Bridal Shower Cakes

A young lady at my Church is about to get Married.  I have the honor of creating her cake and cupcakes for the big day.  But I also did her bridal shower cakes. Her favorite color is purple and she loves butterflies and flowers.
I have been taking cake classes on Crafty.com which has been a wonderful learning experience. If you would like to learn how to do the dot pattern on my cake take "Clean & Simple Cake Design" with Jessica Harris.  Please take your time to check Crafty.com out as it has many classes on cake decor and many other things.

 

The dots, butterflies, and dress are made out of modeling chocolate which is home made. Jessica Harris also teaches you how to make modeling chocolate and fondant in her class.  I also learned how to make fondant from this link:  http://www.howdoesshe.com/easy-marshmallow-fondant-you-can-do-it/
I am very excited about getting to do her Wedding Cake very soon!! :)

Ballerina Birthday

Happy 4th birthday to my sweet little, lady Olivia. As you can see we had a ballerina themed birthday this year.  Olivia loves to dance and the color pink so I felt this was the perfect party to create for her.  The beautiful picture of Olivia was taken by Provosto Photography, She is a military wife and knows how to use natural light to make a picture come to life.  Thank you Amber for these memories!!

I went small on the treats this year, as we are living in a new location with not as many friends to attend the celebration.  The cake was a double chocolate cake with pink butter cream and home made fondant flowers.  http://www.howdoesshe.com/easy-marshmallow-fondant-you-can-do-it/#  here is the link on how to make Fondant, super easy!!

Ballerina dress cupcakes

I used a small heart cutter for the top of the dress. I used fondant but suggest you use modeling chocolate as it is a stiffer medium. Butter cream was used to design the tutu part Wilton tip # 104.  Cake was a vanilla cake with fresh strawberries.

Marshmallow ballerina slippers

I have a bow chocolate mold that I first filled and allowed to set.  Then insert the stick into the top of a big marshmallow.  Melt pink melting chocolate (make sure to add a little veggie oil to thin out), dip the sides set down on wax paper to harden. (tip I throw them into the fridge)  Put left over pink chocolate into a sandwich bag.  Cut the tip off the bag and pipe the strings onto the front of the slipper.  Add a little chocolate to the stick and place bow onto the chocolate.



 

Welcome to our party set up: You will see a lot of pink :)  The banners where made with my silhouette cutter which I just love when it comes to making things for parties!! The flowers where designed by my wonderful mother-in-law.

Party Favors: I made Tutu's for each little lady that came to the party and also had a friend make hair bows.  Instead of goodie bags I did goodie jars filled with candy. 

Oh course every party must have a party game: We played pin the tutu on the ballerina

Then we had an art time where the girls made ballerina hand dresses and the boys created a hand pirate.  I used my cutter to cut out the leotard and then glued it on so the girls only had to go the hand prints.  It was a very fun and super cute project. 

I am blessed to have my little lady but cannot believe she is already four.  My prayer is for her to have a great year of learning and adventures!!

 

Princess Sofia

Sofia the first is a Disney Jr. princess that most little girls love and want to be like.  She is sweet, kind, and helpful which is what every mother wishes for her little girl.  I was asked to create a cake that represented Sofia without having her right out on the cake which I do prefer to make.  I got to try out a few new techniques on this cake which I loved learning.
The Bottom level cake was created with fondant to create the look of a skirt and the top level cake I used butter cream to make roses with a few fondant flowers.  I also learned how to make a princess crown out of gym paste and Sofia's necklace.

I would like to share how I did the bottom tier to make the skirt look, out of fondant:

 You will need:  Fondant circle cutter, form square, ball tool, and saran wrap
     Cut out a handful of circles and cover with the saran wrap. This will help the fondant from drying out right away. Place a couple of the circles on the form square and use the ball tool to flatten out half of the circle.  Press the side of the circle you did not press flat onto the cake in a neat row around the circumference of the cake.  As you can see in the picture below the side of the fondant circle you rolled out flat has a flowing look to it.  I used my fingers to help add a little detail for a flow to the skirt.

 As you start the next layer of circles do not make them flush with the bottom layer

I added white pearls to give a jewel affect to the top level.  Play with the skirt until you like the looks of the flow.  Add the second layer of cake after you have finished adding the fondant circles.  Put at least three wooden dowels into the top of your cake to help it be sturdy.  Now add your rose butter cream design around the sides.  I put a large circle of purple fondant on the top of the cake to place the crown and number five onto.

Now to the crown and necklace this was my first time working with gym paste which hardens faster then fondant and holds a much stronger piece.  I am not going to explain how I made these because I need more practice before being able to explain.  But if you want to learn how watch videos on you tube, that is what I did. :)

Tea Party for a Princess

      Every little princess should have a tea party, may it be big or small.  I am six months pregnant and have been quite ill for the majority of the time.  I have felt so guilty about not being able to do much with my three year old I felt we needed to have a little tea party for her to meet a couple of the girls around us.  She was in seventh heaven while I was making all the little treats and when the girls all came in their pretty dresses.  It warmed my heart to see her love every moment and I cannot wait to build more memories as the years go by.

  


















    We had tea sandwhiches, fruit, and veggies.  Then Mini cupcakes and rice treats, along with Lemon tea and Lemonade.  The theme was flowers and butterflies with tons of pink.  Each girl got to paint a butterfly picture frame which was so much fun to see their creative side. 
I am so blessed to be a mom of a great little girl and cannot wait for more smiles and tea parties!!

