Happy First Birthday Max

Little Max turned one just days apart from his parents, so there’s a birthday celebration for three!!

The challenge was creating a cake that would suit a one-year old and his parents.   For days I pondered what design would suit his parent’s cake as I knew the design for Max’s top tier cake from the beginning.   After some thought I decided on using boy colors balanced with white with a big ’1′ on top.  For the parent’s cake I went with simple and elegant.

Being an American, I do a LOT with buttercream!  It’s simple and everyone enjoys it.   All of my fondant decorated cakes have a layer of buttercream under the fondant.  But after creating some Bailey’s Irish Creme tarts for the wholesale clientele I thought a Bailey’s Irish Creme ganache would be a surprising delight under fondant.  A little of this and a little of that and tada – Bailey’s Irish Creme Ganache!  Well, it takes more than that but to save you from boredom I’ll leave it there.  After layering the parent’s cake with Bailey’s Irish Creme Ganache  I also did the crumb coat with ganache.  It was the first time to use ganache under fondant and it turned out great!

About the Cake:  Both cakes are chocolate.  Max’s cake is layered with Chocolate Buttercream.  The parents’ cake is layered with Bailey’s Irish Creme ganache.

Happy Mother’s Day!

To all the wonderful women that have faithfully loved and mothered their children:

Happy Mother’s Day!

My mom is the most amazing women ever!  Yes, I know what a clique statement, but it’s true.  She is a warrior, defies all odds, and has led me to be the Christian women I am today.  Originally from Barbados, in 1975 she married, moved to New York and never looked back. She had my two sisters and then saved the best for last and had me!!  :)   All through the years she’s been there guiding and instructing me as to which way to go, sometimes she’s right, sometimes not.  But, what’s most important is that she’s willing to listen, there to love and always makes me laugh.  What she’s done and willing to do for me is priceless.  We are closer than sisters.  We don’t even seem like mother and daughter but more a pair of very close friends.

In 2010, my Mom was in Australia and I was in New York but still I made a cake for her and even blogged about it.  You can check it out here.  This year, we are both in Australia so we will not be able to do our yearly ritual of taking a short drive from home to the Old Westbury Gardens mansion. There we would spend the day talking while strolling around in the immaculately manicured gardens.  We would stop and literally smell the roses.  At this time of year in North America it’s spring.  The grass is a light green and everything is in bloom.  A light sweater is more than enough and the sun so sweetly kisses your face!  I don’t know where we will spend this Mother’s Day while Down Under, but because she’s all the way from America to be with me it will be special nonetheless!

Mom, I dearly love you,

Your Daughter

May 2012 – Townsville

Her and I – Aug. 2008 – Central Park, NYC

Shades of pink just seemed right for Mother’s Day.  I am still in love with my ruffles so I had to add them too.  This is a very moist Vanilla Cake with two different fillings that perfectly compliment each other.  One is that unique Raspberry filling that can seem like a jam.  Every time I make this Raspberry filling it adds joy to the day.  It’s one of those simple yet rewarding recipes. The other layer is a White Chocolate Creme.

Vanilla Cake filled with a layer of Raspberry and a layer of White Chocolate Creme. Vanilla Buttercream icing

Rhett & Michelle’s Wedding

On a hot November day (yes, it’s hot here in November!) Rhett, Michelle and I met at Juliette’s to talk wedding cake. I was really excited that Rhett came because I think it’s so important that the husband-to-be is a part of all the wedding day decisions.   From having my cupcakes months ago Rhett was certain one of the cake flavors would be Red Velvet.  He also added that he’s been to many weddings where the cake was beautiful but not tasty at all.  He wanted a real wedding cake with buttercream and not fondant.  WOW!  Thank goodness that the husband-to-be came along and gave such important input.  Michelle, being so on top of things did her “homework” and came ready with multiple images.  One design in particular was her favorite which inspired the final cake.

