Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Summer Berry Cakes
These chocolate and vanilla cupcakes turned out just the way I had envisioned. Why not have a tasty cupcake and enjoy a cherry on top too!
Eclectic Cupcakes
Last Friday I wanted to experiment with some decoration styles so I whipped up a batch of Milk Chocolate cupcakes. To top them I made my classic buttercream icing but added some almond flavoring because this is my personal favorite.
For the first style I tried sprinkling the cake with cocoa powder, a simple touch.
Next I added some shredded coconut to give a furry white-on-white look.
For this elegant cake I used the large star tip to make stars rather than a swirl and then sprinkled with pink luster dust and white edible pearls.
For this final version, I used a minimal amount of frosting and some multi-colored jimmies to add a playful touch.
For the first style I tried sprinkling the cake with cocoa powder, a simple touch.
Next I added some shredded coconut to give a furry white-on-white look. 
For this elegant cake I used the large star tip to make stars rather than a swirl and then sprinkled with pink luster dust and white edible pearls.
For this final version, I used a minimal amount of frosting and some multi-colored jimmies to add a playful touch.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Wedding Gifts
Wedding season has officially begun:-) This bride is a friend who has been great to work with and chose a cake that I have made in the past just with a different color scheme. As with any cake endeavor, the cake batter mixing, baking and frosting making take the majority of the time required for the project. I couldn't do it without my trusty KitchenAid.
What a lot of sugar! Once I got all the cake layers baked I started making frosting. This large tub was one of two I used to frost the main cake and two sheet cakes.
The wedding reception was a Friday night so starting Friday morning I got everything out and started to assemble. The 12" gift went together quickly and then I topped it with the 8" square rotated to give it the 'gift' feel. 
Once I get the whole cake frosted with the base layer I always breathe a sigh of relief. No matter what the project, I always feel like I can relax and let the creative juices flow. The mechanics of the cake can be put aside and I can let my decorating skills take over.
This cake needed to have a gold element so I decided to use plastic beads applied to the edge of the ribbon icing. It was a challenge to get the beads to lay flat but I really like how they define the ribbon and make the cake pop. For the 8" top gift I used Cornelli Lace, a technique that always adds an elegant feel and gets lots of comments.
The 12" cake features polka-dots to add a little whimsy to the cake. Now it is ready for transport across town and to get its topper and flowers!
In addition to the gift cake, the bride also needed two 1/2 sheet cakes to have enough to serve approx 150 guests. 
As in the past I drop off the cake a couple of hours before the reception and then the florist comes to finish off the flowers. So I had to wait until the reception to see it finished! I love how it turned out with the fresh flowers and the 'M' on top. Congratulations Annie and Pete!
What a lot of sugar! Once I got all the cake layers baked I started making frosting. This large tub was one of two I used to frost the main cake and two sheet cakes.
The wedding reception was a Friday night so starting Friday morning I got everything out and started to assemble. The 12" gift went together quickly and then I topped it with the 8" square rotated to give it the 'gift' feel. 
Once I get the whole cake frosted with the base layer I always breathe a sigh of relief. No matter what the project, I always feel like I can relax and let the creative juices flow. The mechanics of the cake can be put aside and I can let my decorating skills take over.
This cake needed to have a gold element so I decided to use plastic beads applied to the edge of the ribbon icing. It was a challenge to get the beads to lay flat but I really like how they define the ribbon and make the cake pop. For the 8" top gift I used Cornelli Lace, a technique that always adds an elegant feel and gets lots of comments.
The 12" cake features polka-dots to add a little whimsy to the cake. Now it is ready for transport across town and to get its topper and flowers!
In addition to the gift cake, the bride also needed two 1/2 sheet cakes to have enough to serve approx 150 guests. 
As in the past I drop off the cake a couple of hours before the reception and then the florist comes to finish off the flowers. So I had to wait until the reception to see it finished! I love how it turned out with the fresh flowers and the 'M' on top. Congratulations Annie and Pete!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
Over the weekend I was browsing on-line and found a cupcake shop in Denver that I will have to visit. I was looking at all of their different flavors and got inspired to try a new combination myself. So I created these Lemon cakes with Blueberry Buttercream frosting. The whole berries give the frosting a great texture and color and go great with the light lemon flavor of the little cakes.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Chocolate Raspberry Torte
Easter was just over a week ago and while I was home in Kansas I tried a new recipe for a dessert cake. I found a great chocolate cake recipe and then used a raspberry cream cheese filling and a chocolate whip topping frosting. I baked the sheet cake the night before and then cut and assembled it right before Easter dinner. Eaten chilled with fresh raspberries it was quite a hit!
Chocolate Chip Cheese Cake
One of my co-workers celebrated her birthday last month so I asked her beforehand what type of cake she would like. She said she likes any kind of cake and also likes cheese cake. I am always looking for a chance to bake a new flavor of cheese cake so I took her up on it! First I looked for inspiration pictures for the presentation and then I looked at recipes. I combined a chocolate chip filling recipe with a favorite brownie recipe for the crust. I topped it with a chocolate glaze and arranged fresh strawberries and chocolate curly-cues that I had made the night before. It turned out looking great and tasting good too!
Pumpkin Cake Roll
I have always wanted to try making a cake roll. They look so difficult and the whole rolling up in a towel thing has always scarred me. But I finally decided to try one. So I found a recipe for a pumpkin cake roll with cream cheese filling and it wasn't really that hard! It just took some time to cool and assemble but was worth the fuss.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
