Girl Cakes Never Posted Before

I am no longer taking cake orders, concentrating instead on decorated sugar cookies.  These cakes come from the archives and were never published before.

Ballet cake for Mady.

Tenth birthday for Gabby.

Shabby Chic Cake

Please note - I no longer accept cake orders, focusing instead on custom decorated sugar cookies.

Ali is a giver.  I sensed that the minute I met her last year at our planning meeting for her mother's 50th birthday/Mickey Mouse themed party last year.  A detail-oriented organizer, she threw her mother a terrific party, complete with a pretty nice Mickey cake.  (http://www.sweethandmade.blogspot.ca/2011/05/mickey-mouse-cake.html)  She is also a new aunt to twins and is very involved in their lives, despite the fact that these little boys live hours away.  She tends to do for everyone before she does something for herself, but hopefully she knows how important she is to her family and how much they all love her!  Her mom wanted a special cake for her birthday this year, in their favourite flavours - brown sugar marble for the cake and red velvet for the cupcakes.  She loves shabby chic style, so I used that as design style.  Happy birthday Ali!

I love the look of these large flowers and the pearl accents.

Gum Paste Flower Cake and Cupcakes

This beautiful cake and cupcake tower was created for a retirement gathering.  The cake was taken home by Joyce, the lucky retiree, while the 90 cupcakes were quickly devoured by her colleagues remaining on the job! 

The tower consisted of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, lemon poppy seed cupcakes with lemon curd and Swiss meringue buttercream as well as chocolate cupcakes with chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream.  Every cupcake had a handmade gum paste leaf and flower.  The cake was a chocolate cake with a filling of bittersweet ganache and chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  It was covered in handmade fondant and more than 50 gum paste buds and blossoms.  I love how the cake resembled a spring hat.  I loved the way it all came together and I wish Joyce many years of happiness and good health!

Bridal Shower Cake and Cupcakes

Jan was put in charge of her niece's bridal shower cake.  She knew she wanted something feminine, with a purple colour palate and something that would be easy for the guests to enjoy in the casual atmosphere of the bridal shower.  I suggested that a cutting cake might add a nice touch, so, we settled on a small cake and cupcakes, with a custom stand to match.  The flavours are chocolate butter cake and white butter cake (alternating layers in the cake) with Swiss meringue buttercream and various shades and sizes of purple gum paste flowers and leaves.

Wishing Jan's niece and her husband-to-be wonderful life filled with happiness.

Fantasy Flower 65th Birthday Cake

Designing and creating a cake for a special occasion; a milestone birthday, a child's birthday, an anniversary or a wedding always fills me with such a feeling of joy.  As I work on the cake I feel my craft will help make the occasion even more special and I always feel honoured for the request and the ability to add something really special to the day.  When the delivery takes place, I leave before the guests arrive and rarely witness the guest reaction to the cake and its taste. 

Last weekend my wonderful mother-in-law turned 65 and my father-in-law planned a surprise party for her.  He hesitated asking me for the cake because the party was two hours away on a hot July day.  I really wanted to do this cake and I went to work creating an elegant design that I felt would suit her beautiful, kind and loving nature.  It is not often I get to design a cake from scratch and this one was an extra special project.

I started by creating these fantasy flowers that shimmered with lustre dust and reminded me of sea shells, perfect for my m-i-l who loves to travel.  Then I baked up layers of chocolate butter cake and white butter cake and alternated them with my delicious Swiss meringue buttercream tinted the softest shade of coral.  I fashioned an elegant 65 out of gum paste and placed it on top of this beauty.

After a harrowing 2 hour drive in 32 degree celcius heat, the cake arrived at its destination intact.  It was a different experience to be there as the cake was cut and served.  I suspect that like every cake delivery I make, the cake became a focal point that people could talk about, study and eventually taste.  The incredibly positive feedback added a happy element to the party for me and I was so happy that my mother-in-law loved it as well.  I wish you many more happy and healthy years, Jackie!

