Race Cars!

This cake was lots of fun to make!



It was for a little boy's third birthday. And, like many other little boys his age, he LOVES cars. So, the decor was a no brainer!

The cake was chocolate with chocolate buttercream.

Simple elegance

We got a call for a pretty yellow cake to celebrate a woman's 60th birthday. Her favourite colour was yellow and she loved calla lilies.

We kept it simple by covering the cake in a soft yellow fondant and adding a quilted effect, with white dragée pearls. Then, we added the calla lilies. For an added touch of elegance, Joanne added draping fondant "fabric" over the cake. It was her first time trying out this technique, but it turned out really well.
The cake is Sachin's Limoncello cake, with Limoncello glaze and Limoncello buttercream. It's fresh, light and delicious; perfect for spring and summer!

Let's go gluten-free!

Our dear friend, Shivani, celebrated her birthday, recently, in Toronto.


When she invited us to go, we knew we couldn't miss it. But when she ordered a cake... we knew it would be a fun challenge because not only did the cake have to be egg-free and gluten free, it would also have to FLY from Halifax to Toronto!


Sachin pulled together the cakes, which tasted delicious; suprisingly moist, tasty and fluffy!


Then, I pulled everything together with an almond buttercream. Mmmm....



I covered the cakes in black fondant and stacked them. I knew flying would be a challenge, so I had to reinforce it with extra dowels and make sur they were solidly kept together. Not only was there a risk for turbulence, but I wasn't completely sure what the change in air pressure would do to the cake.


I also had to determine how to transport it and if I would be allowed to bring a cake as carry on - there was absolutely no way I would be willing to check the cake for obvious reasons. (hums to self: "United breaks guitars")


Once we landed, we checked the cake (it got to sit in first class, while we sat in the very, very, back of the plane). Hurray! It was fine.

Next, I had to decorate! I had only covered the cake with the black fondant before leaving Halifax, so once in Toronto, I had to put all of the finishing touches! The colours were going to be black, silver and magenta. It was held at a hotel and the theme was "formal bal" so we wanted it to be classy but still have a bit of spunk, kind of like the birthday girl!

This was the finished product (unfortunately, we didn't really manage to get great photos of it, but hopefully you can get an idea!):


The top of the cake has a bursting open effect and is filled with silver dragées. On the bottom tier, I layered fondant paisleys and swirls to give it more depth. It was a huge hit with everyone and we had a blast at the party!

Girly Pirate, Yarrr!

This cake was super fun to make!

We got a call for a small, six inch smash cake for a little girl's first birthday. The client sent us this photo as the theme for the party.

Joanne decided to try and recreate the little skull onto the cake. This is how it turned out:

Cute!

It was fun playing around with different tools to make the skull and bones. The bones were made using a cutter in the shape of a wrench and the knot on the bandana was made using a cutter in the shape of a fish, from which I used just the tail.

I would have loved to make the matching cupcakes, so I'm holding out for another pirate-themed order! :)

First Communion Cake

This order came in for a little girl's First Communion.

She wanted pink with flowers, so this is what we pulled together:

The cake is moist chocolate cake with almond buttercream.

Congratulations, Maria!

For the rocker you know: A drum cake!

We got a call from a client who wanted to get a special cake for her boyfriend's 30th birthday. He's a drummer in a band and she wanted to get him a cake that looked like his drum. She sent us a photo of the drum and we got to work!

The cake was one layer of vanilla cake, one layer moist chocolate cake and another layer of vanilla cake. All of the layers were pulled together with delicious chocolate-hazelnut buttercream.

Mmmmmm.....

Then, I covered it in white fondant and got to work on its sides. The drum was blue with sparkles, so I brushed blue sparkle shimmer powder on the blue and painted the metallic accents with silver shimmer.

We heard back from the client and it was a hit!

"I just wanted to let you know that your cake was a smash hit with drew and his family! everyone was impressed with the look and the delicious taste of the cake :)"

Glad he liked it!

It's Spring... time for Cherry Blossom Cupcakes!

