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.

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.






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!

Wedding Cake

White lace wedding cake with white garden rose, and pink fondant accents

Another Wedding Cake

I hand-painted the gold detail on this cake.  This one was a lot of fun to do.  I wanted the gold circles to have a hammered look, so I used a round tool to press the divots.  The lighter green strips were rolled on an impression mat for their design.  For the darker green strips, I used a small paring knife to give it a ribbed look.

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.

Wedding Cake

There's nothing like having creative freedom in the cake designing business.  I wanted to create something simple and streamlined for this cake, yet I wanted each tier to be different from the next.  I had found a ribbon in a beautiful shade of purple, and based the cake's design off of that.  How lucky was I to have found some hydrangeas in the same shade?!

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!

Wedding Cake

Buttercream wedding cake, with swirl detail.  Simple, yet beautiful!

Whimsical Cake

I was asked to make a high school graduation/prom cake, with champagne glasses and bubbles on it.  I twisted some wire, and rolled balls of fondant in shimmer dust to give it a sparkle effect.  The silver balls, silver stripes, and silver top tier all had to be hand-painted with real silver flakes.  I have to say, it was much fancier than any cake I ever recieved in high school!

Cherry Blossom Wedding Cake

To create the cherry blossoms for this cake, I wrapped florist tape around wire, then curved it around the cake.  The gum paste blossoms and orchids were hand-dusted to match the colors of the wedding party.