Purple Wedding Tasting

Actually the colors for this 2013 wedding are purple, fuchsia, and turquoise.  Vibrant and youthful!   We chose foils in those colors for the liners (despite the paper ones you will see below).  I won't ruin all the details for this one so check in again next year!

 Purple Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting and fondant flowers on top.  The pictures don't capture the true color of purple.  In real life, they were less blue-purple.  More royal!

This was my first attempt at the purple velvet cake.  It just looked like chocolate.  But I had to post this to show the flower on top that I love!

The second attempt was much better.  I actually had to reduce the amount of cocoa a little but the flavor was still there. 

 The bride's niece is licking her lips in the background.  She was a lucky little girl that day.  I lost count on how many cupcakes she got to taste!

 My classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and candied ginger.

 The second tray of offerings to taste.

 White cake with black berry butter cream and a small fondant flower on the side of the frosted rose.

And finally, marble cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting for the groom.  He is a self-proclaimed non-sweet-tooth kind of guy.  But I'm pretty sure he tasted all of the flavors and actually liked the carrot cake as well as this one.  In the background, a chocolate option with chocolate covered espresso bean on top.

The purple velvet batter.  I was also making red velvet at the time for another event.  One batch did double duty for me.  I added more cocoa to the red and the color to both after mixing all other ingredients.  I heart efficiency!

Yellow and Pink Baby Shower

Pale yellow ducks, pink and yellow buttons, flowers, and bibs, and lots of ruffles make for a cute girl baby shower.  I wish I'd taken more time for photos.  They would have been so adorable all set up on cake stands.  But I barely got these shots in as my client walked in the door!  Oh well.  Hope you enjoy!

 For this shower I made three cakes and three dozen cupcakes.

This is a chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream filling and frosting and fondant decorations.



 Pretty.



 This one was a white cake with fresh raspberry butter cream filling and frosting.

This reminds me of my friend Heidi who makes little diaper covers we refer to as "ruffle butts."  Check out her etsy store here.

This is a lemon cake with lemon cream cheese filling and vanilla butter cream frosting.  I used the open star tip and made rows of stars to get this look.  I've never seen it before or tried it out myself.  The mood struck and I just did it.  What do you think???

 Lemon.  Quack.

 You don't need a fancy bib cutter to make these.  I used a large oval cutter and a letter "u" cutter to make these.  Then added the dots with the end of a regular fondant tool. 

 Raspberry flower with fondant button center.

C + S Wedding

It was fishing opener and Mother's Day weekend.  The weather in central Minnesota really couldn't have been better.  It was the perfect weekend to celebrate the marriage of a farmer and his artist wife. 

l.o.v.e.

 Chocolate cupcake with a vanilla buttercream yellow petal flower.

 Lemon cupcake with a fresh raspberry butter cream rose.

And vanilla cupcake with a vanilla buttercream hydrangea.

I was tempted to let this be my breakfast.

 All set up with the fondant accents.

 I like those little green fondant leaves.

These make pretty Mother's Day cupcakes too...

...next year.

 Eat it!

They are so cute.

Congrats to C+S.  Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!

Turning Thirty

We had a party this weekend celebrating my upcoming 30th birthday.  The weather was beautiful, I was surrounded by good friends, and I got to party plan!  Oh, and bake.  Several of my guests asked if getting ready for our backyard bbq was stressful, to which I replied, "Do you even know me???"  I LOVED every second of it.  Even ironing (which I normally leave to the hubs) the table cloths was relaxing and joyful to me.  Yes.  It is true.  This party was not only for the fantastic people in my life that, oddly enough, choose to have me in theirs, it was my present to myself.  Happy Birthday Me!

 Yellow, turquoise, and gray were the colors of choice.  I had some fabric in my ever growing "stash" that I cut into 14" napkins and had a quilting friend serge the edges.  With a ribbon tied around the bundle, they even made the plastic ware look fancy.  I also made a banner out of the fabric, not pictured.  But what would birthday party be without a banner?

 The mini candy bar in milk glass.

Lemon Heads and Gumballs.

I did minis for the birthday so my friends could enjoy more than one with less guilt.  These are chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting.  Below them on the tier that I neglected to take a picture of are white chocolate cream cheese fruit tarts in mini fillo shells.  Yum!

 Lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting.  I think these were the favorite.

 I love their perfect little tops.

Ah, and last but definitely not least, my Pig Pickin' cake.  In the south, we make these for family reunions and special get togethers, usually a "pig pickin'."  Also known as hog roasts in other parts of the country.  The cake, I've been told, can sometimes go by the name of "Mandarin Orange" cake.  But for me, this is just a Pig Pickin' Cake!  It's a yellow cake with Mandarin oranges in the batter.  The frosting is whipped cream, vanilla pudding mix, and crushed pineapple.  It is the most moist, delcious, sweet thing you will ever put in your mouth.  I made mine from this recipe.  And I'm happy to say it was a hit even amongst these midwesterners. 

A big thank you to my wonderful friends who helped me celebrate the big 3-0.  And to all those that were there in spirit, I missed your smiles.  <3