Truffles, Cupcakes and Electric Guitars!

Once again, I overcommitted myself and somehow agreed to make 3 cakes and 48 cupcakes for Friday pickups!  I continually find myself saying I am going to cut back but I never say no!

The first cake I made was a chocolate strawberry truffle cake-- I was asked to make a cake for a chocoholic so I thought I would combine my homemade bittersweet chocolate truffles rolled in cocoa powder with some dark chocolate dipped strawberries on top of a chocolate layer cake iced with chocolate buttercream icing.  I also promised to make someone else a small truffle cake so I kind of killed two birds with one stone.

My third project was 48 puppy cupcakes.  I got a lot of practice making these last weekend but they are still time consuming!  It took several hours to make them all but they are SO cute!

My last project was a Rock Star cake for Gracen... I made her cake last year and it was a circus theme.  Gracen is anything BUT ordinary so this year she decided on a rock star theme... her mom sent me pictures of a cake they liked and I decided to try to improve on that.  First, I wanted to give it three tiers but they didn't need so much cake so I made them smaller.  I also ordered some candy molds from a website to make the guitars and music notes but the molds had not come in the mail by Thursday so I panicked!  I asked my friend Katie to make some guitars and musical notes while I made a skull out of black fondant... I have to say that it turned out really awesome!  Katie did SUCH a great job-- I might have to make this cake for MY birthday!

Puppies, Kitties, Mario, Birthdays and Engagements!

Moving to more recent cakes...

My first "cake" yesterday was actually 60 cupcakes and a mini individual cake for a 5 year old's party. She is the daughter of a good friend of mine and because of that, I didn't sleep AT ALL Friday night to be able to finish these!  I made 10 schnauzers, 10 terriers and 10 kittens, plus 30 pawprint cupcakes and a shi-tzu mini cake.

My second cake was a Mario cake for a 5 year old boy. His parents had just bought him a Wii and he is very into his Mario game.  Apparently, he is quite the bowler as well-- we might have to think about a challenge!

My last cake of the day was for our very good friend Shawna's 22nd birthday! Shawna is Ryan's girlfriend... now fiance!  Ryan has been a good friend since we met 3 years ago and when he started dating Shawna, we added her to our group seamlessly...  lately, we have started bugging Ryan about when he was going to marry her because they are so perfect together.  We showed up at her birthday party yesterday and the first thing she did after looking at the cake I had made her was to show us her ring!  It is beautiful and we are SO happy for them!  I can't wait to start talking about wedding cakes for them!  Congrats guys- we love you!

Andrea's Wedding

I haven't posted for awhile-- I have alot to catch up on!

A few weekends ago I made a wedding cake and groom's cake for Andrea and Jason.  Their reception was at the Shrimpman's Yacht Club in Bella Vista.  We had never been there so we didn't know what to expect but the place was gorgeous!  I felt bad for Andrea-- the location told the couple they could decorate on Saturday for the Sunday weekend, but then they booked a Saturday event! Jason and Andrea had to START decorating at 10PM on Saturday night!  But no matter-- when we delivered the cake the next morning, it was beautiful!

The wedding cake was a simple all white cake with buttercream icing.  Three tiers were stacked and decorated very simply but at the reception site I sprinkled red rose petals all over the cake and then topped it with a beautiful crystal monogram.

The groom's cake was a chocolate half-sheet decorated like a football field with with a Razorback bride and groom at the 50 yard line.  This is a pretty popular cake-- I make at least 6-8 each year!

Julia's Baby Shower

I helped host a baby shower for my friend Julia a few weeks ago.  We put together a big lunch because we expected a big turn-out... Over 60 people accepted the planner so naturally, we needed a pretty large cake... the cake was three tiers in colors matching the baby's nursery.         

The baby came early!  She was born on March 26-- he name is Natasha Faith and she is just the cutest thing!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Thursday Night

Last night I made a birthday cake for someone else I work with.  We had a big birthday lunch with so many different types of food: steaks, lamb racks, bacon-wrapped pork loin, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, meatballs, salads, chips and salsa, and on and on and on!  The cake was red velvet with cream cheese icing and fed about 25 people.  The birthday boy is somewhat an expert on useless trivia, very much like the character "Cliff  Clavin" from Cheers.  So I made a stack of books with an open book on top... inscribed with a Clavin-like quote about the birthday boy!  The pictures aren't that great but they're the best ones I had!

Last night's cake was for a baby shower for someone at work.  The person who ordered it didn't really give me any requirements other than it needed to feed 25-30 people and both chocolate and white cake would be appreciated.  I thought about it for awhile-- I hate to do typical cakes so I am always interested when someone gives me creative license!

I looked through the baby registry at walmart.com but the mom hadn't registered for any baby bedding I could mimic. However, she did register for a diaper stacker that really caught my eye.  The pattern had stripes on some parts and polka dots on others and I really liked the colors so I went with that.  I am posting a picture of the cake and the diaper stacker for your comparison.

Just Another Tuesday Night for Me!

I have an odd version of insomnia.  I sleep but only when I have the time.  I can sleep anywhere, anytime!  However, some nights I may sleep 6 hours and some I may not sleep at all... it doesn't really matter because I function well on 6 hours OR 2 hours.  People at work are always shocked when I bring in any of my creations because they can't figure out how I have the time-- I just often choose to bake rather than sleep!  Last night was one of those 4 hour nights!

First I made a cake for my friend Kathryn.  She and her husband own the beautiful Jackson House (www.bentonvillejacksonhouse.com)in downtown Bentonville.  Her husband asked me to make her a birthday cake today and their family choice is traditionally German chocolate cake.  I made a 3 layer of milk chocolate cake with pecan coconut frosting between each layer.  I iced the sides in milk chocolate icing, poured chocolate ganache on the edges so it dripped down the sides and topped it with toasted whole pecans.

Then I made two additional cakes, both with strawberry cake layers, sliced fresh strawberries between the layers and cream cheese frosting.  I made one with three layers for work and one with two layers for my Bunco group.  The one I took to work was wildly successful-- I'm not sure that it lasted more than 30 minutes after I cut the first slice!  We did not cut the second cake at Bunco-- we were all too full after a yummy dinner so we'll eat it at work.