Catching Up

I'll keep this short and sweet.  Now that wedding season is over, here are a few smaller orders I've been working on the last few weeks.  At least the ones I had time to take pictures of.  ;)

 

Gender reveal cupcakes with pink bows and blue mustaches.  The center was PINK!

 

Another gender reveal order. Chocolate and vanilla.  See the swirl?  I've learned something new!

 

Cupcake cake in the shape of cupcake?!?  Heck yeah!  This was a first for me.  It was so much fun and so easy.  I hope to do more of these in the future!

 

This was an open house event for a wedding venue, The Barn at Dunvilla in Pelican Rapids, MN.  I provided minis for future brides & grooms to taste.  Above are chocolate peanut butter minis accompanied by vanilla bean, red velvet, and apple butter.  Yum!  The oven and chest were provided by The Barn (that you can use if you get married there!). 

 

 

 These little cuties were for a farm themed birthday party.  I so badly wanted to do a little red barn and green tractor with the animals, but I follow orders.  ;)

Occasionally I like to go out of town for the weekend.  Really!  Did you know that I can make fondant toppers like the above that you can place on your own home-made (or, heaven forbid, store-bought... ;) ) cupcakes?  So if I'm ever unable to fulfill an order, either because I'm already booked or maybe I just want a break, you don't have to sacrifice design to coordinate with your party's theme.  I would love to make custom cupcake toppers for you!

Okay. That part wasn't short and sweet. Oh well.

Hello Kitty cake for a friend's little girl.  I think I can safely say I have made most of the cakes for this little girl's birthdays thus far in her life and they are ALWAYS F-U-N!  Just like her!  ;)

Rose swirl smash cake.  I love this in white.  It is so simple and beautiful!

And more to come soon with pictures of a giant cupcake smash cake for a little girl's first birthday. 

Thanks for checking in!

Coral + Aqua Tasting Cupcakes

Confession:  For the millionth time, I'm a terrible blogger.  I've promised myself that I'm going to spend a little free time this fall and winter updating my blog with all the pretties from this summer.  I'll let you know next spring if I've accomplished this lofty goal.  ;)

I digress.

Today I had my second tasting in preparation for Summer of 2014 Weddings.  The bride's colors are coral, aqua, and gray.  Venue, the beautiful Rustic Oaks. The flavor requests were White Almond (her favorite), Lemon-Raspberry, and Carrot Cake (to appease the groom who is a self-proclaimed non-sweets guy).   Other than wanting flowery cupcakes there were no other demands.  Here's what we came up with...

Man.  I love tastings.  I still can't get over how stinkin' pretty these are.

 Fondant accessories we chose not to add.

 

 Teal hydrangea cupcake.  White Almond.

 

 I added a touch of peach to the typically pink-ish fresh raspberry buttercream to make coral colored frosted roses for the lemon cupcakes.

 

 On the far left is the Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting and a coral candy bead on top.

 

 Petal flower cupcakes. 

 

There will be a few minor changes to make these even more awesome for their wedding.  Oh I can't wait to share the final product with you next summer!  'Til then, thanks for stopping by!

Dr. Suess Cake

I am so excited to share this cake with you!  It's been a while since I've felt challenged doing cake work and this one did it!  But in a good way, of course.  This lovely vanilla bean cake and smash cake (the hat on top) was for a little boy's first birthday.  There were also a dozen cupcakes that went with, but I was too excited about the cake to take a picture of them apparently.  

Here it is!  A Dr. Seuss themed cake.  The bottom tier is 8", then 6", and the hat on top is made up of three stacked cupcakes.  And lots of frosting!  Each is frosted with vanilla-almond butter cream with hand cut fondant decorations and edible ink marker.  The only non-edible on the cake were the adorable paper straws used for the cotton candy truffela trees.

 This quote hangs in the little boys room and was a special request by his parents to be included on the cake.  Love it!

 

 One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.  All hand cut and drawn with edible ink marker.  Whew!

