Floral Birthday

Chocolate cake is always a birthday hit. This 6" round swirl cake features fondant flowers painted with pink luster dust. The pink flower centers are accented by edible pearl sprinkles.

Leaves are Falling...

Fall leaves come in all shapes and sizes. Each one unique and perfect. As they flutter to the ground each year, I feel a mix of excitement and sadness. Excitement that snow is on the way, sometimes sooner than later, and sadness that summer has bid us adieu. But what better way to celebrate the season than with royal icing frosted cookies in whimsical leaf and acorn shapes that are sure to please any crowd!

Bulldogs Fundraiser

Everyone needs a little Australian Footy in there lives! Go Denver Bulldogs! Hope you do well at nationals next month!

Retro Cupcakes

Get ready for a blast from the past with these retro cupcakes. In aqua, brown, baby pink and white these little treats will brighten up any body's day!

~Vintage Style Birthday~

This vintage style birthday cake was such fun to make for my visiting friend. It is constructed of three layers of white cake and filled with cheesecake pudding filling to make it taller than your average cake. Happy Birthday Rachel!

Chocoholic's Delight

Dark chocolate cupcakes topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and dessert sprinkles! These delights are enough for any chocolate lover.

Seaside Cupcakes

A June wedding at The Hudson Gardens in Littleton, Colorado, with flowers blooming. Nothing could be better suited for the reception than delicate parchment wrapped cupcakes in dark chocolate, carrot and white flavors. Then what a pleasant surprise when each guest bites in and finds either raspberry, cherry or cream cheese filling! One-hundred fifty of these little cakes graced a 6-tier stand and flanked it on either side. Then varying sizes of candy mold shells were arranged at the base with brown sugar sand to complete the look.

Wedding Cookies!

These cookies are perfect for any occasion including wedding favors, bridal shower celebrations or as a substitute for the traditional cake at the wedding reception! For a personal touch, monograms can be added.

All sizes and shapes

What better to serve at a Christmas time wedding reception than gift cakes! These three cakes formed the perfect group decorated in zebra stripes, polka-dots, cornelli lace and sotas (a Philippine lacework technique). The bows were accented in silver string beads and fresh flowers provided by the bride's mother.Baby elephants are adorable, especially on cakes. This cake was specially requested to have a little girl elephant with pink and yellow accents. This cake was designed for a golden anniversary in rural Kansas. The couple had saved their original cake topper from half a century ago so I Incorporated it into my design of yellow basket weave, apple blossoms and white roses.Say "Happy Birthday!" is style with a birdhouse cake complete with birds! This cake, designed for a regional cake competition, won first place.The heat of summer was in full swing and it was birthday party time! This sheet cake incorporated flip-flops, sand (brown sugar), hibiscus flowers and cheerful colors. Merry Peppermint Christmas! This cake designed in the shape of a peppermint candy even had peppermint flavored frosting!Spring and summer birthdays are such fun. I was hired to decorate this cake for a girls birthday party that included 50 guests. So designing this large two-layer Easter egg was the perfect solution.This trio of cakes was designed for my twin brothers' high school graduation party. The little cake graduates were a fun conversation piece as well as a scrumptious treat.This spectacular 5-year-old birthday cake was designed for a party on the beach in Naples, Florida. When I delivered the cake, the birthday girl sat next to the cake and the cake was nearly as big as she was!

Camping Adventure

This past weekend I made a cake for a guy's 31st birthday party. He enjoys being outdoors so I found an inspiration photo of a cake with a small camping scene on it.The project started with a two-layer 8" base cake in chocolate and vanilla swirl frosted in grass green icing. Then I began layering on chocolate cookie crumbs as dirt, two green frosting shades as foliage, chocolate covered pretzels as logs, and lavender and blue frosting as more foliage and flowers.For the tiny tent I used the mini wonder mold pan by Wilton and covered it in fondant. Once this was positioned on the cake, I placed the dryed fondant trees around the tent and formed the flames for the fire ring.All the components came together perfectly and made a wonderful party centerpiece. Not only was this a great birthday cake it could also be an ideal groom's cake for the fun-loving groom!

