Summer Time and the Livin' is Easy... Kind of...

Wooosh! The last time I posted was March? My sincerest sugar-filled apologies...

Wishing everyone a very belated and very happy Summer!

I have made several cakes since I last posted, most not this Summer... It has been a pretty busy past couple of months. Time to step away from the real world and get back to my world of flour and fancy (finally)! Nonetheless, Summer is not over yet and my head is full of ideas that I've been waiting to try out... No better time!

Until then check out the last couple things I've made:

Play Station 3 cake

Two Peas in a Pod cake

Birthday Cake

I also tried my hand at a mille feuille (napoleon) cake, let's just say that I have yet to conquer French pasteries... It was delicious but the pastery cream texture did not come out right. Practice makes perfect...

Ciao for now!

Edible Arrangements... Cupcake style.

My ideas just seem to be in full bloom this Spring...

As I was watching television, a commercial for Edible Arrangements came on and an idea came in my head... These arrangements sure are delicious, but they don't last much longer than flowers, if they last that long in the first place. The new craze in the country seems to be cupcakes so I thought it would be an ingenious idea to put the two together and make cupcake bouquets.

I decided to make mini cupcakes for the bouquet for several reasons:

-They are bite size.

- A lot more can fit in one vase making the bouquet look full.

- Normal cupcakes would be too heavy.

- Lastly, a lot more can be made from one batch of batter.

To make them absolutely delicious I decided to use a butter cream frosting instead of my usual fondant. I don't have that much experience with piping bags so I was a little worried but I was able to flow with it pretty well.

Here are the cupcakes alone:

Here is the bouquet:

These can be made in any color of your choice, and are great for birthdays, mother's day or are just a cute way to make a person smile (and keep smiling). The frosting is can be vanilla, strawberry or cream cheese. The cake can be made in a flavor of your choice but lighter colors look better.

A Quick & Unexpected Little Workout

I am a true believer that the only way to succeed at anything is through trial and error. This weekend definitely provided for some good trial... and error. A close friend asked to help out in making her first as I like to call it... "artist cake" or traditionally known as custom cake.

The plan: make a workout themed cake - two free weights, simple round cakes with holes in the middle using butter cream icing as the coating. The filling: German Chocolate, the recipient's favorite.

After a couple hours of work the cake was not coming out as she expected so I offered to take it home and take the cake up a couple notches.

The new plan: Still a workout themed cake, this time with one free weight and one dumbbell. The filling: German chocolate cake and frosting.

The problem: This was my second experience making a 3D cake. Because of the unexpected decision to make the cake and next day due date it was also the first time I've ever made a cake without a sketch. YIKES.

It all doesn't sound like the best combination, right? Well, in my mind when baking, there is no better time than to start learning than ... anytime. It took a couple hours but I made my first 3D ALL CAKE model of a dumbbell this weekend! I will be the first to admit that it was not my best work but as a wise woman told me this weekend " come on now, how pretty can you make a weight set?". It is, what it is, I tried my best and am very proud of my accomplishment this week (with the aid of my little helper).

So close your eyes...Voila here it is...

Baby Cakes and Little Pieces of Heaven

To all my little cupcakes out there,

This is OFFICIALLY my first step towards the sweet life. I decided to take on something a little more challenging than just your normal everyday cake, though you can be reassured that there will be much dabbling in that field soon to come.

This weekend I tried my hand at making a baby girl cake. I wanted to create a full bodied baby girl, that tasted as cute and scrumptious as it looked. Seeing that my past adventures into fondant weren't half bad I decided to use it for the baby. The inside was milk chocolate butter cream icing and vanilla cake. Check it out, Let me know what you think!

Now tell me that's not the cutest edible thing you've ever seen? I'm still mastering the art of fondant but this wasn't too bad of a start.

Little Pieces of Heaven

This weekend I also decided to make one of my new favorite quick and simple treats, Cake Bonbons! They are candy coated cake & frosting balls and YES they are as delicious as they sound. They can be made in any color & flavor that you chose. These below are vanilla cake covered in pink white chocolate and were a hit at the baby shower.

Other yummy combinations:

- Red velvet & cream cheese frosting covered in white chocolate

- Fudge cake covered in milk chocolate

- Carrot cake covered in vanilla candy