Isabel Turns 10!

I know I keep saying this, but I LOVE to see the smiles on people's faces when they see their cakes.  Isabel did not disappoint me.  Her smile was ear to ear ... you could just tell she was thrilled.  I was thrilled that she was thrilled. 

Isabel's mom, Renee told me that they were having a girlie Taylor Swift party.  I immediately began to fear that I was going to have to carve a guitar or mold Taylor out of gumpaste.  Luckily, they went another direction for their cake.  It ended up very beautiful and girlie.

Lordy, Lordy, TT's Forty!!!!

My friend Theresa turned 40 last week, and she totally embraced it.  In fact, she and her husband Bill threw a HUGE luau ... in February.   She asked me to make a tropical cake with a fun flavor.  She gave me full creative license to do whatever I wanted ... as long as it was made out of fondant ... and had a stocked Tiki Bar ... and it was fun ... and it was a show stopper ... and it walked & talked on it's own.  OK ... so I'm exaggerating, but I put a lot of pressure on myself because I know that T knows quality.  I mean, she did work in the hospitality industry for a long time.  I DID NOT want to let her down. 

I spent most of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday on this cake.  Wednesday, I tried out the margarita cake recipe.  IT WAS YUMMY!!!  So, I decided to do half Lime Margarita and half Strawberry Margarita Cake with a Lime Margarita Buttercream.  Thursday night, I worked into the wee hours of the morning making sugar flowers (they were SUPPOSED to be hibiscus flowers, but they just looked like generic flowers at the end) to put along the base on sides of the cake.  Friday, I spent a couple hours just making the palm trees and all the little fondant details.  That night, I baked the cakes and made the Tiki Hut.

I went to bed with a knot in my stomach ... I was SO scared that something would go wrong.  Saturday was my D-Day.  I had to finish this cake by 5:00.

Beth texted me at noon, and asked to see a picture of the cake.  This is what I sent her:

I.AM.POSITIVE she wanted to flip out seeing what I had finished ... with only 5 hours to go.  I felt the same way!!!  I WAS SCEERED (as my kids would say).

Then something amazing happened.  Thanks to all my advanced preparation, everything just came together.  I am SO proud of this cake.  It was stunning, and full of details just for T!

I think the best part was the tribute to T & her mom on the back of the Tiki Hut.  Theresa had sent me a picture of her 5th birthday.  In the picture, her sisters were standing around her and her mom was placing a cake in front of her.  She said the photo was precious to her.  SSSSOOOOOOO, I made a "missing child poster" out of it.  It said Have You Seen This Child? on the top, and then Age Today - 40 on the bottom.  I then put yellow flowers around it to recognize her mother. 

I'm SO SAD that I wasn't able to be at the party because I heard Theresa LOVED it.  I know she loved it because she's told me about a hundred time (and I've loved hearing it EVERY TIME!). 

Here's a picture of Theresa & Bill with the cake:

Thanks to Michelle Kane for the photo!

Just look at those smiles!  That makes all the hours and stress totally worth it!  Happy Birthday Theresa!

Happy 30th Regina!

I'm so happy my friend Regina recently moved back to the area.  I saw her more in January than I've seen her over the last two years!  I wanted to make her a cake to celebrate her 30th birthday and make her feel special.

I'm glad I took pictures before going to her party because I almost dropped the cake putting it in the car.  One side got a bit squashed.  Regina was so excited that she had a cake ... I was happy to make it for her.

This was a Coconut Cream Cake with real Buttercream!

Happy Birthday Kennedy ... TWICE!!!

My friend, Nicki's daughter turned one in January, and they had TWO parties to celebrate.  The first weekend was for friends and the next weekend was for family.  Both parties had a princess theme.

I made cupcakes for the first party.  I tried to make a chocolate tiara to place on each cupcake, but they were so fragile, and many broke - including the elaborate one I made for Kennedy's smash cake.  I was so upset!  We still put tiaras on as many cupcakes as possible. 

These cupcakes were Mixed Berry Cupcakes with Lemon Curd and Cream Cheese Frosting and Boston Creme Pie Cakes.

