The Holly and the Ivy

I relate a lot of things to music and even though there is no ivy on this cake, this song was going through my head while I was working on it, hence the post title! :) There has been sickness in my house for the past several days - YUCK! I've been itching to try some ideas for Christmas cakes, but didn't want to share germ-infested baked goods, so decided to decorate a styrofoam dummy cake (no calories whatsoever!) This was an 8" round layer cake covered with dark green fondant which I edged at the bottom with yellow fondant scrolls painted with gold luster dust. I then added yellow fondant drapes to the sides and painted those with gold luster dust as well. I cut out some red Christmas tree decorations and accented them with a little gold and some green holly leaves and red holly berries. All in all, I was pretty happy with how this turned out even though it looks almost nothing like my initial design! :)

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

This was the first of a few Christmas-themed cupcakes I want to try out! Chocolate truffle cupcakes with peppermint buttercream icing topped by a peppermint candy! If you've ever tried the candy cane hershey kisses (which I am totally addicted to), the icing tastes JUST like them - oh, so yummy!! Don't even ask how much butter goes into both the cupcakes and the icing - trust me you really don't want to know - ignorance is bliss! :)

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

These were the same pumpkin spice cupcakes I've done before, just decorated a little differently! Pumpkin spice cupcakes topped with a swirl of cinnamon cream cheese icing and gum paste leaves in fall colors. Loved how all the colors looked together! :)

Twilight Birthday!

I am a book nerd - I admit it and am quite proud of it, in fact. I have the good fortune to have quite a few good friends who are just as nerdy as I am, and we have gone to midnight book releases and movies together - basking in the geekiness of it all :) Two of my friends are celebrating their Birthday this week and being HUGE fans of the Twilight series I couldn't think of a better cake than this to celebrate! The cake is my lemon pound cake with vanilla buttercream filling, topped with black fondant. All the pieces on top and the scrolls on the bottom are fondant as well - all hand formed. I used a mixture of silver luster dust and lemon flavoring to paint the scrolls and the script on the side of the cake - you'll notice a specially requested phrase "Edward prefers brunettes" - that was one of the Birthday girls' ideas lol! Had so much fun with this cake!

Minnie Mouse Birthday cake with matching cupcakes

I absolutely LOVE when I get to design cakes/cupcakes around themes!! That was the case with this Birthday cake and cupcakes - Mom wanted them to match the Birthday girls' outfit for the party! Yellow cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant. Bow and ears were both gum paste, I hand painted the zebra stripes on the bow and the trim around the base of the cake. Cupcakes were yellow cake topped by a vanilla buttercream swirl, fondant bow and gum paste ears. Had a BLAST doing this cake - just loved the way the zebra stipes looked with the hot pink fondant! :)

Snoopy!

This cake was done for a very big Snoopy fan's Birthday! Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling and icing covered with fondant. I used black food coloring mixed with a little lemon flavoring to paint the lines and door on Snoopy's dog house. Snoopy was hand formed using white fondant. :)

Blue and White Birthday

Well, my baby girl turned 7 over the weekend...and instead of dwelling on how big she's getting (which is just too doggone sad!!) I decided to throw myself into making her cake! The bottom tier was chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache filling, buttercream icing which I then covered with fondant. The top tier was yellow cake with vanilla buttercream filling and icing covered with fondant. I formed the crown topper with gum paste and most of the other details on the cake were fondant. Taylor loved her cake - she has since claimed the crown and it now sits in the Birthday princess' room on her dresser which I thought was very fitting! :)

Monkey Baby Shower Cake

This was a smaller, one tier version of the monkey baby shower cake I've done in the past! Chocolate cake, chocolate ganache filling, vanilla buttercream icing and fondant/gum paste details. :)

Asheville Wedding

This cake was a challenge in that it had to be designed to travel several hours to the site of the wedding (Asheville!) Decided to keep it as simple as possible to accommodate that! Red velvet cake, vanilla buttercream filling and icing, accented by gum paste leaves with a touch of shimmer dust. Tried a new technique with the icing that I thought went well with the overall design. The wedding will be taking place just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, so I thought the colors of Fall would work well for this cake! :)

Mini Pumpkin Cakes

This was a recipe I'd found last year and Finally got around to trying out (SO VERY GLAD I did!!) There are two flavors - the darker colored cakes are molasses-pumpkin, the lighter colored cakes are pumpkin, both with caramel-rum glaze, then topped with a caramel stem and leaf! These were so much fun to make (and the house smelled wonderful to boot!) Used my new mini-pumpkin pan to get the fun shapes. Could a dessert be any more perfect for Fall?! I think not!! :)

