Crunchy, Creamy Goodness

I love trying new ideas and combinations in my cupcakes, and these did not disappoint. My boys love, love, love Oreo cookies, so I decided to surprise them with these special cupcakes. I baked chocolate cupcakes, but for a little added surprise I pushed an Oreo cookie in the middle before baking them. The result was a nice, crunchy surprise when you bit into the cupcake. To make it even better, I crushed (more like pulverized) a couple of Oreo cookies and added them into my vanilla buttercream frosting. The overall effect was a handful of crunchy, creamy goodness that my boys loved!

Chocolate Cupcake with Cookies & Cream Buttercream Frosting

50th Birthday Cake

Recently, a friend of mine asked me to make a 50th birthday cake for his wife. He wanted something pretty and feminine, but I had a better idea. If there is one person I know who can appreciate a good gag, it's Cindy. I had a blast planning and making her 50th birthday coffin cake. And, like I anticipated, she loved it and thought it was hilarious. The inside of her coffin cake was a coconut cake with fresh strawberries in the middle, covered in chocolate buttercream frosting. It was oh so tasty.

Here lies Cindy's youth.

Rest In Peace, Youth!

Springtime Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes today because this ideas is too cute and too creative to let pass. Making the birds nests was a little messy, but I love the end result. The blue Peeps are my nod to Easter and the "bird's egg" jelly beans are perfect.

Birds nest cupcakes with Peeps and eggs

Bird's nest with eggs

So these cupcakes aren't only cute, they are also tasty. The cupcakes are yellow cake, which is a nice simple palette to pile on the flavor.  The frosting is a light, fresh lemon buttercream frosting that is so flavorful it reminds me of sipping lemonade outside on a warm day. The birds nest is created from chocolate chow mein noodles, which are quite yummy all on their own. The overall effect is a layering of separate yet delicious flavors that are perfect for springtime.

Pineapple Buttercream Frosting

These cupcakes are very tropical and fresh-tasking. The cupcakes are vanilla cupcakes soaked with pineapple juice. They are topped with pineapple buttercream that I made with crushed pineapples and pineapple juice. Biting into one of these cupcakes will send your tastebuds on a tropical vacation.

Who Built the Ark? I DID!

I am very excited to present to you my latest creation: A Noah's Ark Cake. Ta-dah! I made this cake for a friend's baby shower and was lucky enough to have her mom help me out with the baking because, as you can see, it was a lot of cake.  The cake itself is a coconut cake with a pineapple filling in the middle and coconut buttercream frosting on the outside. Very tropical and delicious.

This cake was very challenging to me. Not only was it a sculpted cake, I also had to cover a sheet cake larger than I've ever done before. I took a couple tries and the help of my husband and a friend, but we finally got it covered.  The ark was, of course, the most fun and the most challenging to make. I wanted to make sure it had a realistic look to it, so I added the wood grain texture and I cut planks instead of covering it in one solid sheet of brown fondant.

The animals were very fun, and I enjoyed picking out and bringing to life the animals I would have enjoyed seeing on the ark. It took me severals hours to create this masterpiece, and I'm sure I was just as proud as Noah was when he finished building his ark. The difference is, though, that in the end, I got to eat my ark.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Yumminess!

Reese's Peanut Butter cups are my all-time favorite candy. After a long, hard day when I crave something sweet to end the day on the right note, my go-to treat is always a peanut butter cup. The combination of sweet chocolate with savory peanut butter is hard to beat. That's why I just had to bake up some chocolate cupcakes this weekend when I came across a super simple and super delicious peanut butter frosting recipe this week.

I had to tweak the recipe a little (the original called for way too much sugar, in my opinion), and in the end, it came out so scrumptious, I ate way too many of these this weekend. This tried and true combination creates a simple and super delicious cupcake. YUM!

February Cakes

Blackberry Cupcakes

This scrumptious vanilla cupcake with blackberry cream cheese frosting tasted just as delicious as it looks. The frosting was made from fresh blackberries that I cooked down into a syrup and them mixed into the cream cheese frosting. I strained the seeds out, it was as smooth and creamy as it looks. I garnished the top with a blackberry that I covered in sugar. YUM!

Jimmy Choo Shoe Cake

I tried my hand at making a show cake this month. I knew it would be a challenge, but it was a challenge I was happy to take on and endeavor.  I had to create the pattern by hand first and then cut out the pieces. I enjoyed designing the shoe, and I think (hope) Jimmy Choo would be proud to have this label on such a pretty looking shoe. I know I'd buy it. :)

The shoe was made out of blue and tan gum paste with a white gum paste flower for decoration. The cake was covered in white fondant with violet fondant ribbon strips for decoration.  The cake itself was a classic yellow cake with a super yummy raspberry cream cheese frosting in-between the layers and underneath the fondant.  This is the same frosting recipe I used for the blackberry cupcakes only with raspberries instead of blackberries. Just as delicious and mouth-watering.

Welcome!

Hello! Welcome!

I'm so excited to welcome you to my NEW blog all about my adventures in cake decorating. I have loved decorating cakes since I took my first class at age 13. Unfortunately, my time in high school kept me too busy to grow my talent, and it wasn't until the birth of my first son that I got back into cake decorating. My friend, Amy, made a beautiful cake for Micah's baby shower, and I asked her to teach me how she did it. I have been decorating cakes for various occasions for the last three years, and my love of and excitement over decorating a new cakes only grows each time I get to create with fondant, gum paste, or buttercream.

I am always eager to share my cake creations with others. Here are a few of my favorite cakes or cupcakes I've made. Enjoy!

Toy Story 3 Woody Cake

Elmo Cupcake for birthday girl

Basketball Cake w/ sports themed cupcakes

Small Wedding Cake with Monogram

I just want to take a moment to give a special thank you to my friend: Thank you Amy for your instruction, patience, guidance, & encouragement. You are a fantastic friend, and I can't thank you enough for getting me back on the path of cake decorating. Thank you, thank you, thank you!