Polka Dot Gift Cake

This cake was done for a good friend of mine who was taking it to Cleveland for her sister-in-law's baby shower. The invitations were adorable--gifts stacked up in a little wagon in various shades of turquoise and brown--so I decided it would be nice to go with that color scheme and theme for the cake. Inside the "gift" was three layers of classic white cake, filled with a rich and creamy chocolate buttercream. The bow was made of vanilla fondant and the polka dots were dark chocolate fondant.

Yo Gabba Gabba

My sweet little niece just turned one! To mark the event, I wanted to do a fun and special cake for her. Sera really likes this fuzzy little green character named Brobee on the kids' show Yo Gabba Gabba.  Every time she sees him, her face lights up.

The design was centered around a color scheme that matched the party plates with Brobee looking as if he is bursting through the cake The flavors were dark chocolate cake with cookies & cream buttercream and classic white cake with melt-in-your-mouth Italian meringue buttercream.

On the day of the party, I took her in to see the cake and her reaction was priceless ... she blew kisses to it!

Scouting Cake

This dark chocolate cake with cookies & cream filling was done for my son's Cub Scout event. The top of the cake includes the pack number and an overhand knot made out of fondant. The blue & yellow color scheme and the banner with the Cub Scout motto of "Do Your Best" (written in edible marker by my son) completes the theme.

National Capital Area Cake Show

I just came back from Virginia, where I attended the National Capital Area Cake Show. This show is one of the biggest in the country and is attended by many of the top sugar artists.  Attendees have the opportunity to take classes, attend demonstrations, watch live cake challenges and compete in a wedding cake or themed competition. While I was there, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend classes taught by two of my absolute favorite cake designers, Anne Heap of the Pink Cake Box (www.pinkcakebox.com)  and Zane Beg of The Sweet Life (www.thesweetlife.com). If they look a little familiar, it may be because you have seen one or both of these incredibily talented people compete on the Food Network Challenge and TLC's Ultimate Cake-Off. With instructors like Zane and Anne, it is hard to go wrong! Here are a few pictures of my completed cakes:

This cute little dragon is "busting out" of the cake!

With the ever-so-talented Zane Beg!

I embellished my jungle birthday cake topper with jungle leaves and the number two
 when I got home

The fine details

With Anne Heap--one of my idols in the world of cake!

Old Fashioned Vanilla Sugar Cookies

12/6/09 - COOKIE ORDERS NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED


Thank you to everyone who has placed orders for Old Fashioned Vanilla Sugar Cookies. My schedule is now completely full, so I will be unable to accept any further orders. I wish you all the happiest of holidays and the best in the new year!


For me, the holidays are not complete without beautifully decorated old-fashioned vanilla sugar cookies. I have been making them for my family for many years. This year, due to popular request, I decided to make them available for purchase. If you are interested in ordering, here are the details:

• Orders will be taken until Friday, December 11th or until my schedule is booked
• All cookies are made from scratch and hand decorated
• Cookies will be available for pickup Monday, December 20th, Tuesday, December 21st and Wednesday, December 23rd*
• Shipping of cookies is currently unavailable

*If you are interested in cookies for an earlier event, please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate your request. 

COOKIE OPTIONS:

Large (4") Individual cookies - separately bagged and tied with a ribbon 
Price: $2.50 (minimum order 4 cookies)
  

Choose from 6 designs:

• Snowman
• Christmas tree
• Gingerbread man
• Snowflake
• Mitten
• Christmas light

Makes a great stocking stuffer, gift topper or gift to yourself!

Box of 1 dozen large (4") cookies - Holiday Mix

Price: $25.00/dozen

Assortment includes:

• 1 Gingerbread man
• 1 Christmas tree
• 1 Santa star
• 1 Snowman
• 1 Snowflake
• 1 Mitten
• 2 Christmas lights
• 2 Ornaments
• 2 Candy canes

Boxed 1 dozen Winter Fun Assortment - 6 large cookies, 6 small cookies

Price: $20/dozen

Assortment includes:

• 3 large snowmen
• 3 small hats
• 2 large snowflakes
• 2 small snowmen
• 1 large mitten
• 1 small snowflake  

Box of 1 dozen small (2 3/4" to 3") cookies - Traditional Holiday Mix

Price: $18.00/dozen

Assortment includes:

• 3 Winter hats
• 2 Snowmen
• 2 Gingerbread Men
• 2 Christmas trees
• 1 Snowflake
• 1 Candy Cane
• 1 Ornament

Purple Paisley

This two-tier wedding cake was done for a lovely couple who married in Las Vegas. Upon returning home, they decided to host a second celebration with family and friends who couldn't attend their destination wedding. Their wedding colors were white and lapis (deep purplish blue) and they wanted to carry that through with their second wedding cake. Both tiers were classic white cake filled with a rich and creamy cookies & cream buttercream. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Boo!

I was honored to be asked to make a Halloween cake to be raffled off at local fundraiser and decided on a not-too-scary ghosts & bats theme. The handmade ghost, pumpkin and tombstone, as well as the other decorations, were all made of fondant. Both cakes were filled with a creamy cookies & cream filling. The top tier was a classic white cake and the bottom tier was my signature dark chocolate cake.

Happy Halloween!

