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!

Princess Birthday Cake

Last weekend, I made my first cake in Tampa! It was only supposed to feed 25 people, but I hadn't touched a cake in weeks so I went a little overboard. I made it 2-tier, and it probably should have fed about 60 people. But, from what I'm told, there wasn't much cake leftover after the party so I guess they didn't mind!

The cake was for my mother-in-law's boss, Debi, who owns a clothing boutique called the Princess Boutique. They told me they wanted the cake decorated in shades of pink, topped with the Princess tiara, and to somehow incorporate high-heeled shoes.



So there you have it! I decided that using black silhouettes of the stilettos would look the most chic and help to contrast the "little girl" feel that the pinks & tiara were portraying. And I used the new Fabric Fondant & Gum Paste Mold from Wilton that I picked up a couple of weeks ago at the Wilton Food Blogger Workshop (stay tuned to see more of what I'm making with my loot).

But Debi wasn't the only one celebrating a princess' birthday last week! Our puppy Nani turned 4! In dog years, we're the same age now!


Taylor and my mother-in-law brought Nani some goodies, including this adorable ice cream cone cookie for puppies!


Nani was eager to please. Sit! Shake! Lay down!


Then she carried the cookie around the house for a bit...


...and finally settled down and smiled (or snarled?) for the camera.

Happy birthday, Debi & Nani!

Pistachio and Pink Wedding Cake - And a New Technique

A few weeks ago, a bride brought us a picture of a gorgeous wedding cake that she wanted replicated. No problem! ...except that we'd never done a cake like the one pictured. So we experimented with different techniques and were able to replicate it! Yay!

Now, maybe I'm just not "up" with current wedding cake trends, but I've never seen a cake like this before:


Don't you just love it?


The technique was created by slightly marbelizing the green and white fondant, cutting it into strips, and applying it in an overlapping pattern to the cake. It was time consuming, but I love how it turned out.

And all the roses were hand-made to match the color swatches the bride provided.

while I was editing the pictures, I thought I'd have a little fun with Photoshop and give the cake a more soft, romantic, vintage feel...


Loving the subtle tones of that shot!

Procter & Gamble with Publix: Cooking Up Early Detection Giveaway

Procter & Gamble and Publix are doing it again! Last year, they gave away a great set of pink cookware and kitchen tools. And if you missed out, bummer! I use my pink saute pan all the time!

But don't be too sad - you get another chance to get some pink cookware this year! Check your local Publix for a stand with these forms:


Then, spend $25 or more (before tax) on Procter & Gamble brands in one transaction between 9/20/10 and 10/17/10. If you can't find the forms, write the following on a piece of paper: your name, complete address, phone number, & name of retailer. Send your receipt and the form/info (postmarked by 10/25/10 and received by 11/8/10), and you'll get this great stuff:


The FREE pink kitchenware set from Good Cook’s Hope line includes a 2 quart sauce pan with lid, Classic Balloon Wisk, 3 Piece Mini Nylon Tool Set and 2 piece Nylon Scrub Brush Set.

But the best part about it is that you don't have to spend money on things you wouldn't normally buy. Procter & Gamble owns so many brands that you would likely spend $25 on them anyway! They own Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Puffs, Bounce, Olay, Swiffer, etc!

Pillow Cake for a First Birthday Party!

Maybe you should sit down before I show you this cake. The order was placed only TWO weeks ago by a woman for her granddaughter's first birthday party. Big deal, right?

Well, the party was for 120 people! And she wanted a 3-tier pillow cake. Actually, she specifically wanted this cake from Elegant Cheesecakes, but we changed it a little to incorporate her colors and "feel" for the party. The party colors were dusty rose, ivory, and pink! And the party had sort of a girly vintage feel to it.


The cakes were carved, covered in fondant, and decorated with fondant accents.


The pillows were topped with a gum paste princess crown, which was wrapped around the smash cake! See it peeping from behind the crown in the picture below? At the party, they were able to lift the crown and smash cake and set it in front of the birthday girl.


I knew this would be a fun delivery. I love it when the rooms are at least partially set up so I can see how the cake fits into the rest of the party.


I'm proud to say we perfectly matched the party colors! Yay!


Just look at this room!


Again, there's the girly vintage feel...an elegant, mature centerpiece with a pink & silver crown sticking out of it!


And how many 1st birthday parties have you been to where there is a favor bar. What's the favor? GOLDFISH! Yup, each party attendee took home a new pet!

Light Pink Christening Cake

This cake is all about the subtlety. It was made for a baby's Christening and was iced in very light pink buttercream.


I decorated it using white fondant pressed into a lace mold, some buttercream dots & crosses, a hand-made name plaque, and a hand-made gum paste bow topper.


It's subtly feminine and baby-ish while still giving impressions of maturity, elegance, and the importance of the event it celebrates.

Brooch Wedding Cakes

I didn't decorate these cakes, I had to share them with you. Both cakes were iced with white or ivory buttercream and decorated with the quilting effect.

But what really makes these cakes stand out are the decorative brooches. They were purchased by the brides at Steinmart for about $12 a piece. They add such a nice touch of glamor and glitz to what could have been a very plain cake. Don't you just love them?


This first cake was decorated by Judy King, a contract decorator at Ms Debbie's Sugar Art.


And this chocolate brown one was decorated by Debbie herself!

Pink & Brown Cowgirl Cake

This week, one of my favorite cakes was one we created for a 4-year-old's birthday. I actually used to work with her Mommy when I was still at the University of Florida so it was fun to create a cake for someone I know.

The bottom tier was iced in pink buttercream. The paisley pattern was hand-piped with white and black buttercream, and the rope border was made out of chocolate fondant.

The top tier was iced in white buttercream. The stars, "leather" tassles, and rope garland were all made out of fondant.

And the boot on top was hand-crafted out of gum paste and fondant!

Happy Birthday, Gracie!