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

These were so very yummy (of COURSE I had to sample this new recipe before handing it out!) Pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing! The house smelled absolutely wonderful while these were baking!! :)

Candy Corn Cupcakes

These were so fun to make - candy corn inspired cupcakes! Chocolate cupcakes topped by a swirl of vanilla buttercream icing in candy corn colors! :)

Toy Story Birthday

I've really been looking forward to this cake - a Toy Story Birthday cake for a little guy turning 2! Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered with fondant. All details you see are fondant as well - I used my Cricut to cut out the lettering and the number 2. The bottom tier was patterned after Woody's shirt, with the rope border. The top tier was patterned after the wallpaper in Andy's bedroom! :)

Detroit Lions Helmet

This cake was done as a grooms cake for a wedding - groom was a big Lions fan! Cake was my lemon pound cake with vanilla buttercream, covered with fondant and fondant accents.

Barney Birthday Cake

This cake was for a special little girl's Birthday! Yellow cake, vanilla buttercream filling and icing, fondant stripes and circles. Barney, Baby Bop, BJ, ribbons/bows, curlies and #2 were all hand formed using gum paste. Barney got a little darker than I wanted, but all in all pretty happy being my first time forming figures out of gum paste! I have to admit, at the beginning of this project - Barney and I were not the best of friends, but by the end we had grown much closer! (See what cake can do?) :o)

Fall Wedding Cake

This cake was my entry into this year's NC State Fair for the Decorated Wedding Cakes competition! Fall being my absolute FAVORITE time of the year made my decision to make a Fall themed wedding cake a very easy one! Four tiers covered in ivory fondant, then trimmed with brown grosgrain ribbons and topped with gum paste leaves cascading down the side of the cake. For me, there's just no comparison to having an idea in your mind and seeing it come to life before your eyes - I was just so pleased with how this turned out and am so excited to put it in this year's fair! *Update!* Added picture showing the 3rd place ribbon I received for my cake at the 2010 NC State Fair! :)

First Birthday Cupcakes

These cupcakes were for a special little man's first Birthday! Mom wanted the cupcakes to match napkins she'd purchased for the party, so that dictated the colors of baby blue, pastel green and pastel yellow. These were chocolate cupcakes with swirls of vanilla buttercream icing and topped with fondant cutouts some of which were stamped with a number "1".

Wonder Pets Birthday Cake

This cake was for a little one's Birthday - Mom found a picture of this cake online and asked me to replicate the design. Top tier was chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling, bottom tier was yellow cake with vanilla buttercream filling. Both layers were topped with vanilla buttercream and fondant - all the detail/accent work was fondant as well. When the cake arrived at the party, Mom added some Wonder Pets characters she'd purchased.

Football Birthday Party

My Son celebrated his 9th Birthday this weekend and now that he's getting a little older (okay, much too much older for Mommy's taste) he's getting into more of the "guy stuff" including football. My husband (being the good role model that he is) took it upon himself to insure that Austin pulls for the "right" team, and that team at our house is of course the Carolina Panthers! :) So, that being said Austin requested a Panthers Jersey for his cake this year and I was excited to tackle (no pun intended...honest!) this challenge! The jersey was yellow cake covered in fondant - I used white shimmer dust to attempt to replicate the shimmer on the Panthers' home jerseys with some success. My trusty Cricut Cake was used to cut the lettering and #9 out of fondant. Then I paired the jersey cake with some vanilla cupcakes topped by a chocolate buttercream swirl and fondant footballs. It felt a little more like superbowl weekend than a Birthday, but my Son was thrilled and all was right with the world!

Little Cowboy Baby Shower Cake

This sheet cake was made to match the bedding being used for the baby's nursery and it was a lot of fun to make the quilt in cake form! :) Yellow cake with vanilla buttercream icing - all the cutout details were made using fondant. I've included a picture of the quilt so you can compare the two!

Girly First Birthday Cake

This cake was for a special little girl's First Birthday! :) Mom wanted the cake to match the party decorations, so that's what we did! Chocolate cake, chocolate ganache filling, vanilla buttercream icing and fondant/gum paste details. My absolute favorite part of this cake - the bugs (who knew they could be so doggone cute?!)