Horizontal Ruffle Cake for a Baby Shower

I was so excited to create a variation of a ruffle cake for one of my favorite people...ever.  My dear friend is expecting her second child.  A girl no less.  So excited to meet that little one.  Her baby shower was pink and very much her style.  This was the cake I made for her.

As you can see, it was a two tier Swiss Meringue Buttercream ruffle cake.  This time the ruffles were smaller and horizontal rather than the more common vertical ruffles.  I used a natural bourbon vanilla buttercream which gave it an off white color and finished it off with a large fondant flower.  Feminine, sweet, and quite fitting for the occasion.

I also made large cookie favors for the guests.  I didn't want to go with the old standby rattles, bibs, onesies and other quintessential baby shower items, so I went with a feminine look and feel and incorporated the font and tiny hearts reflected on the invitations. 

I really loved the maternity dress form on the cookie.  It was just "baby" enough without being too cutsy or generic.  Just like my dear, sweet friend.

Thanks for checking in.  Hope you like this latest ruffle cake.

Luau Birthday

I was so excited to work on one of last week's projects.  I made a cutting cake and coordinating cupcakes for a 7th birthday for a little girl named Mikayla.

There have been TONS of ideas floating around my head for a luau theme, so I FREAKED out when I finally had the opportunity.  Although, once I put pen to paper to sketch my rough design, I found that the small 6 inch cutting cake was going to eliminate lots of those ideas.  It was just too small to convey what I wanted....So I played with it, pondered it, and came up with something I was very happy with in the end.  Also, I really liked making the cupcake toppers for this one.  I don't always feel that way about cupcake toppers, but this week I did.

Aloha....and Mahalo!

Flour Girl

Cherry Blossoms

It's August!  Can you believe it?

With wedding season still in full swing, I thought I'd share one of my favorite wedding designs. 

Cherry Blossoms!

Cherry blossom designs are a beautiful, feminine, classic design for weddings any time of the year.  Decor, stationary, cake, floral design....I love it all.  Such a popular choice for brides all over the world.  Cherry blossom weddings and decor ideas can be found all over the internet.  Chances are that everyone has either attended or seen photos of a cherry blossom themed wedding.  There is a reason it is so widely popular.  Cherry blossoms are beautiful.  Simple, but beautiful. 

This particular design, actually, was not for a wedding but rather a graduation party.  The design was inspired by the party invitations.  Before adding the topper, this was THE quintessential cherry blossom wedding cake.  I loved the overall look.

Three tiers, round, white with coordinating fondant ribbon trim and hand made fondant branches, leaves and cherry blossoms.  The second tier was an extended tier which just over 6 inches tall to add a bit of height and interest to the overall proportions of this cake.  I wanted it to be clean and simple, yet just a little more interesting.  Every cake designer has at least one version of a cherry blossom cake....so, this was mine.  If you haven't noticed, I love extended tiers.  They are so much more impressive.  In my humble opinion that is.  Not to mention that guests receive a more generous slice of cake.

Here is the cake with the handmade topper for the final look.

See...totally a graduation cake!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flour Girl

Mmmmmmm....Chocolate

Last week I made a decadent chocolate cake for a very sweet family celebrating a birthday with an out of town family member.  This cake was her birthday surprise! 

Speaking of surprise....Surprisingly enough, chocolate cake isn't as popular as one would think.  I honestly thought that chocolate was a universally loved flavor.  Turns out, maybe not so much.  Vanilla or white cake is by far preferred, and red velvet is certainly a neck and neck second to that.  Chocolate probably ends up being about 4th or even 5th, falling behind Lemon and sometimes even Hummingbird. 

I love chocolate cake but to be perfectly honest....I love a "naked" chocolate fudge cake.  I think it is perfect just the way it is, no filling, no frosting, no...nothing at all.  Hand me a bare chocolate cupcake, and I am good to go.  Also, I really look forward to baking chocolate cakes because the smell as it is in the oven is so distinct, warm and rich.  

And if I am really being honest, I am personally not so much of a cake person.  *GASP!?!?!*  I know......but it is true.  Hi, my name is Trisha.....and I love ice cream.  Yeah, I said it....I am an ice cream person.  I could eat ice cream every day.  I make cakes, I love cakes....but I don't really prefer to eat cake.   Wow...yeah....I put that out there....
AND, if I am really telling the whole truth....I am infamous in this house of offering the hubby fresh fruit as an exciting dessert option.  Yep....I am that person. 

"Hey Babe....do we have anything sweet?  I feel like dessert." 
"Yeah!  We have watermelon....pineapple too!"

Yep....that's me.  Disgraceful, I know.

Anyway, I digress...

This cake was chocolate fudge with chocolate mousse and chocolate buttercream.  Can anyone say "Rich"?  I love chocolate mousse so much, I can eat it straight from the mixing bowl...not that I actually do that....not me.  However I will not deny making great "use" of the leftovers, dipping fresh summer strawberries into the fluffy rich chocolate mousse the rest of the weekend.

I had no specific instructions on color or design for this cake.  The only request was flowers.  So, instead of doing a few large flowers, I went with tons of little flowers.  In the end, this cake just may be one of my new favorites.  I say that a lot, but......I have a lot of favorite things.  Favorite foods, favorite places, and of course favorite people, just to name a few!

Thanks for checking on me. 

-P.S. Happy birthday to my Dad!  He happens to also be a chocolate person, German chocolate to be exact.  That's his fave.... But truth be told...I think he is also an ice cream person.  Love you Daddy!

Flour Girl