It's a Girl!

So my family planned a small shower for a cousin, and I was asked to make the cake. We know the baby will be a girl...so I bought all of the pink food coloring gel I could get my hands on and got started!

Cupcakes have been popular lately so I wantred to incorporate cupcakes with a little cake, like a tower. I figured people would be more inclined to grab a cupcake, especially if I made minis and regular sized 'cakes. Here's what I came up with for the cupcake tower:

The cupcakes were chocolate and strawberry with vanilla buttercream. I found these super cute toppers from Party City and spread them out over each...they really helped complete the look!

I thought my plain 4-tier display needed a little something extra, so I added a little ribbon to two of the layers...so fun! The cake was just a 6" round yellow cake, filled and topped with vanilla buttercream. I took some fondant and cut out some fun, groovy flowers and created a cascade around the top and down the side. It added the right feminine touch and really topped off the tower of cupcakes well!

As if I could stop there...I took some of the same ribbon, wrapped it around two pretty glass vases and filled them with...what else? Cupcake lollipops! I melted some white chocolate and candy coating, dunked balls of vanilla cake and decorated with white/pink sprinkles and shaved coconut. They turned out to be the biggest hit! Who doesn't want dessert on a stick?

Graducupcake!

So, Jeff got me a special mold for my birthday last year...the Big Top Cupcake. I had been curious to try it out, but was so nervous because of the strange shape. How would it bake in the oven? How do I know it's done-done? Oh, the torturous thoughts of a baker.
Fast forward to last week. I got a cupcake cake order! A cupcake lover was graduating U of C business school and so, a giant cupcake was ordered.

I had so much fun! I was super nervous baking it (took over an hour!) but it came out just fine. I layered the batter--chocolate and vanilla--so when you cut it open, it would look really funky. Toying around with piping tips, I piped a buttercup yellow tinted buttercream for the cupcake liner. I was going to smooth it out, but the larger round tip worked well to develop the texture I was looking for. I used a large star tip for the top frosting and placed huge star sprinkles around the frosting. Thanks, Party City, for having a graduation cap!! It was perfect for the top :)

What's a 70's Party without a Disco Ball?!

So, I was asked to make mini cupcakes for a 70's party. Needless to say, I had to google what the heck was popular in the 70's. Here's what I found:

• Smiley Faces



• Disco



• Rubics Cube



• Pet Rocks



• Platform Shoes



• Mood Rings



• Afros
  

Uhh...what looks appetizing out of that list? Pet rock cupcake? I think not! So, I decided to make a plethora of minis: smileys, peace signs and disco. I made purple, avocado green, yellow, orange and pink colors...I figured I could take the colors of the 70's and make it fun.

Slapping a disco ball in the middle (thank you, Party City) made them more than festive for a house party in the suburbs. What a fun time!

Dinner for Dessert

I love tricking people. Typically, people don't like being tricked. Fortunately, when you trick people with cupcakes, they don't seem to get as upset.





Since my mom's been at the bank, she's hosted an annual HR lunch where she shows off her awesome Italian cooking skills. Who doesn't love a little hot lasagna in the middle of summer?? Well, this year I convinced her to let me make a silly dessert. And BOY is it silly!





Spaghetti and Meatballs!! A slight tint to white buttercream frosting makes the spaghetti look real, a few chocolate/hazelnut balls from the store and some strawberry preserves made this dessert look like another dinner course.





Sounded like my mom pulled it off, since people said they were too full for more pasta. Oh, what a trickster!

Corn isn't a Vegetable...it's a DESSERT!

I love corn-on-the-cob in the summer. Honestly, I don't believe it's summer until I have two things: 1) Nana's Italian Potato Salad and 2) corn-on-the-cob. Here's the twist I included in my 4th of July party this year: cupcakes!

It took about 3lbs of Jelly Belly's to make 7 corn-on-the-cobs! I was shocked at how many "kernels" fit on each cupcake. Needless to say, Tim was psyched. I put some Starburst yellow candies on them, smushing down the side to make it look like melting butter. People were afraid to eat them! Don't worry, they all went, eventually.

Summer is Here!

One of my FAVORITE flowers is the Sunflower. And one of my favorite dunking cookies is the all-American Oreo. So why not make Sunflower cupcakes with a yummy Oreo as the center? And why not include some lucky ladybugs!

The bugs are red M&M's with piped chocolate. The cupcakes are yellow and chocolate with buttercream filling. I piped the petals on with a leaf tip after I glued down the Oreo cookie.

These were for a family reunion at my aunt's house in Indiana. They seemed to love them! I had so much fun making these happy cupcakes, I couldn't help but smile the whole time! :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there. I love this holiday!

I wanted to make a mock Hostess Cupcake. Basically, I love the swirl on top. I can't tell you the last time I had a Hostess Cupcake, but I was sure I remembered it having a mashmellow-y filling. So I made marshmellow buttercream!

So, devil's food (dark chocolate) cucpakes, marshmellow buttercream filling and chocolate ganache on top! I got the seal of approval from all the moms at the Mother's Day celebration...and even an uncle or two.

Cupcake name: Hostess-of-the-Mostest Cupcakes!

My First Bridal Shower

Hi there! I'm still trying to get in the habit of actually posting.

Anyhoo, I was able to make 80+ cupcakes for a bridal shower. Her flowers are Calla Lilies, and her colors are purple and silver. Check out what I did! I molded the lilies out of vanilla fondant. The doo-dads on top are white chocolate molds ("S" monogram; I love monograms!).

The cupcakes were a triple-chocolate fudge, filled with chocolate buttercream. The flower cupcakes are french vanilla with vanilla buttercream. The frosting as alllll buttercream too!

They were a big hit! It's always flattering when people are afraid to touch something that's completely edible. :) I love my job!