Train 1st Birthday

Fun little train themed 1st Birthday cake! Chocolate and vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant details.

Robot Cake

Fun little cake for a guy having a robot themed party - complete with a fun scrap exchange robot building activity! Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details.

Simple UNC Cake

Simple Carolina cake for a huge Tarheel fan :) Chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant/food color marker details.

Tiffany's Themed Smash Cake

I don't normally post pictures of "just" a smash cake...but I just loved this one SO much, I had to share! :) This was a vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant details for a Tiffany's themed 1st Birthday photo shoot! Oh, I cannot wait to see those pictures!! :)

Basketball Birthday Cake

I have been rather slow in posting this, but I had the immense pleasure of making Will's 18th Birthday cake through Icing Smiles back in February :) I was so excited when I received my "call to action" - and even more so when put in touch with Will's Mom, who explained how much he loved both basketball and the Tarheels! I wanted the cake most to reflect Will's love of basketball and playing for his school's team - which he's hoping to do again very soon now that he's on the road to recovery! Please, if any of my friends and followers are bakers - I urge you to volunteer for this wonderful organization! Isn't the very best thing in the world having your creations bring smiles to others, especially those who really need that smile?
Icing Smiles Inc.

Happy Pi Day (cupcakes!)

Made these little beauties for a friend's Pi Day Birthday celebration :) French vanilla cupcakes with cherry pie filling (baked right on top) and a vanilla buttercream lattice "pie crust". Happy Pi Day, everybody!

Teal Damask Birthday Cake

The request from this birthday girl (that her cake specifically have a damask pattern) finally gave me the kick in the pants I needed to try out the damask stencils I've been putting aside for a year (yes, a whole year!) for fear of using them! :) Turns out, they were wonderfully easy to use! Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details and painted damask stenciling.

Simple Valentine's Day Cupcake Toppers

So this Valentine's Day, I really wanted to play around with making some cute, simple and inexpensive cupcake toppers :) Especially when I spotted this over sized Valentine's confetti at my local Michaels craft store - bingo! Just knew it would lend itself to a cute topper. Michaels is also where I scored the red & white striped paper straws and the heart printed ribbon and the best part - I only paid $1.99 a piece for each! Even less if you use a coupon! (The pink and white striped paper straws I had in reserve from another project). So how easy was it to make these? Oh, so easy. For the toppers using the confetti, I simply cut my paper straws in half (whole length was just way too tall to be sticking out of a cupcake, obviously) and used a cool melt glue gun to place a dot of glue at one end of the straw (but any craft glue should do the trick). Then I simply placed one piece of the confetti on top of the dot of glue - voila!

 As for the ribbons, they did require a bit of trimming - roll out a bit of the ribbon, fold around your straw (again, cut in half) and determine how long you want your flag to be, making your cut. Place a thin strip of glue down the entire length of ribbon and fold around the straw, pressing together. Trim the end of your ribbon and there you have it!

2nd Annual Cupcake Crown!

So I decided to enter the 2nd Annual Celebrations.com Cupcake Crown - had a really tough time deciding which of my cupcakes to enter as I've had such fun with so many flavors/designs! I finally decided on my "Gone Fishin" cupcakes though - they were hard to beat as a fav of last year! Voting just opened today, and you can vote once per day through February 13th - so any and all votes would be much appreciated! Thanks so much and LONG LIVE CUPCAKES! ;)

VOTE HERE!! CLICK TO VOTE FOR MY CUPCAKES! :)

Princess Crown and Pillow Cake

My first attempt at a pillow cake :) A little princess requested a pillow cake for her crown to sit on, so of course that's what I made! Pumpkin spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese filling, hand carved into a pillow shape, covered in fondant with fondant details, hand painting and a hand made gum paste crown.

UNC Rameses Birthday Cake

This cake was for a little guy's Birthday who specifically asked that Rameses make an appearance on the cake :) Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling and frosting and fondant details. Rameses was hand cut from fondant then hand drawn using a food color marker. I could seriously do Tarheel cakes ALL DAY. :)

Pink Buttercream 1st Birthday

Fun and girly little 1st Birthday cake! Fluffy vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream filling and frosting and fondant details.

Polka Dotty Cupcakes

Fun little birthday cupcakes in a bright, colorful polka-dot theme! Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant toppers.

