Ice Cream Party

It was an ice cream extravaganza for my daughter's second birthday. The dessert table featured a pink ruffle cake with Swiss merengue buttercream and cookies and cream filling, along with ice cream cone cake pops, strawberry shortcake push pops, ice cream sugar cookies and Neapolitan crispy treats. The big hit was the make-your-own sundae bar.

I was inspired by these sweet, vintage-inspired ice cream truck favor boxes, which we stuffed with ice cream cone bubbles and a double cherry lollipop. I found them here.



The games included our version of Punch-A-Bunch (I hot glued ice cream pint cups to a board and filled them with prizes), a balloon drop in which kids had to catch prize-filled balloons with an ice cream bowl, and ice cream bean bag toss. My husband built the ice cream truck and we painted it to look like the treat box.

Shirley Temple Baby Shower

I was honored to host a baby shower for my best friend who was expecting her first daughter this summer. She loves Shirley Temple, so we came up with the theme "Baby Take a Bow," based on the classic film. We added some old Hollywood touches, used navy with pink and cherry accents, chevron for a modern touch, and of course, had Shirley Temple cocktails for all the guests.

There were lots of other fun details too, like a photo shoot with star of the event, and framed black and white photos of Shirley Temple at each table. Here are a few of the desserts I made, including a whimsical Shirley Temple cupcake with cherry 7-Up and grenadine.

I whipped up an assortment of cupcakes for a birthday in the park. The rainbow cupcakes were so fun and definitely a hit with the kids (okay, the grown ups too!). There was also a chocoalte with peanut butter buttercream and an Oreo version. Yummy!

 

Mardi Gras Masks

One hundred fondant mardi gras masks to top cupcakes at a birthday/graduation!

 

Batman Cookies

Holy cookies, Batman! My nephew celebrated his birthday this weekend with a Batman party. I think the Joker and Catwoman are my favorite.  

 

 



Castle Cake

Just wanted to post a quick photo of a castle cake I did for a princess themed third birthday. I based it on the excellent design by Jessicakes, who offered a fabulous tutorial for the turrets. As usual, time always runs out for all the little details but it was a fun and challenging project. I topped the towers with fondant flags (not pictured here), and used cake dummies to give it a grander scale. Inside: Vanilla cake layered with strawberry buttercream and fresh strawberries.

A Butterfly First Birthday

I'm back from my long pregnancy hiatus with some dessert photos for a pink and purple butterfly party. I managed to snap a few photos before everything was snapped up by the kiddos! 



Brown butter and sea salt krispie treats dipped in pink chocolate.

Chocolate mousse layered with raspberries in chocolate cups.

Tiramisu topped with chocolate espresso beans. Yum!

My first attempt at a cupcake pull-apart cake. It was pretty fun to make, though it requires lots of buttercream. 

A Bug Birthday

I made my first sculpted cake this weekend for a bug-themed birthday party! It was a fun challenge and I learned so much about the process. Overall, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. The birthday boy loves insects, but the client asked for a more natural and scientific look...nothing too cartoonish. I decided to do a fondant-covered beetle cake -- chocolate with vanilla Swiss merengue buttercream -- and hand-painted it with edible green and copper metallic luster dust. The legs are made from black fondant that I hand-molded, and the cake board is scattered with a few fondant leaves.

 

For the cookie favors I scanned insect drawings onto edible frosting sheets. I think they came out great!