Tinkerbell Cake

Beautiful Bella wanted a Tinkerbell cake.  The challenge was how to present Tinkerbell in a fun way without overstepping the strict Disney licensing guidelines and not resorting to a plastic figurine.  Bella's mother and I decided "Tinkerbella" was the way to go.  The colours, the telltale bun and the wings make this figure super-cute!  We placed her on a large purple flower, brushed with luster dust and surrounded her with vines and more flowers.  The cake was my super-delicious red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and it was a hit!  Happy birthday Bella!

Photo Frame Birthday Cake

To celebrate my mother's 80th birthday, I wanted to make an extra special cake. What could I create to commemorate 80 years of a wonderful life? I decided to frame photographs in handmade sugar frames, flowers and other little touches to honour her.  This is the design:
 

I started with green fondant (her favourite colour) covering the 4 tiers. I spent many, many hours crafting picture frames out of gum paste and royal icing, which I then tinted silver with edible lustre dust.

I made roses out of gum paste, which I coloured in varying shades of orange.  Orange is the colour (and last name) of the Dutch royal family.  It is the colour all Dutch people consider their very own - have you ever seen the Dutch fans at a sporting event?  Since we are Dutch, it was the colour of choice!

Then I added the street signs of her most significant addresses, including the Valentijnkade in Amsterdam where she was born on Valentine's day! In Holland the street signs, in blue, are attached to the corner house of the street. For this reason I attached the Dutch street signs directly onto the cake. Her most significant address in Canada is in green on a post, as is typical of that street.

My mom has always loved crocheting, knitting, embroidering and made a living with sewing for many years. I honoured that with yarn, embroidery floss and thread made out of fondant and a crochet hook, needle and thimble out of gum paste. On the embroidery thread and the crochet hook I made a few small references to the number 80, that being her number of years!

Lastly are the flags of Holland and Canada, to signify the exciting move my family made in the 1970's.

This was an incredible project that was extremely special for me to undertake and I hope you like it!  Happy birthday Moeder Miep - wishing you many happy and healthy years!

80th Birthday Cake with Gum Paste Flowers

When Patricia contacted me to make her mother's 80th birthday cake, I was thrilled for the honour.  It wasn't a large gathering, so a simple one tiered cake was requested, cream coloured with coral flowers.  It was a joy to design and create these flowers, leaves and berries; all crafted from gum paste and brushed with petal dusts.  I placed them atop the smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream cake and was thrilled with the final outcome.

Happy Birthday Sophie - and may you have many more happy and healthy years!

Circles and Flowers Cake

Here is a delicate design using both fondant circles and gum paste flowers. A pretty design so nice for a mom or sister!

Whimsical Flower Cake

I made this cake with some leftover batter and frosting.  It was such a cute design, one I had been hoping to try out.  I used fondant and gum paste to make these whimsical and colourful flowers and then placed them on the top of this cake frosted in Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I dropped it off to a dear friend's house, where the kids playing outside followed the cake to the front door like a parade! The cake was sliced up and eaten quickly!

Gum Paste Roses Cake

A friend came to me with a special request. She wanted a beautiful cake for a birthday celebration and one last delicious indulgence before starting a diet. Inspired by my cupcakes with the gum paste flowers, she gave me some freedom to create something beautiful. I, in turn, was inspired by a beautiful small cake I had once seen in a wedding book - cakes that did double duty as both cakes and centerpieces. 

I crafted beautiful pink roses, smaller light green and white roses, as well as buds and leaves and sweet little bell flowers out of gum paste.  Almost forgotten are the flavours of this cake - which were delicious Chocolate Butter Cake, Chocolate Ganache Filling and Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I think the tiny vanilla bean seeds add real character to this cake.

Bell Flower Cupcakes

Pretty vanilla cupcakes, iced with pink vanilla bean buttercream and each topped with a handmade gum paste flower. Made for a loving husband to give to his beautiful wife. Also perfect for mothers and brides and pretty little girls.