Monkey's Galore

These cakes and cupcakes were for Jaxson's 1st Birthday. The theme of his birthday party was monkeys, so monkey cakes and cupcakes were a must. 

The smaller blue cake was Jaxson's own cake to devour, while the larger green cake and cupcakes were for all of the guests. The cakes and cupcakes were yellow cake with brightly colored vanilla buttercream frosting. I used fondant to create all the monkeys and thanks to Jaxson's mom, Kellee, I discovered that chocolate fondant does exist. And let me tell you, it smells wonderful!!!

Miss Madison's 1st Birthday

My beautiful niece, Miss Madison, turned one in September and on her 1st birthday she needed to have a cake that was as beautiful as her. So here it is . . . 

Each tier was a different flavor because I couldn't decide on just one. The bottom tier was a chocolate cake layered with vanilla buttercream and mini chocolate chips. The middle tier was a yellow cake with layers of fudge frosting and raspberry jam. And the top tier, which was entirely for Miss Madison to devour, was red velvet with pink cream cheese frosting. Of course I made it so Miss Madison's portion was the messiest!!!

I used fondant for all the decorations, including all of the flowers. The monogram letter I actually found at A.C. Moore and thought it would be the perfect topper for the cake. 

With the leftover batter from each of the tiers I made cupcakes too. And because three types of cake weren't enough, I made a batch of pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting too. This is how it looked when it was all set up . . .

Miss Madison had a wonderful time at her party and thoroughly enjoyed the top tier of the cake. She daintily pulled of each fondant flower and polka dot, eating one at a time. I guess she knew that her Aunt Rachel spent a lot of time on them!!!

Isn't she a cutie???

Easter 2011

As usual, my family and I would go over to Dr. Fuller's house for Easter. Here are pictures of all the treats I made last year. 

Here is a strawberry shortcake. I have never been a big fan of strawberry shortcakes, but everyone seems to love them and always want me to make them. 

This next cake was for Jane's birthday. It was a whipped cream cake with a raspberry buttercream filling. I used fondant for the decorations and had lots of fun cutting out flowers!!!

Below, is the infamous berry trifle. Years ago, I threw together a trifle with pound cake, creme anglaise, fresh berries, and whipped cream; it has been a Easter staple ever since.

Next is a carrot cake. Once I stumbled upon this recipe, no other carrot cake can compare. I have made it for years and it turns out wonderfully every time.

And last, but not least, is the cheesecake. A cheesecake must be made for all holidays otherwise Grandma Theresa will yell at me. And it has to be a plain cheesecake. I made the mistake of making a gingerbread cheesecake once for Christmas. I never heard the end of it. Grandma wants her cheesecake and it better be the plain, traditional one. Don't ever forget it!!!

One More Valentine's Day Creation

Here was another Valentine's Day cake I made this past year. This one was for a school project. We had to make a celebration cake. I chose to make a cake that celebrated Valentine's Day.

Unfortunately the food color we had at school was really old and didn't color fondant too well so I wound up with a dull colored cake. The design was still cute though! And although you can't see from the picture, I used lace doilies to give texture to the fondant hearts and little candy hearts with cute sayings on them. If only the colors had been more vibrant!!!

Valentines Day Creations

While I was still in school, I made some cakes, cupcakes, and cookies for a local bakery. The bakery was very small and the owner let me have free reign with the items I made. The items were made in my little 400 square foot apartment and then hand carried to the bakery, by myself, which was about four blocks away. Let's just say that I got pretty good at balancing cake boxes :)

This first cake was a rich devil's food cake filled with a nutella mousse and topped with ganache. Nutella is one of my favorite foods (yes, I eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon) and I try to incorporate it into as many cakes and cookies as possible. The chocolatey-hazelnut flavor is so yummy. If you've never had it, you need to go buy a jar immediately!!!

These heart-shaped cookies were made out of a sugar cookie dough and then just drizzled with some pink powdered sugar icing. My apartment smelled so good the day I made these. There is nothing better than the smell of sugar cookies in the oven.

This heart cake was another devil's food cake. It was covered in ganache and heart-shaped sprinkles.

These were wacky cake cupcakes with pink vanilla buttercream piped on top. I make these all the time!!!!

This pink cake was another wacky cake with pink vanilla buttercream. I believe I filled the layers with raspberry jam too. 

This white cake was an Italian cream cake with cream cheese icing. Although it is hard to see from the picture, I piped three hearts on the left side and sprinkled them with some red jimmies. 

I love stocking up on cake decorating supplies around Valentines Day. Everything is super cute and can be used for more than just one holiday. I usually stock up on cupcake liners and sprinkles, since they sell the most adorable ones this time of year :)

Mini Gingerbread Cheesecakes

While I was still in school we had a pastry showcase as our practical final. I believe the name of the showcase was "Fall out of Fall" and each of us in the pastry class had to make a seasonal dessert/pastry for thirty people. I chose to make miniature gingerbread cheesecakes with little gingerbread cookies on top. Here is what they turned out to be:

The cheesecake crust was made from gingerbread cookies (home-made of course) that I crushed up in a food processor. The cheesecake batter was pretty standard. I just added some molasses and spices to make it gingerbread flavored. I have to say that this is one of my favorite non-traditional cheesecake flavors. 

This is how the miniature cheesecakes were displayed in the showcase; and yes, the gingerbread house was completely edible.

Here is a close up of the house. This gingerbread house came in a kit that I bought from Michaels. The kit came with all the pieces that I had to glue together. Then I had fun decorating the house. These kits are a great activity for kids and always wind up looking really cute :)

Speedy Birthday Cakes

Don't you love when you get a call from a friend the day before their birthday asking if you can make them a cake??? Well, that is exactly what happened with these next two cakes. 

This first cake, I believe was a wacky cake, and took me about one hour to make, bake, and decorate. I whipped up the batter, threw it in the oven, baked it, and then put it outside to cool. I remember it was cold after sitting outside for only fifteen minutes and I was truly amazed. I've never had a cake cool down that fast. About ten minutes to decorate and into the box it went. 

This pink and orange cake was made for Mallary (one of my boyfriend's college friends). I had no idea what colors she liked and somehow I read her mind because pink and orange are her favorite colors. Maybe I'm psychic. Anyways, this cake was another one that I needed to make in two hours and I think it turned out pretty cute.