Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

For a few weeks, I noticed my sister was pinning some Mary Poppins birthday ideas onto her Pinterest boards. I knew Mary Poppins was in the running for my niece's party. When the final decision was made and I was invited to do the cake, I was thrilled!

My sister gave me free rein on the design and I couldn't wait. So many cute ideas to choose from!

I ended up being inspired by two different cakes. The first one had a Mary Poppins topper made out of fabric but I really try to make everything edible on my cakes. So sugar it was! The further along I got, the more pleased I became. Mary turned out absolutely perfect!

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I liked the city skyline on another cake and decided to incorporate that into the cake as well. I thought both designs tied together nicely.

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When we arrived at the party and my niece immediately said, "Mary Poppins!" I knew it was a success.

My cake!

Graduation

I just realized I never posted a cake I did *ahem* nine months ago.

My co-worker's daughter graduated from high school and asked if I'd make the cake for her party. Karina requested a guava cake, inspired by her favorite that can be found at a local bakery. I read reviews about this cake online and it's highly spoken of. I had never made a guava cake before and was feeling lots of pressure.

While I was cutting the top off the cake, to make it even, I sampled a tiny sliver and was in love. So moist, light, and flavorful! I was relieved that it was so delicious!

The party ended up having more in attendance than they had planned and there wasn't enough cake to go around. Good for me that the cake was a success, good for those that grabbed a piece early on, stinks for everyone that missed out!

Red, White, and Chocolate

I delivered my first cake this evening, for a bride that I never met in person but only spoke with over the phone and through e-mail.

My sister-in-law was gracious enough to refer me to a friend who lives in NY but was getting married in Berkeley. We communicated for months about her cake and I was excited to finally get to do it.

I have only had red velvet cake once and it was terribly dry and the cream cheese frosting tasted artificial. But the recipe I made for this wedding cake combined with the recipe I use for cream cheese frosting was AMAZING. So was the vanilla cake and chocolate chip cake. And I can't say it enough, but I could eat Swiss buttercream by the spoonfuls.

Thankfully, I resisted devouring this cake and was able to deliver it in one piece.

The reception was held at the Berkeley City Club, formerly known as the Berkeley Women's City Club. Opened in 1930, it is rich in history and is absolutely gorgeous! I had to use the bathroom and couldn't get over the antique doorknobs. I could have roamed the building for hours but I don't want to be known as the pastry chef who crashes weddings.

So I will stick to just making the cakes.

A Very Merry Unbirthday

Our Relief Society had an activity last week, celebrating each woman's birthday in one night.

Several of us were asked to make an "unbirthday" cake and I was clearly inspired by the "unbirthday" theme, although I've never seen Alice in Wonderland.

The actual cake, on the other hand, took me weeks to decide on.  Flavor after flavor ran through my mind until finally, I saw a strawberry cake recipe that looked A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. and so I decided on a Neapolitan cake; chocolate and strawberry layered cake with vanilla Swiss buttercream.  

My inspiration cake was much cuter.

Everyone thought the cake was darling and I believe one woman said, "This is the best strawberry cake I've ever had!"

Success.

Elmo!

I was so excited when I was asked to make a birthday cake for my son's little friend! The theme of the party was "Elmo" and the mom picked out the cutest cake. And may I say, the final product did turn out CUTE! So cute, that when I finished it, I looked at my husband and said, "Now that is one cute cake!"

Everyone at the party was so kind and gracious with the compliments. And not only did it look good, but it tasted great, too (carrot cake with cream cheese filling/frosting)! The little fingers of the partygoers were attempting to catch a taste the entire time we were there.

Thanks again for letting me be part of your special day, Mr. C!

Peppa Pig & George

Several months ago, my sister asked if I'd be willing to make my niece's birthday cake? You betcha!

My sister created the perfect Peppa Pig birthday party which included pigs in a blankets, curly fries (like their tails), mud dip (nutella), she made little pig snouts for the kids to wear and had lots of fun games to entertain the little ones!

The cake fit right in with the darling theme! My sister sent me a picture of what she wanted and I've got to admit, sculptures are not my thing. But after several attempts, I (think) I nailed it and was excited to show the birthday girl her cake. When we walked into the party, my sister said, "It's exactly like the one I showed you!" Whew! I was so glad they liked it!

Next!

I love when I watch "cake shows" and see a couple that has used the same baker for weddings, baby showers, kids' birthdays, anniversaries.

I feel like those bakers with our friends, David & Tracy.  Remember this cake?  (How could you forget?  It's the post right before this one.)  Well, David called me up and asked if I would make Tracy's birthday cake.  I initially said yes and asked when the party was.  He said "April 15" and I thought and thought and thought and realized...that was my niece's birthday too.  Panic ran through my body but I told him it'd totally work out and I'd love to do the cake.

It did totally work out.

And I look forward to doing many more cakes for these two!