Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Accessories Necessary





I came across this CUTE necklace from Etsy. What I love most about it is that its different from your traditional cupcake necklace. It's a layered necklace and these are actually mini measuring spoons and a muffin pan!!! I will tell you that died when I saw them. The beauty of baking is the exact science of it all, combined with the patience. The measuring spoons are the epitome of baking because if its not exact, its not right. I also love it because baking isn't about just cupcakes and while I do LOVE babycakes, they're not the only treats that I make. There are other adorable cupcake inspired trinkets but this by far takes the cake! (pun intended) Check out the link and enjoy!

Strawbuddy Shortcakes










This past May my sister
Goldie and I rented a car and drove up to Detroit (my hometown) to help my Buddy/Brother bring in his 35th birthday. Well, I was SUPER excited to create something awesome for him. Now, my brother Joseph isn't a fan of sweets and I wanted to do something especially for him for his birthday. When I sent him a text to ask him what he absolutely disliked regarding dessert he responded. "Sugar" haha! I already knew that but was determined to make the perfect dessert! His wife Joi (who is also my BFF) being the thorough and considerate woman she is called me right after the text to share that Joseph's favorite thing was Strawberry Shortcake. BINGO!!

When the day came to travel I packed up the baking tools in the rental and we hit the road! It was such a pleasure to bake in moms kitchen, the birth of my passion :-) We had a blast and the babycakes were a hit. Joseph said he doesn't even like sweets but he really liked the babycakes. (He's so supportive) I decided to add these hitmakers to the Menu. Strawberry Shortcake Babycakes. Vanilla bean babycake filled with fresh strawberries topped with a whipped vanilla bean buttercream frosting. I used less sugar which made the cake less sweet and whipped the frosting to make it less dense. Shows you can be STILL be sweet and let life be sweet to you!!!

When Two Worlds Collide....






This is a short post! Lime and Coconut are two flavors that go together flawlessly. (in my mouth and my opinion) While there is a Lime N Coconut babycake on the Adults Only Menu, its much different than this creation. This babycake is a lime zest babycake filled and topped with a lime zest cream cheese frosting sprinkled with some (yummy) coconut flakes. Limes and Coconuts are a match made in babycake heaven!!!!

So Hard to Say Goodbye...





















Next to my passion for baking is my passion for working with youth. I truly love what I do (in every aspect) While my director (at the time) Meredith decided to move on to a new position, we couldn't let her go without giving her some specialty babycakes. These were vanilla bean babycakes with vanilla buttercream frosting topped with mini chocolate chips drizzled with caramel. Something super sweet for such a sweet woman. Check out some of my students enjoying them too!!!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Two Is the Magic Number

It's been a WHILE to say theleast since I've posted and A
LOT haschanged!! My last post was about a Baby Cake by the name
of Mali who celebrated his 1st birthday. Well, I thought it only fitting to follow up with the next one! (He's gotten soo big!) This year the birthday boy's theme was ELMO!!
I really wanted to make it special so I took a giant leap and designed a single Elmo babycake.
I was inspired (of course) by my mom who customized all (four) of our birthday cakes every single year. (An amazing woman she is.) This was my very first attempt and I must say with no formal training, I did pretty ok! I also made a simple lemon babycake with lemon buttercream frosting topped with red sprinkles and little Elmo candies.

Everybody seemed to have a blast. Adults too!!! Even got a giant hug from the birthday boy! Good times had by all.