A "Minnie" Surprise for a Friend

One of my closest friends, Jamie, is expecting TWINS!!  God love her!  Well, she called me up a while back and TOLD me I was doing the cake for the shower  ; )  Like I'd turn her down anyway!  Her Mom called me to iron out the details and when I asked her if she had something in mind, she said she didn't really.  She told me that they were doing the theme of the party to somewhat match the nursery, which was done in a beachy, surfer theme.  And with that, the first thing that came to mind was two little baby bottoms on the beach.  I came up with an idea to do two rump cakes on a sheet cake.  For those of you that don't know, a "rump cake" is a cake that looks like a baby's butt sticking up in the air.  It's super cute and a fairly flexible and easy concept to run with.

Because Jamie is a HUGE Mickey Mouse fan, her Mom and I both wanted to incorporate that into the cake.  I came up with this...  And I'm THRILLED with the results!!

Jamie made it adamantly known that she wanted chocolate -- I knew I liked her for a reason, lol!  So, I started with a Devil's Food cake then layered and covered it with vanilla buttercream.  I pressed crushed graham crackers into the frosting for a "sandy" effect.  I draped two "beach towels" over top in the colors of the nursery.  I added a turtle embellishment to the boy's towel and a hibiscus to the girl's towel.

I covered two fudge cake "rumps" in red and white and placed them on the beach towels; red on the boy's towel and white on the girl's.  I then added pound cake legs and feet to the rumps.  I covered those in flesh-toned fondant.  I decorated the red rump like Mickey Mouse's shorts with the two white buttons and even gave the boy yellow sandals to match Mickey's shoes.

For the girl, I make a pink fondant sheet and fitted that onto the rump as a skirt.  I added white polka dots like Minnie Mouse's dress and ruffling around the legs.  I completed the ensemble with pink sandals.

I finished off the design by painting the names Jamie and her husband Mike picked out -- Grayson and Madelyn -- on the edges of the rumps and icing "tread" on the bottoms of the sandals.  I iced "Welcome Babies" into the tread, as well.

I am sooo excited for you both and can't wait to meet the new additions!!!!  Congratulations!!!!

New Business Ventures in Cute Little Packages

As previously mentioned, I'm friends with Meaghan, owner of "The Green Crocodile."  Well, she came to me with a business proposition... Party Packages!!!  The Green Crocodile specializes in sewn products, but especially children's dress-up wear.  She creates tutu's, wands, capes, dino/dragon tails,... the list goes on and on!  Here's some of her creations.

AMAZING, huh??

Well, she asked if Sweet Dreams would be interested in a package deal in which a client can rent (with the option to buy) costume gear specified to the party theme (i.e. princess party = tutu's and wands) and get their sweet treats from us.  I loved, loved, LOVED the idea!  So, here's what we came up with.

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Sweet Ideas for The Green Crocodile Party Packs

(Assorted cakes include the following options: vanilla, yellow, chocolate, and confetti.)

o   Tea Party

·         Hobknobby Cakes (Mad Hatter theme) – Assorted cake flavors topped with lopsided colorful buttercream and decorations   

           

·         Tea On Me – A dozen assorted tea cakes (honey cakes, petit fours, etc) and a dozen assorted cookies (shortbread, lintzer, etc)    

         

·         Premier – Actual teacups layered and filled with assorted cake and buttercream               

o   Fairy Party

·         Fairy Dust – Honey-flavored cupcake, buttercream frosting, and “dusted” with edible glitter  

   

·         Bugaboo – Assorted cupcakes iced with green “grass” and topped with sugar “bugs” (ladybugs, dragonflies, etc)       

o   Princess Party

·         Dream Come True – Assorted cupcakes, buttercream frosting, and “dusted” with edible glitter 

·         Bobbity-boo – Assorted cakes filled with cream and fruit, topped with buttercream, and garnished with edible wands    

o   Slumber Party (Milk & Cookies)

·         Two dozen homemade Chocolate Chunk, Brown Sugar Oatmeal, and Snickerdoodle cookies with a gallon of 2% milk     

o   Dinosaur Party

·         Dinobites – Chocolate cupcake filled with “molten lava” gel and topped with a buttercream “erupting volcano”                    

o   Superhero Party

·         Power-Up Cakes – Color-flecked and swirled yellow cupcakes with either chocolate crème filling and chocolate buttercream OR vanilla crème filling and vanilla buttercream frosting                 

o   Medieval Party (Knights/Princesses/Dragons)

·         Dragon Cakes – Assorted cupcakes topped with buttercream “flames”

·         Crown Cakes – Assorted cupcakes topped with edible sugar crowns

·         Shining Armor – Assorted cupcakes topped with edible sword and shield

o   Pirate Party

·         Buried Treasure – Assorted cupcakes topped with buttercream and garnished with a “sandy beach” and gold doubloon chocolate coin    

 *Actual birthday and party cakes (standard, unique, and individual) are available upon request and with advanced notice.  Please contact about specifics and pricing.*

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 I CAN'T WAIT to get these started!!!!

