Carnival!

I had the pleasure of creating Carnival-themed cupcake toppers for a family reunion.  As visions of sequins, feathers, and masks danced in my head, I created four very unique toppers for them to choose from.  Each mas was piped with different colors and designs, and hand-painted with luster dust to make them sparkle.

Can you guess which ones they chose?

Simple Cupcakes

Just another picture of some simple cupcakes.  Red velvet, with vanilla bean cream cheese filling and frosting; and chocolate banana pudding cupcakes - banana cupcakes, with rich chocolate buttercream, and a Nilla wafer and banana on top!

A Sweet Baby Shower

We threw a co-worker a small baby shower before she went on maternity leave.  After two boys, she was so excited to have a little girl to dote after.

I thought it fitting that she should get a frilly cake!  I covered a red velvet cake in ivory fondant, and sprinkled white sugar crystals on top of it.  I then made small, thin strips of pink fondant petals to create the flower.  I was pleased with the results!

Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake.  I realize I may be in the minority with this one, but I love the spiciness moist goodness that is carrot cake.  Slathered in delightful cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and it is absolutely heavenly.






A-Mazing Cupcakes!

I stumbled across these cupcakes completely by accident.  While brain-storming for an upcoming baby shower, I wanted to give the mom-to-be a cupcake flavor that was unique.  It was a summer shower (yes, I know I'm late in my posting), and I had strawberries coming out my nose in my house.  As I was munching on a barbequed peach (if you haven't tried this, you must), and slicing up some strawberries for my kids, it hit me - one of my most favorite classic desserts is cobbler.  All year long, there are various fruits that can be thrown into this comforting sweet treat.  Why not combine the strawberries and peaches, and make a cobbler cupcake?!

Behold, the peach-strawberry cobbler cupcake, with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and brown sugar sprinkled on top.  And blue sprinkles to match the colors of the baby shower. 

Bowling Birthday Party

A friend's little boy was having a birthday party at a bowling alley, and asked if I could create a cake that would fit with that theme.  I had so much fun coming up with this one!  They only wanted a small personal cake for the birthday boy, and cupcakes for his guests.  I made bowling pins and balls out of fondant for cupcake toppers. 

Cupcake flavors (from left to right) are: banana cupcakes with honey-cinnamon cream cheese frosting; chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream; and lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting.

Baby Shower for Liam!

A fun cake for a friend's baby shower.

1st Birthday Smash Cake

Our family grew by two last summer when we added two foster children into our clan.  On Payton's first birthday, we wanted to give him a safari-themed birthday party, and this smash cake was just for him. 

Batman and Robin Party!

Oh, how I love little boys!  My boys celebrate their birthdays together.  Their likes and interests change rapidly, but their obsession with the old Adam West Batman and Robin series has stuck for nearly a year now.  For their birthdays, all they wanted was Batman and Robin cake pops.  I was happy to oblige!

Lady Bugs!

I love Spring - the way the weather slowly changes, my favorite flowers coming to bloom, the warm (but not hot!) weather that just SCREAMS for you to sit and soak up.  I couldn't resist making some lady bug cupcakes to celebrate the coming of Spring!

 

A Princess Party

Circle of Hope Breast Cancer Fundraiser

A friend from the MOMS Club in Castaic, CA asked me to participate in a fundraiser over the weekend for Circle of Hope.  Because this is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart, I jumped at the chance to help this group of moms raise money for this charity.  Here are some pictures of the cupcakes and cake pops that they sold.

Pink cake pops were red velvet, with cream cheese frosting, dipped in pink white chocolate, and drizzled with white chocolate.  I used white dusting sugar to give them an extra something special.  White cake pops were chocolate espresso, with chocolate Kahlua buttercream frosting, dipped and drizzled with white chocolate, and dusted with pink dusting sugar.

Chocolate cupcakes with a mini peanut butter cup baked right inside, and peanut butter cream cheese frosting.  Because the fundraiser was for a breast cancer charity, I wanted to stick with the pink theme, so I rolled pink fondant on top of a lace impression mold, and used a circular cutter to cut the disks out of it.  Then I dusted them with shimmery luster dust to give it a sparkle.

Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  I made the pink ribbon out of fondant, and used edible glitter to make it sparkle.  Too bad it didn't come out in the picture!

And my favorite - strawberry lemon drop cupcakes, with lemon drop frosting and fresh strawberry sauce drizzled on top!  That's right, lemon drop - like the drink!  I had a few extra cupcakes leftover, and ate them for breakfast as a muffin the next morning!  The Vodka really enhanced the strawberry and lemon flavors in the cupcake and frosting.  So delicious!  I sprinkled pearlized sugar dragees on top.

100% of the proceeds from our donation went to Circle of Hope.  Thanks to MOMS Club for inviting us to participate in such an important event!

Rustic Cakes

Here at Joybug Bakery, we receive many inquiries for cakes.  While my passion is with designing and creating unique wedding cakes, I felt we needed to be able to come up with some designs that would fit in our more frugal clientele's budgets.  I have seen a technique around quite a lot lately, and started asking questions.  After taking an AMAZING class with a friend of mine, she helped me perfect the ruffled buttercream technique pictured below.

Chocolate Mexican Cake

I was asked to create a unique cake for a birthday get-together.  Nothing fancy - just something  tasty.  I can do tasty!  I decided on my no-fail chocolate cake, which I filled with a rich chocolate chili ganache frosting, and then frosted the outside of the cake in chocolate ganache.  The cake had so much flavor, and just the right amount of punch to it with the chili.  It was a huge hit!

A Sampling of Flavors

These cupcakes were for a sampling I did.  Brown sugar cupcakes, with a chocolate peanut butter ganache filling, peanut butter cream cheese frosting, and a caramel sauce drizzled on top.  We also have chocolate espresso cupcakes, with chocolate ganache filling, chocolate Kahlua ganache frosting, and cocoa nibblets.  The feedback?  The best cupcakes they'd ever tasted!

Cake Pops

I love how crazy my clients go for cake pops (alternately called "Galie-pops" by friends and family!).  Cake pops can be a fun alternative to cupcakes. They are cake crumbs rolled into a ball, poked with a stick, and then dipped in colored white chocolate.  They can be drizzled with more chocolate, covered in sprinkles - or left alone, which is just fine, too!  Cake pops are perfect for just a little something sweet, when you don't want a whole cupcake or a cake.  After all, who can resist bite-sized cake on a stick?

White chocolate can be colored to match the colors in your event.  We hand select ribbons to coordinate as well.

Cupcakes

Red velvet and chocolate cupcakes, with small fondant flower accent.  Which is your favorite picture?

Thanks to my friend JC Salazar for the pictures! (Isn't he AMAZING?!)

Cupcakes

When a friend asked me last-minute to provide a dozen cupcakes for a bridal shower she was hosting, I had a moment of panic.  A bridal shower!  Those are special momentous occasions!  I decided on simple, yet flavorful buttermilk cupcakes, which was paired with a rich chocolte ganache frosting.  I didn't have a lot of information to go off of, only a black and red color scheme.  I chose a gauzy red ribbon to wrap around the cupcakes, and sprinkled some pearlized sugar dragees on top of the frosting.  To give them an extra feminine flair, I added a small fondant flower to each cupcake.  The results were beautiful and simple cupcakes that made the bride oh so happy!

You Ain't Nuthin' But a Hound Dog...

How can you say no when someone asks you to make a cake with The King on it?  The palm trees and coconuts were waaaaaay too much fun!

Zebra Print Gift Box Cake

A popular design, and a favorite of mine in the novelty genre.  Zebra-print cake!