Cody's First Birthday Cake

Today is our friend Cody's very first birthday party. He turned one yesterday and his sweet mommy asked me to make his cake!

She gave me free reign for design but mentioned that Cody reminds her of a little koala.

And she wanted one cake to cut...

9" vanilla cake with vanilla frosting
The colors in the picture below are the most true to life.

some cupcakes for the kiddos

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting.
The ears are pink candy melts, the eyes are brown m&m's
and the noses are milk duds.

and a smash cake for Cody.

6" round vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.
The ears and nose are shaped cupcakes
and the eyes are junior mints.

Kayleen's Wedding Cake

A dear friend of my sister-in-law's got married yesterday and I was fortune enough to be asked to do her wedding cake!!

The bride added her own cake topper, which she described to me as a gold wire tree with fall colored crystals for leaves. That sounds really pretty and very unique!

There were a couple of firsts for me in this cake, but I think they turned out well and i was pleased with the end result.

This was my first three tiered cake and my first attempt at using fondant.

I brushed the fondant with copper edible glitter to dress it up a little more for a special fall wedding. I also thought the shimmer might go along with the cake topper.

And I added 24 cupcakes to go with it. She picked the most delicious flavors.

Decadent chocolate with peanut butter cups baked in and peanut butter whipped butter cream in between the layers of cake AND lemon cake with raspberry filling. And then the whole thing covered in vanilla butter cream. Delicious!

Noah's First Birthday Cake

Noah's first birthday party had a jungle safari theme. It took me a while to decide how I might turn this idea into a fun cake for a little boy. The invitation was a great inspiration, so I started with a purple zebra on a round sugar cookie...

...and then added an elephant....

...and a lion...

...and a goofy giraffe!

I placed them all on cupcakes for the little ones to enjoy.

Then I made some other shaped cookies and placed them in the cake jungle.

This zebra was not as cute,

... but I do like how the lions came out!

And of course I made a smash cake for the birthday boy!

Stephie B's Wedding Cupcakes

My sister-in-law recommended me to her friend to do her wedding cupcakes.

She had the most fun and vibrant colors.

She asked for 150 vanilla cupcakes

with fun designs on them

and some with their monogram.

I had a lot of fun playing with different fonts for their last initial.

I used candy melts

in a piping bag

and played with different sanding sugars

and nonpareils.

And made sure she got some extras

to freeze for her first anniversary

or taste test before the big party!

Mom's Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

My mother loves pansies.

Loves them.

So they were the obvious flower of choice for her birthday cake.

I started by making royal icing pansies.

And then basted her cake with butter cream and added a basket weave to the sides.

And added some of the pansies.

I added some cupcakes

to compliment the display

and finished decorating the top of the cake.

Happy Birthday Mom, I hope you enjoyed your special day, your party and your cake!

Easter Bunny Cake

I found inspiration here again for Easter!

Specifically on this page....how could I resist?

But instead of cupcakes, I tweaked it a little and made a cake!

And I couldn't find circus peanuts for the bunny's feet, so I used tootsie rolls.

Sarah's Sunflower Birthday Cupcakes

For Sarah's birthday I drew inspiration from one of my favorite Christmas presents:

There is nothing like a good suggestion to get your creative juices flowing!

Sarah loves Sunflower, so this was an obvious choice.

I'm not 100% sure how she feels about ladybugs, but they were too cute to leave out!

I made some of the cupcakes miniature and covered them with "grass" to add some dimension and interest.

And I added just a touch of brown icing in with the yellow to make the petals more realistic.

How to Make a Filled Cupcake

So you've filled your pans, baked the cupcakes, let them cool and your house smells like heaven. Have you decided how you want to decorate your cupcakes yet?

May I suggest an easy variation on the theme? One that provides a little surprise for the lucky recipient? Fill them with frosting!

You'll need a piping bag and a decorative tip. You don't need a decorative tip for the filling in the cupcakes, but since I am filling the cupcakes with the same frosting I am decorating them with, I used the same bag & tip for the whole thing.

The tip I used is over-sized. It is a Wilton 2D.

Take a small sharp paring knife and cut a cone shape from the top of your cupcake. It should be fairly deep (half the depth of your cupcake). Make sure your cupcake is completely cooled before you do this or you will create for yourself a mess of crumbs.

Turn the cone on its top and slice the tip off so it has a nice flat bottom. Go ahead and eat what you just cut off. You won't need it later and you deserve a taste.

Now put your piping tip into the hole you created and fill that cupcake up!

Then put your cap back on.

Add your frosting to the top. Using the piping bag to frost a filled cupcake is the best way to go because it will not pull and tug at the loose cupcake cap the same way a spatula might if you were to baste the cupcake.

Add some decorations of your choice.

Or a lot of them, if you want to.

No one will know there is a delicious surprise inside unless you draw inspiration from a famous filled cupcake. That might give them a little hint.

Now make sure you practice your most humble "thank you".

You put in a little bit of work for a big impact and your cupcakes are going to be a hit!