Gluten-Free Comes to Sweet Dreams

Hello, gluten-free!!!  Friend and partner in crime Meaghan of "The Green Crocodile" called me up and asked if I did gluten-free... Haven't tried it, but I'm willing to give anything a try!  She wanted a gluten-free version of our Lavender Cake for a relative's birthday.  I did some research and found out how much I DIDN'T know about gluten.  Through the research, I discovered that some minor substitutions and a few tweaks of the recipe introduced us to the wonderful world of gluten-free.  Instead of standard wheat based flour, we used a combination of gluten-free blend and almond flours.  A little more liquid and a little less dry and we were in business.  But, talk about a dense cake!  It was beautiful! 

I added a lemon curd filling and covered it with a honey cream cheese frosting. I then garnished with lavender buds and petit purple drop flowers.  It apparently was such a hit, I was asked to do another.  : )

A First Birthday for the Little Ladybug

When Caitlyn was due to turn the big 1 year old, her Mom and friend of mine, Michelle, asked me if I could do a ladybug smash cake to go with their party theme.  Of course!

I started with a vanilla cake and iced it in segments with red and black icing to get the design.  I then smoothed the icing to give it a glossy finish.  I had to avoid fondant or anything similar on this one since it was for a 1 year old.  But, I think I made do.  I finished the design with the black spots and two black antennae.

What started out with just a smash cake turned into the ladybug smash cake plus a sheet cake for the other guests.  When I asked what we could decorate the sheet cake with, we came up with everything from a flower garden to a larger ladybug cake.  But, after talking it over, I realized that sometimes simple is much better.  We opted for a field of grass covered in little ladybugs.

And I have to admit it turned out super cute!!  I started out with a layered confetti cake and colored buttercream icing a lovely shade of spring green to contrast a little with the red ladybugs.  I then applied it using a grass tip. The ladybugs were simple balls of red royal icing tipped with black icing.  I was so in love with those little creations that I wanted to do them all over the kitchen -- lol!

And since I had a mind lapse, I didn't think to ask what she wanted the cake to say.  So, once again, I went with simple and understated -- "Caitlyn's 1st" in red lettering.

I'm so sorry I wasn't able to stay and see her COMPLETELY destroy the ladybug, but the pictures spoke volumes!  Thanks again Michelle and John for letting us be a part of Caitlyn's special day!!!

Spring Sampler

Every month, our confectionery offers seasonal specialities with are posted through our Facebook Fan Page.  And since the month of May screams flowers and fruit, the items we featured were:  lavender cupcakes with a hint of lemon and topped with honey frosting, assorted berry tartlets, and lemon-thyme cookies.  Well, a couple people were so intrigued, they asked for samplers of ALL the items.  So, I threw together a sampling and here's how it turned out.

It was so popular, I got several more requests.  Thank you everyone for your support and your sweet teeth!  : ) 

My First Tasting Went Beachy

An old coworker and friend of mine, Laura, informed me that she is getting married and was hoping I would do cupcakes for her bridal shower.  Who am I to disappoint??  ; )  When I asked her, she told me the theme of her wedding is going to have a beach vibe with awesome summery colors.  Immediately, the gears started turning.  Once I got the flavors settled, I called her up and asked her to come over for a tasting to see what she thought.

Laura told me that one of her favorite flavors was Key Lime Pie.  So, my first cupcake creation was what I call "Toes in the Sand"... I know, I normally avoid naming ANY type of food using body parts, but the first image that came to me when I tried this creation was sitting on a long crescent beach with my toes in the sand.  I can't always help what my mind throws at me, so it kinda stuck.

"Toes in the Sand" is a citrus flavored cake with a key lime filling.  It's then topped with coconut frosting and sprinkled with graham cracker sand.

The next cupcake I came up with was "Sex on the Beach."  It's a tribute to the ageless cocktail bearing the same name, obviously.  I started with a peach cake and mixed cranberries into the mix for a nice change in texture and mini bursts of tartness.  I then topped the cupcake in an orange-pineapple frosting and garnished with that a drink umbrella, of course.

The third cupcake was "Bahama Beauty" since it was so tropical that only an island lady could concoct such a melding of flavors.  I sooo wish that was me!  It's a mango-pineapple cake topped with a coconut-kiwi frosting.  I garnished with toasted coconut for a little crunch in texture.

Laura's reaction of "OMG!" and the fact that she asked to take some home was more than enough compliment for me  : )  I can't wait for the shower!!

Playing catch-up...

Talk about CrAzY!!!  I've had several orders that have already been fulfilled and already many more to go... This has been great!  I've got a business running before I even realized I had a business running -- lol!  Well, bear with me while I get everything posted and as I complete more orders.