Ginger-Orange Cupcakes

I was very happy to make these cupcakes as they combined two of my top favorite ingredients: ginger and orange!  Made for a women's gathering, these ginger-orange cupcakes (topped with a citrus cream cheese frosting and slice of mandarin orange) were a yummy addition to their brunch meeting.

Beach Cake Pops

These cake pops were requested for a beach-themed bridal shower held down at the Jersey shore.  Wrapped up and tagged in golden and white ribbon, these cake pops served as the take-home favors for all guests in attendance. 

White and orange chocolate seashells of various kinds adorn the pops coated in ocean blue chocolate.  The white seashell pops contain vanilla bean cake and the orange seashell pops contain vanilla-chocolate marbled cake.

The cake pop favors were ordered by the mother-in-law-to-be.  I was very glad to hear that she, along with the bride and all of her guests, greatly enjoyed these cake pops!

Paw Patrol Birthday

Paw Patrol, a cute cartoon show, served as the inspiration for this next project.  A cake based on this show was requested for a 3-year-old's birthday party, as he watches the show often and enjoys the characters.  His mom therefore planned a party theme with all decor containing the cartoon's logo and characters.  Although I generally accept projects that are cupcakes, cake pops, or cake bites (I enjoy making things in miniature!), I'll occasionally agree to do a cake here and there.  

The finished cake!

The cake was a double layer vanilla confetti cake covered in blue fondant.  
  

All of the letters and paw print decorations around the side were also fondant.

In the cartoon, each puppy takes on a different rescue mission and wears a uniform that coincides with what they help with (fire marshall, traffic cop, construction worker, etc.), so I added a uniform belt on the bottom of the cake.  Here you can also see a better picture of the paw prints that go around the side of the cake.

The birthday boy was very happy upon the arrival of the cake!

Happy Birthday, Isaiah!

Team Pink vs. Team Blue

These bow-themed cake pops were made for a baby shower in which the mother-to-be wishes to be surprised at the baby's birth.  Since the baby's gender is a mystery, all of the decorations at the shower were based on a "Team Pink" or "Team Blue" theme and even the guests arrived wearing one of the two colors, placing their vote on which gender they feel the baby is!  

The mother-to-be's sister requested desserts that also fit the pink verses blue theme.  Both sets of cake pops are vanilla bean cake with white chocolate coating.  The pink sets have a bow placed on top of the 'head' and the blue sets have blue bow ties placed below.

Gold & White Cake Bites

Looking for a unique gift idea?  How about a box of delicious cake bites!  Customizable to your preferred flavor and color palette, cake bites are an excellent and tasty choice for a gift.  These gold-sprinkled, white chocolate coated cake bites were for a birthday gift.  Inside each little cake bite was moist red velvet cake mixed with a bit of vanilla buttercream.  A fun surprise for the birthday recipient!

Wintry Cupcakes

It has been quite the winter here in the northeast and snow has fallen in record numbers.  In keeping with the theme of the season, these snow inspired cupcakes were perfect for a recent winter party.

Mini Red Velvet Trifles

Ah, red velvet!  While I love baking (and eating!) red velvet year round, it feels a bit more special during Valentine's Day.  Each February, I try to do some type of red velvet treat.  These little desserts (there were more, but only one is pictured above) were for a combination Valentine's Day dinner and 30th birthday party.

There are two layers of both red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting, making this a pseudo-trifle of sorts (no alcohol and no custard/cream).  Garnishing the top is a little chocolate heart with super tiny sprinkle-confetti hearts.

The serving dish is a perfect hand-held size, yet the cake is ever so slightly bigger than a standard cupcake.  I feel it's such a great dessert-sized portion; not so big that it can't be eaten after a scrumptious dinner and not so small that you take two bites and it's already gone.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Teapot Cake Pops

These cake pops were ordered as take-home favors for a 60th birthday party.  The party was held at a 100+ year old historical house that has been converted into a tea room and gift shop.  Making these brought back memories of a landmark 'decade' birthday that I personally celebrated several years ago (also at a tea house), along with memories of sipping tea and munching on scones with clotted cream in the English countryside when I visited England a few years back!  

The cake inside each pop is a traditional vanilla bean cake with vanilla bean buttercream, and the teapot's top, spout, and handle are hand-molded from fondant.  

A decorative fondant flower adorns the side of each cake pop and I alternated using silver and bronze colored edible pearls.  Although I do offer customized and personalized favor tags, the client already had a design in mind and provided her own, which I affixed to each cake pop after placing them in favor bags, tying them up with pastel-colored curling ribbon.

After the event, I was very pleased to hear back from my client that all of the guests enjoyed their edible favors, especially her mother, Joyce, who was the birthday guest of honor.  The favors were a surprise treat and she greatly enjoyed them!

Happy New Year!

Here's to a deliciously wonderful New Year!!