Kid’s Cake Decorating Class

Posted on August 28, 2010 by thecouturecakery

I had so much fun this week with a group of kiddos at a cake decorating class I taught at my studio.

Each of the children learned how to make little fondant bears and panda bears.

They each received a fondant covered cake to decorate and take home. Isn’t that cake cute!

I think Finn had more fun with the cornstarch duster than anything else!

Super talented photographer, Jen Baltgalvis was kind enough to share these adorable photos. Be sure to check out her website to see her stunning work of children and family photography.

Jen organized getting a group of her friends together for this class. If you are interested in a class for your child and their friends, please feel free to email me and I can provide more information.

Evan’s Beary Special 1st Birthday Cakes

Posted on August 27, 2010 by thecouturecakery

This bear theme birthday cake was for Evan’s 1st birthday.

The cake flavors are vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream filling and chocolate cake with Oreo buttercream filling.

The little bear on top is blowing out his 1st birthday candle.

I also make a small individual smash cake for the birthday boy. Happy birthday Evan!

Stephanie’s Bridal Shower Cake

Posted on August 27, 2010 by thecouturecakery

I had so much fun making this cake for Stephanie’s bridal shower. The theme was Sex in the City.

The cake had Swarovski crystals on it to add a little bling.

The shoe box was cake too and the sandal was made out of gum paste which is edible too.

50th Alligator Birthday Cake & Cupcakes

Posted on August 25, 2010 by thecouturecakery

I made this cake today for Patty who loves alligators. The little alligator is make out of fondant and the cake is chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling.

Cupcakes with custom picks I made go on a custom stand with an alligator ribbon.

Happy birthday Patty.

SoCal Cupcake Shop Taste Tests

Posted on August 24, 2010 by thecouturecakery

As part of my Southern California vacation last week, I made it a point to hit a couple cupcake shops to do a little taste testing and market research. Vanilla Bake Shop was one of the shops I wanted to visit. After a trip to my alma matar UCLA, we did a quick drive towards the beach to Santa Monica for a taste test. From seeing photos, I thought the shop would be bigger, but it is very tiny, but just the right size for a cupcake shop.

So much to choose from, so I bought a little of everything! The key lime mini parfait was yummy.

Blake wanted the purple flower mini cupcake. Mini cupcakes seemed to be the big seller there.

I bought 12 “minis” for $22!..and tasted every one of them. The consensus was they were good, but mom’s are better…I guess the voters were a little biased, but I’ll take it 🙂

Yes…while we were in Newport Beach a Sprinkles just happened to be next door to my favorite gelato shop. I couldn’t help but slipping in to try a cupcake before having my gelato.

I got the chocolate cupcake with marshmallow filling and ganache topping. At $3.25 each, they should be amazingly delicious. The cake was good, but the ganache had a lot to be desired.

So, that’s my SoCal cupcake roundup. The only cupcake shop I missed was Sweet and Saucy Shop in Long Beach. I’ll make it there next year!

Samuel’s Bar Mitzvah

Posted on August 23, 2010 by thecouturecakery

This past Saturday, Samuel celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at the Hershey Lodge. I had such a great time at our initial meeting when he decided to go with a beach and sandcastle theme.

The sandcastle cake was covered with crushed graham crackers and fondant sea decorations covered the bottom tier.

The cake flavors were dark chocolate cake with Oreo buttercream filling and white cake with vanilla buttercream filling.

Congratulations and happy birthday Samuel!

ICES Cake Show 2010 in San Diego

Posted on August 22, 2010 by thecouturecakery

Last weekend was the ICES (International Cake Exploration Societe) conference in San Diego. Cake designers and vendors from all over the world attended this annual conference. Attendees could participate in demos and classes taught by the best cake artists around.

This amazing display cake, which was about 20 feet tall, showcased landmarks in the San Diego area. It was huge. I can’t imagine how long it took to make it.

It was amazing meeting some of my favorite cake artists. Marina Sousa from Just Cake is demonstrating how to create a string of sugar beads. Yes…I bought the kit.

Mega famous sugar flower artist Nicholas Lodge shared tips of creating his beautiful flowers. I also got to meet Stephen Benison from England who is super amazing. I learned a lot as he demonstrated some of his sugar art techniques…yes I bought some of his supplies too 🙂

I got to meet Kerry Vincent. She is very pretty and nice too!

Here are some of my favorite cakes that were displayed by participants. There were submissions from around the world. I can’t imagine bringing any of these on an airplane.

Jacqueline Butler is one of my favorite sugar flower artists. She is so good.

Isn’t this pretty!

The show was very inspiring and getting to meet some of my favorite cake designers was the best!

Amy & Mike’s Wedding at the Cork Factory

Posted on August 22, 2010 by thecouturecakery

This evening Amy and Mike were married at The Cork Factory Hotel in Lancaster. I had the honor of creating a Tiffany themed cupcake tower for the reception.

The color theme included Tiffany blue, white and black. Everything looked so elegant.

The cupcake flavors included dark chocolate cupcakes with Oreo and chocolate buttercream frosting and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.

It was a pleasure to work with Jonnaysa with Planned Perfection again.

Maggie and Matthew’s Wedding Cake in Cake Central Magazine

Posted on August 17, 2010 by thecouturecakery

I am very excited to share that Maggie and Matthew’s wedding cake is featured in the August issue of Cake Central Magazine. This is one of my favorite cakes from this season. Just fun and whimsical. The wedding and reception were held at the beautiful Stone Mill Inn in Hallam.

I created handmade sugar roses for the top of the cake. The watermelon, pink and lime green colors looked so pretty together.

The 5 tier cake flavors included white cake with lemon buttercream and lemon curd filling, coconut cake with vanilla coconut buttercream filling and chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and ganache filling.