year of the dragon...

i have known jaina since high school...we went to JMU together and have also kept in touch in our post-college years...since then she has gotten married to james...her loving husband...

when i first started making cakes...she saw the pink & purple princess cake that i had made for maddy's 1st birthday and jaina said she wanted that cake for her child's 1st birthday...girl OR boy...so naturally i was a little afraid when jaina and james had their adorable son jameson...

luckily (for jameson)...jaina opted to go for a blue & silver dragon themed cake since jameson was born during the year of the dragon...

since i am not an artist by nature, only by precision...i hired my husband as my new sculptor!

i had seen a tradition of having a smash cake for the baby to have their first taste of cake...so i decided to make one for jameson...he loved it and apparently was licking his fist all day!!!

it was an absolute honor to make your son's 1st birthday cake...i wish you all many years of celebrating jameson's birthdays!!!

vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream covered in fondant

march 2013

march 2013

march 2013

march 2013

march 2013

babies, blessings, and bath time...

nicollete ava is an incredibly special girl. she was born premie and is still at the hospital getting the best care so that she can be strong and healthy. i cannot wait for her to finally come home to all of the people who love her so much. all of her loved ones threw a baby shower in her honor today.

after hearing about the situation...i wanted more than anything to make this cake as spectacular as possible. i used the invitation as inspiration for the cake. the invitation is yellow with subtle white dots and of course a bath tub filled with various animals. i got a bit of assistance on the animal sculptures from my momma.

the cake was chocolate oreo covered in vanilla buttercream and fondant.  i incorporated some decoration techniques i've used before but made them slightly different.  and of course steamed it at the end.  everything is edible aside from structural cake boards, columns, toothpicks, and the straw.  

april 2011

april 2011

april 2011

april 2011

many thanks to inhar for getting me the job and taking the pictures for me!

every girl wants a castle...

i met christy and john many years ago and had a lot of fun times with their amazing two boys. a few years ago...they were blessed with a beautiful daughter claire...who turned 3 this past weekend. i ran into christy a couple months ago and was honored when she asked me to bake a cake for claire's birthday party.

they wanted a princess theme...and to switch things up a bit...i decided to go for a castle. of course keeping it super girly. i must say that this is a great improvement from the very first castle cake i made...sorry min =\ ...but there is def still room for improvement. i'm not sure if it was due to my sheer exhaustion...or my lack of piping skills...(probably both)...but the piping wasn't the greatest. i definitely need major practice!

although i wasn't able to stay for the party...it is my hope that claire loved having her very own castle...even if only for a little while! =]

the cake is a vanilla cake filled with fresh strawberries and a vanilla butter cream. it is covered in fondant and decorated with fondant and butter cream. the princess' dress is all edible as well. the towers contain the only inedible elements.

november 2010

i was so thankful for inhar who came over to take some pictures of the cake before it went out for delivery.

ribbons & tiaras...

madelynn is such a cutie! i know that jason and amanda are so proud to have such a bright and beautiful daughter. together with family and friends on a sunday evening...we celebrated maddy's first birthday.  it was filled with the traditional korean first birthday rituals. stuffing the guests with food...lots of mochi...and making baby maddy sit infront of a few items that would help determine her future.  thanks to uncle thomas...maddy is gonna be a big shopper running up daddy's credit card debt!

cake was a simple vanilla with vanilla buttercream.  decked out in fondant.  tried out some new designs and even fumbled around with a bow.

september 2010

got a great shot again...thanks to inhar.

a little birdie is turning one...

elyse is a sweet little girl who got the nickname "birdie" because of a face she makes with her lips. she is the daughter of a friend...of a friend who was about to celebrate her very first birthday. i was honored that inhar was gracious enough to refer me to her friend.

i gladly accepted the job...but had great hesitation because i had yet to make a full out fondant decor cake. the task at hand was a challenge...but i tried to break it down to simple things i knew i'd be able to accomplish.

since inhar was the photographer at the party...she got some great shots of the cake. you should def check her out inhar photography.

the cake itself was just vanilla with vanilla buttercream...but this was more for display than edibility. 

august 2010

it took some time to get used to the fondant. i definitely enjoyed using my brand new fondant tools. the bird was a tad difficult...since i'm not sculptor...but thankfully this one turned out cute.

the very first birthday...

your first birthday is a big one...but sadly you're never the one to remember it.  sophia is the daughter of a friend's cousin and is a very special girl!  for her first birthday...her parents planned out an big party for her at a restaurant all decorated in lavender, silver, white, and pink.  the perfect combination of colors for a darling girl.  the order was for 80 regular cupcakes and 1 giant cupcake just for the birthday girl.

a mixture of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes...topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting tinted to fit the party theme...with a little touch of fondant hearts and stars.  

june 2010

june 2010

sadly the picture i took of the giant cupcake got lost on my phone.  however...it was much improved on the first giant cupcake.  it was decorated to mimic the smaller purple cupcake.  i covered the bottom in fondant and painted it with edible silver glitter.  then covered the top in purple vanilla buttercream.  with a sprinkling of edible heart shaped sequins.