Come Fly With Me...

A Butterfly Cake for Emma

Sometimes life comes at you fast. You wake up one morning and you realize, oh man, I was supposed to do something this weekend. And sometimes that something is actually quite big... like your baby's first birthday.

With the hustle and bustle of life, that's exactly what happened to a friend of mine. She realized that in the midst of crossing her t's and dotting her i's, she had forgotten one important aspect of her party planning - the cake!

So when she asked around the office if anyone knew someone who "did cakes", I laughed. It's not that I don't advertise it, I just kind of keep a little quite about my cake making. I often doubt myself on whether I have time, or if it will come out the way a person expects it. So I don't really offer. But, for a friend in need? No question.

I asked her to send me photos of idea she had, and I'd come up with something. Since Emma's room is all purple and green with butterflies, we decide that would be perfect. So I cake up with a sheet cake for the adults to eat and one small round cake that Emma can "smash into" - as every child should have that cake face look on their first birthday.

And while it was a stressful bake (I had started after working late on a Friday night), I am so glad that I had the experience of helping out a friend in need and seeing that beautiful little girls face smiling full of cake.

Happy birthday, doll!!

 

 

Aloha! A Luau Baby Shower Cake

One of my dear friends was having a baby shower a few months ago. She didn't want the typical baby blue tablecloths and baby Disney characters. She didn't want cars, or jungle or special character themes. She wanted something different.

A luau!

So when I first approached the idea, I thought of making a pregnant belly with coconut top bikini and grass skirt with a lei around the neck. But then I thought, this particular friend didn't really have such an enjoyable pregnancy. So to play it safe, I did a regular old tiki cake.

The only part of the cake that even had to do with "baby" was the surf board.

I made a large tiki hut face out of fondant as the cake topper and some chocolate mold fish as some decorations. The surfboard was fondant and the writing was used with a special food color pen.

The cake itself was vanilla with butter cream frosting. Instead of making a fondant covered cake, I decided to make it look more "beachy" to keep with the theme. So I frosted the top of the cake with icing, blended a half a box of vanilla wafers and covered the top with a sand-like texture.

I used the very delicious (although very expensive) Pirouette cookies for the tiki torches around the cake and secured them with a bow. This was really to tighten the cake so it would fit in the basket, but it really worked well aesthetically.

I used the flowers to fill in the gaps in the basket and give it some color.

I must have done something right on this one. It's the first cake I made that was COMPLETELY gone in less than 20 minutes.

Something's Fishy... Goldfish Cupcakes!

So easy to make and everyone loves them!

 

These are a fun treat for kids parties, fish themed get togethers or - my favorite - "just because."

Whenever you decide to make them you will be pleasantly surprised by the sweet and salty combination.

Here's what you need:

• Goldfish (your preference: color, pretzel, original)
• Granola
• Green Fruit Roll Up (or Laffy Taffy)
• Your Favorite Ccupcake Mix
• Your Favorite Icing
• 24 Cupcake Paper Cups
• Cupcake Baking Tray
• Large Round Ssprinkles
• Blue Food Coloring

 

SO let's wash our hands and get started!

 

Start out by checking your cake recipe for the specific baking temperature, and preheat your oven to that degree.

1. Mix your favorite white cake batter.

2. Arrange 12 white paper baking cups in one of your cupcake baking trays (remember they cook better when doing them one at a time, but it's ok to do two trays if it fits in your oven). Fill 2/3 the way (HINT: fill a ziplock bag with your batter and cut a tiny hole in the bottom corner to squeeze batter into the cups).

3. Bake cupcakes for the recommended time of your recipe, or until the tops are slightly golden

4. Test the center with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. If the inside is still wet and the outside is done, turn down the temperature of your oven and cover with aluminum foil to finish baking.

5. Cool cupcakes on wire rack - careful not to burn yourself getting them out.

6. Mix your favorite vanilla frosting recipe, adding a very light blue tint with the blue food coloring (HINT: start by adding only 3 drops. If you need more, add one at a time).

7. When your cupcakes have cooled, frost them with your blue frosting.

8. Lay out either your fruit roll up or laffy taffy and cut into one inch pieces. Pinch the bottom half so it has that leaf look.
 

9. Place one leaf on the right and one leaf on the left side of the cupcake.

10. Drop a pinch of granola on the bottom in between the leaves (this will be your gravel).

11. Put your goldfish on top (I used two).

12. Add the finishing touches by placing two or three large white sprinkles above the fish so it looks like air bubbles.

Ta-da!

Now you've got some pretty impressive cupcakes that LOOK a lot harder to make then they actually are.