SKULL Birthday Cake...that I wanted to keep for myself.

The last couple of years I have fallen in love with skulls.
Random? Yes...but I just think they are so cool.

My friend Charlotte asked for a skull cake for her husband's birthday.
I think I was more excited about making it then she was ordering it.

I was given the total creative go ahead on this order.
Her only requests were some black and a combination of chocolate and vanilla.

I have been wanting to make chocolate mousse and this seemed to be a great opportunity.


The cake is chocolate with chocolate mousse filling.
All the frosting is vanilla buttercream.

The cake's edges were dripped with chocolate ganache that I darkened with black coloring.

The skulls on each side are molded with white chocolate.

Happy Birthday Preston!

Skulls Rock!

Cupcakes in a Jar

Here they are!
I made 45 Jars of 6 different Cupcakes.
These bad boys went all over the place including shipments to Utah and Washington :)


Strawberry Shortcake: Vanilla Cupcake, Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Strawberry Topping

(I would have loved to put a slice of a fresh strawberry on top but because I was jarring these and shipping them all over, I didn't want anyone to get a mushy or moldy strawberry...that would suck!)


Orange Creamsicle: Vanilla & Orange Blended Cupcake, Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and a Sugar Orange Candy Topper


S'mores: Chocolate Cupcake, Graham Cracker Crumbs, Marshmallow Frosting and Hershey's Chocolate Square Topper


Chocolate Peanut Butter: Chocolate Cupcake, Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting, Chocolate Sprinkles (which I just realized I forgot to put on my model cupcake) and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Topper

Note: This one was my favorite of the batch...the frosting is too good to be true. My sister says all peanut butter should taste this way!


Red Velvet Cream Cheese: Red Velvet Cupcake, Rich Cream Cheese Frosting and Sprinkles


Classic Vanilla: Vanilla Cupcake, Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, Sprinkles and Chocolate Covered Cherry


These were a lot of fun to make but as always, lessons were learned along the way.

Like...finding long wooden spoons way ahead of time so I don't have to use short plastic ones.

Like...using 1/2 pint jars next time so the cupcakes have a more full look.

Like...not eating so much frosting during the process :)

I would love to make some mini cupcakes in small jars...like for party favors or something. I think those would look really cool and be great for kids.
So...someone have a party and order some from me!

Thanks!

Remember when I frosted 275 cupcakes?

Here are the photographer's photos of those cupcakes at the wedding reception :)

Anniversary Party & Fathers Day

I had an order for an Anniversary party on Saturday.
My customer requested a Red Velvet cake with Raspberries.

I decided to integrate a few things I am doing on a big order next month where I am making a raspberry themed cake for a graduation party.

The cake is Red Velvet and is filled with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry filling and covered in raspberry jam buttercream.



The cake is drizzled with the chocolate ganache and then topped with chocolate filled fresh raspberries in the shape of a heart <3


The cake was delicious...I enjoyed being able to eat it as a guest at the party.


I also whipped together some chocolate strawberries for the party...and repeated myself the next day by taking a new batch to my parent's house for our Fathers Day celebration.


You can't go wrong with strawberries and chocolate...that's what I always say.

I am baking all week...putting together so very yummy Cupcakes in a Jar.
Stay tuned.

Oh ya...and my sister who works at AC Label is putting together some super freaking fabulous labels for my products...Stay tuned for that too!
Here's a sneak peek:

Oreo Cookies n' Cream Pizza Cake

I had an order for a friend's Birthday.
She loves pizza from Pizza Hut.
Her husband asked for an Oreo cake made to look like 12" 1/2 Hawaiian 1/2 Pepperoni pizza.

What better inspiration than the real thing, right?
Don't mind the missing slice...I don't know how that happened.


Both myself and my friend's husband wanted the cake to be in a pizza box.
The only problem was the very short height of the box and the not so short height of the cake.
So...I got my hands on 2 Pizza Hut boxes, grabbed my exacto knife, some glue and ribbon...and managed to create a pretty decent pizza/cake box!


