Wedding Cake & Cupcakes

8" Rose Cake for cutting
230 cupcakes: bumpy cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, & vanilla almond cupcakes

First Birthday Cupcake Cake

1st Birthday Smash Cake

X-Rated Bachelorette Cake & Cupcakes

This naughty cake & cupcakes were made for a bachelorette party.

Vanilla cake, filled with vanilla pudding, iced in flesh toned vanilla buttercream icing, with toasted coconut accents :)

Marble cupcakes, vanilla buttercream, chocolate candy decoration.

Graduation Cake

It's graduation season again!  I was asked to make a cake for a graduate of my former high school, so it was extra special :)

This cake was a vanilla bean cake, filled with homemade strawberry filling, iced & decorated with vanilla buttercream.  I used alternating colors for the bottom shell border and top reverse shell border.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

Whew, that's one heck of a name for this cake!  I've been wanting to try my hand at allergen free baking for awhile, but never had the right opportunity.  I was asked to make a cake that was gluten free, dairy free, and soy free.  Thankfully, I did not need to omit eggs or peanuts, so chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting it was!  I used a coconut butter as a substitute for the butter, and the hint of coconut added to the deliciousness of the cake.

This cake isn't as pretty as my usual cakes, but the flavor more than made up for it!

Cherry Vanilla Tuxedo Cake

Here is another variation on the Tuxedo Cake that I first made for New Years.  This cherry vanilla version would be a perfect Valentine's Day dessert!

Isn't it pretty?  And it couldn't be easier!  Just start with your favorite cake mix (one that makes two nice tall 8" cake layers), add a jar of chopped maraschino cherries to the batter, reserving the juice.  Bake as directed, and let cool.

Cherry Vanilla Buttercream:
2 sticks butter
5 Tbsp maraschino juice
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat the butter and the juice together until the butter turns pink (fun!), add the vanilla, and then slowly add the powdered sugar.  Frost the cooled cakes.

Glaze:
4 oz semi sweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat cream over medium high heat, just until it reaches a boil.  Pour over chocolate (in a separate bowl), and let stand 60 seconds.  Add corn syrup and vanilla, and stir until all the chocolate is melted.  Let cool in refrigerator for about 5 minutes, then pour over cake, guiding it over the sides.  Let cake set 1 hour before serving.

Recipe from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Tuxedo Cake

I'd never heard of Tuxedo cake until last week.  I was looking for the perfect New Years Eve dessert to go along with the Champagne Cupcakes.  The cake is visually impressive with it's high stacked layers and chocolate covered strawberries as a garnish.  I made this in 10" pans to serve more people, but you can use 8" pans to get a higher cake.

The cake is a rich chocolate cake, filled and iced with whipped cream.  A dark & semi sweet chocolate ganache is poured over top, and the cake is garnished with chocolate covered strawberries.

Egg Nog Pound Cake

I am a fan of eggnog, but I think that this cake would be delicious even if you weren't.  The eggnog flavor isn't overpowering, and you get just a hint of nutmeg.

The cake itself is light and buttery, with a crunchy sugar vanilla rum glaze that sparkles (so pretty!)

Eggnog Pound Cake
3 cups flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup eggnog
1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt & nutmeg and set aside.  Beat the butter in the bowl of the stand mixer until creamy & smooth (about 1 minute).  Add the sugar slowly, and beat on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Next, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing completely after each addition.  Turn the mixer down to low, and add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternating with the eggnog and vanilla in 3 additions.  Mix until completely incorporated, then spoon mixture into a prepared Bundt or tube pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 65 minutes.

Crystal Sugar Glaze
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp dark rum (or light rum + 1/4 tsp vanilla)
2 tbsp water

Mix ingredients thoroughly.  Let cake sit 10 minutes after removed from oven, then turn out onto a wire rack limed with parchment.  Pour the glaze over the cake slowly and let cool completely before serving.

Recipe from My Baking Addiction

50th Anniversary Cake

Vanilla bean cake with vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream:

Piping done with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream; teal fondant circle.

Vanilla Bean Cake with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I was so excited to make this cake for my Grandma's surprise birthday party.  I had already picked out the perfect cupcakes to make, and wanted the perfect cake.  I chose a fluffy vanilla cake from Sweetapolita.   

