Snowman vs. Penguin Cake

A while back I donated a cake to a charity auction for Karson's Kause and today was the day to pay up. This cake was for a set of twins' 16th birthday party. I love how it turned out & hope that the girls did too! It was white chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream, almond poppyseed cake with lemon curd buttercream and chocolate cake with cookies n' cream filling.

This is the kinda crap I do when no one is around to tell me how to do the cake

....and when I just use what I have in the freezer left over from old cakes. Pink & purple icing from Sawyer's birthday cake & a random spice cake leftover from who knows when? But it was quite yummy. So yummy in fact that the left over cake from the party is currently in my garbage can. (so I don't eat the entire thing, not because it's nasty.) Do you like the tender words of love? Yeah, so did they. That's how we roll. I love you Kierstin & Kirsten! Happy Birthdays!

Rick's Birthday Cake

I am taking some time off until the Spring wedding season rolls around to enjoy the holidays and have a break, but I did this small, simple birthday cake for a friend of ours. He really wanted a coca-cola cake, which is basically a Texas brownie, where you pour the frosting on while the thin layer of cake is still hot. It's a divine recipe, but not so great for making a layer cake out of. Actually I think I know how I'd do it better in the future, so I probably will add this to my list of favorite recipes. And yes, we caught it & crossed the "t" before delivering it, just not before taking pictures.

Staci's Cake

Another Amy Jackson coordinated wedding, I really love that I have a repeat customer, she's such a doll! Staci pretty much let her step-daughter pick the flavors, but I hope that she was pleased with the brown-sugar spice cake with caramel buttercream filling 3" tier; the white cake with strawberry filling 6"; and the chocolate-chocolate chip cake with sour cream fudge filling 9". They are all covered with a chocolate glaze for that shiny, "glazed doughnut" effect! Thanks Amy & Staci!

Paisa's Ukulele Cake

Our semi-adopted Samoan son, Paisa just turned the big One Six last week! We celebrated with a ukulele cake because he drags a uke nearly everywhere he goes, and is actually very, very good on it. Matt & I are so glad that he likes us, and comes over and especially for how sweet he is with Sawyer, she looks for him every Sunday & is very disappointed if he isn't the one who gets to pass the sacrament to our row. He really is such a cool kid & actually makes us excited to have teenagers!

Bella's Cake

Chocolate overload is what we call this one; it's a chocolate cake with vanilla bean syrup and mint chocolate ganache, covered with a rich chocolate glaze.

Caroline's Cake

Matt's niece gave me exactly 3 days notice on this one. Then she texted me and said "my friend is allergic to red. pls don't put any red on the cake." ooops. So I took the peices I'd cut out to make the star shape and made an extraneous football shaped cake, without any red on it. Can I get some validation on this one? Is it possible for anyone to be allergic to red? I hate the way I look in red, does that count?

Ashley & Jeremy's Cake

Upside-down? Yes, this cake is upside-down. As it turns out, it's really not that much different from making a regular cake, but it did take some finagling. They picked marble swirl with sour cream fudge filling on the 8", white chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream filling for the 10", and lemon cake with lemon curd & blackberries for the 12". I'm so glad Ashley kept her promise to let me do her cake, even though we both left the gym that we met at.

Jailhouse Cake

Our cute friend has recently made some big changes in his life, so Matt & I made a cake to celebrate. He LOVED it! Said it was the best cake he'd ever had. He really likes poppy-seeds, and now that he doesn't have to pass random drug tests, we celebrated with an almond cake with poppy-seed filling and vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream. If you can't tell, this is one of the corner squares from the Monopoly board. I forgot to write "In Jail" on top, but I suppose the "Just Visiting" part was the most important part though.

Holly's Cake

One of the more gorgeous brides ever, Holly McOmie chose a very elegant cake and delicious flavors. I was so honored to be a part of their day and am happy to add chocolate marshmallow fondant to my repertoire. The six inch tier is chocolate-chocolate cake with mint ganache filling; the 9 inch tier is white butter cake filled with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream; and the 12 inch tier is almond butter cake with whipped cream, vanilla bean pastry cream and strawberry filling.

Ashley P.'s Cake

Ashley stumbled upon my blog somehow & I am so glad she did. Not only did she have some fantastic suggestions- the sanding sugar crusted buttercream is such a cool look, but she and her family were so kind and wonderful to work with. This cake is a ten inch almond poppy seed cake with whipped cream, pastry cream and raspberry fillings; an eight inch chocolate-chocolate chip cake with mint ganache filling; and a six inch brown sugar spice cake filled with caramel buttercream and peaches.

short notice

It is possible to do a cute cake with only two days notice. (Provided I have nothing on my schedule, like I did on Tuesday.) This one was for a second marriage, the couple a bit more mature, and they just wanted something fun to celebrate, no formal fondant. I really like the way the buttercream looks all imperfect, yummy & edible, less like a scupltural fondant art peice, you know? The cake was my new favorite combination; almond cake with pastry cream, whipping cream and strawberries.