As for Michelle… what can I say?!  She’s so organized, so talented, so crafty, so full of business ideas and a budding entrepreneur!  Of course there’s more I could add but the list will be too long.  She told me the theme was Garden and showed me these amazing guest invitations that took me to an old English garden with birds and butterflies fluttering around.   They were printed on beautiful translucent vellum paper, which of course she made!  Immediately I said “Ok, so there will be a small bird cage on the top nestled in flowers and the cake must be on an elegant pedestal”.   She looked at me like I was crazy but I felt confident this would would suit her theme.

This was the most amazing Do It Yourself (DIY) wedding that turned out to be just beautiful.  DIY can be tricky as it can look tacky and very obviously done by non-professionals. But not in this case, Michelle is so talented that when it comes to being crafty she is up there with #1.  She used Glorious Occasions to style and decorate the very popular wedding destination Jupiter’s Pavillion.  Every part of the wedding decor kept with the same garden design and she made almost everything herself.  From the Guest Book to the table menus; from the table placement board to the place settings Michelle made them all.  Then she completed the tables with rose pattern bunting!  Even the cake involved the family.  Her mom made the Blackberry jam that I used as a filling for the chocolate cake.  Her mother also made the Lemon Curd that I used as a filling for the vanilla cake.  Annette, the florist, did a great job on the flowers.  I was especially happy for the gorgeous floral pieces she put together for my cake.  I think I’ve already told you all how much I enjoy working with fresh flowers.  I think you’ll agree when you see how this cake can ‘wow’ a crowd with a few fresh flowers.

It was such a beautiful event and I was really happy to be a part of it.   I should add, this cake marked my FIRST AUSTRALIAN WEDDING CAKE, which really excites me!  It was great working with everyone and many years of wedding bliss to Rhett and Michelle!

About the Cake: Bottom tier: Chocolate layered with Blackberry jam.  Middle tier:  Red Velvet with Buttercream.  Top tier: Vanilla layered with Lemon Curd

The little bird that was on all the invitations and wedding programs. I just had to cut it out and put it in the cage too!!

The invitations that inspired everything

Thanks to Annette for the beautiful flowers

The #1 Table

Office Professionals Day

Happy Office Professionals Day!

Did any of you office professionals receive gifts of thanks on Friday, May 4th?  If so, congratulations!  You deserved it.  It’s been a long time since  I worked in an office, but I don’t remember such a day as Office Professionals Day!  Maybe it’s an Australian day that us Americans don’t get to celebrate.  Who knows!

Helen called asking what could be created to treat 23 special ladies in her office.  Though similar styles have been done for Valentine’s Day and for Leigh’s Birthday, these were special.  No two will ever be the same because they are created uniquely for that special person.   Which is why I enjoy every moment of creating personalized cupcakes!  It gives me a chance to make something that can never be duplicated.  Thanks Helen for allowing me to be a part of your Office Professionals Day!

About the Cupcake:  Vanilla Cupcake and Butttercream topped with a personalized cookie

Trent & Toni’s Engagement

In the first weeks of school during a break Toni and I met.  We started chatting and I shared with her with what I do for work – create cakes!  Then she bubbled over with excitement asking if I were the same person that sells cupcakes at the markets.  Yes, I’m her!!  She further explained that her fiancé, Trent, just loves the Chocolate cupcake.  A few weeks later Trent and Toni had a wonderful Engagement party at the Picnic Bay Surf Lifesaving Club which I enjoyed being a one of their guests.

For some reason I’m on the ruffle binge… Buttercream with ruffles (click here) and now fondant with ruffles.  This took a lot longer than I expected as each strip around the cake had to be done individually so the fondant wouldn’t dry out.  For the ruffling edge I had to use a small tea scoop!  :(  I can hardly wait until I get all of my decorating tools from New York, it would surely make the job a whole lot faster.  :)

Toni’s guest invitations were Black, White and Avocado Green which inspired this cake, with the beautiful fresh flowers from Townsville Flower Market.