Blueberry Scones

Oh me, Oh my I found this scone recipe that was so yummy, I just have to share with you all.  I got the basic recipe from "Moneysavingmom.com" but changed a few things to make it just a little better.

Pre-heat oven to 400.
Blueberry Scone ingredients:

2 cups unbleached flour (you can use white, wheat, or gluten free)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg separated
3 Tablespoons honey
1/2 cup buttermilk ( if you do not have use 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice)
1/2 - 1 cup blueberries ( I do not like a ton of berries so I use 1/2 cup but I know some of you love tons of berries)
1/3 cup brown sugar
Cinnamon

Glaze:
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon Almond extract
4 tablespoons powder sugar ( if you glaze is to runny for you just add a bit more sugar till it is as thick as you like.)

Directions:
1.  In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in the cold butter with two forks or a pasty cutter until mixture is crumbly.
2.  In a small bowl combine the egg YOLK ( put the white to the side as you will need it later), honey, and buttermilk or milk and lemon juice.  I did not have buttermilk so I did the alternative and it turned out great.
3. Once liquid is mixed well add to the dry bowl and combine to make a dough ball ( it will still be a little crumbly)
4.  Add the blueberries and mix in carefully with your hands.
5.  Get out a cookie sheet and spray with spray oil.  Place scone dough in the center of the pan and flatten into a circle with your hands.  It will not need to be perfect or thin.
6. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the top.
7. Cut the dough into eight pieces (I used a pizza cutter but a knife will work great also) and separate just a little so they cook all the way around each piece. 
8.  Cook for 15 minutes  (check that it is cooked all the way through, mine took a little more time because my oven is never up to the right temp)

9.  In a little bowl combine the Glaze ingredients until the thickness you like for a glaze.
10.  Add glaze to the top of each scone and some extra Blueberries.  Eat while warm or if you like them cold they are just as yummy!!!

Colorful Easter cupcakes

     April is here and that means baby chicks are hatching!  I wanted to make very colorful cupcakes for Easter that had birds nests and baby chicks. Not only are the tops colorful but the inside is also very colorful with a rainbow cake.  My daughter loved the surprise of the rainbow and wanted to give them to all her friends around the area.

       Let us get started with a simple vanilla cake batter:  Oven 350 degrees, bake for 12-15 minutes

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 med. sized eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk

1. In an electric mixer cream together the butter and sugar for about three minutes.  You want this to be very fluffy.
2. Use a spatula to scrap the edges and then cream in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla once the eggs are well incorporated.
3.  In a small mixing bowl combine: flour, baking powder, and salt
4.  Slowly add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the cake batter, then add 1/3 of the milk combine well. Repeat this step till the flour and milk are all combined.
5. Divide the batter into four smaller bowls to color. Chose four food colors that remind you of spring.  Add just a small amount to the bowls and mix until well incorporated.
6. In four different gallon zip lock bags add the cake batters, also put cupcake wrappers into the cupcake pan.

7.  Snip off the corners of the bags to pipe batter into the cupcake wrappers.  I made different color patterns so they would be different.

8.  Bake, allow to cool, and decorate!!!

BIRD'S NEST

        Oh these were so much fun to make!!  Rice treat nests with a little chocolate drizzle and Easter chocolate eggs made these nests a great topping for the rainbow cupcakes.
Follow the instructions on the box on how to make rice treats.  I bought the chocolate covered rice cereal to make the nests look more like a real nest.
I used melting chocolate as a drizzle for the inside of the nest to look like sticks also to help hold the eggs in the nest.  Once put all together place in the fridge for a few moments to help set the chocolate.
Pipe a little bit of green butter cream frosting to the top of the rainbow cupcake and then add the birds nest.  Your family and friends will love your creative cupcakes!!

A Red Carpet Affair

Just before Thanksgiving I was asked to make treats for a young ladies birthday party.  A Red Carpet affair was the theme and her mom did an amazing job putting this party together.  Follow along as I walk you through the party and then the treats.  I absolutely love planning and attending parties that are creative!!  This party was designed for 9-10 year old but my 3 year old just loved every moment of being a star.
When we arrived at the party we got to walk down a red carpet lined with chairs in wait for the fashion show. 

Once you entered the party a room was set up for make-overs and a photo shoot.  Each girl also received her own tube of lip stick which I was not so keen on for my three year old but she just loves to put it on so who can say no?? :)

As you went though the house there was a popcorn/snack station, face mask craft table, and talent show stage.  Along the floor each child who attended the party also had a star on the floor with their name on it.

Once the kids where full of tons of sugar they went outside for a fashion show. (there where many props for them to use during the walk)  My Little Olivia just became a right out diva for this walk way show. Just look at her in the picture....LOL

Now that we covered the party let us look at the treats what I was honored to make:
The cake was a red carpet cake with stars everywhere and the birthday girls age on the top.  It was a yellow cake with a choc. chip cookie dough filling

The cupcakes had a simple design but a fun filled frosting.  Yellow cake with nerd filled frosting and a yellow(white) chocolate star and white peals on top.

The three smaller treats where cake pops, Star sugar cookies (which I failed to take a picture of sorry), and chocolate dipped, cream cheese filled strawberries (the birthday girl's favorite)

Thank you Hannah for inviting us to your wonderful party and allowing me the honor of making your treats!!!