Happy Birthday Husband!

My Husband turned 31 this year...and when I asked him if he wanted a cake for his birthday - I was expecting his usual "No Thanks" response because he never eats any of my sweets. He just doesn't have a sweet tooth like me.

So when he said "Yes." I was shocked.
I continued to be shocked when he told me he wanted "something with strawberries".

You got it, hubby.

I baked a Vanilla cake, whipped up some Vanilla Swiss Merinuge Buttercream, added Strawberry Jam to a couple cups of buttercream, sliced up some fresh strawberries...and built him a little cake.

I saw this idea on Pinterest a long time ago and since the husband loves sprinkles I figured he is the perfect candidate.

I grabbed the numbers 3 and 1 from my cookie cutter collection, placed them on top of the cake and sprinkled away. I lifted the cookie cutters and after a few adjustments with a toothpick, ta da!

He loved it...and I loved that he loved it.

He even had two slices the night of his birthday and two more slices the next couple of days until it was gone.

I love you Richard and Happy Birthday!

First Annual Spring Bake Sale

For a month, I advertised on Facebook - my First Annual Spring Bake Sale.

I offered any variety of the following four flavors:

CHOCOLATE OREO COOKIES N' CREAM

Chocolate Cake with Oreo Cookie Bottom topped with a whipped Cookies n' Cream Frosting 

and Oreo Cookie Crumbs

WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY

White Chocolate Cake filled with Fresh Raspberry Filling 

topped with Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER

Chocolate Chunk Cake topped with a Creamy Peanut Butter Buttercream

VANILLA STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

Vanilla AND Cheesecake Cupcake with Fresh Strawberry Filling

topped with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

All orders were hand delivered by me on May 4th, 2013.

Jacob

I know this kid named Jacob...and he has become a huge part of our lives here.
I met Jacob when he was 4 months old when I started taking care of him five days a week.
He has turned into Ethan's best little buddy and in April, Jacob turned ONE.

His mommy was throwing a Barn Yard themed birthday celebration and requested some delicious cupcakes and smash cake for the event.

Jacob is very special to me so I wanted to make sure when he looked back at pictures from this day, he says "Damn, my cake and cupcakes were awesome!" Well, maybe without the bad word, but still I wanted it to be perfect.

The cupcakes were Vanilla Cheesecake and Chocolate, both with Fresh Strawberry Filling.

The smash cake was Chocolate also with Fresh Strawberry Filling - just no glaze and a thin layer of buttercream to prevent a sugar overload.

Everything was covered with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

I purchased the Cupcake picks from the local Bakers Boutique.

The cow spots are black Marshmallow Fondant and the barn cake topper is a bird house I bought at Michaels and painted myself.

I knew Jacob would be a great cake smasher...but I didn't know he would be the BEST CAKE SMASHER in cake smashing history!

He did not disappoint.

It was an awesome day and I am blessed to have been a part of his first year.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Eggless = Not Easy

One of my customers needed an eggless cake and cupcakes for a family birthday party.

Eggs are a big part of my baking routine...so when I substitute other ingredients, although still very tasty, it is a challenge. I threw away the first cake because it just...well, it sucked.

The cake is Devils Food filled with fresh strawberries...and boy was it crumbly.
Trimming and placing the top layer was not an easy task.
Without the egg, which serves as part of the riser and most of the binder in the cake - the sheets were extremely fragile.

My favorite and most popular buttercream is Swiss Meringue Buttercream...but it is meringue based which does not fall under egg-free. So I used a classic Buttercream recipe that is powdered sugar and butter based. Although it is a bit more difficult to frost cakes with, it is very sweet and goes well with a fresh fruit filling.

I made a bowl of Dark Chocolate Ganache that I used as a drip around the edges of the cake, then whipped for the piping of the cake.

The cupcakes are Vanilla Cake with the same Fresh Strawberry filling and Vanilla Buttercream with a Ganache drizzle to kinda match the cake.

I welcome orders like this...ones that force me to try new things and explore new recipes.

Easter

This year our March was very busy...so instead of making the cake I had in mind for our annual family get together, I opted for cookies which I made that morning.

I had bought some white chocolate m&ms to use as well as a bag of white chocolate chips.

I have a ridiculous collection of treat bags that I have collected over the years so I grabbed one of the four Easter designs and bagged the cookies, three to a bag.

Unfortunately, I suck at taking pictures and did not snap a shot of the basket full of cookie bags.

Still, it was a wonderful day with family.

Mickey Mouse Birthday...Again!

My friend Charlotte's son in a BIG fan of Mickey Mouse...so much so, he wanted a Mickey Mouse birthday party for the second year in a row! Here's what I did for him last year.

Charlotte is a big fan of the Hostess Cupcake.

So when you put the two together...here's what you get:

Devils Food Cupcakes filled with a Whipped Vanilla Buttercream

Dipped (3 TIMES) into Milk Chocolate Ganache

Given a cute little swirly line

and topped with Mickey Ears made with black cardstock and toothpicks - since there was no buttercream to hold up fondant ears.

They were super delicious, in case you were wondering.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jaxon!!!

Baby Shower for Niece #4!

My oldest brother Ken and his wife Julie are now the proud parents are a precious baby girl named, Sienna.

But back in March - I hosted their joint Baby Shower.

I've always wanted to make a "naked" cake...and Julie was kind enough to let me try it out for the shower...but my brother Ken had one request...Hostess.

So their cake was inspired by the Hostess Cupcake.

Devils Food Cake Filled with Dark Chocolate Ganache and a Whipped Vanilla Buttercream, stacked and left "naked" with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar for prettiness.

The flowers are not real and the Elephant toppers were made by myself with scrapbook paper.