Mario cupcakes

A friend kindly asked me to do her sons birthday cake for his 6th birthday last weekend.  He is in love with Mario, so of course that is the theme we went with.  She found the inspiration for these cupcakes on Pinterest.  It was a really fun project...turned out a lot more time consuming than I had originally thought, but that is fine since I had such a great time doing it.

Mario looks a little portly...



 Sorry for the terrible picture...we were in a huge hurry to get these babies in the car and GO!  We would have been on time if I didn't have to stop at Starbucks every time I go somewhere.  It was a great party, all of the kids had fun and I think the birthday boy was pleased.

Rainbow Party!

My Little Bean has turned 3 years old!  It's so hard to believe...time goes so fast!  To celebrate the occasion, we had a rainbow party, by Bean's request.  She loves all things rainbow!  So, I really took the theme and went with it.  It was a blast to plan.  I wanted to share some pics with you all...

Here is the food table.  Our party was in the mid-afternoon, so we only needed snacks, rainbow goldfish, rainbow candies (sixlets), rainbow sprinkled dipped oreos, and rainbow vegetables.

A close-up of the dipped oreos, yummy.

And I got the most adorable printables for the party.  See below for resources.

A close-up of the cake, which of course, I did myself.  I have to thank pinterest for the inspiration!

And of course, the inside was rainbow too! 



Above both of the tables, I hung paper lanterns in rainbow colors!

And here is Bean in her rainbow party dress...complete with blue shoes and rainbow hair clips.



The gift bags which contained crayons (with rainbows on the outside), skittles, rainbow suckers (the round ones), rainbow leis, and rainbow hair clips (for the girls).

The party table...

Pinwheels made with rainbow scrapbook paper in vases filled with rainbow sixlets.

Since we were having this party in late October, we cannot count on the weather to be decent in any way.  So, I decided to provide crafts for the kids to do to keep them busy.  They seemed to be really successful.  First, I did a Froot Loop necklace craft (hint: don't use yarn as I did, find some cording, it will be easier to string the cereal on).

Second, I did a cloud with a rainbow craft.  Super simple and inexpensive, but the kids really enjoyed them.

A close-up of the lanterns over the party table...I didn't want to put holes in my ceiling, so I just tied them all on to my chandelier with fishing line.

Me and the Bean having a great time at the party...

Resources:

Printables (including invitations, bottle wraps, thank you tags, etc). - Bloom Events by SM
Rainbow Sixlets - Oh Nuts!
Chinese Lanterns - Asian Ideas
Rainbow Party Dress - Gymboree
Paper Treat Bags - Michaels

Princess Cake and Pink and White Wedding Cake

Two lovely friends asked me to be a part of their special occasions by requesting cakes.  The first, Layla's little friend, was turning 3 and wanted a princess party (what little girl doesn't?).  So, what better than a pink tiara cake?

And another friend had a lovely Spring wedding with pink and black accents.  Here is the cute little square cake.

What did you all do this weekend?

Cakes From the Weekend

I am honestly so touched when friends of mine ask me to do their families cakes.  As many of you know, I used to be a pro decorator, but mommy hood has put that career on the back burner.  It is something that I am so passionate about and have so much fun doing.

The first cake was a volcano cake for my friend's son who was turning 8 (I think!!).

Up next is a cake for another friend's daughter's sweet sixteen.  All I was told was they wanted white, black, and purple.  Here's what I came up with.



Have a great day everyone!

Banana Walnut Coconut Cake

I made this cake for my father-in-laws birthday celebration last night.  It turned out sooo good, I had to share.  Excuse the bad photos..I had about 3 seconds to take them.  My FIL announces after we finish dinner..."I have to leave in 20 minutes to get home in time for the game to start!"  Yeah.

Here is the recipe:

Banana Walnut Coconut Cake

For the cake:
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. shredded coconut

For the syrup:
1c. sugar
1 c. water
(or substitute 2 T. of water with rum)

For the frosting:
1 stick butter, softened
4 c. confectioner's sugar
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. shredded coconut
1 tsp. vanilla
~1/4c. water

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two 9" cake pans with cooking spray.
2.  In a stand mixer, or bowl with hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs, bananas, milk, and vanilla.
3.  Add in the flour and baking soda.  Mix just until moistened.
4.  Fold in the walnuts and coconut.
5.  Pour batter into prepared pans.  They will bake for about 40 minutes, turn pans halfway through.  They are done when the cake bounces back after being pressed in the center.
6.  To make syrup, add water and sugar to a saucepan.  Heat until boiling.  Remove from heat and cool completely.
7.  To make frosting, cream together butter, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar.  Slowly add in the water.  When it has reached a thick but spreadable consistency, stop.  Fold in the walnuts and coconut.
8.  To assemble.  Place one cake layer on a stand.  Brush generously with syrup using a pastry brush.  Spread 1/2 of the frosting on top.  Place other cake layer on and repeat.

Source:  Modified from AllRecipes

My Former Life...As a Professional Cake Decorator

Prior to mommy hood, I did many things.  My favorite of which was being a professional cake decorator.  Baking and art had always been two passions of mine that I was quite good at.  So, one day in the midst of graduate school, a light bulb went off and I decided to go to culinary school.  One of the best decisions I have made.  As Oprah says, follow your passions.

I thought that I would post some of my favorite photos of cakes that I have done in the past.  Some of these I have done from my home and some were done at the Happy Cake Co. where I worked for several years.

Enjoy!

These were HUGE!

Luscious (and sparkly) lips!

The only cake competition I ever entered...got a 2nd place ribbon

My rack.

Sweet Cala Lilies

Halle Barry wedding cake knock-off

I LOVE this cake...feel sorry for the groom, but still love it.

Waterfall cake

Turkey...

Stewie

Bold and beautiful snowflakes

Cookies on the cake

Baby Shower

Probably the most elegant cake ever

Cherries

Top Hat and Tie

Mardi Gras!

Go Cougs!

Shout out to PBR

Don't love the colors, but love the decorations

Another marbled cake

 

Definitely the most difficult cake I ever did.



Wedding dress buttons