The next weekend, Nicki asked for a cake with a chocolate tiara on top and a smash cake for Kennedy.  She asked for Vanilla Bean Cake with Chocolate Pastry Cream and Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting.  (YUMMY!  ... Sounds like Neapolitan ice cream to me!)

It was cute to watch Kennedy eat her cake.  She was very dainty at first, but finally got into it!  I hope she had fun at her family party!

Time For Some Magic!

My friend Patricia contacted me to make a cake for her son's 5th birthday.  It was a magic theme!  (Rubbing my hands together in delight!)  The invitation had a rabbit coming out of a hat!  (EEEK .... I think I squealed out loud!)

Little did Patricia know, I had seen a picture of a rabbit coming out of a hat cake!  I put the image in the back of my mind, and held on to it until the PERFECT occasion.  It doesn't get any more perfect than this!    I wanted to make sure this cake would delight William and his guests.

It was a Vanilla Bean Cake with Chocolate filling and frosting. 

Patricia and her sister came to pick up the cake, and it was amazing to see the smiles on their faces.  I just hope William had the same smile. 

Brooklyn Turns 4 Years Old!!!

What's up with all these kids getting so big so quickly?  How can Brooklyn be 4 years old?


Brooklyn was having a very fun party this year - a blacklight party!!  There were lots of black lights, a painting wall (with detergent, of course), and games.  Cole couldn't wait to go to Brooklyn's party!


Brooklyn requested a Strawberry Shortcake Cake.  It was a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting.  I made the cake look like Strawberry's house, and Beth put a Strawberry Shortcake figurine on top.

I hope she liked it!  I made some glow-in-the-dark gel and put in on the cake in hope that it would glow.  Well, I must have done something wrong because it didn't glow :-(  I'll keep working on that.

You Want Me To Make WHAT?!?!

My friend Beth called me with a cake request for one of her neighbors.  I was surprised by this particular request.  She wanted me to make a quarter sheet cake with *ahem* boobs on the top.  She also wanted a camouflage bra.  Ummm ... Okkkkkaaaaaayyyyyyy. 

I had the usual flip out moment in my head, and then I remembered that I had seen Duff Goldberg's edible cake tattoos at Walmart.  I could use that to make the bra, and my half ball pans to make the boobs.  I could do this!!!! 

The best part about this cake was that it was a surprise!   Josh had no idea!  This was a White Almond Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Filling.

Welcome Baby Wynn!

My friends Bree and Nicki were hosting a Sip & See for one of their friend's new baby, Wynn.  They asked me to make some cupcakes for the event. 


These cupcakes were so yummy.  The bottom of each cupcake was an Oreo cookie topped with chocolate cake and then a cream cheese cake.  The frosting was cream cheese with pink & purple sprinkles.  Because the baby's middle name is Jewel, I made some hard candies in the shape of jewels to put on top.

Happy 4th Birthday Coley Oley!!

My little man is getting so big.  I cannot believe he's FOUR YEARS OLD.  Four just seems so old to me.


By the time Cole's birthday rolled around, I was exhausted.  I had 2 Thanksgivings, Kate's birthday party, Christmas & all that goes with it, THEN Cole's birthday.  Yep ... both of my kids are born around a major holiday.  UGH! 


Instead of planning a party at my house, I scheduled a party at a local play zone called Plaza Fiesta.  This was probably my BEST.DECISION.EVER!  I didn't have to do a thing, NOT a thing ... except, bring the cake.  YAY!!!  I highly recommend this place for birthday parties.  They handled everything and it went so smoothly.


By now, Cole had caught on that I made nice cakes.  So, he said he wanted a Spiderman head.  WHAT!?  Who do you think I am?  Cake Boss?  I can't make a Spiderman head out of cake!  Well, I did a little research and found instructions on a blog (I don't remember where right now, but I promise I will link to it as soon as I find it). 


The result was amazing!  He loved it!  Here is a picture of his reaction:

Here are more pictures of the cake:

Just to clear up any confusion ... the head was Styrofoam and the shoulders was cake.  It was a white cake with chocolate filling ... I think.  Oh, I don't remember. 

