Cupcakes Galore!

One of my most requested items lately have been cupcakes. These mini cupcakes had sports and Navy themed fondant toppers.

 These were for an 80's themed birthday party. I was happy to get to do these!

Donated Cakes

Like most other small businesses, we like to support local events and fundraisers in any way we can. Usually that includes donating a gift certificate or small cake/cupcakes. Recently, we have donated to several local groups or fundraisers and still have a few on the calendar in the future. Here are some of the donated goodies we've done lately.

This Valentine's theme ruffle cake was donated to the 4-H Italian Supper & Auction's cake walk, hosted by the Chesapeake Horse & Pony Club.

The following cake and cupcakes were donated to a Silent Auction to benefit the Dolphin Scholarship Foundation.

Oh, December.. Busiest month of the year!

This month has been incredibly busy for me, both on the business and home front! Cookies and cupcakes galore! Here are a few photos of goodies that went out this month.

Snowflake Cookies

Christmas Cookies

"Peace, Love, & Stacey" Mini Cupcakes

Christmas Mini Cupcakes

Just one of our many Christmas Gift boxes!

Anchors, Stripes, and a Cupcake Tower!

It has been longer than I hoped to put these photos on the blog, but I have finally found a moment to do so! Here are the cakes that have kept me so busy lately!

First Birthday cake designed to match the Sailor theme party decor.

My husband's ship requested this cake for this year's Chief Selectees. I decided at the last minute to put chocolate Navy emblems on the top corners to fill in space and later found out that the chocolate mold that is being sold as a "Navy Emblem" is in fact an Officer's Emblem. I should have know this, being Navy myself, however, the details of the mold are so small and hard to see, that I didn't realize this. The chiefs who received the cake sure did! I feel terrible that I put an officer's emblem on an enlisted service member's cake! But now that I am aware, I will not make that mistake again!

The Foster-McCammon wedding had to be postponed because of Hurricane Irene, and happened to be rescheduled for the weekend of our kids' birthday party (photos of that to come next!). I was able to do a lot ahead of time so after the party was over I finished them up and delivered them to their wedding at the Virginia Beach Contemporary Arts Center. I am waiting on some professional photos from the wedding photographers, so more to come!

This was for a Baby's 1st Birthday party. The mother took a few different photos she liked and combined them into this cake. I love the way the zebra print turned out and I would love to do another one!

This Tea Set cake was for a bridal shower that had to be rescheduled due to Hurricane Irene. The tea set is edible and hand painted. Tea pot made of rice cereal treats and rest of pieces made entirely from fondant except for flower, which was a gumpaste fantasy orchid. The bride-to-be's name was on the tea pot, her mother and soon to be mother-in-law's names were on the sugar and cream, and the bridesmaids names were on the tea cups.

A very special soon to be 15 year old contacted me about a zebra birthday cake. She chose every detail on her own and I was very impressed with her knowledge of cake! Not many 15 year old girls even know what fondant is! She wanted a purse on top so we personalized it to say "Caitlyn Couture".

Pink & Green Baby Shower Dessert Table

It has taken a while to post this because of Hurricane Irene. Here are photos of the dessert table from last weekend. The theme was pink & green. Except for the cake squares in the center, all other desserts were made by Storybook Bakery.

Personalized baby bucket from Kurlz & Swirls held the chocolate covered oreo party favors. Mommy-to-be got to keep the bucket.

Right side of the table.

Left side of the table.

Center of table.

Cake was banana with cream cheese frosting.

Whoopie pies!

Dipped strawberries in Ghiradelli chocolate.

Cream puffs with fresh whipped cream.

Cupcakes were Strawberry Buttercream and Chocolate Fudge with Chocolate Buttercream. Cupcake wrappers from Bella Cupcake Couture.

My mother-in-law, Kellie, snapped a quick photo of me with the table!

I had a great time putting this table together. I developed a love of all desserts during pastry school, and enjoy when I get the opportunity to do an array of sweets, rather than only cakes. I can't wait until my next dessert table!

Police Academy, Military Birthday, & A Raffle!

The first half of the week was super busy! We had a graduation cake for a recruit of the Virginia Beach Police Department's 51st class from the Police Academy. Here is his celebration cake!

Also this week was the birthday of a Senior Chief working at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. His office wanted to surprise him with a cake! This is the second cake we have done for this hospital. We hope to do more!

