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!



Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Birthday cupcakes for a young Washington Nationals fan.  Once again, we went with both vanilla and chocolate cupcakes.  The selection featured baseballs, monograms, and blue sugars (the birthday boy's favorite color).

A Little Princess is on Her Way

I love the combination of pink and green!  So you can imagine how absolutely thrilled I was when my friend asked me to make cupcakes for a pink/green baby shower!!!  It's difficult to see in the picture, but even the cupcake wrappers fit the theme.  The duckies, peas in a pod, and pink onesies atop each cupcake were all made using fondant.  I played with the idea of a pink and green ducky to unify everything to fit the theme.  A big thank you to my lovely friend, Sionne, for thinking of me for this project and giving me complete artistic freedom!   

Ahoy! It's a Boy!

Baby Bradshaw has since arrived, but for Kate's baby shower, our friend Jenni asked me to bake some cupcakes, and I happily obliged.  I made nautical cupcakes to complement the event's theme.  Only the anchor (center) and the monogram cupcake made the final cut.  I crafted the anchor out of royal icing and dusted it with edible gold shimmer.  The monogram button was made using fondant and royal icing. 

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.

Cute as a Button

When my dear friend April was expecting her first baby last year, her best friends planned a baby shower for her husband and her.  This was the first baby shower I had attended where the attendance of men was welcomed and encouraged.  It was so lovely to see the enthusiasm of daddy-to-be, Alex, and his buddies. 

I was honored when her friend Whitney asked if I would be willing to help in the preparation of Alex and April's special day.  For the baby shower, I topped vanilla cupcakes with a fondant button in one of three theme colors chosen for the occasion.  Each button was embellished with small silver dragees. 

For this special event, onesie cookies, baked by yours truly, were also available for the taking.  I flooded sugar cookies with royal icing and finished them with silver dragee snaps and a fondant rubber duckie. 

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.

Susan G. Komen 3-Day

Last spring, a friend and her mother completed the Susan G. Komen 3-Day.  I was honored when my friend asked if I might be able to make cupcakes to help the family celebrate the ladies' amazing accomplishment.  The pink breast cancer ribbons were made using fondant and the buttercream was tinted a pale pink.

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. 

Oh Baby!

While shopping around for ideas for a friend's baby shower, I happened upon a onesie cookie cutter, fell in love, and adopted it into my collection.  A short time later, I welcomed the arrival of the adorable and tasty onesie cupcake.  Edible glitter and silver dragees add a bit of flair to these darling paper cup confections.  What sweeter way to celebrate the arrival of baby than with a vanilla cupcake robed in vanilla buttercream? 

Red Velvet Cupcake + Vanilla Buttercream = Double Happiness

The Chinese characters symbolizing Double Happiness are commonly associated with weddings and the Chinese New Year.  Your taste buds will experience double happiness after you devour one of these red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream!

Bear-y Yummy Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my first grade class last year to help us celebrate earning 400 compliments!  The cupcakes were yellow cake with vanilla buttercream.  Yum!