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

boys just wanna have FUNfetti...

for the past couple years my older brother's friend has been requesting a special birthday cake resembling that which he loves most...a cookie ice cream sandwich. bobby has been asking year after year only to be disappointed when i didn't deliver. this year my brother asked me to make a birthday cake for bobby and of course his request is what immediately came to mind. sadly, my brother informed me that ice cream wouldn't survive the drive into dc where they were eating dinner. so i decided to make a slight alteration to the cake substituting ice cream for bobby's favorite kind of cake...FUNFETTI!

funfetti cake (made from scratch) with a cookies & cream filling covered in vanilla buttercream sandwiched between two 14" cookies.

august 2011

i was pleasantly surprised with how well the homemade cookie cakes turned out!

slow and steady wins the race...

a couple months ago i had met michelle at a mutual friend's bridal shower where i had made some cupcakes for dessert. saw her again at the wedding where i had made the cake. soon after i received an email from her asking if i'd be interested in making a birthday cake for her nephew rylan. rylan's mom requested a simple cake with strawberries.  michelle then sent me a copy of the invitation that was sent to guests to use as inspiration.

this cake is 2 tiers of strawberry shortcake covered in vanilla buttercream. the cake was covered in fondant and decorated according to the color theme of the invitation. the turtle prince on top is fully edible. the only inedible part of the cake is the printed sign reading "happy 1st birthday rylan"

march 2011

march 2011

basket full of wishes...

i had always been wanting to make a cake that looked like a basket but had never gotten around to it. a friend, who i have known for a very long time, asked me to make a cake for his girlfriend's birthday. he informed me that she loved tangerines and strawberries. i thought it'd be a little odd to just have those two colors...but i tried to make it work.

this is a vanilla cake filled and covered with vanilla buttercream frosting.  yes it looks like chocolate, but that was merely food coloring. the cake was filled and topped with strawberries, with some mandarine oranges.

january 2011

january 2011

overall i am happy with the way my basket turned out.  next time i'd like to try working in some hard chocolate and possibly a handle. 

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.

sixty and one...

this cake is for the man who has been taking care of me all my life since before i was born...my father. i cannot begin to describe the amazing person he is. yes it is true...we haven't always seen eye to eye...but as i grow older...i am realizing that we are more alike than i had ever imagined.

today my dad turns 61 years old...and in celebration of my traditional father...i have stepped away from what's modern...and gone back to something a little more traditional.

this cake is a new blend i'd like to call 

"strawberry lemonade"

it is a lemon cake with big chunks of fresh strawberries with some vanilla buttercream. now as for decor...i forgot how unforgiving buttercream is. i def need to get back to practicing my piping because my hand was the furthest thing from steady. 

november 2010

november 2010

unfortunately i wasn't able to get professional pictures from inhar this time...but hoping i will get some with the next few.

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.

fore...

my younger brother binnari was turning 21...and this was not a birthday i wanted to pass him by.  i am proud to be the sister of a future professional golfer =] so for this very special birthday...i wanted to make him a very special cake.  along for the task were two friends...esther and grace.

i'd been seeing a lot of "covered cupcake" cakes recently and had wanted to try one. however...instead of slopping a massive amount of frosting...i decided to use fondant.  the cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla...arranged to create a tricky hole of golf.  

june 2010

nothing about the proportions is correct.  the oversized ball and tee...the tiny replica of my brother...the fact that the green is comparable in size to the fairway.  not to mention the random hearts floating in the water. all in all...i think it was a success. and more importantly...he loved it!

