Sheep Cookies

It's a fair assumption that I was counting sheep in my sleep the night I finished these cookies. I think I did at least 5 dozen of these furry friends for baby shower favors. I like their simplicity and texture of piping shells on for the look of their fuzzy wool. One of my favorite cookies I've done yet!

Thomas 2nd Bithday Cake

I think most little 2 year old boys like trains. I made one for my son's second birthday and then again recently for another 2 year old boy!! This one has the the train track in the shape of a 2 for a new twist. Balloons and a tunnel were also a must!

details:
buttercream iced
fondant scenery and track
toy train
gum-paste balloons painted with diluted corn syrup for sheen.

Taking Stock

( Just sitting here taking a little break to think about the present and what exactly that looks like right now) 

Making : chocolate chip cookies
Cooking : pizza night ( no cooking!!)
Drinking : seltzer with lemon
Reading: magazines, recipes and blogs only, these days
Wanting: cooling racks ( I know, a baker who doesn't have any cooling racks in my home kitchen ??)
Looking: at paperwork
Playing: games with Liam
Wasting: time on pinterest, blogs
Sewing: a plastic bag holder
Listening: to Violents  collaborations by Jeremy Larson
Wishing: that my car air conditioner was fixed
Enjoying: hearing Liam make believe
Waiting: to renovate our downstairs
Liking: that our yard is beginning to resemble a yard and not a messy jungle
Wondering: how much stuff I donated this year? cleaning out every room feels so good!
Loving: having fresh air blow through the windows
Hoping: for some rain
Marveling: at the fact that we have refinanced and cut 10 years off of our mortgage
Needing: more date nights
Smelling: bluebells and lilacs
Wearing: sweater and sandals ( it's been a chilly spring)
Following: the progress of my perennials as they emerge from the ground. It really makes me happy.
Noticing: all the new plants coming up that I planted last year
Knowing: I am blessed beyond measure
Thinking: about what I can do to be a better momma and wife
Feeling: very tired
Bookmarking: recipes
Opening: supplies for Snacky French
Giggling: at Liam
Feeling: grateful


taking stock fall 2013

Princess 1st Birthday Smash Cake

Smash cakes! Love them or hate them? I just love doing mini cakes. I think its fun to make miniature versions especially for kids. This was a princess smash cake I did for a first birthday not too long ago. Simple and girlie. I hope to do more little cakes in the future!

details:
 pink butter-cream icing
gum-paste crown
piping gel piped on and painted with liquid gold luster dust for the accents

Carpentry Retirement Cake

This carpentry cake was another one I got to do recently for a great customer. Her dad was retiring after 31 years ( see the hammer)! Happy weekending! Go build something!

Inspiring words cupcakes

I leave you with these cupcakes of inspiration for the end of this week!  I hope you all have a great weekend! 

Baby Shower Cupcakes + Baby Bottle Cookie Favors

I did a version of these baby shower cupcakes, originally for a close friend's baby shower (Shown below in hot pink). I've done a couple variations for both boy and girls, since. Each time I like to add a fun new detail like a ruffly bib, a different kind of pacifier or baby booties. They are so fun and the sky is the limit when it come to cute fondant cupcake toppers!

This customer also order baby bottle cookies as favors to go with the cupcakes picture above. I have more recently dove into the world of decorated cookies, per the request of so many clients. I was always hesitant before, not because I didn't like to decorate them, but I never had an amazing sugar cookie recipe or a royal icing that was tried and true. I can happily say I do have an amazing sugar cookie recipe, that is a little like a shortbread cookie with vanilla and hints of almond. SO GOOD! And the royal icing has been  trial and error and I have found one that can pipe shells or flood cookies very effectively! Yay. So if you find yourself needing some decorated cookies for an event, let me know! I really love doing them now and can't wait to try more in the future!

Beach Cakes all Winter Long!

I think I did more beach themed cakes this winter than ever before. Not that I minded. It was a long and cold one and making waves, sand, beach balls and sea shells was a little reprieve to the snow blowing outside.

The first cake was an ode to childhood at the beach. Pails of sand, sandcastles, hovering seagulls, sunscreen and flip-flops. Truly one of my favorites. The second cake pictured was for the adult beach lover. Aqua ombre waves of buttercream on the side and hand painted seashells and sand on top! A very serene cake.
The third cake is for a girl who loves the beach, loves dolphins and lighthouses. It took me to a scene from a North Caroline beach. One I hope to visit someday.

So we'll see what the summer holds. Will I do any beach cakes? Or are they most needed/ requested in the winter in memeory of a warmer, sunnier and sandier time.

Minecraft, Superhero and Spiderman Lego Cakes

This is a post for all those little birthday boys, whose cake dreams came true!

When I use to work in a grocery store, decorating some 15-20 cakes a day, I did mostly flowers and balloons on cakes. There was an occasional drawn and airbrushed picture or wedding cake, but balloons and flowers dominated my day. Now that I do custom cakes, I hardly get the opportunity to repeat my work, which is why I love being out on my own. The variety, the thrill of a challenge and the never ending ideas my clients bring me! It really is the best. So when I  get orders for a minecraft cake, a superhero and lego cake I get the opportunity to try new designs, dive into a world that I've never even heard of and create things I never thought possible.

My cake dreams come true too, every time I pick up a spatula, pipe some buttercream or sculpt a piece of fondant!

Rainbow Trout Cake

Here's a rainbow trout shaped cake I did for an older gentleman's birthday! He is an avid fisherman, so his family surprised him with this fun fish cake. 

It's been a while since I did a fish cake. A LONG while. I think I was 13 when I made a fish cake for a family friend who LOVED fishing. He teased me constantly and called me "little shark". So as a surprise I made him a fish cake one year. Probably the first cake I ever made and decorated, come to think of it. Store bought icing and candy decorations... This one turned out to be a little more classy and it was a great trip down memory lane. Bring on the fish cakes, they are loads of fun.