The cake is two layers, dark chocolate and white cake.
The center is filled with a Oreo cookies n' cream filling...which is so freaking yummy that next time I use this filling receipe, I will double it so I can eat the rest myself.

Chopped Oreos...MMMMMM!!!


Note: I bought a whole package of Oreos for this order.
There are 45 Oreos in a 18 oz. package, I needed 12 for this recipe.
When I bought them, I told my boyfriend to stay away from the cookies because I needed them for this order.
Needless to say, I had only 15 cookies left by the time I started baking.
Thank You, Boyfriend...you are lucky I had enough and didn't have to kill you.

I used a light buttercream frosting for this cake.
By light, I mean not heavy...it certainly isn't low calorie or fat free.

I left a small portion white for the crumb coat and center lining, colored another small portion red for the sauce and made the remaining frosting tan for the crust.


I made the pineapple, ham and pepperoni out of Duff's White Buttercream Fondant. I have yet to make my own fondant from scratch, but this stuff tastes very good and is easy to work with. It also comes in other flavors and colors.

The cheese is grated white chocolate.

Cake Balls & Pops

I saw these on Bakerella and had to make them, so I did!
She has soooo many amazing ideas on her site, you should check it out.

I baked two small Red Velvet cakes, then added cream cheese.
It was way hard to mix together with a spatula, so I used my hands.
Gloves are definitely a great idea!


I was able to make more than 50 balls.
I made the pop balls larger than the cake balls because I wanted to be able to fit as many cake balls as possible into the chocolate boxes.


I dipped and rolled the cake balls in regular milk chocolate melts and red chocolate melts then drizzled some squigglies on top of each one for good looks...and to cover up some of the bumps.
After they cooled and hardened I put each cake ball in a mini cupcake liner then boxed them up!


I dipped the cake pops in regular milk chocolate melts and white chocolate melts then sprinkled them for extra coolness.


You should definitely have a piece of styrofoam to place the pops in while they cool.
I did not...and had to substitute a box with holes in it...which didn't work very well.
Once they were cooled and hardened I wrapped them up and tied them with red ribbon.


They are super yummy and the possibilities are endless.
I am looking forward to trying these bad boys in all different cakes and flavors.

Cupcake in a Jar Sale

Yup...A Cupcake in a Jar.
I have been dying to make these and the time has come.

They will look similar to this:

(Not my product or photo)

They will come in the following flavors:
(depending on quantities ordered and subject to change)

Chocolate Peanut Butter
Strawberry Shortcake
Red Velvet Cream Cheese
S'mores
Orange Creamsicle
Classic Vanilla

Each Jar will contain the following sealed in a jar with a spoon attached:

Bottom of Cupcake
Filling
Top of Cupcake
Frosting
Topper/Garnish

Pricing:

Individual Jars $4.00
4 Pack $15.00
6 Pack $22.00

I will be taking orders through 06/18/2010.
I will baking the week of 06/20 - 06/26.

Please email me to place an order and arrange for pick-up, delivery or shipping.
yourhappybaker@yahoo.com

Butterflies for my FAVORITE Seven Year Old!

Tomorrow is my niece Hailey's 7th Birthday and she had a Pool Party on Saturday to celebrate.

The theme was butterflies so I sent my sister Sara some ideas and this is what Miss Hailey wanted.


I will admit, this was one of my most challenging tasks to date...but once I got it, I was very pleased with the result.


The cupcakes are vanilla...the only kind of cake my sweet niece will eat.
All the frosting is vanilla buttercream colored to match the party decor.
The butterflies are hand made with melting chocolate and sprinkles.


I also made a small cake for the candles...which ended up being a not so small four layer cake with each color in between the layers for a cool look when the cake was sliced.


She loved it which was all I wanted.

M*A*S*H 21st Birthday Cupcakes....Continued

Check out this link to the Essanay Cafe in Niles, Ca where my cousin Sarah celebrated her 21st Birthday and shared her M*A*S*H themed cupcakes with all the guests!

http://www.bayareaopenmics.com/blog/?p=1223

:)