More Butter Pecans...

I got an request for a dozen butter pecan cupcakes today at work from one of the guys that said he ate FIVE when I brought them in for that big meeting. He was a big fan! He said they were the best cupcakes he had ever had. Well, this time I decided to kick it up a notch by putting none other than a PECAN on the top, along with raw sugar. The icing was my all-natural vanilla buttercream.

Here's a close up of the raw sugar on the pecans. I painted them with sugar-water to make the sugar stick. It was a sweet time.

I took a couple extra to our new neighbors and they were so excited! It's easy to please a southern guy with a butter pecan cupcake.

That's all for now!

Little Bows

For these cupcakes, I decided to spread buttercream icing on flat instead of piping it on, and then decorate with a little icing bow. The colors seem a little misrepresented in the photo, but the main icing was mint green, and the bows were a darker teal. I didn't mean to put these cupcakes in such dramatic lighting... but they handle the spotlight well. ;-)

Oh, cupcakes are just so much fun.

Cupcakes for Work

This past week at work, we had a global meeting and a luncheon afterwards that I helped plan. I decided to make cupcakes for the luncheon, and I ended up making 8 dozen! I made three flavors: chocolate, "funfetti", and butter pecan, all topped with my all-natural vanilla buttercream and various toppings. 

I got so many compliments about the cupcakes! It was fun. I just couldn't stand ordering a cake from a grocery store for the event, so I whipped up some cupcakes, and everyone really liked them! I think most people's favorite kind was the butter pecan. I wasn't too sure how well that flavor would go over with a large group, since it's a little more unusual than your standard chocolate cake or yellow cake with sprinkles, but after so many good reactions, I'll have to make that flavor more often.

The Old Well Cake

Okay, so if you don't know, I'm a tar heel. (Go Carolina!) Here's a cake I made for graduation in 2009, with a sketch of the Old Well from UNC's campus.

The cake was a white cake with vanilla buttercream filling, and Carolina blue fondant. I had to put a string of white "pearls" around the bottom of the cake along with a white doily to fit with that Carolina girl charm. Here is another photo from the top:

Rah rah, Caro-lina, lina! :-)

My Style

I guess when it comes to anything, especially an art, everyone has their own style. Most of the time when you order a cake, I think a good decorator will match your style (as long as you specify what you want), but at the same time, everyone who decorates cakes has their own flair and eye for design.

I would describe my style as a mix of modern, elegant, and my own individuality. I like cute, but not cartoonish. I like vintage or romantic touches mixed with modern clean lines. I like interesting color combinations that catch your eye (but don't fight for attention).

And as much as style and design are important, TASTE is equally, if not more important, when it comes to cake-making. Who wants a cake that looks pretty, but then when you serve it to your guests, it's a disappointment? So I strive for moist, delicious cakes, and I have developed a great buttercream recipe using no Crisco--just the real stuff, like the good old days! Mmm, butter. Last I heard, hydrogenated oils weren't so great for you anyway.

Caroline & Michael's Wedding Cake

This cake was made for eating. It was Marie's famous carrot cake (scratch made and delicious!) for which she gave me the recipe, with a delicious homemade cream cheese icing. Cream cheese icing is a little more temperamental than buttercream, because when it gets warm, it begins to melt or get thin very easily. So, you might end up adding a lot more confectioner's sugar than originally called for to keep it the right consistency for decorating. But, boy, is it delicious, especially on a carrot or red velvet cake. 

Caroline wanted white satin wrapped around the cake in sashes to mimic her beautiful dress. The satin was pinned with fresh gardenias on the sides of the cake, and she selected a beautiful pair of white doves to top the cake. 

Something about a cake up on stilts just adds to the excitement. Caroline liked the idea of this small fountain under her cake, with aqua colored glass stones to match her wedding colors. I was guarding the table until the cake cutting so that no young children decided to come running up to it and shake the table! But, everything went smoothly, and everyone got to enjoy a slice of the cake. 

A "Last Day of Class" Cake.

Here's a fun little cake. I made this for a few friends on their last day of class at Carolina--ever! A good occasion to celebrate, I'd say. It was just a simple 2-layer 8" chocolate cake covered in buttercream.

As I once heard someone say, a cake makes a gathering a party.