Primrose Cake Pops

Kari and her husband Chad celebrated the adoption of their daughter, Primrose, this week.  She is an absolutely beautiful little girl, who I'm told has an absolutely beautiful disposition.  They are most certainly blessed!  To help celebrate, our mutual friend Erin ordered cake pops.  I was told that they had to be pink, pink and more pink with bling if I had it!  Kari also likes fruity flavored cakes, so I chose strawberry cake as the cake pop flavor.  

On half of the cake pops, I decorated them with royal icing primroses.  Appropriate, eh?!

 On the other half of the cake pops, I decorated them with varying shades of pink "p's".

And I wrapped them and tied them up with a few shades of pink ribbon.

I hope that Kari, Chad, Primrose and the rest of their family had a wonderful celebration!  I wish them all the best (and I can't wait to officially meet baby Primrose!)!!!  Congratulations!!!!!

Thankful for Turkey Cake Pops

Last year around this time, MY cake decorating instructor, Karen, came over and provided a demonstration to me and some of my cake classmates on how to make cake pops.  One of the cake pops we made was one that looked a lot like my turkey below.

So, I was asked by Ben Franklin to do a demo on cake pops in the store on Saturday and I thought that this being Thanksgiving week, what a great cake pop to make!  And perhaps you can try these with your families this week!

 
So, after the cake pops are dipped in chocolate, you add two preztel legs,

 two candy eyes,

 4-5 candy corn feathers,

and an orange and red rainbow chip sprinkle. 

I LOVE how ridiculously silly they look.  I just laugh at them!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!!

Callie's Owl-stravaganza!!!

One of my very best friends in the whole wide world, Stacy, was planning a 1st birthday party for her beautiful daughter, Callie.  She asked me to do Callie's cake and gave me PLENTY of notice (which I always appreciate), and Stacy included me in her brainstorming ideas for the party (which was also super fun).  It was neat to listen to all of Stacy's fantastic ideas and her amazing vision turn into such a beautiful party.  

She decided to go with an owl theme for Callie's party.  The colors she found herself drawn to were bright pink and orange.  She researched high and low to find the "right" items for the party, which included making her own items (the masks and the owl pillows seen below) and ordering banners and signs from an artist on etsty.com.  Here's the picture she gave me for inspiration for the cake. 

Stacy wanted an two-tiered cake and we discussed ideas and exchanged thoughts back and forth.  She ultimately gave me creative freedom and I took it.  In the final hour, I decided to make the two-tiered cake a topsy-turvy cake, just for fun!  The owls and the color-schemed screamed "whimsical" to me and the topsy-turvy was then justified. 

But first came the owl topper.  Sculpted out of rice krispies and covered in gum paste and fondant. 

I wanted the owl to look as though it was sitting in a nest on top of a tree.  The nest was designed to be Callie's smash cake (but we decided on a cupcake at the party...more on that later).

The top tier of the cake was a yellow cake with buttercream and strawberry preserve filling.  The bottom tier of the cake was a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge, buttercream and Oreo filling.  (Best.Flavor.Combination.Ever!  Totally MY favorite!)

Stacy also requested soy, dairy and gluten-free cupcakes for the party due to some dietary restrictions.  She provided the cupcake mix and I baked them and decorated them with 7-minute frosting; a very marshmallow-y, light and sweet topping!

 And here's what the cake and cupcakes looked like at their destination. 

We're getting ready to sing Happy Birthday to Callie.  Here's her smash cake. 

And here's the adorable Callie!  A cute little princess, indeed!

After Callie's adventure, I carved up the cake.  A rare moment when I actually get to see the cake cut and served.  Here's what it looked like on the inside.  YUM!

Dear Callie - I hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration!  I'm so thankful I got to be a part of your special day!  I look forward to celebrating many more with you!

Halloween Cake Pops

I volunteered to bring some yummy treats to Josie's Halloween party today.  These types of parties are exactly why I took the cake decorating classes to begin with.  Josie was able to help me in the kitchen for these because they were for her, not a client, per se.  And she was SO excited to dig in make something fun. 

We were going to make pumpkin cake pops, that is, cake pops shaped like pumpkins.  Josie wanted to the batter to be green so she helped me color it appropriately. 

After the cake baked, I took it from there.  I molded them, dipped them, rolled them, decorated them and wrapped them for her special occasion, and here's what they looked like. 



Josie, dressed up as Izzy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, takes the first bite at her party.  Ca-RUNCH!

 Coooooool!  It's GREEN inside! 

As completely time-consuming and labor-intensive as Cake Pops are, I really think they're fun and festive.  Happy Halloween, Everyone!



Christmas is for Kids...An October Cake

My mom's office always does a huge fundraiser for the organization Christmas is for Kids.  They fundraise by holding an auction and all of the proceeds go to helping those less fortunate.  I donated a cake for the cause and the recipient requested a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and "Fall colors" to decorate the cake.  Here's the finished product.

Happy Birthday, Joan!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

I had a lot of fun planning my Mom's birthday treats.  She's so funny because she wants a Cake Mama cake, but she doesn't want me to work so hard, but she really wants a fun treat, but she doesn't want me to stress about it, but it would be nice to have cake, but I shouldn't spend too much time on it...  I could go on for days like this!  She's a wonderful mom and deserves a nice treat from me.  Quite frankly, it's the least I could do for her for all she does for me.

So, a few days before her birthday, I gave her a package of cake pops for her to share with her friends.  She brought some up to share with her mom and friends and a few days later she had coffee with "the girls" and had a great time sharing. 

Then, to celebrate her birthday, I made her favorite cake.  She absolutely LOVES poppy seed cake with 7-minute frosting.  I added some lemon syrup to the cake and lemon curd filling to make this a lemony-moist treat.  Because she wanted it simply decorated, I added the lemon candies for some color. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!  Thanks for all you do for us!

Boop-Boop-A-Doop!

My wonderful friend Erin's mom was retiring from her role that she's had for 35 years.  Erin wanted to celebrate this wonderful occasion with a cake and asked me to make one for her. 

The flavor of the cake changed a few times before she settled on red velvet.  Seriously...it's SO good!  The cream cheese frosting is the creamiest, melt-in-your-mouth sort of frosting.  I was really excited to bake this for her.

Then Erin said that she just wanted "Happy Retirement" or something written on it.  But after talking with her mom, she discovered that her mom wanted a Betty Boop cake.  This was a shock to Erin, as her mom has never mentioned Betty Boop...ever.  But nevertheless, that was what she wanted.   We've all had a pretty good laugh about this;  Erin's mom, Sheila, is a real hoot!

So, here's the cake I made to celebrate her retirement. 

This is a red velvet cake with the creamiest cream cheese frosting.   Betty Boop and the border are made from chocolate cream cheese frosting, and the lettering is a gum paste/fondant mix. 

And here's Sheila with her cake.  (LOVE the glasses!!!)

Sheila - I hope that you enjoy your retirement and all of the new experiences coming your way!