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.

every girl is a princess at heart...

one of my dear friends' daughter was turning 3. bethany is one of the smartest little girls i know! among her many favorites are disney princesses, the color yellow, cherries, and word world...all of which are found on this cake.

this was my first chocolate cake from scratch! all the frosting was from scratch too. the only "store bought" items were the fondant and top half of the princess.

the bottom base is filled and frosted with vanilla buttercream...then covered with green vine-imprinted fondant.  the princess' dress is completely edible...covered in vanilla cream cheese frosting.  the top part of the dress is fondant...which took a while to match the color with the frosting.  

march 2010

the letters CAKE mimic a tv show that is a family favorite where all things are created by the spelling of its name.  the cherries were by request of the birthday girl...and were immediately eaten the second she blew the candles out!

the "box" set...

the following cakes mark the beginning of my cake adventures. these were all made from box cake mix...hence the name...also topped with tub frosting. at this point in time...i just wanted celebrate some friends' birthdays and play around with some decorating.

this was the very first one...

a birthday cake for one of my best friends rachel. played around a little with line design and piping. 

october 2004

  another birthday cake for my best friend sarang. still working with line design and piping. note to self: frosting layer must be thicker.

january 2005

this was for one of my college roommates alice. wanted to try working with tiered cakes. didn't turn out the way i imagined it in my head...but i was able to make it work.  

may 2005

may 2005

this cake is the first in the "chocolate wall" & "fruit" series...both to be continued later.

happy birthday sarang...again!! =]  the timing in melting the chocolate so it doesn't burn...then putting the chocolate in the fridge to cool before it isn't too hard took much trial and error. though...i was happy to say that it all worked out. the cake was red velvet filled with my oreo and topped with delish fruits. the bow helped make it a beautiful present.  

january 2008

my friend min loves pink...and thinks she is a princess =] so for her 23rd birthday...i attempted to make her a castle cake. things didn't turn out the way i had planned...but everyone understood what i was aiming for. min loved it...which is all that really matters anyway!

february 2008

this next cake marks the continuation of the "fruit" series...  

for my friend danny's birthday...i added in some fresh fruit and even started working with some chocolate. to be completely honest...this wasn't the first with fruit and chocolate...but some pictures seem to have gotten lost over the years. the major issue that i found while working this cake was the "flooding" of the fresh strawberry juices. and as you'll see in the next few...it is a problem that i keep trying to resolve.

may 2008

it's that time again...to celebrate rachel's next birthday. for this one i wanted massive amounts of fruit with lots of color. i also worked in a variation of the checkerboard cake. tried to drain out as much of the fruit juices as possible...and used some apple jelly to give it a nice hold and shine...but still had some minor strawberry flooding. this was also...i believe the third cake with my red velvet cake with oreo filling...quite a popular one.

october 2008

october 2008

the next cake marks the continuation of the "chocolate wall" series...

one of my co-workers was celebrating her 30th birthday...so i decided to make her a really bright cake. this is actually also the third of the series...but the second cake picture is lost and only remains as a memory. this cake required careful timing in regards to the chocolate fence setting slightly in the fridge before wrapping it around the cake. a few pieces did break off in the molding...but the overall design came out. the strawberries are still giving me some stress.

april 2009

the next cake goes to my older brother dahari. he had been complaining for a while that i hadn't made him a cake...so i did my best to make him one he'd love. i ran into some trouble making the walls because i burned half of the chocolate. without any extra time to run to the store...i used some semi-sweet morsels i had left over from baking cookies. this was not a good idea. the morsels wouldn't hold shape no matter how long i set them in the fridge...or freezer. thus...i ended up with two sides of walls that were stiff...and two sides of walls that were soft and curled over. thankfully i got in a picture where the damage wasn't too bad.  he loved the cake! =]

may 2009

may 2009

happy birthday to sarang...again. this time with the walls i mixed two different colors of chocolate. i attempted this with my brother's cake...but the mxing was so subtle...this time i went a bit more drastic. it turned out nicely. the walls actually were my favorite part. the timing of the chocolate setting in the fridge was the best i've had yet. the final touch were 3 peach roses in the center...but i didn't get a picture of that.

january 2010

to finish off the "box" set...this next cake wasn't anything fancy or special on my part. it was just a really cool cake mold i found at the time. i guess with the sudden craze for cupcakes...some genius decided to make a giant one!

june 2009

i hope you enjoyed the set. i will update soon with all the cakes i started making from scratch. they aren't all cakes...but i hope you enjoy them anyway! =]