bet. I didn't want to end up with too much cake afterwards.

So, this is what I was able to make for him!

This was a chocolate cake with chocolate chip cookie dough filling and covered in fondant with fondant details. Here's a view of the inside:

Happy birthday Mike!

Another present cake!

One of my co-workers is turning 25 this weekend and asked if I would make her birthday cake. I was honored! She wanted a hot pink present cake with a black bow on it. This is what I was able to come up with for her:



This cake was a red velvet cake with whipped cream cheese and walnut filling. It was covered in fondant with a fondant/gumpaste bow. Don't mind the wax paper rolled up under the bow. I put those in there to make sure that the bow survived delivery. I'll let the birthday girl take those out when she is ready. What you can't really see is that the hot pink part has a happy birthday imprint with balloons.

The bow that I made for this cake was different than the bows that I usually make. I thought it looked more realistic even though it's made of a fondant/gumpaste mixture. What do you guys think?

Happy birthday Lee! I hope you have a fabulous day!

Introducing Rainbow cupcakes!

I’ve gotten a bunch of questions about how I made the rainbow cake. Sorry guys, but it’s my little secret! Thanks for all of the support though! The rainbow cake ended up being a HUGE hit!

I invited my family over for dinner this weekend for a surprise birthday dinner for my cousin, Jasmine. Jasmine has helped me with my cakes before and always has nothing but good things to say about my cakes. I figured it would be nice for her to have her own cake and not just a slice of someone else’s.

She LOVED the rainbow cake that I made last weekend so I thought it would be nice to make her one for her birthday. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Here they are!

The cupcakes were white almond cake with a french vanilla buttercream frosting. The party hats and flowers were made of fondant.

A picture of them on my cute little cupcake tree:


And a view of the inside!


Happy Birthday Jasmine!

Neon rainbow cake

Recently, my best friend asked me to make a birthday cake for her daughter's surprise party. Of course I accepted. I've said it before, and I will say it again, I love making kids cakes!

She sent me a picture of the party set that she purchased and asked if I could match the cake to it. Here is what she sent me:

I was pretty excited to get started. We threw some design ideas around for quite some time before finally deciding on what it would look like and what flavors it would be. Her daughter isn't the biggest fan of cake (crazy huh?) so I decided it might be nice to make a rainbow cake. I thought it would be really cool and was anxious to try it out. She agreed. We ended up deciding on a white almond rainbow cake with strawberry mousse filling and fondant decorations.

Here was the final result:

A side view of the cake:

And the rainbow surprise inside! Those of you who know my personally can guess how excited I was about this!

A picture of the whole cake:

What do you guys think? I had a ton of fun making it!

Happy Birthday Jely!

I guess rules really are meant to be broken....

I have a rule that I don't make the same exact cake twice. There are too many styles and techniques out there that I need and want to explore!

I ended up breaking my own rule a few weeks ago. My cousin and I were talking about the cake that I was going to make for her wedding and she really loved the previous wedding cake that I made. How could I say no? It's a bit different than the last one.... it has an extra tier, different color roses, a different topper, and just a bigger cake overall.

Half of this cake was chocolate cake filled with a chocolate mousse. The other half was a french vanilla cake with a strawberry mousse filling. What do you guys think?

Here's a closer view of the top tier with the cake topper.

Congratulations Carlos and Kristina on your marriage! I love you guys and wish you the best!