Ahoy! It's a Boy! (Take 2)

The first cake I was ever commissioned to make was for my friend Rosie who was throwing a bridal shower for her best friend.  A few weeks ago, Rosie honored me with her request to  fashion a baby shower cake for the same lovely friend of hers.  The nautical cake was crafted from layers of vanilla cake and robed in vanilla buttercream.  A fondant lifesaver adorned the top of the cake.  My last attempt at crafting rope out of fondant was a major disaster.  Thankfully, things went much more smoothly this time around!



We Meet Again

My favorite cake gets a mini-makeover.  This is my favorite cake, probably because its design features my favorite flower and a scroll design embellishing the side of the cake.  This is the same design I used for Jenni's bridal shower.  Instead of using the sugar pearls, I piped a string of vanilla buttercream beads around the base of the cake. 

Pretty in Pink

Last summer, my friend Jenni married the love of her life, Blake.  Our friend Kate threw Jenni a lovely bridal shower for all of her work friends.  I was super excited when Kate asked if I would like to bake the cake and cupcakes for Jenni's shower. 

The cake was a 2-layer vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and topped with hydrangeas (one of my favorite flowers!).  I placed sugar pearls around the base and piped buttercream around the cake creating a scroll pattern.

I used the shades of pink from the bridal shower invitation to create the color scheme for the cupcakes and cake.  The cupcakes were also a vanilla cake topped with a swirl of vanilla buttercream. 

Half of the cupcakes were topped with white buttercream and a pink monogrammed fondant disc.

The other half of the cupcakes were topped with pink buttercream and small white flowers.

Birthday Luau

When my friend's baby girl turned 1, my friend and her husband hosted a Luau birthday party.  I was thrilled when she asked me to bake a small cake for the celebration.  I created an edible lei using fondant and shoestring candy to go around the base of the cake.  The top of the cake featured the Hawaiian birthday girl, McKenzie. 

Like the cake I baked for the first birthday of another friend's baby, this cake would be presented to the birthday girl when her adoring fans sang Happy Birthday to her.  Unlike my other friend's daughter, who as you may remember from my previous post face-planted in the cake, McKenzie was not a fan of sweets and refused to touch the cake.  What, you may be wondering, did the birthday girl reach for?  A pickle.  Priceless.

My First Tea Party

When my friend asked me if I'd like to bake a cake for her daughter's tea party-themed first birthday party, I didn't hesitate to accept the invitation.  The invitation, which served as my inspiration for the cake, featured a scene of two girls having a leisurely tea party.  The face seen on Avery's birthday cake is that of the little girl on the invitation. 

When it came time to sing Happy Birthday, the crowd gathered around the birthday girl as she was presented with her cake.  After the singing and the blowing out of the candle, she dug both hands into the cake and tried to grab handfuls to eat.  When this was unsuccessful, she face-planted into the cake.  Much more effective than her two tiny hands.  I think it's safe to say that she liked the cake.    

Tiny Dancer

This birthday cake holds a special place in my heart.  I made this cake last February for my dear friend Michelle, who was involved in ballet from a young age.  For this cake, I played with the idea of the ballet slippers and "satin" ribbon cascading off the top of the cake. 

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue...

...Tiffany blue, that is.  This was one of the first special occasion cakes I had been asked to make.  The theme for the bridal shower was "something blue."  The hostess of the shower asked me to do a cake that looked like a Tiffany & Co. box and coordinating cupcakes.  Anyone who knows me, can imagine how excited I was to be given such a task. 

The original plan was to cover a vanilla cake with Tiffany blue fondant and top off the "gift box" with a white fondant ribbon.  With a Tiffany & Co. box in hand, I set out to perfectly color the fondant and did not rest until I had achieved the perfect hue.  Unfortunately, I spent so much time dyeing and rolling the fondant that the minute it was set on the cake, the sides broke away and the cake was ruined...or so I thought.

On the verge of a nervous breakdown (this was the first cake I was baking that I was going to be paid for!!), I thought that there was no way to salvage the project.  Fortunately, I remembered a conversation with a friend who had just gotten married.  She was absolutely stunned that her wedding cake, which was covered in buttercream, was so smooth that it looked as though it was covered in fondant.  I whipped up another batch of buttercream, tinted it Tiffany blue, and began to breathe again.

My friend and the bride-to-be both loved the cake and I vowed NEVER to attempt a fondant covered cake again.  Almost a year later, I am moving past the initial trauma of that experience.  Perhaps one day, I will take a fondant course and give it another go. 

For the Love of Dinosaurs

What would a dinosaur-themed birthday party be without a dinosaur cake?  This birthday cake was made for a very special little boy who adores the PBS Kids show, Dinosaur Train.  The dinosaur was crafted out of fondant.  Vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with orange and green vanilla buttercream tied it all together. 

Mazel Tov!

I made this cake for a bridal shower thrown by a friend of my mom's.  A graphic representation of the Hebrew/Yiddish expression, Mazel Tov was created for this occasion by an aunt of the bride-to-be.  Fondant was used to recreate the graphic which symbolizes an expression of congratulations used during happy and important events, such as weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs. 

The union of vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream is sure to overwhelm your tastebuds with emotion.