The cake was bursting with vanilla flavor, nicely complemented by a raspberry whipped cream filling and topped with vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream.  I used some different piping techniques to decorate.  Overall, the cake was a huge success, and I don't think I've ever received so many compliments on a cake in one night!  

Sweet Sixteen Cake #2

Back to regularly scheduled glittery pink sparkles with this cake!  Here is another Sweet Sixteen cake (possibly my favorite kind to make!).  The birthday girl requested pink velvet funfetti, vanilla buttercream, and lots of bling.

I piped a simple cornelli lace on the sides in pink icing to really make the pink stand out.  I love how this cake turned out & so did the birthday girl!

Sweet Sixteen Cake

I love making cakes for teenaged girls, thanks to my never ending supply of pink sprinkles & glitter.  This particular birthday girl asked for an order of my cake truffles for her birthday last year, so naturally those were used as a way to decorate her cake also!

The basic yellow cake was iced with vanilla buttercream and white fondant.  Piping was done with the buttercream, and cake truffles adorned the top for an extra treat.

Fondant & Swirls Cake

This is the other cake for the joint graduation party on Saturday.  There were no specific requests, and all I knew was that she wasn't picky about flavor and loves purple.  So naturally, I made her a purple velvet funfetti cake!  It's filled and frosted with whipped vanilla buttercream & decorated with fondant.

Happy Graduation, Nikki!

My beautiful little cousin, Nikki, just graduated from high school last month.  She is super smart and got an amazing scholarship for college, too!  I had the honor of making her cake & cupcakes for her graduation party  this weekend.  I knew the cake had to be extra special, just like her ;)

Nikki asked for a lemon cake with a lemon curd & whipped cream filling.  I decorated the cake with a purple (her favorite!) buttercream in ruffles.

Congratulations, Nikki!

Ruffle cake design inspired by Martha Stewart via iambaker.net

Cheeseburger In Paradise

This is easily my favorite cake that I have ever made.  A 6 year old requested her birthday cake to look like a cheeseburger, so that's exactly what I did! 

The "cheeseburger" is made of three stacked 10" cakes.  The bun is fondant, and the burger patty is chocolate buttercream.  The lettuce, onion, cheese and tomato are made out of fondant, also.  The sesame seeds are the real thing ;)

Rose Cake, Revisited

I love making this Rose Cake!  I gave it a bit of a new look this time by using a different piping tip.  I also knew I didn't want to pipe a Happy Birthday message directly onto the cake, so I made a fondant circle cutout to set on top.

4 Layer Red Velvet Cake with my favorite Cream Cheese Buttercream

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Another delicious cake... Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake.

I started with my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and while the taste was perfect, it wasn't sturdy enough to stand up to the peanut butter buttercream.  I'm still looking for a chocolate cake recipe that will bake up pretty & sturdy!

I torted the layers and filled them with the peanut butter buttercream.  I used a chocolate frosting for the writing and decorating for the ultimate spin on a peanut butter cup, in cake form!

Peanut Butter Buttercream
adapted from Wilton

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening (you can use all butter if you wish)
3/4 cup peanut butter*
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream

Cream butter, shortening, and peanut butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth & creamy.  Add vanilla and mix until combined.  Slowly add the powdered sugar and continue to mix until it is completely mixed in.  At this point, the mixture will be very dry and crumby.  Add the cream slowly, and as it combines, turn the mixer up to medium and let it beat for 1 or 2 minutes, until fluffy.  You may need to add a bit more cream to get it to a thin spreading consistency.

I used a double batch to fill and ice this cake.

*I used 1/2 cup peanut butter & 1/4 cup Nutella & I highly recommend you do the same!

Creme Brulee Cake

 Creme Brulee Cake

4 layer Caramel custard Cake, filled and iced with Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Flower Cake

My final cake for Wilton's Flower & Cake Design Course:

For my final cake, I used an 8" square cake.  The cake is white almond vanilla, with raspberry filling.  I frosted it in Swiss Meringue Butter Cream, which was also used for the piping detail.  The flowers are made from royal icing - on the sides are apple blossoms and on top are primroses.