Elmo Suprise!!

Precious Little Ava with her Birthday Cake!

Every cake made for a child is a special one because of the magic it brings. The way a child's face lights up when they see their cake for the first time is a moment that stays with me forever and makes what I do mean so much. Precious little Ava is turning the BIG 2 and she is in LOVE with Elmo! When dreaming up the perfect cake for sweet Ava, it needed to contain a few things. First, Elmo! (who needed to be the star of the show). Second, it had to be colorful. Third, it needed to be "somewhat" girly for a tiny princess and VERY sweet! And vuala!, you have a combination of Candy Land and Elmo with a sprinkle of princess in the cupcakes!

The main colors I pulled from Elmo himself.....the reds, golds, and orange tones. The lime green, I chose as a nice contrasting color with splashes of pinks, yellows, and electric blue. The cake was an explosion of Sesame street starting with Elmo popping out of the cake and the street sign announcing Ava who is 2. The polka-dots surrounding the cake showcase the educational side of Sesame Street with each large circle containing either the ABC's or the 123's. The final touch to this cake was to add the ribbons, gumballs, small candies, and lollipops.

With the cupcakes, I wanted to continue the polka-dot theme in the coordinating colors, but keep these very girly. I used both lime green and yellow colored swirled frosting, sprinkled with pale yellow pearls, and topped each one with a simple red flower. The final touch was to add the orange and yellow polka-dot bow to each little cake. The end result was beyond my imagination and the reaction from little Ava was priceless! She loved it so much and that made the end of this cake creation worth it's weight in gold!! Have an absolutely wonderful 2nd Birthday sweet little Ava!!

"Little girls are precious gifts,
wrapped in love serene.
Their dresses tied with sashes
and futures tied with dreams."
~ Unknown

Sneak Peek...shhhhhhhhhhhhh

This coming weekend, I have a special little girl's birthday cake to complete.  I just finished the Elmo cake topper that will sit on top of the cake "popping" out of it.  I thought I would share just a little sneak peek of the finished Elmo.  It will truly be the pièce de résistance of this spectacular cake!

A Bridal Shower in Baby Blue and Lavender

I had the honor of creating fifty cupcakes for a bridal shower.  The colors for the wedding, I was told, were baby blue's and lavender's.  The cupcakes needed to incorporate those colors.....but what about the design?  That was left completely up to me!....what I love best!!  The only tidbit of design I was told to include was something that resembled a pinwheel, since that was going to be the central theme for this upcoming wedding.

Okay, I had to design a flower that would resemble, somewhat at least, a pinwheel.  So, I created out of fondant a flower that had slightly overlapping, broad petals that (use your imagination) looks like a pinwheel from your childhood that you could blow into and make spin.  The accent flowers could be anything, so I chose a small delicate flower with a coordinating candy pearl center.

I wanted these cupcakes to be both modern and elegant, and perhaps a little whimsical too.  In order to do this I covered the cupcakes in fondant with swirls and butterflies to give it a clean, modern and whimsical touch.  The fondant flowers and lace paper wrappers gave these cupcakes the elegant feel I was looking for. 

How about the flavors!  The top tier consisted of french vanilla cake, strawberry filling, and cream cheese butter cream frosting.  The bottom tier consisted of black forest cake, cherry filling, and cream cheese butter cream frosting.  Scrumptious!

New Advertisement for Couture Cakes

We are delighted with the beautiful photo advertisement designed especially for Couture Cakes to be displayed during the YMCA charity event this March.  All the flowers in this photo ad are custom, one-of-a-kind fondant flowers hand-crafted by Angela. 

YMCA Charity Event!

Couture Cakes is thrilled to announce that we will once again take part in helping a charity organization raise money for a worthy cause. All proceeds will go to benefit local men, women, and children participate in YMCA activities that they would not otherwise be able to.

Putin' on the Ritz!
(Logo curtesy of the Jefferson City, MO YMCA website)

This March we will be the exclusive baker for the "Putin' on the Ritz" charity event at the YMCA, which just so happens to be hosting a Mardi Gras themed party!  Look for amazing cupcakes and one AWESOME, OVER-THE-TOP cake to be auctioned off during this terrific event!  We are elated and can hardly wait for March to come around!!  Bring on the Purple, Green, and GOLD!

YMCA

There is nothing we love more at Couture Cakes then to help out our local community become a brighter, better place to be!

Vegan Cupcakes "Go Green"!

They are FINALLY here......VEGAN cupcakes!  These delicious cupcake creations are made with fresh limes and unsweetened shaved coconut.  The frosting is a light, whipped vegan lime buttercream.  They are a simply divine, fresh, citrus cupcake that will tantalize your taste buds!  More Vegan cupcake recipes to come!  Visit again soon for more creative confections!!

The ingredients include:

Coconut Oil

Granulated Sugar

Coconut Milk

Soy Milk

Organic Vanilla Extract

Organic Coconut Extract

Lime Zest
Unsweetened Shaved Coconut

Flour

Baking Soda

Baking Powder

Sea Salt

Nonhydrogenated Shortening

Nonhydrogenated Margarine

Vegan Confectioners' Sugar

Lime Juice (from freshly squeezed limes)

A very special thank you to DL for the beautiful cake plate!  I absolutely LOVE it and plan to use it often!!  And who can forget my taste testers....without you where would I be?!  Thank You for your unending willingness to eat my new cake creations and provide your much appreciated feedback!

Wedding Cake of the Year Competition

Well, this post is bitter sweet for me. I designed a cake for the wedding cake competition of the year hosted by Cake Central in Washington. I discovered this morning that the file containing my information and photos did not get sent properly over the internet causing me to miss the deadline. Since I am unable to enter the contest this year (there is always next year!!) I am going to share the cake creation I made with all my viewers...YAY!! I have had to be secretive about this cake and could not post it ANYWHERE (according to contest regulations) which means there are many fans I have that know about what I have been up to but have not been able to see "it" yet.


Background
It all started with a flower.....one of my favorite Spring flowers, the tulip. The color scheme came next, bright Spring greens and tangerines. These colors scream Spring to me when everything in the world is fresh and new. I then sketched out my design on paper so I had a visual to build from.

My Original Sketch

Then I began the process of making, bulding, and decorating this Spring garden inspired wedding cake. Enjoy!!

Just covered the cake in fondant and stacked the pieces together



Working away on the fondant pearls



beginning to add fondant details

and a beautiful bow

nearly done

Close-up of the finished top half

the daisy "crown"....

....and flower garden cameo....

open lace work with pearls and hand made flower accents

hand painted fondant tulips

sitting pretty in the sunlight

The completed wedding cake in all its glory! 

This cake was a labor of love and one that I believe captures my love of fondant cakes and the Spring Season!  I cannot wait for the wedding cake competition next year.  Let the planning begin!!