My first Wedding Cake = Success!

Oh the stress a Wedding Cake brings me :\  So much pressure trying to make it perfect in every way (it is a wedding cake after all) ..as well as hoping you've fully executed what the couple has been envisioning all these months.  Well I pulled it off.. my first.. despite the 90 degree weather and all.  I must say I'm glad I don't do these a whole lot due to the stress level.. but I loved the feeling of accomplishment and it's awesome to see the couple's reaction.  Which in this case was incredible.. they LOVED it!!  The bride almost cried when she saw it ;'(

This is a 4-Tier Wedding Cake (obviously ;)  ..Bottom tier is yellow cake with chocolate custard and strawberry fruit filling.  Next tier up is chocolate cake with vanilla custard and strawberry fruit filling.  Third tier is marble cake, top tier is yellow cake.  All iced in buttercream with gold scroll work on each tier (scroll work was an extreme challenge for me!)  The bride provided the topper, which she made, and the silk flowers.

  

Happy 2nd Birthday Oliver!!

Here are the finished cake/cupcakes.. fresh strawberry cake with fresh strawberry filling, iced in vanilla buttercream.  His cupcakes are banana with peanut butter filling (a combination he loves!) topped with vanilla buttercream as well.  He loved everything, but especially his 'graffeee' on the cake, which is hand molded out of fondant.  I also posted some party extras!

  

The 'Pinterest' Punch I made (for adults only).. Super easy and refreshingly yummy!

-A bottle of white zin

-2 cans of frozen pink lemonade concentrate (+ the water)

-2 cans of lemon-lime soda

..mix it all together and you're done!  

We even made some ice out of the pink lemonade and threw it in to keep it cold.. good stuff!!

Animal Cracker favors (of course!).. handmade labels and bows

..and the Happy Birthday Boy!!

..and now back to Oliver's Birthday #2

I just finished up the fondant elements for Oliver's Cake.. his 'graffeee' and 'Oliver' which will go on top of the cake.  Then I made some orange & teal dots for the sides.  I will post pics of the completed Cake/Cupcakes this weekend.

..and here are his favors.. Animal Crackers of course!
I put them in clear favor bags, made the labels, and the little bow toppers :)
{oooohh did you know they make chocolate ones now.. which are yum.. I had no idea!}

Flowering Cupcakes

So I completely forgot to post last week's confection.. whoops! (been a crazy busy week)..  It was my niece Mady's 13th Birthday.  She's not much of a Cake person (yes I get those now and then.. crazy huh) so her original request was for blueberry cobbler, which my mom made - super yummy btw!!  However, they also wanted some Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter chips, frosted with my whipped cream icing recipe (they're not big on sweet frosting either).  

The only 'theme-ish' request was light green and light purple icing.  So I decided to do something I've been wanting to for a while, which was frost the cupcakes to look like a flower/hydrangea.  I've seen it many times and love it.. wasn't sure if it would work with whipped icing since it tends to be very soft.. but it worked!  I think they turned out so pretty, and received many compliments on them at the party :)

Guess Who's Turning 2!

Yup you guessed it.. my little monkey will be 2 on July 2.  His party is next Saturday so I'm working on most of the party preparations this week.. because next week I will be busy with his Cake and Cupcakes (yes there will be both! :)

This year's theme is "Graffeee".. since Oliver is absolutely obsessed with his giraffe doll!  The color scheme is "Teal and Tangerine" along with some Yellow.. 'cause Graffeee is yellow of course.  I've been working on his favors, cupcake picks & wrappers, painting a wooden craft '2' as one of his 2 year picture props.. {all while preparing to make cupcakes for my niece's Birthday party, which is this Saturday.. her Birthday is the day before Oliver's}.. fun fun!!

The wooden 2 which I painted to match his colors as well as his giraffe :D

Cupcake picks I made to stick in his cupcakes...  

 I think you get the idea of the colors, theme, and look I'm going for ;)

 

     

Here Comes The Bride...

Here are pics of my completed Bridal Shower cake for this weekend.. everyone at the shower LOVED it!!  They couldn't get over how much the dress looked like the bride's actual dress.  I made it by printing a pic of her dress, then traced and cut it out of ivory fondant.  Then I made indentations in the fondant to give the appearance of pleats, which the dress is full of.  I found really pretty beading for the band (non-edible but I couldn't find anything edible that looked like her beading).  The cake itself is Red Velvet with Cream Cheese filling and buttercream icing.  I was very pleased with how it turned out :)

   

Bridal Shower Cake

This week I'm working on a bridal shower cake for my step-daughter's friend, Mallory.  I am attempting to replicate her dress (in fondant of course) and place it on top of the cake.. as well as incorporate her bouquet flowers which are yellow orchids, ivory garden roses, and yellow billy balls.  All of the flowers are made of fondant/gum paste.  I struggled a little with the orchid.. there are so many different types and they all look different.. I studied pics of them for days!  Overall I was pleased with how it turned out, being my first, and being a difficult flower to make.  The roses were time consuming but so pretty!  The billy balls were fairly easy.  I can't really do the dress until the day of but I've completed the flower work.

I think I'm going to place the orchid (which is considerably larger next to the other two flowers) on the top upper right corner of the cake, her dress will be in the middle flowing down the front side.  Then on either side of where her dress flows down the front of the cake, I will make two small bouquets of the roses and billy balls.  I'll post the completed cake this weekend.. I hope the bride-to-be likes it :)