Minnie Mouse 1st Birthday Cake

I love this Minnie Mouse-themed first birthday cake. The soft pink buttercream makes it the perfect cake for a sweet little girl.


The cake was iced in buttercream and decorated with fondant polka dots & daisies. The bow and ears topper was created out of gum paste.



Happy 1st Birthday, Khamari!

Pastel Wedding Cupcakes

It's Friday! I'll keep the post today short and sweet. Here are some cupcakes we decorated for an outdoor wedding. The cupcakes were displayed on a stand made by the bride & groom and the top of the stand held their anniversary cake.


4 different cupcake flavors with 4 different pastel-colored icing swirls!


Stay tuned to our Facebook Fan Page for a sneak peak of something special we're working on today!!! They're may even be a prize involved!

Orange & Blue Daisy Wedding Cake

It's traditional for wedding cakes to be white cake with white filling and white decorations. But, more and more, brides & grooms are choosing to incorporate nontraditional fillings (like guava, Bavarian cream, or raspberry) and using...*gasp*...COLOR on the cakes!

Of course, there is such a thing as too much color (think fluorescent green, orange, etc)...but bringing in touches of your wedding accent colors can really help decorate your reception.

Here's a cake we made for a bride and groom who were having an orange and blue wedding:


The cake was iced in white buttercream, and we wrapped real ribbon around the base of each cake tier.


The daisies were all hand-made from gum paste and attached to the cake. Then, we added a sprinkling of orange and blue polka dots around the daisies.


It's just enough color to bring the cake to life and still keep it elegant and formal. I love color on cakes, don't you?!

Garbage Truck Cake & Cookies

Last week, I had the privilege of making a cake and cookie favors for a very cute little boy's birthday.

Apparently, West is really into garbage trucks! He gets excited when they come to pick up his family's trash or recycling. In fact, the week of his birthday, they even let him help dump the recycling in the truck! How cool is that?!

So when his Mom contacted me to order his birthday cake, they (of course) wanted a garbage truck. We designed the cake based on photos of cakes she liked as well as photos of their local garbage truck. There were a few specific requests though. West wanted to make sure the cake had a front-end lift for garbage pick-up, not the traditional back loader, since that's what their local truck has. And he also preferred 3 wheels rather than 2. In addition, they wanted a yellow caution light on the top of the cake near the back, a number 4 somewhere on it, and "Happy 4th Birthday West!"



And you see that awesome logo "West Waste"? West's father made that logo, resembling their local trash pick-up company, to coordinate with West's Halloween costume last year. So the logo was a MUST on the cake!


The wheels were made of Rice Krispies Treats covered in fondant, but everything else you see is CAKE! The cake was covered with green or white buttercream and the decorations were done with fondant. And the cake flavor? Vanilla cake with Bavarian cream filling - yum!

West's Mom also ordered some garbage truck cookie favors for each of the party attendees. They were mini versions of the cake and were personalized with each person's name.


Look, it's like a momma truck and a baby truck!


Happy Birthday, West!

Lego Pirate Cake

I posted another sneak peek on the Facebook Fan Page last week. Did you see it?! I thought the photo was a little more cryptic this time, but you guys were still able to guess! I'll have to get a little more creative in my photography in the future...


So, yes, it was a pirate ship cake. But not just any pirate ship! It was a Lego pirate ship made especially for Adam's youngest cousin, who just turned 7 and is absolutely obsessed with all things Lego.


The ship was carved out of cake and "wallpapered" with wood grain-printed edible paper fresh from my new PhotoFrost edible printing system. Now, before you all ask me, "Where did you find the amazing wood grain image???" Here's a secret: I just googled it! Here's the one I used, which came up with a search for "wooden planks."


I made a special mold using real Legos so that I could, in turn, create edible ones for the cake. And all the decorations (anchor, Lego people, sails, treasure map, etc) were made of gum paste.


In fact, Noah specifically requested that his "squid man" be driving the pirate ship. Now, I wasn't about to try to carve that detailed, tiny character from red gum paste so I simply made a mold of the real thing! The one you see in the picture above is made from gum paste. I am now in love with molding putty!

Noah's party was held at the local skating rink. I used to spend all day Saturday at the skating rink when I was growing up...*sigh* those were the days. And you know what? They still use the same fluorescent carpet on the walls! When we arrived at the party with the cake, the staff put it on a counter so skaters-by wouldn't damage it. Noah stood there staring at it for at least 15 minutes.


Then some random little boy walked up and Noah announced, "That's my birthday cake! My cousin made it!"



I think he liked it. What do you think?

Wedding Cake with Bride's Custom-Made Flowers

Here's a gorgeous and interesting cake I did a few weeks ago:


The cake was iced in buttercream. The flowers & leaves were all made of gum paste and the brown swirl piping was done in chocolate buttercream.


The bride purchased the rhinestone centers for the flowers and asked us to build the flower petals around them.


So I made hot pink 5-petal blossoms for the larger jewels and purple stephanotis-like flowers for the smaller jewels. I love how they came out! Bright with color...and just a little touch of sparkle!

White Buttercream Wedding Cake, Black Bow, and a SURPRISE!

Here's a very clean, elegant, gorgeous wedding cake. It was 3 hexagon tiers iced in buttercream, with each tier wrapped with a black satin ribbon.


The bride provided the shiny, ornate monograms and the broach to go in the center of the large gum paste bow I made. I love how the bow is offset on the top of the cake, and the tails just drape down over the other tiers!