Cute as a button

This little baby boy shower cake is three layers of fluffy classic white cake filled with chocolate buttercream.  The blue/brown theme was created with vanilla fondant and dark chocolate fondant. The hand-made chocolate bow is highlighted with royal icing dots and matches the ribbon on the cake base. The buttons are a combination of chocolate fondant and vanilla fondant that was colored slightly darker than the base fondant to achieve a tone-on-tone effect.

Wild About Shopping!

A special cake for girl who likes to shop! This classic white cake was filled with a chocolate buttercream and and covered in marshmallow fondant that was dusted a sparkly pink. Each side featured a decorated mini purse and colorful flowers. The topper handbag is made of cereal treats that were molded and decorated with a zebra print. Everything is edible--even the nail polish and eye shadow!

Butterflies and Blooms cake

This past weekend, I made this very special cake for my cousin Beth's 30th birthday. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with the design until I remembered how much she liked butterflies. I made some white and yellow sugar butterflies that I would later perch strategically on the cake. Because the birthday girl also loves the color turquoise, it was the ideal fondant color choice to go with the yellow and white accents. Ribbon roses were added to help give the cake a bit of sophistication, while polka dots contributed just the right amount of whimsy. The cake itself was a light and fluffy classic white cake with a creamy Italian meringue buttercream filling. The front of the cake boasted the number 30, while the back displayed the birthday girl's name.

Don't worry Beth, if 40 is the new 30 (to which I firmly subscribe), then 30 has to be the new 20! Hope you had a great birthday!

Lots of Dots

What kind of cake do you design for a man who really isn't that into celebrating his birthday this year? A youthful dots and ribbons design with no mention of name and number! This chocolate chip cake with chocolate filling was iced in Italian meringue buttercream and covered smoothly in a not-too-green marshmallow fondant. Fondant circle and ribbons, along with royal icing dots and a border, helped to boost the birthday boy's spirits!

Super Mario Cake

This was my son's second birthday cake this year. Yesterday, we celebrated with a small party at his favorite movie theater. Though I had about ten times more cake than I actually needed, the look on his face was worth all the time, effort ... and research!

I closely studied the characters and features of the game so that I could make the game come to life in cake; I tried to immerse myself in all things Mario! Because my brother is quite the video game aficionado, he became my official "consultant" for this one. ... I drove him crazy! 

The cake was actually three separate cakes: The top of the mushroom was vanilla sponge cake baked in a ball pan; the bottom of the mushroom was a sponge cake carved into the shape of the mushroom base; and the three-layer 9-inch base cake was my signature dark chocolate cake filled with Italian meringue buttercream. Mario and all the other characters were made out of fondant and the grass was created by piping royal icing. I am thankful that I got good pictures of the cake prior to the kids seeing it, because it was demolished in about two minutes flat!

Candy Cake

Can you ever have too much candy? Probably not! I made this colorful cake for my son's family birthday celebration. His absolute favorite candies are M&M's, but this cake could easily be done with many different kinds of candy. The back of the cake was decorated in a colorful pattern of M&Ms with a blue smiley lollipop on top so that either side of the cake would work as the front. The sugar bow and number "8" are completely edible!

Roses & Dots Cake

This white butter cake with lemon buttercream filling was created for a special birthday celebration. The fondant ribbon roses and leaves, combined with buttercream dots, borders and ribbons, helped to give this cake a an elegant look. A few days after delivery of the cake, my client that hosted the birthday luncheon called me to say it was the best cake she ever had!

Checkerboard Daisy cake

This white butter cake with lemon curd and lemon buttercream filling was done for a small bridal luncheon. Sugar paste daisies adorned the top of the cake, while a checkerboard border finished off the bottom. A few days later, I received an email from my client with a great photo of the smiling bride-to-be with her cake.

Black and White cake

Paying tribute to the Italian black and white cookie, this cake was black and white on the outside as well as on the inside. Alternating layers of dark chocolate and classic white butter cake were filled with a creamy Italian meringue buttercream. A chocolate rope border and edible pearls highlighted the dark chocolate and marshmallow fondant exterior.

Star birthday cake

In designing this cake for a man's birthday, I tried to keep the design more masculine by using blues, purples, and bold decorations. The sugar star showcased the recipient's name and allowed for a little visual interest on the top of the cake. Inside was three layers of dark chocolate cake separated by creamy Italian meringue buttercream.

Streamer cake

Sugar paste streamers and letters adorn the top of this birthday cake. Inside, the classic white butter cake was filled with Italian meringue buttercream. Outside, smooth blue buttercream was the perfect canvas for the argyle/dot pattern made of marshmallow fondant.

Independence Day Cake

This two-tier Fourth of July cake was a classic white butter cake filled with lemon meringue buttercream and a base tier of dark chocolate cake filled with Italian meringue buttercream. Red fondant ribbon roses topped the cake and red and blue stars and stripes helped complete the theme.

Mr. Bump

I am particularly fond of this Mr. Bump cake because it was a collaborative effort between my son and me. He really wanted to participate in the making of his birthday cake, so I bought some food coloring markers and let him draw his favorite characters from the Mr. Men series of books on the sides of the fondant. I was responsible for the top cake--covering Mr. Bump in fondant and and wrapping him to look bandaged as he does in the book series. Jack was so pleased with his cake and took great pride in telling his friends that he helped make the cake. He'll remember this birthday for a long time!