 

 Green eggs and ham and the Cat's hat on top as the smash cake.  I hope he likes it!

 

Okay, I want to do it all over again.  It was just so much fun!  :)

M+B Mountain Wedding Part 2: The rest of that beautiful day.

Now that you've seen the cake and cupcakes, aren't you ready to see the rest of the beautiful wedding?  If not, stop reading now.  :)

The wedding and events prior took place at a place called Sugar Hollow Retreat near the Watauga River in...well, I'm not really sure what "town" it was in. It was pretty remote. When we finally arrived (never trust a GPS) we pulled into The Lodge, above, where we stayed and where the reception took place. There were several other cottages and a conference center along the mountainside of SHR.  And if it weren't for all the rain, we might have even had a chance to hike one of their trails. There was plenty of nature to take in at SHR.  As soon as we pulled in two fawns and two does walked right past us.  We saw several wild turkeys, and their babies, and although no bears were spotted, trash was not allowed outside.  Ever.   It was the perfect rustic backdrop to a simple and beautiful wedding! 

The baker, the bride, and the best lady.  Friday night rehearsal dinner.  <3

 

 Saturday.  Meet Ann.  Ann is blurry because she never stopped moving.  She was so organized and told everyone what to do, where to find things, and where to put those things.  I wish I had an Ann...

 

The bar for cocktail hour.

 

Other side of the bar.

 

 One of the things I loved most about this wedding is that it was simply beautiful and without obnoxious extravagant stuff!  Almost everything was handmade and put together by friends and family.  Above is the bride's aunt who did all the flower arrangements and lots of the decorating.

 

The table cloth is up to keep it from getting wet, but here's the table setting.  So simple and so pretty!

 

 Finally, time for the ceremony...

 

 ...on the Observation Deck at the top of the mountain at Sugar Hollow Retreat.  There's the Watauga River.

 

 I almost cry every time I look at these...

 

 

 

As they walked back down the aisle as a married couple, everyone sang "All You Need Is Love."

 

Hey that's me!  ;)

 

Now time for the reception...

 As everyone walked in, we stamped our fingerprints and signed by them on this tree.  What a great keepsake for the bride and groom.

 

Here's a close up from before.  See.  It matches the cupcakes.  *giggle*

 

Yummy NC BBQ!

 

 Vintage plates and napkins, non-matchy-matchy.  Mason jars with tags to write your name on.  <3

 

The view from the reception tent.

 

And finally...Yes.  There was an actual rainbow.  On their wedding day.  Perfect!

 

 



M+B Mountain Wedding Part 1: The Cakes

One of my dearest friends from college at UNC was married last weekend.  I was so excited for her big day; to see her so happy and shining and walking down the aisle to her prince.  Her beautiful wedding also meant my hubby and I got a weekend away in the mountains in TN.  And I was honored to bake cupcakes and a cutting cake for her...their day.

 Here is the final set up.  The colors for the wedding were brown and wasabi green, and there was a theme of "M+B" in hearts along with daisies, butterflies, and other natural elements. The cake is Vanilla Bean with Vanilla Buttercream, simply decorated with meander piping, a fondant round with "M+B" stamped on, and a fondant butterfly floating above.  It sat on top of a slice of tree.  How perfect for a mountain wedding.

 

Because I was baking for a good friend, I was given lots of design freedom.  I experimented with a new flavor, Vanilla Lavender cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting.  I think it went over well... 

Other flavors included Lemon with Raspberry Buttercream, Lime with Lime Cream Cheese frosting, and Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercream. Aren't those flavor cards darling?!  Would you believe my husband came up with that idea?!?  True story.

A close up of the cake. 

 

 And now we're ready for the cutting to begin...

They really are the cutest. 

Starting off neat and proper... 

Wha?!? 

Hehe.  Love them!  <3

 

Congratulations M + B!  Thank you so much for letting me be a part of you day.  It truly was an honor.

 

Now stay tuned for more from their beautiful mountain top wedding!