A Wedding

When a dear friend of mine asked me to create her wedding cake, I was honored.  Hers was easily one of my favorite designs to date, not only because of the obvious emotional investment I had with her cake, but also because she gave me free reign over the design.

To help save some money, we created a unique cake that was a three-tiered beauty - consisting of two faux bottom tiers, and a top tier of deliciously moist carrot cake, with a rich cinnamon cream cheese frosting.  I covered all three tiers in ivory fondant, and then painted the cake with an edible gold shimmer paint.  I tinted some gum paste to match, and created about a million flower petals, to give it soft, delicate petals flowing down the cake.

The guests were served cupcakes, and I created fondant lace disks in the four different colors of the bridal party to top each flavor of cupcake.  They are (from left to right): chocolate cupcakes with Kahlua buttercream; almond cupcakes with rapsberry buttercream; chocolate cupcakes with chocolate espresso ganache filling and chocolate mousse buttercream; and red velvet cupcakes with vanilla bean filling and frosting.

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-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.

Everything Coming Up Roses

A customer ordered some cupcakes for Mother's Day.  Nothing fancy, just some delicious cupcakes.  I wanted to do something to make them special, so I frosted them using a slightly different technique - rather than frosting from the outside-in, I reversed the direction, going from the inside-out.  Thus creating an effect that looked like roses!  And what mother doesn't want a dozen roses for Mother's Day?!

 

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

Maple Cupcakes

I love maple.  I'm talking REAL maple, not the cheap syrup from the supermarket.  Not that there's anything wrong with those.  I have very fond memories of drowning my pancakes and waffles in gobs of cheap syrup.  Yum.  

These, ladies and gents, are maple cupcakes, inspired by a hankering I had for some maple something-or-other.  I pondered whether or not to add bacon on the top...But since I didn't have any on hand, I really didn't feel like going out to the store just to get some bacon! 

Maple cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting.  So divine!

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!

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!

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!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

For the chocolate-lover who just likes things simple.  Super moist and flavorful chocolate cupcakes, with a rich chocolate ganache frosting on top.  Why?  Because!  A girl's got to have chocolate!

Rubber Ducky!

I learned about piping gel and painting with real silver flakes the same morning.  The result was this oh-so-cute duck.  The tub was made out of two jumbo-sized cupcakes placed side by side, which was then covered in white fondant.  I added some blue dye to the piping gel, and texurized it to make it look like water in a tub.

Barbie Cupcake

Matel came out with a retro design to celebrate Barbie's birthday.  In honor of that, a friend asked me to make her mom a special mini-cake for Mother's Day. I piped Barbie's silouette with black royal icing, and then drew her name.  It was a fun challenge!

Strawberry Cupcakes

For the strawberry lovers!  These cupcakes are seasonal, because we only use fresh strawberries in them.  I tried frozen once, and the outcome left something to be desired!  Sure makes a wonderfully refreshing summer treat!

Mocha Cupcakes

Espresso cupcakes with mocha Swiss meringue frosting!

Soccer Cupcakes

My kids get to have the coolest cupcakes at their end of season soccer parties.  I rolled whit fondant to shape the balls, then cut out black fondant to add the detail.  The grass is just buttercream that I colored green.  They were thrilled!

I also had the opportunity to make some cupcakes for a grand opening event for the Long Beach Futsal Indoor Soccer arena.  Thank you to the Caparelli family for letting me help them celebrate their big day!

 

Christmas Cupcakes

Santa and Rudolph faces were cut out of fondant then decorated with white melted chocolate of different colors.  Rudolph's nose is a red hot

Rudolph and Clarisse cupcakes were covered and decorated in fondant.  Pearlized sugar dragees were used for Clarisse's polka dots!

Snowflake made out of white chocolate

Ornaments made out of fondant, and detailed with white chocolate

Snowglobe made out of fondant and hand-painted detail.