A day without cupcakes...is a day without sunshine!

Cupcakes can definitely brighten any day! There is something special about a brightly colored, bite size sweet that can put a smile on your face, regardless of the weather! So, with that thought, I have decided to branch out and start making cake balls. They are smaller and easier to send to my friends and family... and anyone else who may want some! I have recently started my own Etsy shop and am looking to expand my little cake business (http://www.etsy.com/shop/igidagiggidacake). I even ordered awesome packaging stickers! 

Here's a look at some of my cake balls! Can you tell I have spring fever? I love bright colors!! 

I hope you're day is as sweet as these cake balls!

All you need is Love :)

I LOVE Valentines Day! It's always been one of my favorite days. I was that kid in middle school.... ok, maybe even high school, that would be handing out handmade valentines to everyone I knew. I would stay up to 1..2..3am in the morning finishing all of them. I love making other people smile and I know how wonderful it feels to have someone do something special for you, just because they care :). It's not about the fancy flowers or decadent chocolates...although, very nice (and always appreciated!)... it's about L-O-V-E. And I am blessed that I am loved and have a lot of love to give! 

 I got some fancy new cupcake cups to help make my cupcakes a little more festive for Valentines Day (bought at AC Moore).

I decided to try FUN da-middles box mix. It was easy, fast and surprisingly delicious. It is a yellow cake with a chocolate filling. I used vanilla buttercream for the frosting with edible pearls and clear sugar sprinkles.

 

 

 

 

Much love and sweet days ahead! xoxo Jess

Lazy Daisy

I didn't realize how long it has been since I updated...I am a little low on time, so I'm gonna be a slacker and post all of my creations at once.. Holidays are like time warps! Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is a long list of things to do... and Birthdays to celebrate! I don't know about you, but so many of my wonderful friends and family happen to have their birthdays within a few weeks of each other. Yikes! I wish I had time to bake everyone a cake... but sadly, around the holidays I am short on cash and time. But trust me, my I.O.U's are redeemable at any other time of the year ;).

 

Happy Birthday Chris! This was a yellow cake with a raspberry filling and buttercream frosting. Soooo delicious! I had no idea what to do for a cake... so, I went with polka dots. I promise I'll be more creative next year baby! xoxo

Pretty as Pie!

Normally, I decorate cakes or cupcakes... but I was baking for Thanksgiving and I thought to myself, "hey! why not decorate my pumpkin pie?"A strange thought, probably brought on by delirium that comes with the exhaustion of preparing for the holidays.... but I am pleased with my pretty pumpkin pie!

Zebra Cake

So, as I've mentioned before, I am in love with Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss and Cupcake Wars. I was super excited to see some new cake mixes made by Duff from Ace of Cakes- including this awesome Zebra Cake Mix!! So, the box mix consisted of a white cake and a chocolate cake mix. After preparing each separately, all you have to do is take a scoop of chocolate and put a scoop of the white mix on top and repeat this until all of the batter is gone. Each scoop pushes out the layers underneath and creates zebra stripes! So awesome!

I covered the cake in fondant and then painted black icing dye onto the cake by hand. The yellow roses are made with fondant as well. 

(By the way, it's covered and filled with chocolate frosting!) Happy 21st Birthday Melanie!
 
My Family's Christmas Swedish Rice :) I figured I'd share this with you. Every year, My Mom makes the rice pudding. This year, she wanted to teach my nieces about our family traditions, so we all got a turn at stirring the rice! A lot of rice, milk, sugar and several hours of stirring later... you can dig in and enjoy!

Thundercat Logo Birthday Cake!

Happy Birthday Aaron!
 

 

Chocolate Cake with vanilla frosting, covered in red colored white chocolate

Life is Sweet

 So many happenings! Life is sweet. Since my last post, I have been very busy! I got accepted to grad school, (but decided to defer), I got a promotion, ran a 5k... ! There are so many exciting things happening in my friends and families lives' as well- and what better way to celebrate, than with a cake?!