I LOVED that I could make him so happy.  I love you Cole!

Happy Birthday Banks!

Banks had very specific requests for his birthday cake this year ... less cake, more frosting and lots of OREOS.  The cake was bulging everywhere, so I know I did my part! 

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Kate!!

I cannot believe that my baby girl, Katherine is already two years old.  Even though she's not a baby anymore, she will always be my Baby Kate.


Kate's birthday is right around Thanksgiving, and so things are always a little crazy at that time.  This year, I had a full house for Thanksgiving.  My mom, sister, brother-in-law, 2 nephews, cousin, her husband, and their 2 boys joined us.  In case you're wondering, that made 7 adults, 2 tweens, 4 kids, and 2 dogs.  It was SO MUCH fun.  My kids and my nephews play so well together.  We spent Thanksgiving evening playing cards ... just like we used to do growing up.  Ahhh ... I miss that.  The day AFTER Thanksgiving, my cousin and her family went back home, and my other side of the family showed up.  THAT.WAS.CRAZY, but very fun.  We had 13 adults, 2 tweens, and 5 kids.  I LOVED having everyone here.


Wait, what was I talking about again?  Oh, yeah Kate's birthday.  Of course, Kate's birthday party was the day AFTER the 2nd get together.  Yep ... that means 3 parties in 3 days.  Luckily, I made all the gum paste flowers in advance.  I just had to make and decorate the cake. 


Kate is OBSESSED with Tinkerbell.  I mean, Tinkerbell is obsessed with Tinkerbell.  (She insists that we call her Tinkerbell.)  I wanted to try making gum paste flowers, so I took that opportunity.  Here's how it turned out:

It looks a bit busy in the pictures, but it was stunning in person.  Kate and her friends all dressed up as fairies.  It was a cute little party.

I love you Baby Kate!

Blakely Turns ONE!!!

Happy 1st Birthday to Blakely!!  I can't believe it's been a year since my first ugly cake ... I mean, since you were born!


Beth started planning Blakely's 1st birthday party while she was planning her blowout Halloween party.  Needless to say, she was on party overload.  So I took that opportunity to force suggest a zebra cake accented with pink feathers.  Luckily for me, she was too exhausted to fight me!  YIPPEE!!!  Zebra cake it is. 


The party was ridiculously cute.  I wish I had pictures of the party, but just imagine zebra and hot pink on everything.  It was so girlie and pretty!!


Here is the cake:

It was a white cake with a bright pink oreo filling. 


I learned a lot from this cake.  First of all, I learned that sometimes accenting with fondant over fondant can look very sloppy if not done properly.  In this case, the black stripes were thick and crackly (2nd & 3rd things I learned - roll out the fondant much thinner and make sure the fondant is well moisturized!).  So, as a last minute decision, I piped white buttercream along the edges of the black stripes.  I was not thrilled with how it looked.  It was sloppy, but looked much better than it did without the piping.


Here is a closeup (I can't believe I'm going to show this!)

I wish I could make this cake all over again.  I know I could do it MUCH better.  Who wants me to make this cake for them???

SPOOOOKY

The other stay-at-home moms of kids who watch WAY TOO MUCH Nick, Jr. will immediately recognize my nod to Wow Wow Wubbzy in the title.  Those of you without kids ... your day is coming! 


Let's talk Halloween.


I'm just going to say it ... I'm NOT a fan of Halloween parties and dressing up.  I'm not as anti-Halloween as my husband, but it's just not my favorite holiday.  However, I do love planning theme parties.  Beth and her husband Chad threw a GINORMOUS Halloween party this year, and I made cupcakes (of course!).  These weren't just any cupcakes, they were Irish Cream Cupcakes with Kahlua Mocha Filling and Irish Cream Buttercream.  OMG ... I wish I had one right now.  They were SO good. 

I hope these got eaten.  You know what it's like at these "adult" parties.  The food isn't really consumed until later in the night.  We didn't stay long enough to see, but I know everyone had A LOT of fun!