But, wait! What's this peeking from around the back of the cake???


Oh my! It's a gecko!

Yup, they wanted a sugar gecko climbing up the back of the cake! The bride has a pet gecko, and apparently it represents the couple's quirkiness. Just like no two couples are the same, neither are their cakes!

Or their geckos, for that matter. This is actually the second gecko I made. I based the creation of the first one off a quick Google search for "gecko." The bride & groom were in the bakery the week of the wedding so we excitedly showed them the gecko. It didn't pass inspection. You see, she doesn't have an ordinary gecko. She has one with a stumpy little tail like you see in the photo. The tail actually mimics the head so if the gecko is attacked by a predator, it can fool him and escape!

You learn something new every day, right?

Basketweave Cake with Silk Sunflowers

A couple of weeks ago, we were asked to create a 2-tier cake covered in basketweave. For all my Wilton students out there, wouldn't this make a great hostess gift for Thanksgiving?! You all know how to do basketweave so there are no excuses. *wink*


The customer provided the cake stand (from TJ Maxx Home Goods) and the silk flowers, and we took care of the rest!


Don't you just love the colors of the flowers? So festive, rustic, and elegant all at the same time.

Castle Groom's Cake with Sci-Fi Trinkets

It's Monday...you're back at work...and possibly searching for something to look at to kill a little time...am I right?

You know, my blog is most often visited during normal business hours on weekdays? I imagine you read your email, check in on Facebook, read a few blog posts, and then eventually get down to what you're actually paid for. And this probably doesn't happen just once each day - you probably repeat this cycle multiple times, hmmmm? Don't worry, I won't tell the boss. *wink*

Well, I've got just the thing for you today. A very...um, interesting groom's cake.

They specifically wanted Hogwarts castle made out of cake. No problem! Except the hand-sculpted exact replica of the castle wasn't in their wedding budget. So, instead, we used Wilton's Romantic Castle Cake Set to create a cake that somewhat resembles Hogwarts.


And, he wanted us to put a bunch of sci-fi trinkets on the cake. Above, you see the castle cake without the trinkets. Below, you see the trinkets added.


Front and center, you see the ring from Lord of the Rings.


Behind that, are Aragorn's necklace (Lord of the Rings) and Voldemort's wand (Harry Potter).


On the next tier down, we had a lightsaber (Star Wars), the Batman logo, a Star Trek Communicator Badge, and ruby slippers (Wizard of Oz).


The ruby slippers were my personal favorite. Just look how they glitter!


Technical notes: The cakes were iced in buttercream and airbrushed in shades of brown and black to add depth. All sci-fi trinkets were made of gum paste.

Tiger Lily Wedding Cake with Buttercream Swirls

Ok I must confess...we did this cake a looooooong time ago. Maybe a couple months or so ago? I don't know why I didn't post it sooner - maybe I just thought it wasn't that spectacular. Who knows?!



It was made for a wedding at Golden Ocala, and it was iced in buttercream with hand-piped buttercream scrolls around each tier.


The flowers you see area all fresh.


And the green stem was made of green fondant.


But the best part about this delivery is that the bride and photographers walked into the room as soon as we'd set the cake down. I wasn't going to include these photos in the post, but you'd never believe me if I told you the bride was beyond excited about her partially decorated wedding cake.


I mean, I didn't even have any flowers on it yet! But there she was, squealing and giddy!


And I totally didn't think I was in the photo...I was trying to hide behind the cake while I worked on getting the flowers ready.

*These last two photos were taken by Russel Martin Photography, a super awesome husband-and-wife team! Thanks for giving me copies!

Nerf Dart Birthday Cake

I love a colorful, fun cake! And we're always making cakes for girls in bright colors like pink, purple, lime green, yellow, etc. Last week, we had a change of pace...a bright, fun cake for a BOY!

The birthday boy's mom brought in a picture of a cake she wanted replicated so here's our version:


It's for a Nerf-themed party! So fun and SO boy, right?!


The cake was iced in bright yellow buttercream. The darts were made of orange & black fondant. And the Nerf logo and targets were made of fondant.


*Remember, today's the last day to enter the giveaway by Hedgepiggle's Etsy shop!!!

Green & Bronze Flowers on a Wedding Cake

A couple weeks ago, we did a sweet little wedding cake. It was 2 tiers iced in ivory buttercream and had a cascade of green & bronze flowers.


So simple and sweet.

Spring Flowers Anniversary Cake

It's not uncommon for someone to order an anniversary cake that resembles their wedding cake. In fact, we just got an order like that a couple of weeks ago. What IS uncommon is that the groom that's ordering the cake as a surprise for his wife is a cake decorator himself!

It's a little nerve racking to make a cake for a cake decorator! I just kept thinking..."He's going to tear the cake apart and find all the flaws I've worked so hard to hide. He's going to think he can make the gum paste flowers better than I can. He's going to hate it!"

But I was wrong, so wrong. When Jerry saw the cake, he almost cried! I just hope his wife was equally impressed and reminded of their wedding day.


The cake was iced in buttercream and piped with a buttercream swirl pattern. And a royal blue ribbon was wrapped around the base of each tier.


All the flowers you see were hand-made from gum paste. We topped the cake with a bunch of the flowers and 2 sweet butterflies.


The top tier was supported above the bottom tier using push-in pillars, and we hid the pillars with lots and lots of gum paste flowers.