Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Everywhere

Those of you serious bakers understand that when your working on a big cake with an upcoming deadline you go through a series of thoughts as the cake progresses. At the beginning there is a feeling of optimism and confidence that the project will be beautiful and go through smoothly. Even though you know deep down inside that when the cake is completed it will usually hold up to your expectations there is always that one little nagging thought.  About to the end of the baking process you start to wonder why in the world you thought this would be fun, and then through the decorating process you are biting your lip with eager anticipation, when finally at last your able to look at the finished product and smile in exhaustion knowing that, "hey, I just did that!"(completely wiping from your mind the first 2 recipes of cake that fell while baking, and having to run to the store for more ingredients on more than one occasion).

As was the case with most cakes, this cake was not too much different in what I think of as "the bakers cycle". Primarily, I was thinking, "no biggy, a few hundred cupcakes. Nothing I haven't done in the past", but then starting to making them it turned to more to, "oh my gosh. This is a ton of cupcakes!". So of course when I was done and waiting for the client to come pick them up I just had to  make a cupcake tower and take a picture, because it was way to fun not to.

1st birthday lion smash cake

Bada Bling!

Adding a little splash of color and sparkle never hurt anything, and that's especially true with this cake.

Brides cake or Grooms Cake?

What happens when you're split in indecision between a dark decadent cake and a white elegant masterpiece? Magic. My now sister-in-law who also is a wizard of cake making requested this cake for their spring wedding. She wanted something that captured their individuality but still made a statement. So we did both with this 5-tier wedding cake design that couldn't have been a more perfect representation for them.

 

Vegan, Chocolate Mousse torte

This cake was an adventure to make. Because of food allergies it needed to be made without gluten, dairy/butter, eggs, and nuts. At first I was a little apprehensive about how feasible this would be, because let's be honest, those things are what makes a cake delicious...or so I thought. I have since been proven wrong, and although I used to be afraid of basic cake ingredient substitutions this birthday cake has showed me the light. How does one make a mousse without dairy you may ask? For starters with a high fat coconut milk, silken tofu and chocolate instead of the heavy cream, voila! Happy birthday Staci and Clara and thanks Robbi!

It's all in the Details

Past detail work for projects, these were kind of fun so I thought I would post them. Hopefully they're interesting for you!

Birthday Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made for a first time college student away from home at BYU for his birthday. They are Red Velvet mini cakes with a Cream Cheese frosting and personalized fondant letter cutouts in the school colors.

Rose Swirl Cake and mini cakes

This was a small but simple cake that was lots of fun to do. I love it when I get requests that are slightly out of the ordinary, either with an interesting piping technique or even just fun colors. This was one of those cakes and was a blast to decorate! A few hundred mini cupcakes in the same color joined the party as well and required most of the work baking, totally worth it with the end effect though :) Oh, and I can't forget, the flavor for the cake they chose was our signature Strawberry Love cake with strawberry cake, strawberry cream cheese icing, and layered with fresh sliced strawberries.

Cupcake Craze

Cupcakes have really been coming back into style lately with pzazz. In the past they have been viewed as a thing of children's parties and informal gatherings, but all that is changing as cupcakes become increasingly elegant and chic in design. I have to admit that I used to be among the unbelievers of cupcake baking, thinking they were a sign of an amateur and probably a boxed cake mix. However, now you are just as likely to see cupcakes of all sizes and flavors at a classy wedding as you are to see a full sized cake, and many brides are beginning to do both cupcakes for the guests as well as a cake to cut. This method can be much easier for the couple (especially if they don't want to have to pay the baker to stay and do a cake cutting service) because each guest already have their cake portioned and individualized.

A few weeks ago I did one of my first personalized cupcake orders and I'm beginning to go cupcake crazy! The flavors that I did were Hot Chocolate, Oreo Cheesecake, Cotton Candy and Cookie dough. Cake, prepare to be redesigned!

In creating this cake I learned that sometimes it is best to stay on the beaten path. I was convinced that I could find a pound cake recipe that was even more perfect than the one I already used. In my search I probably made 1 1/2 tiers of cake for every one needed, and in the end decided my original recipe was the best after all! Moral of the story: stick with the basics and trust your fail safes, they're there for a reason!

This was a cake for a coworker of mine who had a beautiful garden reception. The cake she chose was a three tier butter pound cake filled with a strawberry cream cheese filling and iced with italian meringue buttercream. The piping on the side was done to match the invitations and then the whole cake was given a pearlized sheen so it would have a glow to it. I love this particular italian meringue, it gives the cake a little extra texture, plus it has an airy consistency and literally melts in your mouth, yum!