Last thing on our list this week was a set of Sweet Boxes for a raffle at a local event. The two boxes contained a 6-inch cake and a dozen cupcakes, as well as a gift certificate. Here are the boxes all wrapped up and ready to go. Below are pictures of the cake and cupcakes. Congratulations to the winner! We hope to get pictures or video of the raffle soon.

Save the Ta-Tas!

It's October again. My favorite month of the year because Halloween falls in it, which is by far my favorite holiday. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness month. I like to do something every year in honor of bringing notice and information to women about preventing breast cancer and to show support to those brave souls who are living with it. I decided to make "Save the Ta-Tas", pink ribbon cupcakes, and dipped pretzels. Cupcakes are chocolate and vanilla swiss meringue buttercream with fondant decor. My husband, children and I will be joining in on the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk this coming weekend. I hope that everyone who reads this will be willing to join the fight and "spread the word" about how to get screened as well as do-it-yourself checks for preventing and recognizing symptoms of breast cancer, such as those found on the American Cancer Society website. We can find a cure for breast cancer. Feel your boobs; it can save your life.

I think this post calls for a couple different quotes:

It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. -Abraham Lincoln

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. -C.C. Scott

and finally...

Never, never, never give up. -Winston Churchill

I'll Settle for a Slow Down..

Wow, has it been a busy past few months! So many birthdays and lots of baking. October will be more of the same with Halloween coming up. I am planning a dessert buffet, so check back for that. I have been trying out more recipes lately so my house has been full of yummies! Here are some of the things I've been working on lately.

Whoopie pies! Oreos have nothing on these babies! I have made dozens of these lately and can't seem to get enough. Above are regular and Halloween themed whoopies.
This is probably my favorite of all the cake recipes I use. Banana cake with cream cheese frosting. So moist with a delicate crumb. My daughter, Cheyenne liked it so much that she requested it for her birthday cake this year.
I have had a hard time finding a lemon bar recipe that I wanted to use. I may still make a few tweaks to this recipe but for the most part, I am happy with the results.
One of my undecorated cookie flavors. Snickerdoodles, studded with toffee bits.
My oldest daughter, Harley, turned four this year. I was pregnant with her brother, so I couldn't spend as much time on her birthday cake (in this case, cupcakes) as I would have liked. Her brother actually ended up being born on her birthday. These cupcakes were rainbow butter yellow with Swiss Meringue buttercream.
I have made chocolate covered sandwich cookies in the past, but they were dipped. I purchased molds from Spinning Leaf, and piped on the flowers with royal icing. These would be a perfect party or wedding favor. Check back later, because I will be making snowman and snowflake chocolate covered cookies for Christmas presents this year.
For my birthday this year, I finally gave in to the dark side. I purchased an Agbay cake leveler. This leveler has the reputation as the best in the business and I can honestly say that it is truly my new favorite toy! This cake was one that I used my Agbay with. It creates perfectly even cake layers and helps me to get my perfect 4 inch height to the cake. It cuts through cake like butter. I would highly recommend the investment.

"The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing."

-Unknown

Anchors Aweigh..

My husband recently said goodbye to the ship he had been serving on for the past four years. It is a big change for us all, but we will definitely not miss the constant deployments. I made cupcakes for him to take on his last day. The anchors and emblems were molded chocolates, luster dusted and placed on top of Italian meringue buttercream.

“What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.”

-Unknown

Fall Is In The Air..

Today was a crisp cool day, which means Fall is finally here (in San Diego, that is). The scent if the wind reminded me of my favorite holiday - Halloween!

My girls and I have a playdate tomorrow, and since it is a potluck, I volunteered to bring cupcakes, of course! I used a fabulous recipe from the Cake Bible for an All-American Chocolate Cake, and my cupcakes baked beautifully and fairly even. I tried a new buttercream recipe from the Cake Bible as well tonight and I am happy with the results even though this particular buttercream would never work for a white wedding cake, because it's not even close to white in color. Since I was planning on coloring it orange anyway, it didn't matter much and it is delicious. It tastes more like a cream anglais than a buttercream, which I like. I topped them off with mini chocolate chips. I hope tomorrow is another cool day!

"May the best from your past be the worst of your future.”

-Unknown