Gold Rose Petal 50th Anniversary

This was a request for a special couple's 50th wedding anniversary - vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling and frosting and golden fondant rose petals :)

Purple Leopard Print Birthday Cake

Fun little cake for a special girl's 15th Birthday :) Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with hand painted leopard print and fondant details.

Pink Princess Birthday

Fun Princess themed decorated cupcakes and mini cake (just for the Birthday girl) for a special girl's 2nd Birthday! Vanilla buttermilk cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant toppers.

Peppermint Oreo Truffle Pops

So yes, I do realize I'm posting this after Christmas - in January, in fact so please forgive me! If you're like me, however you do not worry about such petty things as time constraints or calendars - tisk, tisk. (And you're savvy enough to pin a tasty recipe for next year's treats - boo-yah!!) After hearing about (and sampling) regular Oreo truffles many times during the past year's celebrations, I finally joined the band wagon and tried a peppermint version - oh, so heavenly!! And really could it be more simple? I even took the added step of putting mine on cute striped paper straws to make truffle pops - love! And hey, who's to say you can't enjoy chocolate and peppermint in January?! :)

Peppermint Oreo Truffle Pops

• 36 Oreos (NOT Doublestuff)

• 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened

• 1 tsp peppermint extract

• 16 oz. white chocolate almond bark

• 1/4 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies, for decorating
• 
  

• Set a long sheet of wax paper over a cookie sheet, set aside. Place 36 Oreos in a food processor and pulse until finely crushed (alternately if you don't own a food processor you can place Oreos in a large Ziploc bag, seal bag and crush with a rolling pin until finely crushed). Pour crushed Oreos into a mixing bowl. In separate mixing bow blend together cream cheese and peppermint extract. Add cream cheese mixture to crushed Oreos and using a spatula, stir mixture while pressing it along the bottom of the bowl, until well combined and evenly moistened. Scoop mixture out and form into 1 inch balls (I used my smallest sized melon-baller to scoop them) then align on prepared cookie sheet. Place truffles in freezer for 10 minutes.

Melt almond bark according to directions on package. *If you'd like to add the paper straws or lollipop sticks, this is where you can - take the truffles out of your freezer, dip the end of your straw or stick in the melted chocolate and insert in your truffle. Return the tray to freezer for a minute or two.

• Remove truffles from freezer and dip in melted chocolate and evenly coat then allow excess chocolate to run off. Return to baking sheet, immediately sprinkle tops with crushed candy canes then allow chocolate to set. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

Buttercream Christmas Cupcakes

My last request for Christmas goodies :) Chocolate and vanilla buttermilk cupcakes with buttercream frosting and buttercream piped wreaths and holly leaves/berries.

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Fun and simple little cupcakes decorated as Christmas trees! Rich chocolate cupcakes, green-tinted vanilla buttercream swirls, fondant stars and multi-colored sprinkles.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

So I stumbled upon this recipe last Christmas, but didn't have time to try it out - finally did this year and BOY was I happy I finally did! :) Peppermint-studded mocha cupcakes with peppermint swiss meringue buttercream, drizzled with dark chocolate sauce and sprinkled with crushed peppermint! Can you say "refreshing"? I've included a link to Bakers Royale's wonderful recipe - please try it - you won't be sorry!!
Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes

The first of my Christmas cupcake flavors for the year, a moist and fragrant gingerbread cupcake with brown sugar-cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream and golden sprinkles :)

Painted Snowman Cake

After coming across one of last year's Christmas cards with a lovely folk art style snowman on it, I was inspired to attempt a little recreation via painting on a fondant covered cake :)

Hello Kitty

Simple, but fun Hello Kitty cake for our neighbors little one's 3rd Birthday :) Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream and fondant details. :)

Simply Mickey

Simply designed cake with matching smash cake for a little girl's Mickey Mouse themed 1st Birthday :) Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant/gum paste details.

Sesame Street 1st Birthday

Fun, fun, FUN cake for a special little man's first birthday celebration! Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details. Sesame Street characters represented were: Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster :)

Fall Themed Cupcake Wedding at Crenshaw Hall

Lovely setup at Crenshaw Hall in Wake Forest for an elegant Fall wedding! Cupcake flavors were: Pumpkin Spice Latte, Vanilla with Raspberry Curd Filling and Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Espresso Mocha with Vanilla Bean Latte Swiss Meringue Buttercream and S'Mores. I also made a rich, German Chocolate cutting cake for the bride and groom :)

Princess/Fairy Tale Birthday

Fun, fairytale theme for a special girl's birthday :) Strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant and gum paste details. The cupcakes were strawberry as well with vanilla buttercream and custom fondant toppers to match.

