Belly Dancer Cake

My friend was surprising her husband with a dinner at a Moroccan restaurant with live entertainment from belly dancers.  She asked me to make a simple, fun cake with a belly dancer on it.  It was tough at first, but I ended up having fun with the colors!



Birthday Belly Dancer Cake



I did a 10 inch round chocolate cake, 4 inches high, filled with chocolate & chocolate chip frosting, covered in marshmallow fondant.  To give it a Moroccan theme, I alternated gold and teal rectangles around the sides of the cake with golden pearls.  The dancer & writing were printed with edible ink on rice paper.

Lakers Birthday Cake

GO LAKERS!

A friend of mine asked me to surprise her husband with a Lakers cake for his birthday!  He's a chocolate lover, so I made a chocolate 4 inch high, 10 inch round cake, filled & covered with milk chocolate frosting .  I topped the cake with melted chocolate in the shape of the Lakers logo.

Baby Dedication Cupcakes

My twins were dedicated to our Lord at Knott Avenue Christian Church and I had time to make some strawberry and white cupcakes for their lunch reception.  I topped each cupcake with homemade butter cream frosting & a white chocolate cross.

My friend also made white chocolate lollipops in the shape of hands praying and crosses attached with customized tags as favors for all our guests. So cute! Loved the display!

Barnyard Birthday Bash

Yee haw!  I was lucky enough to be a part of a special boy's birthday party who was turning 1!  He had a barnyard birthday bash & requested a barnyard cake.  Since there were kids, I decided to do some cupcakes as well as a cake.

The finished cake & cupcakes on display at the party

I made chocolate, vanilla, & lemon cupcakes.  The personalized paper toppers were farm animals on one side & either the number "1" or "Elijah" on the back.

 

The top tier was a 4 inch high 6 inch round lemon cake filled with cream cheese covered in marshmallow fondant.  

The bottom tier was a 4 inch high 10 inch round black & white cake (one layer chocolate & one layer vanilla) filled with chocolate frosting covered in marshmallow fondant.

I just love the fence detail around the bottom tier!

The cake & cupcakes was made to feed about 50 people.

White Chocolate Garlic Cupcakes

That's right, GARLIC cupcakes. My husband loves to cook & had an iron chef potluck for his birthday. The secret ingredient, Garlic. I searched for a garlic cupcake recipe & came across a white chocolate garlic cupcake. After a test run, 3 cloves did not show through the finished cupcake, so I actually added 10 cloves! Haha. The white chocolate frosting also had garlic oil in it. Although guests/judges were hesitant to try it, my cupcakes came in 4th place out of 20 garlic dishes in Battle Garlic!

Kitchen Bridal Shower

I threw a kitchen bridal shower for my lovely friend and cousin last weekend. Since she was new to cooking & wanted to learn for her new life with her future hubby, I thought this theme would be great for her!

Her wedding theme is purple, so I also incorporated the color into her cupcake/cake tier! I made ube (taro) cupcakes which are purple. I topped the tier with 4 jumbo cupcakes that were wrapped with sayings "Congrats, Donna" and "Isn't love delicious?" and had little kitchen gadgets on top of the cupcakes (a knife, spoon, frying pan, & spatula).

A bridesmaid had her sister make chocolate cake pops & mini red velvet cupcakes to also go with the theme. My sister also made yummy pecan tarts from scratch for the first time! So proud of her!

I also made a photo garland as decoration that said "BRIDAL SHOWER." It was simple to make. I just printed photos of the couple onto regular card stock paper & also created the lettering on my computer. After cutting them out, I hole punched them at the top & strung purple string through the holes.

For centerpieces, the Bride's florist created centerpieces, but I also threw in some kitchen themed centerpieces. I had measuring cups filled with chex mix for guests to snack on at the tables! So easy, cheap, & cute!

Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes

My newlyweds bible study group had a BACON potluck for one of our summer gatherings. My husband made bacon potato gratin, & of course I attempted cupcakes with bacon. I made a basic chocolate batter & after frying bacon & chopping it into pieces, I poured about a cup of bacon bits into the batter, then baked. I topped each cupcake with chocolate frosting & more bacon. The cupcakes & potluck were a hit!

Here are some other bacon desserts!

Bacon brownies!

My friend had added some of the bacon fat to the brownie batter!

These were so good! Chewy & delicious!

Bacon rice crispy treats!

Subtle salty flavor but still delicious!