Rockin Sweet Sixteen for K

I don't know about you, but I, personally, am SO grateful that 16 has passed and gone for me.  (As is my mother...quite frankly, in case you were wondering.)  But this lucky girl turned the big  1-6 in style this week, sharing rock star themed chocolate and white almond cupcakes with her class mates after lunch.  Complete with zebra print, hot pink, and music notes (all by specific request) and a little glitter and glam, these cupcakes could tempt any girl to want to relive that rite of passage.  But only for as long as it takes to eat that cupcake.  Then we want to be right back here in 2011 with our coffee and our laptops, our true friends and stable relationships.  Just sayin.  ;)

First, a few pics.  Then read on for a few how-to's. 

 These of course were home shots...

...and the following...the ones I really love...were taken by the birthday girl herself, in the midst of her teenage world.  I love the laminated lunch table in the background.  And can't you just sense the chaos that is about to ensue?  :)

How-To's (Some day I'll take pictures of these for a proper tutorial.  Heck, some day I might even have a camera again!)

The zebra fondant circles and music note stars were done with an edible in marker. You can find the markers at your local hobby store or even that big box store that sales cake stuff, whose name we won't mention (nor dare I admit that I occasionally shop there...). Simply roll out and cut your fondant, let it dry a bit, and pretend you're 16 again bored with the teacher's lecture, and doodle!

For the oh so glamorous glittered letters and numbers, again, roll out the fondant and cut your shapes/letters/numbers and let dry.  Then take a small paint brush that you only use for food, dip it in a little light corn syrup and paint it on the shape.  Then sprinkle with colored sanding sugar.  And ta-da!  Glitz!

Happy-Rockin-Sweet-Sixteen to K!  :)

Wedding N+C

I had the honor of baking for the beautiful fall wedding of N+C this weekend.  Their reception was held in the Cityscapes Ballroom at the Radisson in downtown Fargo.  The bridesmaids wore red dresses and carried a mix of roses, dahlias and hypericum berries.  Gold pumpkins and candles adorned the different bars and buffet tables at the reception.  The mix of browns, golds, reds, and burgundies were perfect for a fall wedding.

To accent the decorum, the happy couple chose a vine/leaf theme for the white chocolate cake filled with raspberry butter cream and frosted with vanilla butter cream.  It was wrapped in brown and gold ribbons and topped with fresh dahlias.

Oh, natural light is so pretty on food!  As you'll see for the cupcakes, the spot right above that table, was not so kind, and given my lowly photography skills, I didn't know what to do to compensate...  

They also chose two types of cupcakes to feed their 200+ guests.  The first flavor featured was the carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting and candied ginger strip topping...how perfect for fall?  I loved the matte gold liners for those too.  The second choice for cupcake flavor was Ghirardelli white chocolate with fresh raspberry butter cream.   Some were topped with white chocolate curls and others with candy raspberries.  Yum yum! 

I have to admit, I was a little nervous setting up for this one.  Even though I arrived an hour and a half before the cocktail hour, there were a handful of people in and out watching as I arranged the cupcakes on the those enormous tiers (which I've decided I NEED!  I got 248 of the 252 cupcakes on there!  Woo hoo!).  One old lad even tried to snatch a cupcake as I was taking pictures!  I've never felt the urge to swat at a hand so badly.  Just kidding of course...or am I?  Anyway, I ran away from there with only a few pictures to share with you.  And of course, I didn't shoot any at home before hand this time. 

In other news, I am STILL waiting on my new camera!!!  So thank you to my friend Heidi again for loaning me your camera....again.  Thanks.  :)

Firetruck Birthday

One VERY special little boy celebrated his fifth birthday last weekend with a tour of the fire station, fun with LOTS of friends and family, and of course, fire truck cupcakes!  We had so much fun touring the fire house.  The fire men were all very friendly and kind considering 17 kids plus their parents invaded their surprisingly small space.  They gave the kids an informative demonstration and, best of all, let them play in the trucks!  Then everyone joined us here for present chaos and a sugar rush...before I sent them home for dinner...with whistles.  :)  

I used The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake recipe again here from The Cupcake Project.  It's sooo good!  Most cupcakes have chocolate frosting, by specific request, and a few have with vanilla almond butter cream...because I just like them better that way.  The toppers are all made from a mix of commercial and homemade fondant.  I'll admit, I don't do red homemade.  It's just too much...red.

 The fondant fire truck design is not an original design of mine.  I found it on a google search.  But I did make them all by hand.

A friend with an actual camera took these photos while I tended to party hosting duties.  I have good friends! 

I think that wall makes everything in this room look orange.  In two days though, that will change....  :)