Gerbera Daisy Cupcakes

I know it's still February,... but these cupcakes have me dreaming of Spring! If I haven't mentioned before, I LOVE Gerber Daisies (technically Gerber"a"), and was eager to try my hand at creating some out of fondant. With lots of trial and error, here's what ended up working. To add realism, I used a skewer to thin each petal, brushed on petal dust to make them shimmer, pressed fondant against a sieve to make the indentions on the center, and used little sissors to cut tiny petals for the middle. I then made forms out of foil to hold their shape while they dried. I think they turned out simply perfect. A Jumbo cupcake for the birthday girl, was decorated with two sculpted daisies. Half of these bites of utter goodness were adorned with flowers, while the other half were sprinkled with sweet candy pearls. Perfect for a surprise birthday evening with the ladies. Happy Birthday Tracey!

Happy Valentine's Day!..... Cupcake Bouquet

Stop and smell the roses,.... I mean chocolate! These adorable bouquets are made up of 7 Triple Chocolate cupcakes and buttercream icing, decorated to look like beautiful pink roses. I took the time to make different shades of pink, so they look more realistic, and added a little sparkle for "dew". They sit inside a black pot, tied up with a festive red ribbon bow. The floral card holder is the perfect finishing touch.
Hope your Valentine's Day is a "sweet" one.

Eagle Scout and Flag

What's more patriotic for a young man, than receiving his Eagle Scout award. So, in this design I included both the Eagle Scout medal and American flag. The cake design is all icing with four white, fondant stars. If you've seen the posting of my previous scout cake, you'll notice the same medal. It's all hand sculpted out of fondant. I used a toothpick to make the indentions on the ribbon, and to get the fine detailing on the eagle. The words on the "metal" pieces are done in royal icing, and then it's all painted with edible silver dust to give it a realistic appearance. I made the "metal" loops, chains, and knot out of fondant rolled out like a snake.

I was told that the anticipation of this cake was a big motivating factor to finish the Eagle requirements. That just made my day! The only request was to include the fondant Eagle Scout metal. I'm just thrilled with this design, and honored to be part of their recognition day. Congratulations Reagan and Ammon!

Superhero Cupcakes

Here's some "Super" cupcakes decorated to look like favorite "heros". For Superman, I cut out a fondant yellow piece and used royal icing to pipe on the "S". It sits atop a white icing cloud with a blue cupcake liner. Spiderman is all icing except for the fondant eyes, that I outlined with black food coloring. I love the way the webs turned out! Lastly, I used a little knife to cut a Batman shape out of fondant. These look perfect on top of a bright yellow icing swirl! Of course the birthday boy got a JUMBO cupcake with both his favorite heros depicted. I used a technique with 2 different icing colors, so I'd end up with one side red and the other yellow. To make his extra special, I sculpted a black fondant spider for Spiderman. Happy Birthday!

"Four" Ring Circus

Welcome to the Big Top! This special creation wasn't made for just one birthday child,... but four! That's right,... this fun cake was to celebrate quadruplets turning 2. I was so thrilled to be asked to make it, and even more excited with how it turned out. I included lots of pictures so you can see all the details.

On the very top is my favorite part of the cake, the clown. Having never sculpted a fondant clown, I was so happy when the Mother trusted me to just go with it. He alone took me 7.5 hours to create. It was challenging to get the proportions just right, and create all the details I had in my head, right down to the stitching on the shoes. Although it might look simple, the face was the most difficult. I rolled tiny littls strips of black fondant for the mouth and eyebrows, and to wrap around the white of the mouth and eyes. It all took several attempts,... but it turned out perfect in the end. I also made a fondant seat so he could easily be taken off the cake and saved as a keepsake. He made me smile everytime I looked at him. Turned out to be a cute little fella. : )

Next was the fondant elephant. His sweet expression and the little tuft of hair on his head really gave him personality. On the right side of the cake is a fondant number 2 and fondant admittance ticket,.... of course for "4". The "Four Ring Circus" sign is adorned with shiny gold dragees, to catch your attention. The fondant stars are painted with edible gold dust, and float around the cake on wires. For the final finishing touch, the cake board is covered and decorated with fondant to compliment the cake, with a red ribbon around the side.

LOVE, LOVE, L-O-V-E this cake,.... and hope the birthday kiddos did too. Happy Birthday!