Purple, Blue, and Gold Bridal Shower

This dessert table was created for a recent bridal shower.  Since the wedding colors are purple, blue, and gold, all of the desserts reflected that color scheme.  Adorning the dessert table were a mixture of:

cupcakes,

glitter cake pops,

chocolate covered Oreo pops,

 and chocolate pops shaped as hearts and roses.

Projected on the wall behind the dessert table was a slideshow featuring the engagement photos of the bride-to-be...

...and the happy couple.

Wishing the couple all the best as they prepare to begin a new chapter together!

Sweet Potato Pie

November was filled with tasty treats reminiscent of this autumnal time of the year: pumpkin spice cakes commissioned for a 30th birthday party and a couple of sweet potato pies for the family.

I normally am not one to make pies (I prefer to stick with cupcakes, cake pops, and cake bites), but 'tis the season for a Thanksgiving treat and for my family, nothing completes our Thanksgiving dinner more than a slice of sweet potato pie.  So I step outside of my baking comfort zone for this one time during the year and convince my mother to share her special recipe with me so that I could bake them.  What you see pictured above is the final slice!

Sunflowers

When I think of a flower that truly epitomizes summertime, the gorgeous sunflower comes to mind.  And although I wilt on long, hot summer days, these beauties flourish.  The sunflower was the inspiration behind these cake bites requested for a recent bridal shower celebration.   

The bright yellow serves as a nice contrast to the blue, which will be a prominent color at the wedding.

The cake bites I made were a classic vanilla bean cake with vanilla buttercream and coated with a mixture of milk and semi-sweet chocolate.  A majority of the cake bites were topped with edible fondant sunflowers and other cake bites were sprinkled with blue and gold sanding sugar to highlight the blue accent color.

Piano Camp Fun

Summer time means summer camps.  And for thousands of school children across the country who seriously study a music instrument, it means that they will pack their bags and head off to a summer music program.  I serve as a teacher for a music camp at one of my alma maters and thought I'd bring a little treat to our opening faculty meeting:

Chocolate covered vanilla bean cake bites with a white chocolate music symbol on top (treble clefs, bass clefs, eighth notes):

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This past weekend, I was knee-deep in polka dots, caterpillars, and butterflies!  I had a blast creating desserts based on Eric Carle's beloved children's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, for my goddaughter's 1st birthday party.  Within the mix of desserts were chocolate covered oreo pops, cake pops, and cupcakes.  In keeping with the theme, there were table centerpieces consisting of cake pop caterpillars inching through 'grass'

M&M caterpillars on chocolate cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes with fondant fruit toppers (as the story goes, the caterpillar's so hungry that he eats his way through lots of food, hence the holes!)

And of course some chocolate butterfly toppers to represent the beautiful metamorphosis at the end of the story!

I also made brightly colored cake pops to mimic the polka dots found in Carle's illustrations:

A fun-filled and tasty afternoon for children and adults alike!

Play Ball!

Spring is in the air!  The weather is warming up and spring sports are in full force at the parks and inside my kitchen!  Back in March, you saw a blog featuring basketball cake pops.  This time around, I had fun creating baseball cake pops for a little boy's baseball-themed birthday party.  Inside the white chocolate shell and red-stitched coating is chocolate buttercream cake.

Glitter pops

Dazzling glitter pops presented in a fun gift bag...a great, edible gift for family or friends!  This half-dozen order was for a birthday gift:

March Madness

Normally, I have no interest in following either the NBA or college basketball (hockey is my sport of choice), but this year my alma mater made it into the NCAA playoffs!  And then was subsequently defeated.  Bummer.  Contrary to my short-lived interest, my good friend (a former college basketball player herself) enthusiastically follows her chosen basketball teams throughout the season.  Figures that her birthday falls in the month of March...it was meant to be!  So, it was fitting to make the following b-ball themed cake and cake pops to celebrate:

The black lines on the cake pops were created with chocolate and black sanding sugar.  The birthday cake is a double layer vanilla and chocolate chip cake with a vanilla buttercream filling.  I added some texture to the fondant basketball to mimic the 'dimples' found on an actual ball.  After all, this was going to be given to a basketball expert who spend years on the court...I had to be detailed and accurate!

Birthdays

During the month of February, I usually crank up the oven in preparation for inspired Valentine treats that I intend to bake.  But this year, February was a bit of a crazy month.  Instead of spending time in the warmth of my kitchen, much of my time was spent outside, digging my house and car out of the rounds and rounds of snow that the incessant storm systems kept dumping on much of the northeast.  Yet even with that (and a little 'playing' in the snow via snowboarding) I also worked on a few baking orders for some birthdays.  One birthday was based on a 'Strawberry Shortcake' theme, so they requested strawberry shaped cake pops:

Inside is festive and colorful vanilla confetti cake.

Then I received an order for a birthday cake from a client who was interested in having a marble swirl cake.  So after agreeing on a blue color scheme, this ocean-like swirl cake came to fruition. 

The wavy swirls on the outside reflect the double layer vanilla and chocolate marble swirls inside.  Fondant flowers in various blue shades finish off the top.  Funny how these two creations remind me a lot more of spring and summer, rather than winter!

Poinsettia & Wreath Cupcakes

Happy 2014!!

Poinsettia and wreath cupcakes for a New Years gathering:

Here's to another year of tasty treats!