Dino Party Birthday Cake

For this cake the birthday girl's mom had a dilemma - she wanted her daughter's cake to be pretty, but the birthday girl LOVED dinosaurs - would a pretty cake even be possible? Why not?! :) Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details. I hand modeled the birthday girl and her very special party guest to match the party decor's colors and voila - a pretty dino birthday cake!

Monster Jam Cupcakes

Fun cupcakes decorated to match the Birthday boy's Monster Jam party theme :) Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream and raspberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream (not pictured) with custom fondant toppers.

Lime Green & White Birthday Cake

Fresh and fun design on a birthday cake for a special lady's 40th :) Flavors were chocolate cake with oreo buttercream filling and vanilla buttermilk cake with fresh strawberry buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant and hand painted details.

X-Box Cupcakes

Fun cupcakes for a gamers' birthday! Rich chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant X-box toppers :)

Bath Time Duck Baby Shower

Fun little baby shower cake in a rubber ducky theme :) Chocolate and vanilla buttermilk cake with all vanilla buttercream frosting and a few fondant details.

Autumn Themed Birthday

I really do have fun with most any baking/decorating project I work on...but as Fall happens to be my absolute favorite season...I truly had a wonderful time decorating this Fall/Autumn themed Birthday cake for a special lady's 60th! Rich, chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with all hand formed fondant details.

Vintage Romance Wedding Cake

This was a challenging cake, true - but I so enjoyed pulling this look together one cake tier at a time! Flavors were pumpkin spice with cinnamon cream cheese filling, red velvet with cream cheese filling, vanilla buttermilk with lemon swiss meringue filling and chocolate with vanilla swiss meringue filling, all covered with fondant, with fondant and hand painted details. The roses atop the cake were purchased silk flowers to match the ones decorating the table.

Woodland Wedding Cake

Oh my, was this a fun challenge! Before attempting this cake, I'd never made any of these gum paste flowers so it was a learning experience to be sure! Alternating layers of red velvet cake with cream cheese filling and pumpkin spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese filling, covered in fondant with hand made gum paste flowers. Loved the finished work!

Chocolate Overload Cake

Wow, chocoholics rejoiced when this cake came about! I was asked to create a birthday cake for a Dad who loves chocolate - well, that's right up my alley! I decided to pair chocolate truffle cake with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream filling and frosting, dark chocolate ganache drizzle and dark chocolate sprinkles...there, that should do it! :)

Country Chic Birthday Cake

I love when I'm allowed to "just go with it" ;) Such was the case with this Birthday cake - flavors were vanilla buttermilk with vanilla buttercream filling and chocolate truffle cake with mocha buttercream filling and a layer of crunchy chocolate pearls too - mmm! I had always thought these colors would be lovely together and had such fun putting this lovely little cake together :)

Firetruck Cake

Fun cake for the ladder truck crew of a local fire department :) Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details.

2012 NC State Fair Entry - Brown Hydrangea Wedding Cake

So, I had the most difficult time deciding what I wanted to attempt for this year's State Fair entry!! I had so many ideas rumbling around in my head! When I finally decided to attempt hydrangeas using Petalsweet's wonderful three-part tutorial (and they thankfully turned out decently enough!) my mind was made up. I covered my styrofoam layers with dark brown chocolate fondant (which was a workout!!), then placed two hydrangea bunches on alternating sides of my cake and edged each tier with a brown ribbon. It might've been simple, but I was so pleased with how it came out and very happy to have learned something new along the way! :) I was also beyond thrilled to learn I had won a 3rd place ribbon for my simple little cake!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Party

I had a blast working on this request - from one of my #1 fans...my not-so-little guy who turned 11 :) He LOVES the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and had asked that I make a book cake for his birthday this year - so I did and had so much fun working on it! Thought I'd throw in some cupcakes to match as well with "The cheese touch!!!" Can't believe another year has come and gone. :(

Pirate Birthday

Fun little cake for a pirate's birthday! Marble cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details :)

Candy Birthday :)

Lovely little candy themed birthday celebration! The cake was almond pound cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in vanilla buttercream and fondant details. The cupcakes were strawberry with vanilla buttercream and vanilla bean with oreo buttercream and fondant candy toppers :)