Red Rose Anniversary Cake

This was for a Anniversary.  I used real roses to decorate the cake.  It was chocolate cake with fresh strawberries and cream cheese filling with cream cheese icing.  So simple yet so elegant. 

Buzz Lightyear Birthday

The mother wanted to include a Buzz Lightyear inspired rocket ship in each of the guests goodie bags so these were the cookies I created.  They were so cute when they were individually wrapped with little blue ribbons.

This was the extremely fun birthday cake that I created for the birthday boy

All three tiers were chocolate cake with a custard filling and different color buttercream icing.  The top tier had clouds piped on with a white dot boarder along the base.  The middle tier had blue buttercream icing with yellow fondant stars. The bottom tier was covered in light brown buttercream and had graham cracker sand covering the top.  The "wood" around the base was made out of brown fondant that was marbled and indented to make it look more realistic.  The happy birthday was also made out of fondant with piped royal icing for the letters. 

Here are some up-close photos.

Fresh Strawberry Fruit Tarts

This is the perfect cold spring time dessert using fresh seasonal fruit. 

I made the tart shells, and then coated them in sanding sugar.  They are filled with pastry cream, topped with fresh strawberries and glazed with apricot glaze.  There is a dollop of whip cream and a few chocolate curls on top.  

Indiana Jones Cupcake Cake

This was such a fun 6th birthday cake.  Kyle (the birthday boy) loves Indiana Jones and his mother wanted a cake made out of cupcakes for serving convenience.  The shape of the cake itself was unique because it was was a cupcake cake.  The large bolder is made out of tinfoil and covered in fondant because a ball that large of strictly fondant would have been to heavy for the cupcakes to support. The cobra was also filled with tinfoil and covered in fondant to add a little structural support.  There is a bridge made out of popsicle sticks with a river of lava under it. There is a fondant table with a mini fondant idol to follow the movie plots.  Indiana jones himself was an action figure provided by the mother.

A Polka Dotted Baby Shower

 The hosts of this baby shower wanted to do matching favors so I made these baby onesies.  She wrapped them up and put them in a clear bag with a bow.   They are sugar cookies, topped with fondant decorations. 

  The cake is covered in fondant with fondant polka-dots.  The host requested that I use a real ribbon for the bow, but this cake could also be made with a fondant bow.  I made two because the smaller one is a sugar-free cake with sugar-free buttercream.  I wanted both cakes to look the same so I covered the cake in fondant, but unfortunately I can't make sugar-free fondant so it had to be pulled off before it could be enjoyed by the mother-to-be.  

Cookies Cookies Everywhere

A customer requested a dessert table to be set up for her parents 50th wedding anniversary party with assorted cookies including some sugar free options.  My sister and I went and set up the table for both the food (which was provided by a local restaurant) and the dessert table.  This was an extremely simple style dessert table set up

I know it is hard to see because of the background, but we used various black metal serving stands and used boxes under the table cloth to add hight to the serving plates.

These the cookies and things I made for the dessert table.

Chocolate dipped mini pretzels drizzled with white chocolate

Heart brownies dusted with powered sugar, a buttercream rosette, and sprinkled with gold stars

Lemon drop cookies that have powdered sugar on top

Rice crispy treats drizzled in dark chocolate and sprinkled with dark chocolate curls

These are heart shaped sugar cookies covered in fondant with a swirly 3D design and topped with gold disco dust

The husband celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary loves chocolate so these are rich double chocolate cookies with chocolate chips. 

These are soft gingerbread cookies dipped in a vanilla icing and sprinkled with cinnamon and clear sparkle sprinkles

This is one of the no sugar added cookies I made.  They are heart shaped oatmeal cranberry raisin, and they didn't taste like they were no sugar added.

For all of the chocolate lovers I made some sugar-free milk chocolate dipped pretzels drizzled in dark chocolate

Lastly, I made a sugar-free lemon shortbread cookie drizzled with lemon icing.

