Marshmallows!!

So for mother's day I received two new books for my baking and decorating passion (...or more like obsession ;) !)

The books are Sweet Designs by Amy Atlas and Baby Cakes by Debbie Brown. 

Amy Atlas has a recipe in her book on how to make marshmallows and this has been on my 'to do' list

for a long time. So I decided to make some with the help of my 4.5 yr old son.

It was quite easy but the worst part was the sticky mess at the end! I didn't have my coloring and vanilla

 essence ready and the recipe required you to work real quick as the mixture will set quite quickly.

The recipe worked well and my marshmallows set in 2 hours. It tasted and it wasn't too sweet.

Bear Birthday Cake

Just when I thought I had a week off from cakes, I get a text from my sis-in-law about making a cake for my niece's 1st birthday party this weekend.

As a last minute creation, I decided to make a bear cake using my left over pastel fondant from my recent cakes.

I also used this opportunity to improve my stripe decoration skills and also practice using my pasta roller to roll out the fondant. 

I love the colors and its one of my all time favorite color combinations!

Close-up of purple baby bear.

Close-Up of Mama Bear. 

Close-Up of playful pink baby bear...very cute!

Jewelry and Make-up Box cake

My last cake of the month is for my beautiful niece Alicia who turned 4 over the weekend. Her cake request was a jewelry and make-up cake.  The present box cake was inspired by a 3 tiered cake created by Planet Cake.

Jewelry included edible purple sugar diamonds which I purchased from a cake decorating store.

I also bought Alicia Dora the Explorer concert tickets which I hid under the lid of the cake.

She loved it!

Beehive Birthday Cupcakes

What a fun cupcake! This was for a bee themed 2nd birthday party. The cupcake is chocolate cake with italian meringue frosting which I blow torched to get the beehive effect. 

The bees were hand made from fondant.

The idea was inspired by a blog post on Amy Atlas's creative dessert tables.

Manika Cake... "Mia"

Introducing "Mia", my second cake in the Manika cake series. She was created for my niece's 3rd birthday. Her only request was that she wear a blue dress as blue is her favourite colour. Improvements can be made with the face as I was a little rushed with this project as my little one was ill and was super clingy. So I had very little 'cake' time.

 I love the ribbon detail on the dress. Again demonstrating with my recent obsession with fondant ribbons.

Close-up of ruffle detail on her dress.

Beautiful rose detail. I learnt this mini rose technique from Luigi at Planet Cake. Super easy!

Pink Peony Rose Cakes

May madness for cakes has begun! I have quite a few birthday celebrations in the family this month and of course yours truly will be making special cakes for special people in my life.

To kick things off I have created a hot pink peony rose simple birthday cake for a combined family party for all the May celebrants. I love the simplicity and vibrancy of the peony rose with this cake.

The second cake is for my neice's 18th birthday party. The request was a pink cake and the rest was up to me. The design was inspired by a cake I saw in Christopher Chavez website Cake Occassions. He loves to create patters using cutters and fondant. So effective! So I looked at all the flower cutters I had and chose the cutter with multiple sizes to create the lace-like effect.

Stay tuned as I have 2 more cakes left to do this month...

Lightning McQueen Cake

This creation was for one of my oldest and dearest friends. Her son was turning 3 and she wanted him to have the best birthday cake ever....Lightning McQueen. My first reaction after her reques was "OMG! Are you serious????!!!!" as I have never attempted such a cake and I avoided making it even for my own sons birthday in fear that it will not turn out right.

Anyway, I said I will try my best and this was the result.

The cake was originally an 8" square cake and shaped into a car. I divided the cake into 3 layers and ganached  it to achieve a smooth surface before covering with fondant. 

The details of the car and eyes were hand painted.

I loved this cake and it certainly was a pleasure to make.

Visit my facebook page 'The Little Cupcakery" for more pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Little-Cupcakery/248713085148037