Bluebird Cupcake

This year while scrolling through Martha Stewart’s website I came across the cutest baby bird cupcakes.  I immediately knew I was going to make this for Easter Sunday.  What better than baby birds in a toasted coconut nest to represent Sping and the Easter holiday. 

I chose a very basic Yellow Cake for the cupcakes and used my favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  Martha’s served only for inspiration, the recipe and technique were all mine. 

I used disposable piping bags for the frosting and just cut the tips off at different points in order to get different thicknesses.  The nest was a simple circle of frosting with and extra layer to give it height. 

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Nurse Cake with Gumpaste Stethoscope

This cake was created for a girl who recently passed her nursing exam. I was concerned this cake wouldn’t come out all that well due to the fact it was last minute.  However, I am coming to realize some of my best work is spur of the moment.

This time around  I decided I would try my hand at decorating with gum paste. The nurses cake is decorated with several “nurse related” items.  The stethoscope, pill capsules and bandages are made out of gum paste.  I baked a very basic 1-2-3-4 cake and filled it with apricot.  The frosting, swiss meringue buttercream, is my all time favorite!  All in all I think the results were good!

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Spongebob Cake

This year for my son Alex’s 7th birthday I decided to take on the task of creating a Spongebob Squarepants cake.To Alex the cake is always a very important part of the Birthday process. Weeks before his actual birthday we scan websites on the Internet for different cake ideas. I was truly amazed at the work people were doing from their own home…Bravo! 

After lots of looking, we decided that Spongebob was what we would go with. Who doesn’t love Spongebob?  He’s kind, colorful, and just plain funny. Spongebob started as a 9×13 basic yellow cake in which I shaped in order to give him that special spongy shape.  I chose to fill and cover Spongebob with a simple pineapple cream cheese buttercream due to the fact he lives in a pineapple under the sea.

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Amy's Baby Shower Cake

Early I signed on to handle all things cake related for my friend Amy’s baby shower. I should add I’ve been tooting my own horn amongst my non-baking friends about how good I have become at this whole cake thing. Let’s just say the expectations were a bit high and I have lost a tad bit of sleep over the whole baby shower cake. Prior to this cake, all cakes I have ever baked have been for my immediate family or a single close friend.

This cake was different. Not only did it have to be 2 tiers it also was to be displayed in front of a gathering of women. Oh, and I forgot to mention the cake had to be chocolate…my sworn enemy.

Chocolate cake and I have had a long history of not getting along. I would say a good 80% of the recipes used have come out DRY!  The kind of cake that looks and smells great while baking, but when it comes to eating it is more of a disappointment.

I spent the weeks before the cake scouring the Internet for just the right recipe. There are thousands of recipes to look through so which one would I choose? I look for a couple things: Who’s recipe is it?…Is the recipe overly complicated?…What kind of feedback has the recipe gotten? These three steps generally make my selection process a whole lot easier. Ina Garten otherwise known as “The Barefoot Contessa” is who I borrowed this chocolate cake recipe from….I’m not sure I’ll be giving it back!

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