Happy, Happy Birthday Cakes!

Goodness, is it Thursday already??  Never mind the week flying by so fast, this entire year is just zooming by!  So much has happened since I first started this blog!  My baking skills have definitely increased, and more importantly, I realize that I actually enjoy baking and decorating a lot!  I have gone from playing with cupcakes to dessert tables, with the sprinkle of cakes in between.  I remember my first blog post on my very first cake and my thoughts on cake itself.  I remember thinking that everyone should just order cupcakes because 1. they are so easy to eat, 2. they are "easier" to decorate (meaning, if I mess up on one cupcake, I have many more chances left to get it right!), 3. cakes are scary to decorate.  But now I look back and I realize, I've actually made quite a few cakes!  And it wasn't as bad as I initially thought!  In fact, I'm getting much better at it!  I really wish I could dedicate one blog post for each cake I've made, but unfortunately, a lot of these cakes were orders that were for pick up.  So, I am lucky that I captured these pictures to share with you!  Check it out!

 Anyone fancy some sliders and fries??  I made these "sliders" and "fries" for my special friend, Daniel, who actually makes the best (real) burgers ever.  Like, ever.  So, I thought I'd pay him the favor back by making burgers for his birthday.  These were peanut butter cupcakes with a chocolate "patty."  The cheese (even though we prefer blue cheese on our burgers), were made of fondant and the "french fries" were made of sugar cookies!  This is one of my favorites...probably because I have a love for burgers...in any shape and form!

 Another rainbow cake!  The last rainbow cake I made was for Keanu's pho cake!  But I made this cool rainbow cake for my friend, Diane's birthday too!  Did the simple rosettes all over the cake.  I loved how the rosettes looked so pretty and elegant, and inside, surprise!  Tons of color!

I had the opportunity to make a Super Mario Brothers cake (and cupcakes too)!  It was a lot of fun because Mario Brothers actually took me back to childhood.  I grew up with Mario Brothers!  It was also fun to test my fondant modeling skills!  This cake definitely had some challenging figures!  But I think, in the end, I did a pretty good job at it!

This cake definitely took a lot of sweat!  For the cake itself, on first look, it looks like a simple train cake.  Oh, no...there was a lot of rolling and cutting for this cake!  If only I had a simple cutter that cuts whatever I needed.  That was not the case!  Everything was hand cut to fit the cake!  And although there were some hiccups with this order, I still really love how the cake (and cupcake toppers) ultimately looked!  Definitely a labor of love...or more, passion for this art!

Lastly, (and sorry for the horrendous pictures), a super simple cake for one of my lovely friend!  Simple cake on the outside, but to specifics on the inside.  My dear friend is gluten intolerant, so I made a yummy strawberry almond cake, without the gluten, just for her.  This cake was actually so yummy that I have people preferring this gluten free cake to regular cake!  I've made this cake with strawberries, blueberries, and even chocolate Nutella!  And all very, very tasty!

That's it for now folks!  Tune in next time...I still have a few fun gigs left to share!

A Little Bit of Everything

Happy, sweet Monday!  It is finally beginning to feel like fall, here in the sunniest of California!  Today was the coziest, gloomy of days!  I'm beginning to think that I can really pull out my boots and sweaters now!  Lovin' this weather!  Anywhooo...it's been  while since I last posted.  It's been one hectic ride...but I guess it's always one hectic ride, right?  Otherwise I would be on top of my blogging!  I had tons of super fun gigs since the last post...I just have to organize my pictures and figure out where everything went!  I used to haul my Canon everywhere (and especially on my gigs), but now that the iPhone takes such great pictures, I find that I use my iPhone more than my Canon.  The only problem with that is, I have more trouble getting my pictures from my phone to my laptop.  Whereas with my Canon, I just straight plug and chug!  I know, I know...excuses, excuses right?  But seriously, for this technology-challenged girl...I gotta make it easier on myself somehow!  Anyways, time for the fun stuff!  Here are a few fun projects I worked on over the few months:

 The donuts on top are actually baked donuts!  I dabbled with baked donuts, using our donut shop's recipes.  I've played with baked donuts before (in those Wilton pans), using recipes I've found online. But I decided to try my shop's recipe and bake that instead.  It actually worked out pretty well.  The donuts ended up a touch breadier than normal donuts (since there isn't a lot of fat to work with compared to deep fry).  I've actually had a few people say that they enjoyed these baked donuts more than fried!

Again, another donut project.  Way back in the days, we used to sell giant glaze donuts on a regular basis.  Get this...they were only $1.25 back in the days too!  I know, crazy huh?  Anyways, I had an order for a giant donut cake, so while at it, I decided to make some giant donuts just for heck of it.

You've probably seen these on the blog before but here are they are again!  I really love these chrysanthemum cupcakes!  They just look so awesome with very minimal work!

Fluffy whipped cream cake with fresh fruit.  One word.  YUM!

Aren't these sugar cookies adorable??  These sweet cherubs are actually wafer papers, cut and "glued" onto fondant topped sugar cookies.  I then dusted the edge with gold luster powder.

Last, but not least, another attempt of mine on cupcake bouquets.  The first time I made these, they were beautiful!  Definitely worth the sweat!  But the car ride was the demise of that first bouquet!  It was fixable, but still...all that hard work and the beauty of it undisturbed.  This time around, I didn't have to worry about transportation.  Someone else had that worry, so I definitely had more fun creating this bouquet!

Check back soon, dear readers!  I have some super fun posts coming up!  Definitely one on all the cakes I've been making and some beautiful events too!  Stay tuned!