Smore Cupcakes

These cupcakes were for a baby shower. The host thought it would be cute to do Smore cupcakes because the baby was going to be named Graham.  They were chocolate cupcakes, and half were covered in a rich chocolate ganache and half were covered in marshmallow buttercream.  Each cupcake was dusted with graham cracker pieces and had a piece of graham cracker, Hershey chocolate square, and a toasted mini marshmallow on a toothpick. 

Just a Day at the Beach

This was inspired from the Wedding Cake I did in February.  It is a white cake with lemon filling and covered in vanilla buttercream with graham cracker "sand". I cleaned real shells and used them on the top to decorate them.  The unique color patters of the shells is what makes this cake so pretty.  

Spring Is In The Air

I really love Daisies so these are a few of the cakes that were daisy inspired. 

This mini three tier cake serves about 12 and is a 7 inch round stacked on top of a 5 inch round topped with a 3 inch round.  The entire cake is covered in a pastel pink fondant and all of the daisies and leaves are made out of fondant as well.  The pearl boarders are made out of buttercream. 

This 1/4 sheet cake was covered in buttercream frosting, and the daisies are made out of fondant.  

This cake is the same mini cake as above, however the entire thing is covered in multiple colored fondant with yellow fondant daisies.  If I did this cake over again i would probably make the vines thinner and maybe tone down the colors just a bit depending on the occasion. 

Daffodil Cupcakes

These marble cupcakes were topped with vanilla buttercream and handmade gum paste daffodils. 

Dressy Cookies

These sugar cookies are decorated with fondant and have 3D effects pressed into them.  They were specifically for a "girls night".

Cheesecake Mousse

This is by far one of my favorite desserts to make.  It is rich in flavor but the texture is not as heavy as traditional cheesecake and is a perfect cool dessert for a warm summer day.  The original vanilla goes well with any fresh seasonal fruit, chocolate or caramel.   It can be served in any type of container desired, from wine glasses or shot glasses to trifle dishes and can dress up even the simplest of parties.  I also recommend trying the chocolate or strawberry cheesecake mousse, however if there is a specific flavor you are looking for in a layered dessert like this, all you have to do is ask.

Cherry Blossom Cake

I made this while I was still in school as a final project for my Confectionary Arts and Specialty Cakes course.  The five layers are covered in a mint green fondant with fondant rope borders.  The Cherry Blossoms are made out of gum paste and are dusted using petal dust and luster dust.  The vines, leaves and topper are made out of modeling chocolate.  A cake like this could easily be customized by simply changing the background fondant color and type of flowers.

Masquerade Cake

This cake was a joint effort between my best friend and I when we were in college. We decided it would be fun to enter in the school cake decorating competition for our masquerade themed winter formal our freshman year.   With no real experience between us we were simply doing it for fun with no expectations to win.  Imagine our surprise when we won first place based on a school wide vote.  The entire cake is covered with fondant, and luster dust was used to accent the silver portions.  The masks and feathers were made out of fondant and were also painted with luster dust.  The scroll is made out of gum paste and we used food writing pens to write the poem we created about life as a culinary student.  

Daisy Cake

         This to was a cake I made when I was in Culinary School.  My favorite flower is daisies so I decided to make a cake covered in hand made gum paste daisies and yellow buttercream.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

This dark chocolate cake with white chocolate ganache filling was covered in vanilla buttercream and drizzled with a chocolate ganache.  All of the truffles along the outside are handmade and filled with assorted fillings.

The Wishing Well

This was a cake I made before Culinary School.  The two tiers are covered in white buttercream icing and flattened mini pastel marshmallows.  I used royal icing flowers to cover the top and completed the wishing well by creating a roof out of cardboard covered in frosting.  If I was able to do this differently I would change the color of the flowers to flow better with the pastel colors of the marshmallows.  I would also use gum paste to create the roof because it would be more sturdy.