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Best Twilight Cake Ever

Best Twilight Cake Ever

July 2009

This is for all of you Twilight fans out there. Perhaps this is what makes Edward seem so yummy...

Note: I did not make this cake and I have no idea who did! If you have the source, please post it and I will happily credit them.

Tulip Cupcake Tower

Tulip Cupcake Tower
June 2009

Congratulations Danny and Elissa! This lovely couple enjoyed their wedding and reception so much that they decided to do it again so that their friends in the DC area could join in the celebration.

During this delicious dessert reception guests enjoyed chocolate fountains, cream filled strawberries, champagne and cupcakes! This cupcake tower is designed around the wedding colors of teal and hot pink with lovely summer tulips.

Each cupcake is topped with vanilla butter cream, chocolate curls and fondant flowers. The chocolate cupcakes are paired with pink ribbon tulips while the vanilla bean treats are topped with aqua forget-me-nots.



The plan was to place this top tier of cake at the crown of tower, but the stand was a little more wobbly than we wanted, so the tulip-topped cake added to the tablescape instead.

The cake is alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla cake with strawberry filling and iced in vanilla buttercream. A thin layer of white fondant on the top protects the gumpaste tulips painted hot pink.

Cake Details
Cake: Half chocolate, half vanilla bean
Icing: Vanilla buttercream
Decoration: Tinted chocolate curls, fondant ribbon flowers, handmade gumpaste tulips

BT Cupcakes

The Sweet Sound of... Cupcakes

June 2009

Three years have passed since BT released This Binary Universe and I have been anxiously awaiting his new tunes. I just had to do something to celebrate The Rose of Jericho being released as two sets of remixes on Beatport, and for the strong individual beats just screamed cupcakes. I am especially loving the Adam K & Soha remix from Part 2 and it is in heavy rotation on the kitchen playlist.

Cake Details:

Cake: Vanilla bean cupcakes
Icing: Rolled marshmallow fondant

Dad's Birthday

Dad's Birthday
June 2009

Our family and friends descended on Washington, DC to celebrate my Dad's birthday in June. After a day sailing the Chesapeake Bay on the Schooner Woodwind (a must do if you visit Annapolis) we gathered together to watch a photo show celebrating his life.

My sister Karen discovered a new trick from M&Ms. You can order personalized chocolates with words AND photos. Crazy fun! Our colors were green and yellow, a nod to my father's distinguished career designing tennis facilities, along with blue for the ocean and platinum to honor to occasion. The first photo is from his actual childhood album, and the second was taken last month in Disney and shows that he is still a kid at heart!

Boxed M&M Party Favors

Close-up of the M&M Photos

To continue the dot theme I surrounded the cake with green and blue chocolate wafers tinted to match the candies. The cake was a light vanilla with lemon curd filling.

Happy Birthday Dad!


The Cake

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PARTY: PART TWO

To ensure that everyone coould party, there was a separate gathering in Florida. Since it had a beachy-Floridian theme I sent down cookies packaged as party favors for the guests. Lesson of the day-- just because the USPS marks it fragile, does not mean that they will stop the herd of elephants from trampling it during the overnight mailing process. Apparently no amount of foam or bubble wrap could protect them from whatever crushed the box. Oh well!

Before

After

Oh nuts, it's birthday time!

Oh Nuts, it's my Birthday!
June 2009

I've always loved cupcakes and there is photographic evidence to prove it.


However, if I had to limit myself to one dessert for the rest of my life, it would definitely be the pignoli cookie. So before heading to the beach for a little birthday break I whipped up a batch for my friends.


I used this recipe from AllRecipes for the cookies. I didn't even change much, though I have a few notes since several folks asked for the recipe.

#1- Watch your almond paste! This is the main ingredient in the cookie so shop with care. My preference if for the Solo Almond Paste in the can. Note that this is NOT the same as the almond pie filling and that you should not substitute marzipan. The recipe calls for 12 oz of almond paste, which is a can and a half.

#2- Don't make the cookie too big. These are going to spread out quite a bit, so don't get too excited.

#3- Toast the nuts. When the cookies are done make sure the nuts are brown on top. Otherwise move the oven rack up a notch 2/3 through the cooking time.

Enjoy!

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I'd also like to give a shout out to my friends who whipped up a WONDERFUL strawberry shortcake with sweet biscuits and berries from the local farmers market. This is what summer tastes like. Yum!

Red Martini Cake

Red Martini Cake

June 2009

This cake was for a happy hour party, so it needed to be hip enough to stand on its own in a swanky bar AND be worthy of the chic birthday girl.

The triple layer chocolate cake is filled with red raspberry filling and covered in vanilla buttercream with a touch of lime. On top of the buttercream is a crazy drizzle of red chocolate. Not only does the chocolate create a great design, but when it hardens it actually creates a "chocolate cage" to support the weight of the real martini glass.


To give the cake a sophisticated feminine touch I added red flowers cut from red modelling chocolate. The same flowers were applied to the inner rim of the glass so that you would get the chocolate when you drink rolls over it. Yumm.



Two contrasting birthday candles on each side of the glass and the party was ready to roll.

Happy Birthday Amy!

Cake Details:

Cake: Chocolate birthday cake

Filling: Red raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream

Icing: Vanilla buttercream with a touch of lime

Decoration: Melted chocolate "cage" and flowers made from modelling chocolate