2 Tier Baby Shower Cake

This was a 2 Tier cake for a Baby Shower. The Bottom tier was Chocolate Cake with Fudge Filling. The top tier was Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling. The exterior was white buttercream with fondant accents, funky fondant flowers, & ribbon. This cake would serve about 40-45 people. I had a blast making this particular cake!

Black Tie B-Day Cake

Ivory buttercream with black fondant accents, fondant pearls, & ribbon detail make up this black tie birthday cake made a few weeks ago. Flavors were Vanilla Almond with Strawberry Filling.

Football Helmet Groomsmen Cake

This cake was created as a Groomsmen Cake for a wedding. The groom was a former Mount Union Player and the Bride was a former Mount Union Cheerleader. What a cute couple!!
Cake flavor was Chocolate Cake with a rich Dark Chocolate Fudge Buttercream. The football field was iced in buttercream with fondant accents. The helmet was hand carved and covered with all fondant.

Flowers & Lace Buttercream Cake

Yummy Vanilla Buttercream covered Butter Pecan Rum Cake. The top had some faux flowers and leaves with a lace ribbon accent on the bottom. This is an 8'' double layer cake. No scraps were left over on this one. Yum.

Happy Fourth of July

This was for a July 4th BBQ. The cake design was a twist on the American Flag and was a Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream . The cupcakes were Red Velvet with a White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting in a Ribbon Design. A small butterfly was the accent on the cupcakes. Hope everyone had a great holiday!!

Ivory & Blue Cupakes & Cake

This was a Cupcake Stand and Cake for a Bridal Shower. Flavors of the cupcakes were Vanilla with Buttercream, Mocha with Buttercream, & Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese. The cake was a Strawberry & Cream Cassata with Ivory Buttercream. The cake was served with a side of silky whipped cream. This Bridal Shower looked to be a beautiful one. I so happy to have been able to add a little something to this lovely occasion!

Baby Shower Cupcakes & Peas in the Pod Cookie Favors

This was a Cupcake Tower arrangement, Topper, & 2 Peas in the Pod Cookie Favors for a Baby Shower. The mom-to-be is a dear friend having TWIN GIRLS!!! Flavors included Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream, Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Pink Strawberry Cream Cheese, & Chocolate Cupcakes with Yellow White Chocolate Frosting. There was a topper that included sugar plaques with the Twin girls name and some florals. Also, sugar cookie favors were made for everyone to take home. They were 2 Peas in a Pod design.
Can't wait for the little ones to be born. We are getting them to a good start in life by eating lots of cake & cookies!!! :)

Bridal Shower Cupcake Tower & Pastry

Summer is here!! I had the pleasure of creating a Cupcake Tower and Pastry Tray for a Bridal Shower which I attended as well. The weather was a lovely sunny, 93 degrees and very humid conditions for the outdoor event. Not quite ideal for chocolate, buttercream, & cream cheese!! Happy to report, no major issues.
The cupcake tower consisted of Chocolate cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream in Lavander, Lemon Apricot with Orange Cream Cheese in Orange, & Coconut with Cream Cheese in White. All had a small fondant cutout flower accent. There was a 6'' Fondant Covered Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream decorated with summery flowers, butterfly, & fondant bow. The pastry tray included Oreo Truffles, Lemon Butter Cookies, Chewy Pecan Cookies, & Graham Cracker Pastry dessert. It was nice to see all the hard work come together and being enjoyed by all.
The shower itself was one of the nicest showers I've been to in a while. The bride-to-be seemed to receive many lovely things to go along with the GORGEOUS ring on her finger!!! I was happy to have had a small part of this wonderful event.

Ice Cream Cupcakes

These are some Ice Cream Cupcakes which consist of Marbled Cake baked inside cupcake cones with colored Vanilla Buttercream. These were for a Memorial Day Picnic.

I've been baking away but not taking pictures, hence the 2 month lapse in posts. I hope to be much better with posting my baking projects :)

Spring Cupcakes

It's finally feeling like spring, and what better way to ring in that feeling then with some colorful cupcakes!!! These are Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Swirled Frosting. Blue & Green are Vanilla Buttercream, Light Orange is Orange Buttercream, Light Yellow is Lemon Buttercream, and Light Red is Strawberry Buttercream. Yes, I coordinated the colors with the flavors for the most part. I call this particular swirl design a refined design. The cupcake was a nice dense (but not too dense) true vanilla flavored cupcake. I found they taste even better the next day (if that was possible) with the buttercream infusing its sugars into the sweet little moist cake. Yum Yum Yum.

Easter Dessert

This is a combination of the desserts I was able to squeeze out for Easter Dinner. Plain Sugar Cookies, Oreo Cups with a Dark Chocolate Mousse, Red Velvet Cupcakes with a Cream Cheese Icing (with fondant flower decoration), & a Triple Layer Lemon Apricot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. There are some Chocolate Easter Eggs and faux flowers for some added touch. This cake is my new favorite cake and I don't say that very often. If you like citrus flavors, this is Delicious!!!

Easter Cookies

Back from Vegas and little time to make some Easter treats!!! These were for my nieces and nephews. All are soft sugar cookies with colorful fondant decorations. Spring is a time for color right?!? We have yet to feel the spring weather here, so this is as close as we get to spring so far.
All the cookies were placed in individual Easter take out cartons and placed in a basket. I hope it put a smile on all their little faces!!!