Cupcakes for a combined celebration- Sarah and Junior's wedding anniversary and Brooksy's birthday! I was torn between making cupcakes and making a fruit tart, so I combined the two! This is a yellow cupcake filled with lemon curd, topped with cream cheese frosting, kiwi and a raspberry. (SO yummy!)

Happy Birthday Cindy! This is a chocolate cake with buttercream filling, covered in white chocolate (...colored, of course). The grass and frog are also made out of chocolate. I covered the cake in blue glitter gel to make it look like water.

Ribbit ribbit!!

Now for something bittersweet... As some of you may already know, my Grandmother recently passed away. She was one of the warmest, most compassionate people I have ever known. She wrote me letters weekly, updating me on how her garden was growing or how the windy weather had made more yard work for her and my Grandfather to do... Gramma was always in the garden (... or baking! I guess it's in my genes!) When I read the sympathy cards, it was nice to see how many people used to visit just to admire her flower gardens. Below, I have a few pictures of her Dahlias. The photos are lovely, but they do not come close to capturing their true beauty.

When Gramma was in the hospital, I talked to her about my niece, her great granddaughter, Brooke. I was saying how I couldn't believe that Brooke would be 1 year old soon. Before I could finish my sentence, she said, "Brooke's birthday is October 29th. I could never forget that!" This was heart warming and amazing to me because my Gramma had a large brain tumor and could not remember what she had for lunch! Gramma passed away a month ago tomorrow, but I know she helped me make a cake for Brooke.

The cake is yellow with raspberry jam filling, covered in buttercream frosting and fondant dahlias. I also decorative butterflies (non-edible) and edible pearls along the edge.

 Happy 1st Birthday Brooke!!! We love you!!!

Mmmmmmmmmmm!! Yummy Cake!

"to be or not to be"

Program for Stageloft's May 2011 production of Hamlet.

Yellow cake with buttercream frosting and raspberry filling.

Finished product...minus a delivery disaster... and the loss of a few fingers :(.

"To be or not to be..." It's an interesting thought, isn't it? I feel like I have come to this crossroad in my life and am not sure which direction it is going in. Grad school, marriage, career... so many decisions, obstacles and unknown joys. But anyways... about the CAKE! This cake was incredibly difficult to cover in fondant due to the weather being ungodly warm, thus making the fondant rip continuously.  After multiple attempts, I decided that the cake had won that battle and found a pretty ribbon to cover the warped sides... I was pleased with the outcome.. until the delivery disaster. Let's just say, a smudged skull and detached fingers were the end result. I would have stayed to fix it, but was too embarrassed! Yikes..

Pooh Bear and Pudding

Winnie the Pooh with Balloons! Yellow cake with buttercream frosting, filled with chocolate pudding and chocolate mousse!

Crazy Cupcakes!

I never thought I would make cupcakes like these! I completed a cupcake order for four happy bunny, cupcakes, four carebear/funshine bear cupcakes and four World of Warcraft cupcakes! Quite the combination, but when paired with chocolate cupcakes filled with caramel and topped with peanutbutter buttercream, it makes for the perfect combination!

So many cakes, So little time to update my blog!

Jasmine Cake for my niece's 4th birthday! Jasmine is made out of fondant and glitter sugar gel. The decorations around the cake consist of two different types of ribbon and hand drawn designs done with a "chocolate pen." I used spray color for the cake as well. It came out better than I expected!

Mmmmmm! Red Velvet Cake with white chocolate buttercream!

This is the neck of my bass guitar cake! This cake was so much fun to make and was an ongoing problem solving task! I made "wood" by making marbled fondant and I used silver and gold luster for the details on the cake (the strings are licorice strings painted silver!). 

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a raspberry jam filling.

RUDOLPH!

After finishing up last minute touches on the raindeer cupcakes, I went to bed. It was midnight on Christmas Eve morning and it became one of the best moments of my life. Chris came over to my side of the bed and got on both knees to ask me to marry him!! It was perfect :). I said YES! I don't think I could ever get a better Christmas present :).

fondant winter scene snowglobe

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting