College Graduation Cake

Today I have this awesome cake I made for my friend Nikki's college graduation from Biola! (Yayyyy!). She had mentioned having a cake made and some desserts for family and friends at her house for after, so I asked if I could make her a cake. We both fell in love with anemone flowers when we saw them at a bridal show a year or so ago, so I knew I had to try and incorporate them somehow (We love bridal bouquets, shhh!). So I googled the flower and checked to see if anyone else had make something cute, and came across this image:

http://www.lefiores.com/images/2008/anemone-wedding-cake.jpg

Gorgeoussss! This was my first time making ANY sort of fondant flowers, and it was fun, but labor intensive too. I realize this cake is not at all themed for graduation, but some of those cakes can be cheesy, and we are not cheesy sorts of girls! =p



Here are the details of the cake:

Red velvet cake
buttercream frosting inside
marshmallow fondant (black, white, and pink for the cake)
black icing
floral stems
daisy cut out
bare hands!

I've never used my bare hands so much in baking! I had to mold the flowers myself to let dry out over the course of the week and mush the fondant recipe, IT IS STICKY and MESSY! But I'm overall really happy with the cake. I was sort of shocked I made it all on my own :)

Mickey Mouse cupcakes

Baked these beauties for my niece's 1st birthday party which was mickey themed. The cupcakes are half black fondant mickey head's, and half butter cream frosting, all are red velvet! Cute sprinkles provided by belle's mama.

What have I been up to?

Wow! It's been a long time. But I figured now that I'm starting to bake more with the coming holiday season, I should update some more! Here are some things I forgot to to post about:


Red velvet cupcakes with buttercream frosting.


salted caramel cupcakes.

Supercross Cake

I recently made this cake for my boyfriend's birthday. I wanted to surprise him with a cake of something he loved, so I brainstormed some ideas and created this!

Details:
Classic Yellow Cake
Fudgy Chocolate Icing
Crumbled graham crackers
One whole doughnut (sounds crazy, i'll explain!)

I baked two layers of yellow cake, frosting inbetween as usual. I then did the sizes and most of the top. I cut a regular round doughnut in half and stacked them next to each other in the center of the cake. Then I covered it with frosting to create a mound/jump like they do in the supercross! After smashing some graham crackers with a meat thing (you know what i'm talking about) I sprinkled that on top.

My boyfriend's favorite rider is Ryan Dungey #5, so I bought his bike at walmart (kids section, thank you!) and put him in a "whip" position. Couldnt get him to stand though! I made all the settings with paper and acrylic paint, and bought some "sparkling" candles to go off just like at the races!

So fun to see a lit up! I was happy :]

happy (late) valentine's!

I decided to bake my sweet valentine something he liked! This is a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (and white fondant on top!) It was my first time making my own fondant and let me tell you, it was sticky! I had no idea how much work went into making just enough for one cake! I used the recipe from Peggy Weaver's tutorial:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

It was fun though, seeing it all come together. I have definitely learned a lot from making my first roll. (Even your fingernails can snag the sides!). All that mattered was that he liked the cake :]

ps. on the back were two vampire fang puncture marks with "blood" dripping out (aka: red icing gel). i said "yeah I don't know what happened to your cake but I think a vampire got a hold of it". ;]

enjoy!

new beginnings.

i am happy to announce i am starting my own little cupcake shop! most of my friends know me as the girl who always finds strange and random cupcake shops all over southern california; this is true because i drag them along with me! but hey, they don't complain. i consider myself a cupcake "foodie" and have finally realized all along that i should be baking on my own! i've been baking goodies for a few years now for friend's special events or just for friends to have (i once threw a valentine's party at my condo and of course- had cupcakes only!) and so here i am! for now, it will be mostly cupcakes, small cakes, and other specialty goodies that i can create, and i'll be using this blog to keep my readers updated on new flavors, creations for clients, or just for fun experimenting! i don't have a tangible shop, so i will be a baker in my home. thankfully, i live with my grandma who was once a bakery company herself! she had tons of experience and i am so lucky to be living among her for her to guide me and give me tips. enjoy my first post!



i created these beauties for a woman who was having a ladies dinner! she was very sweet once we spoke on the phone, so i was excited to make these little charmers. they are red velvet mini cupcakes, with cream cheese frosting on top! red sugar sprinkles top it off :]

tip: for cream cheese frosting, notice how it gets soft when you spread it on the cupcakes and it doesn't stand firm? add some powdered sugar to the icing and it will put some stiffness in it so you can swirl it 'round like these!

enjoy.