Victorian Cake

This was my take on a Victorian Cake. I was hoping the colors along with the design would mix together to give it a more eclectic Victorian feel. Top tier flavor was White Almond with Strawberry Preserves. Bottom Tier was White Almond with a Whipped Chocolate Frosting. Everything was created with Fondant and Royal Icing along with a touch of Pearl Dust.

Cupcakes are Cool

I find that the trend in wedding's and shower's that involve cupcakes are so unique and fun. There are so many way to decorate these little gems along with displaying them. I'm working on a construction project of my own variations of cupcake stands and I find the possibilities are endless. You can have various themes and displays that all tie together at one single event. As soon as I'm done with my project I hope to have some nice photos along with displays with actual cupcakes. I can't wait to try all the different variations of recipes and frosting along with decorating effects.

My town had a great little cupcake shop. I wish more towns would have them because, let's all be honest, there are no grumpy people around cupcakes. They just make you smile. Maybe it's the kid in all of us, or perhaps it's the fact that this one little thing is our very own, no sharing or saving. We get to have this all to ourselves. That's what this world needs, more cake, in any form.

Give this yummy recipe a try (From Marthastewart.com - Martha Stewart)

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

Makes 24

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl, beat in vanilla.
2. Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to assure the batter is thoroughly mixed. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling papers about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack of the oven until tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I would personally recommend topping with a Strawberry or Raspberry Meringue Buttercream.

Mini Spring Flower Cakes

This is a small sample tray of Mini Spring Flower Cakes. They are a torted double layer Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream. Cakes are wrapped in colored Fondant and accented with Gumpaste Flowers. They are almost like a Petit Four, just bigger. A true single serving size. I wanted all the colors to accent each other, yet "pop" in their own right. This would look great on a tiered cupcake type display with a 6'' or 8'' matching cake top.

Shopping Cake

This was for a Jewelery Party and I thought it would be appropriate to have a shopping theme. The cakes were sculpted to be a Shopping Bag with Pearls, a Handbag, & a Mini Hat Box. All items were sitting on an open box (10'' cake torted with buttercream) with Tissue Paper (thin fondant). Everything is edible. Flavors were Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream & Chocolate Fudge Cake with Peanutbutter Buttercream. Flowers were made from Gumpaste, and handbag details were painted with Luster Dust. Fun to make, more fun to eat!!

Brownie Coma

The following recipe is the absolute BEST brownie recipe I have ever made. My husband went crazy over them, and trust me, he is a very harsh critic. These are super rich and moist. This will put you in a serious chocolate coma. Just be really careful to not overcook them. Keep an eye on them toward the end. Even just a few minutes overcooked will ruin them. If you cut them in small circles or squares, top with piped white chocolate (or your favorite) mousse, and finish with a small raspberry, they make a beautiful presentation for a gathering on a tiered server.

(Recipe from Nigella Lawson, from The Food Network)

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups superfine sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white chocolate buttons, chips, or morsels
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate buttons, chips or morsels
Approximately 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Special equipment: Baking tin (approximately 11 1/4 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches), sides and base lined with baking parchment.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan over a low heat.
In a bowl or large measuring jug, beat the eggs together with the superfine sugar and vanilla extract.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chips, and the semisweet chocolate buttons or chips. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey. Even with such a big batch you do need to keep checking on it: the difference between gooey brownies and dry ones is only a few minutes. Remember, too, that they will continue to cook as they cool.

To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up on a large plate, sprinkling with confectioners' sugar pushed with a teaspoon through a small sieve.

YUM YUM YUM.

Wire Daisy Cake

I was thinking spring with this cake. Gumpaste wire daisies accent a 3 layer fondant covered 6'' base with a double layered 4'' top. Red dotted ribbon accent the bottoms. Cake flavor was Pineapple Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting. Nice combination and very moist. I wanted something a little more whimsical and bright, but not too much going on. Spring is much needed in the Northeast Ohio Area. This helped a bit.

Daisy Princess Cake

This was a cake with the purpose of working on some different techniques with Royal Icing and Fondant. The sizes were 6'' and 4'' rounds. Flavors were White Almond Cake with Raspberry Preserves and Vanilla Buttercream Filling. The women who work in my husband's office were the lucky ones to get this cake. I hope the colors and flowers made them smile!!!

First Cakes

These are the first mini cakes I made with Fondant. All were chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream filling. I gave these away to my little Niece, In Laws, & Parents. These are all 4'' and 3'' rounds. I love vibrant color and designs. I think they came out kind of cute.

Welcome / Present Cake

Welcome to my Cake Blog!!! This is my little place to post the progression and information on my cake decorating. I've been loosely decorating for 5 years, but have recently decided I want to pursue this more to the point that perhaps I can open a funky little cake shop one day. We'll see. Thanks for visiting and enjoy!!!


Above is a BIRTHDAY PRESENT CAKE I made for a dear friend of mine. It was a surprise. ...sort of. It was my first go at a cake this size (8'' square) with fondant. I had a blast making this cake. I only had to roll the fondant out 4 times before I got it right! Lesson learned from this cake is that I definitely need to make my fondant thicker when I cover cakes .
Inside was chocolate fudge cake with a chocolate fudge frosting. Yuuuuuuum!!!!!