Lacey & Adam's Cake

I can't really claim this entire cake. When they asked me to do it, I had to decline because my schedule that weekend was out of control & I knew I wouldn't be able to put as much time into it as I should have. Turns out it was a good choice because I had a miscarriage that week and, frankly, I turned into a complete zombie for a few days. So they had another friend bake & fondant the cake & I just assembled & decorated it. Anyway, the best part about it was the cute little ribbon around each tier. They didn't have any & it really needed an extra something, so I cut up a bit of fabric they had lying around that completely matched the table overlay and used that as a ribbon. I think it turned out quite cute and very pink which was pretty much the whole point of the reception!

Viewmont High Class of 1998 10 Year Reunion

These cupcakes went over like gangbusters. There were my famous Peanut Butter & Jam Cupcakes, Coconut Cupcakes and Mint Chocolate Cream Cupcakes. It was really, really fun to see my old friends and reminisce.

Tim & Annie's Cake

My cute personal trainer, Tim married even cuter Annie tonight, I was sad that I didn't get to see them, I hope they liked their cake; I sure did. We took the design on the middle tier from their invitation and it turned out very cute, if I do say so myself!

Melissa's Cake

Darling sister of my darling sister-in-law, practically like family and so easy-going and wonderful! Melissa's cake was mentally tough only because of a delayed UPS flight that kept me guessing right up to the eleventh hour. booo UPS. Everything turned out alright though and this little beaut was devoured in no time at all, which is awesome because there weren't a huge amount of people there, so by my figuring, most people went back for seconds. (Myself included.) It was almond cake with raspberries, custard cream & whipped cream on the top tier; coconut cake with key lime curd in the middle tier; lemon cake with lemon curd and blackberries on the bottom. Good choices, huh? You have no idea.

Nicole & Jason's Cake

I've done this cake before, but I think it looks very cute with the gerbers. Their wedding colors were so cute, and the bottom tier has a layer in each color; hot pink, sky blue, crazy green and orange. All photographs were kindly provided by Michelle Nuttall, who btw, is wonderful and would be awesome to work with, if you're lookin'.

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

I totally have become obsessed with cupcakes lately, I know, I know it's such a trendy thing, but whatever, they are fun and I've got a few orders coming up. For Matt's birthday I made these little cuties, lemon cake with lemon curd filling and lemon-vanilla buttercream, turned in to corn on the cob with various JellyBellys and those little corn poker thingys.

Look what Kirsten found!!- Angel's Cake

Clear back in April of 2005, I did a cake for cute little Angel Winslow, back in my parents ward, and it turned out lovely but I didn't get any pictures of it, but Kirsten did. YEAH!!

Just for Fun!

Sunday dinners are always an excuse to play with something new, but it hasn't been until this week that my experiments have turned out this beautifully! I'm sorry, but this totally reminds me of pastry shops in Paris, and I honestly would say that it tasted just as amazing. Its a white cake with a rum infused moistening syrup and vanilla bean pastry filling covered in vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and topped with apricot glazed fresh fruit. Whoa, that was a mouthful! Trust me, it was awesome!

Porter's Diego Cake

My BFF's oldest turned the big 4 this weekend, and, crazy little dude that he is, threw hisself a grand ole Go Diego Go! themed extravaganza. Good thing he turned the majority of the planning over to his amazing Mama because she totally outdid herself. I was fortunate enough to be able to contribute the cake, and although it's just a two-tier variation on a NickJr.com cake, it was quite a hit!
My photography skills are such a joke. I am hoping that Kirsten will email me some of her's soon. (hope, hope)

There, that's a little better, thanks, Kirst.

Sharon's Cake

Champagne luster dust and ivory royal icing piping over white cakes with cookies n'cream filling. Top tier is chocolate-chocolate chip cake with mint fudge filling. YUM! This is another of my very favorites.

Annalee's Cake

Annalee... girl, I love you! I am so proud of you & so happy that you found John, you guys are awesome! Thanks for letting me do your cake, it was a joy! I'm so glad you loved it!

Chocolate Transfer Sheets Kick A$@

Okay, I was hesitant to post this on my cake blog because I don't want to sound overly excitable and unprofessional. But how COOOL is this!? It's this whole new world of chocolate transfer sheets, there are unlimited numbers of designs available, and they are so simple and impressive! Look here and here to see what Martha did with it, I totally want to do these cakes for a wedding. (I wish I had a professional food stylist & photographer on hand at all times. This is picture is pathetic, I know.)

Max's Birthday Cake

So the brother of the critter cupcake girl had his fourth birthday today, and wanted a dinosaur cake, and I certainly wasn't going to say no to this little sweetheart. What a babe, huh?

Sabrina's Cake

Alright, the Precious Moments topper is not really my style, but it's all about what the bride wants, right?