About the Cake:  Main Cake – Chocolate layered with Chocolate buttercream.  Cupcakes - Chocolate, Vanilla and Lemon/Coconut

Fresh Flowers and Autumn Colors

I really love working with fresh flowers!  They radiate elegance and perfectly compliment a simple cake.

Autumn, though some call it Fall because all the leaves fall off the trees, is my favorite time of the year.  When I was in New York we would always take long autumn rides along the Hudson river overlooking New York City just to view the colors of the trees.  Oh my goodness, there were bright reds, dark maroons, shades of brown, glorious golds, bright yellows, oranges, olive greens all set against that clear blue sky with a crisp “where’s my sweater?” breeze.  But, in tropical Townsville where I currently live, that dreamy picture doesn’t really exist.  Though this is the autumn/winter season here, the days are about 75-80˚F.  Let’s be honest, palm trees are green and occasionally brown 24/7/365!!

My neighbor was celebrating her 5th Anniversary and requested a cake.  She wanted to keep it simple so I suggested a few fresh flowers.  Where I live has a big lawn with about 1/2 of it dedicated to a meticulously kept garden.  In it grows everything from papau fruit to tomatoes; from lettuce to roses.  I really enjoy the sweet scents that greet me every morning.  The flowers on this cake are from a quick walk and snip, snip around the garden.  Fortunately, I was able to capture the rustic colors of tropical autumn which makes me love this cake.   It’s a product of the tropics that brought back great memories of the Big City.

About the cake: Chocolate layered with chocolate buttercream; covered in Vanilla buttercream.

Celebrating Birthdays with Chocolate

An extremely sweet young lady named Lydia turned 15!  I met Lydia about a year ago at an African Day market and we exchanged numbers.  Boy, am I ever happy we did!  She also began working for me serving clients at the markets.  What a blessing she is!

Well the big day came and she turned 15.   I was so excited to create her birthday cake along with her little cousin nicknamed Strawberry who turned 2.  This family LOVES chocolate!  Unfortunately the pictures aren’t great, just used my iPhone.

About Lydia’s Cake:  Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercream

About Strawberry’s Cake: Chocolate Cake layered and covered with Chocolate Ganache and a (fondant) strawberry

Bubbles and Babies

On a Tuesday I received a phone call to have an order finished by Saturday morning!  Ohhhh my goodness!

A client from Magnetic Island (20 minute ferry ride from where I am) called in a panic asking me to create sweet treats for her baby shower.  Her original supplier had an emergency and she was left looking for a cake designer.  Of course I accepted to do it!  But I think I went crazy for that second!  It came right in the middle of exams at university.  So it was between studying and multiple phone calls and emails with the client that these little cupcakes were created.

But in the end… these little faces will give anyone a smile and erase the rushing and panicking.

Miss Mermaid

After a brief chat at an art exhibition with Jacinta I knew we would work together one day.  The day came sooner than I thought when she requested a cake for her sweet little daugther Aria.  Jacinta is so organized she already planned the theme was going to be Snow White.  Mermaid and her little crew were the perfect match for a Snow White theme.  I haven’t used toy figurines on a cake before, but they were already purchased and I was more than happy to incorporate them.

It’s a uniquely special cake to me because my very kitchen-happy 8-year old nephew helped create the coral!!  He’s very smart and listens to instruction really well.  He actually obeys me more in the kitchen than any where else — so figure!!  :)

About the Cake: Chocolate with a layer of Raspberry and a layer of Chocolate Ganache

 

Surprise for a Canadian Student

From all over the world students come to study at James Cook University (JCU).  One student had a wonderful family back in Canada that ordered fresh personalized cupcakes to be specially delivered to his dorm at JCU.

This was surprise for the birthday boy so I wrapped up the box like a gift but hopefully he read the sign of “VERY FRAGILE” and didn’t turn it upside down!!  LOL  :)  A cupcake for each family member and without hesitation I used red and white to represent his national Canadian colors!

SURPRISE!!!