Lacee's Bridal Shower

My friend Lynn asked me to do the dessert for her daughter Lacee's bridal shower - what an honor! Lacee is marrying an Indian fellow named Tejas and they are planning two separate ceremonies - an American wedding and an Indian wedding - so I thought I'd incorporate her wedding Mehndi with her Tiffany themed shower. I saw a cake on-line that was perfect for what we were thinking. All I did was change the design around the monogram!






I used the mocha chocolate cupcake/cake recipe with buttercream frosting.

The cake was layered with dark chocolate ganache and buttercream...YUM. I decided against using fondant for the cake because I wanted a really clean square. The Mehndi and the monogram was done in royal icing and for the frosting I tinted using Wilton Teal Gel coloring.


The Tiffany bows were made from marshmallow fondant.


Early this morning I delivered the cake and 48 cupcakes to a very excited and very nervous mother! :) Best wishes Lacee and Tejas!

End of the Year Thank You's

Both Trey and Brody have moved up to a new classroom at school - so I made these as thank you's to their teachers, floaters, and office staff. I saw a woman decorate cupcakes like these on YouTube so I thought I'd give it a bit of a twist. I made some mocha chocolate cupcakes (super moist!) with cream cheese buttercream frosting. The "flowers" were put in individual pots for the office staff and floaters and for the teachers, I put three in a copper colored bucket. The green tissue is supposed to be like the leaves - photos didn't turn out great, but you get the idea. :)

Red Velvet for Melanie

My friend Melanie came to visit all the way from Watertown, South Dakota! Although Melanie and I have known one another since 1998 (1997?) - we've only seen each other all of about 10 times. That being said, she and I just fell into a lifelong friendship that I am so appreciative of. We met at a conference in college and became board members together. Once a year we get to spend 2-3 days together - and I think she probably knows me better than most people in my life!

Her birthday happens to be this week so we celebrated early with red velvet cupcakes and cream cheese frosting. The recipe was okay - but I'm now determined to find the best one out there even if it means tweaking it to taste! :)




We had a chance during her visit to walk on the Golden Gate Bridge - something I've always wanted to do - and being born and raised here in San Jose, you'd think I would have done this already...nope...it took a visit from SD to do it! :) Here we are scared out of our minds but smiling. We didn't make it very far, but we still did it. It is a humbling experience being on such a tremendous structure.

Sugar Cookies!!!

So, I tested and tested and tested sugar cookie recipes searching for the perfect recipe. I've had to tweak a bit, but found one that stays soft and yummy for days. Here are my latest creations...I've done wedding dresses, birthday cakes, etc...but never had the camera on hand for photos. :( Bummer. So, here begins the official documentation of my sugar cookie fetish! We took these to my friend Mai Mai's house for a summer BBQ earlier today - they got a great new outdoor kitchen that we were fortunate to be invited over to help christen! We had such a great time!

Brody's TWO!

Here are some cupcakes made for Brody's class. I used a yummy chocolate cake recipe I've been working on getting perfect - there were no complaints, but how many two year olds are going to complain about sugar??? Floating in the "water" are Teddy Grahams in Gummi Life Savers - fully inspired by Bakerella - supercute! I didn't have time to detail, but it was still a crowd pleaser!

Butterflies for Teresa

These are some cupcakes I made for my friend Teresa's birthday. She loves yellow cake and chocolate frosting - so...I made the yellow cake and topped them with whipped chocolate ganache. I made the butterflies from royal icing - printed a template from Pretty Party Cakes (Peggy Porschen) that were just the wings - covered it with cellophane, put a thin layer of Crisco down to make sure the icing didn't stick, then piped the butterflies. I let them dry for two days. I used cardstock paper folded in a "M" shape layered with parchment paper to attach the wings to a thin line of royal icing and let dry for 3 hours or so. Once dry, I frosted the cupcakes then placed the butterflies on top - VIOLA!

I wish I had photos of the process - my almost two year old kiddo "ate" our memory card so we're waiting our new one to come in the mail! Yikes!!!

My first attempt...Sept 2006

This was truly my first attempt at cake decorating...and the beginning of my obsession with perfection. I was overwhelmed by the endless world of piping/tips/frosting options - so I dove in and tried to learn all I could.

Now, I'm happy to say that I've come a long way from my eldest son's 2nd birthday cake...but we should never forget where we came from!! So embarrassing as it is, here is the finished product. Everyone loved it - but I don't recommend blue and red frosting at a kid party!!! :)

This was a fun project, but I certainly tackled more than I could handle. Live and learn - and boy did I learn! The mistakes I made on this cake has made me a better decorator - creatively and with my time management.