Contemporary Elegance

Last fall I designed a wedding reception cake for a young couple who had been married in Oregon and wanted a cake for their Kansas reception. The bride wanted something contemporary to compliment her cream and black color scheme. I had recently seen cakes designed with alternate items used in place of the traditional pillars and separator plates. By purchasing a black 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" square ceramic vase, I was able to get a new look.For this three-tier cake I used smooth cream colored buttercream frosting with piped swirls over the entire surface. I liberally added cream apple blossoms with black centers and pearl stamen to finish the look. By piping some additional black frosting dots I was able to add some more visual interest and dimension.As I assembled everything on-site, the whole look came together. For this reception I was also in charge of the flowers and decor for the cake display table. The bride ordered dark red roses, leather leaf and some filler flowers for me to work with. I made a large arrangement using these for the cake topper and also made two rose and greenery bouquets to flank the cake. Three bouquets finished out the set for the serving table.As I stepped back, it was wonderful to see the entire concept come together in a fresh new way.

Pink Roses

Roses are beautiful, especially on wedding cakes. The bride for this spring wedding was using bright pink roses for her flowers and also as her main wedding color. The couple needed cake to serve around 250 people. So I designed a center 4-tier cake with pillars between the second and third layers and four 8" side cakes. Each cake was white-on-white with a variation of cornelli lace. I used a #7 writing tip for the lace and a #352 leaf tip for an occasional leaf sprinkled among the lace.
For the main cake I piped the entire top layer in lace and then let it continue down the next layer where it trailed out to dots. I repeated this with the bottom two layers and on two of the four side cakes. On the remaining two side cakes I piped the entire surface with cornelli lace. This cake grouping required a total of 16 layers of cake and multiple batches of buttercream frosting. I baked and assembled for many hours in preparation of the big day. Once I arrived with the cakes at the hotel ballroom reception site, I assembled the main cake and positioned the side cakes. I was thrilled to see the wonderful rose, ivy and baby's breath floral arrangements all ready for the tops of the cakes! Once I had them all placed, I did some final frosting touch-ups and the cakes were ready to go. They made such a pretty picture of pink freshness!

Zebra Girl Birthday

I have always had a weakness for animal prints. Whether it be clothing, in my interior design work or in cake design. So when a client requested a birthday cake for a 20-something friend I knew exactly what to suggest. She wanted something fun and hip and I had just the thing! I described a brown and white zebra background with pink roses and blue accents. The client was thrilled when I dropped it off. After the party she told me it, "Was a beautiful and delicious cake!!!" I love happy endings!

Polka-dots & Roses (2005)

When hired to design a cake for a college friend, I was very excited. She is a fellow cake decorator and I knew that she would put my skills to the test. The bride was anticipating approx. 180 guests so together we planned a center 3-tier round cake with 14in, 10in and 6in layers. For additional quantity I planned to make five additional 10in round individual cakes to arrange around the centerpiece cake. The bride had concept pictures of a wedding cake that was all white with varying sizes of polka-dots covering it. Another picture had frosting roses ringing each layer of a cake. By combining these two we thought I could make a stunning cake. So three days ahead of the wedding date I started making roses. Each layer of the centerpiece cake had a different size of flower with the largest being on the bottom layer. Rose after rose they took shape. Talk about a sore hand! That evening and the following day I baked all 16 white and chocolate cake layers that would ultimately form the finished product. Then it was on to the the frosting and assembly of each cake. Every surface in my kitchen was covered and overflowing! Cake was everywhere I looked but it was the best part of the process. Just before everything comes together it is so exciting to anticipate what will be created and then see it take shape! Once everything was boxed and ready for transport the day of the wedding, I loaded it into the vehicle for the short journey. Driving with a wedding cake on board is always a little nerve wracking but I just take it slow and steady and avoid any and all speed bumps! A friend met me at the reception site to assist with unloading and set-up. We got all the cakes into the ballroom and then placed the center cake on the tall pillars that housed a small water fountain. I then placed the individual cakes radiating around the center. My final touch was placing the Bianca Figurine by Wilton on the top tier. That evening as the bride and groom cut the cake, I was happy to see them both thrilled with the cakes and enjoying their memorable moment.

Seashell Cupcakes

Recently, I was asked to bake and decorate sample cupcakes for a potential client. She wanted to try four different flavors each with a different filling. I made:

Chocolate with cherry filling
White with raspberry filling
Carrot with cream cheese filling
Yellow with raspberry filling

So I baked, hollowed out the middle and filled each little cake. Then, after replacing the 'lid' over the filling, they were ready to be decorated.

At the client's request, I had special ordered baking papers from Canada that were tulip style and would simply require the cakes to be placed in and then frosted. With buttercream frosting I piped a tight swirl (using Wilton tip 2D) to cover the top of each cake.

The day before I had made shells in the Wilton seashells candy mold using swirled combinations of white and light cocoa candymelts. I placed a shell on top of each cupcake and sprinkled them alternately with blue sprinkles and brown sugar to give the impression of water and sand.

After I packaged them all up, they were ready for delivery and approval!