Finally, the cold seems to have gone away!

It hasn't been exactly sunny, but at least, it isn't snowing. So, to celebrate, we made this cute little cherry blossom cupcakes.

They are chocolate with a small layer of almond buttercream and topped with fondant decorations.


Note to self: Next year, put a cherry inside each cupcake.

Spring flowers.. in a hurry!

Ok, so we try to stay on top of all of our orders. But, despite all of our best efforts, sometimes, we get really busy and something slips. In this case, it was good family friends whose daughter was turning 7. They had called Joanne on her cell the week prior, and her scribbled notes ended up staying in her pocket and never making it onto our kitchen's white board and calendar.

So, Saturday morning, the day the cake was due, the phone rang at 11:45 a.m. They wanted to know what time the cake would be delivered.

WHAT???

So, we had a bit of time to work with, the party was from 2-4 p.m. and the cake wouldn't be cut into until around 3:00 p.m.

We jumped into action and got to work. It was a two-tiered cake, chocolate with vanilla buttercream. The theme was flowers.

In three hours, we managed to bake, ice, decorate and deliver this cake. It was likely the quickest turn around we've ever done, and despite the mix-up, they were really pleased. In fact, they've ordered two more cakes, since! Those are both already on the white board, and the calendar in the kitchen, as well as on Joanne's electronic calendar on her phone, as will every future order!

Foodie Food

We all know someone who loves to cook! We were asked to make a cake for someone's 40th birthday. When we asked what theme to go with, they said he loved to cook and cycle. He is also French.

So, how do you incorporate food and cycling into a cake? We decided to make it with lots of food and an apron on top, along with some recipe books and a cycling book ("Vélo" is French for bicycle).

The cake was three layers of cake, chocolate, vanilla and chocolate, all pulled together with our yummi chocolate hazelnut buttercream (Joanne's favourite).

The cake was a HUGE hit. This is how it turned out:

And Sachin sculpted most of the toppers.

Winter Wonderland!

It is winter, and everyone living in Halifax knows it; how many snow days have we had these past few weeks?

So, Joanne got some new cutters in the shapes of snowflakes and boy are they cute!

Here are a few cupcakes we've made, so far.

This first batch was for a fundraising bake sale at Dalhousie University for the INDISA student society. They are chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing. The snowflakes are fondant with some sprinkled on non-pareils.


The second batch was brought to class as a Happy Friday treat. They are chocolate cupcakes topped with fondant.


And this final batch is two dozen cupcakes, in a cupcake tree (which we rent out for $5 with an order) that we donated to the Camerata Xara Young Women's Choir, for their Sweet On You fundraiser, held at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. These are chocolate cupcakes with some chocolate mousse filling and topped with vanilla buttercream. The snowflakes are fondant and they are also sprinkled with the snow-like non-pareils.

Nothing like some yummi cupcakes to warm up any chilly winter day!

New Year's Eve Wedding

Ok, ok, so it's been way too long since we've updated the blog. It's been a busy winter, so far, with Joanne going back to school full-time to finish off her degree at Dalhousie.

It doesn't mean we haven't been making cakes, though! We had an exciting order for New Year's Eve: a wedding!

They wanted 10 dozen cupcakes (yup, that's 120 cupcakes) with a small cake on top with a topper. The wedding was hosted at a local hotel, in downtown Halifax.

The cupcakes were: a few dozen red velvet with vanilla cream cheese icing, a few dozen white chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and a few dozen chocolate cupcakes also with minty buttercream.

The topper cake was a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and vanilla buttercream. Yum! They provided us with the cute little couple cake topper, too.

This is the cake:

The whole tower with the cupcakes looked like this:

Some cupcakes were topped with flowers that had pearl centres, others had just two differently-sized pearls on them and finally some had some tiny little snow-like non-pareils sprinkled on. As you can see, the colours were white and red.

The cupcake tower itself is ours and with an order, we will rent it for $25. It's modular and can have up to 7 levels!

Congratulations to the happy couple and happy New Year to everyone!