Liam's Second Birthday

There are so many things that a 2-year-old boy likes...trains, firetrucks, buses, play-doh, animals, bubbles and the list goes on.  So when it came time to narrow down on a theme for a cake for my big boy's second birthday, it was a tough decision!  I wanted to incorporate as many of the birthday boy's favourite things as I can but still want it to be cohesive and not look like an explosion of random unrelated things.

In the end, I came up with an idea to make Thomas the train (Liam's favourite at the moment) and a few cabooses filled with some other things he loves. The first caboose was filled with animals - a monkey with bananas (one of Liam's favourite foods), a penguin and a lion along with some balloons in the back.

 

 

The second caboose was filled with a fire truck.  The original idea was to fill it with a fire truck and a school bus.  However, I spent much more time on the fire truck than I intended (all the tiny details took much longer to do on a miniature scale!) so I ran out of time to make the school bus =(  Oh well, maybe it will make its way into the cake next year =P

 

Thomas is made of banana cake with vanilla butter cream and the cabooses are carrot cake with cream cheese buttercream.

This cake took me quite a while to plan and even longer to put together.  I was working on it pretty much right up to before the party =P  I had to sacrifice some sleep to get it done in time but when I saw the look on Liam's face when he pointed to the cake and said 'Thomas!', it was all worth it! 

Christmas cupcakes

Happy New Year everyone!  So I'm a little behind...seeing that it is the third week into the new year and I'm only posting about Christmas cupcakes now =P  It's been a very busy holiday and I was working on a very special birthday cake + planning a party for the past few weeks (that post coming soon). I only have time to catch up on my posts now!

A friend had asked me to make some cupcakes for her office before the holidays.  She had requested for some Christmas tree cupcakes.  So Christmas tree cupcakes I made...along with a few other fondant-covered designs =)

 

Floral cake and mini cupcakes

I'm not going to lie...it's a very good feeling when a customer likes my cakes enough to refer her friends & family to me and to come back for repeat orders!  They say the best form of advertising is word of mouth and I'm so ever grateful that a very sweet bride (for whom I had made a wedding cake this past fall) had been spreading the word for me.  Last month, she herself came back to me for an order.  This time, it's a birthday cake and mini cupcakes for her mom's birthday. 

The theme of the party was floral and the bride had liked the flowers I made for another wedding cake in the summer (coincidentally the cake was for one of her friends she had referred to me!).  So we went with the same flower with the rhinestone centre and kept the cake simple with some piping and a rhinestone border.  

Then there were also mini cupcakes.  Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate and vanilla buttercream, vanilla cupcakes with strawberry buttercream and red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream.  The buttercream was piped as rosettes to keep with the floral theme.

Sweet treats for a sweet gal.  I can't thank you enough for all your referrals!

Bring on the Bling!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!

I was asked by a bride to create a cake incorporating flowers and bling a month and a half ago (finally got around to writing a post for it!). The design I came up with combined the two elements together: bling within the flowers.  A white cake provided a simple canvas on which bright, bold, fuchsia flowers with rhinestone centres would pop.  A thin band of bling at the base of each tier tied the flowers together with the cake. 

I didn't want the cake to be overly flashy or blinding but still have that sparkle the bride was looking for.  The finished product achieved the look I was striving for - a simple elegance, delivery on the wattage without over-the-top bling =) 

 

Cherry Blossoms

There is a definite chill in the air now that summer is officially over but the cherry blossoms on this 4-tier cake was in full bloom!  Pale pink blossoms cascaded across the Tiffany-blue cake I delivered a few weeks ago: 

  

The decor at this wedding was so stunning that I have to mention it.  It was coordinated once again by the amazing Berlyn Lai at BLoved Events.  Words cannot do it justice so I took a few snapshots:

 

Lego Birthday Cake

It didn't seem that long ago when I made the 1st-birthday cake for James.  So I couldn't believe it when James' mom Sally contacted me last month to make his 2nd-birthday cake.  How time flies!

 The toy theme from last year continues and this time, it's Legos!  The cake, chocolate with green tea buttercream, was made in the shape of a Lego block.   James' name is shown in Lego font in the front, along with a Lego figure with a 2 on his shirt standing on Lego blocks that read 'Happy Birthday'. 

It is always rewarding and extremely encouraging to know that clients like the cake I make for them. So I really appreciated the email Sally sent me afterwards to let me know how much they liked James' cake and that they want to book me for James' birthday cake next year =)  It put a huge smile on my face and I would love to continue the tradition and have more cakes to come for James!

Toy Chest for Baby Shower

Most people have an idea of the cake they want when they place an order.  Some details might be different than the original concept as we fine-tune the design, but generally the final product is a version of the client's vision.  So when I was given free reins and complete creative control for a baby shower cake, I was ecstatic and my mind went into overdrive!  What to do...the possibilities are endless!  I wanted to do something a little less traditional and in the end, I settled on a toy chest cake.
 

 The idea is to have a toy chest spilling out with toys for the arriving baby girl.  It would sit on a cake board covered in fondant made to look like a wood floor . The toy chest panels are made from modeling chocolate and it was the first time I worked with it.  It created beautiful straight flat panels that are also very yummy. Then it was time to fill up the chest with some cute and fun toys!
 

I had so much fun with this cake.  I'm happy to report that the mom and dad-to-be loved it as well!  I was told that the soon-to-arrive baby liked the chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream also...guess it was kicking while mom ate =)  Congrats Ren and Janet as you await the arrival of your little girl!