Reindeer Cupcakes for Ashley's Preschool Christmas Party

Anniversary Cake for Kelly's In-Laws

Jen's Wedding Shower Cake

Gwen's Penguin (PenGWEN!) Cake

This was a request for a friend's daughter, Gwen.  Gwen loves penguins and her nickname is Pengwen!

She especially loves the movie Happy Feet, so I used this guy for a model. 

(The one on the left is the one I made out of fondant.)

"Ants on a Picnic" Cake

I just finished making this cake for a BBQ tomorrow at our friends' house.

I was inspired by some cupcakes that I saw in a book.

 

The ants are made of chocolate covered almonds. Mmm.

And the watermelon slices are made from fruit candies:

One cut and a quick "switcheroo" of the red and green pieces.

(Plus some chocolate icing for the "seeds".)

Caitlin and Carl's Wedding Cake

My first (and probably only!) wedding cake... 

There are some imperfections that bother me (we are our own worst critics!), but Caitlin and Carl were happy with their cake and that makes me happy!

The odds were against us..

I baked the cake in my mom's 25+ year old oven that:

(a) I wasn't used to, and

(b) does just fine for fixing dinner but (I learned the hard way)

does NOT bake cakes evenly.

I had to remake several layers and did not even go to bed that night.

And then, there was the delivery!

I assembled the cake first (probably a bad idea!) and rode in the back with it while my mom drove as slow as possible with her flashers on. 

But we had to go up a hill. A BIG hill.

The cake layers were separated by cream filling...which sloshed back in forth in the car with every bump and turn.  It looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and I prayed outloud that it wouldn't fall over compeltely! 

It didn't.  Thank you, God!

The best part of the cake (for me) was the delicious new recipes that I found.

Carl likes strawberry cake, and I didn't want to just use a strawberry mix.

This one uses REAL strawberries and has a delicious strawberry filling.  Here's a picture of an early stage:

The other tiers were french vanilla with a Bavarian cream filling,

also a new recipe and equally yummy.

Tyler's 17th Birthday "B2 Stealth Bomber" Cake

Just Peachy!

Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE everything peach... the color, the flavor... when I was little I had a peach room and drank peach pop, and my wedding color scheme was all shades of pink and orange.

Well, these are my new favorite dessert! Not only are they gorgeous, they taste decadent! They combine all of the flavors that I love, too!

Each peach half is a hollowed out shortbread cookie filled with French buttercream and there is an almond in the center (the peach "pit"!)... the halves are glued together with dark chocolate.  (The stem and leaf are fondant).  But wait... it gets better! :-) The whole thing is then dipped in peach Schnapps (oh, yeah!) and rolled in peach Jello cystals.  DE-LISH!!!

Cheyenne's 14th Birthday KC Royals Cake

The request was a KC Royals baseball jersey with her name on the back and her age as the number. I took the liberty of adding sparkles and flowers to keep it girly ;). She loved it!

"Puppy Love" Cookies for Valentine's Day

Aren't these cute?! All you need is a heart shaped cookie cutter! You cut one heart in half for the ears. Clever, huh?! I wish I could take credit for the idea, but it wasn't mine. I can't remember where I first saw these, but I have been anxious to make them, and Valentine's day seemed like the perfect excuse!

If you used blue food coloring, they would be the perfect "Blue" from Blue's Clues!