Southwestern Themed Cupcakes

Well, these will be the last cupcake order I will be completing before I head on out to Chicago for Pastry School.  My friend was having a southwestern themed party for a friend who is moving to New Mexico.  The invitations had avocados and green chili peppers on them, so she wanted to incorporate that into the cupcake decorations.  In the end, I took the liberty of adding the small red flower... I just thought it needed a pop of another color, other than green.  These were a lot of fun to make!  That's one reason that I love this profession so much- every order is unique and a challenge and it never gets boring :)

OC Cupcake Camp

I will be participating in the OC Cupcake Camp today.  It's a great organization- they are non-profit and all proceeds from the event are going El Pozo, an organization that works towards ending Human Trafficking in Mexico.  Many bakers, both professional and amateur, will be donating hundreds upon hundreds of cupcakes.  Praying that it will be a successful event and that numerous people will show up to donate to this great cause.

Here are a couple pictures of the cupcakes that I will be bringing.

The Sandlot Cupcake (aka S'Mores cupcake)

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

Cookies 'n Cream Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

ASPCA

As previously mentioned, I'm out of sorts a bit lately with planning a move to Chicago and just realized that I had never posted the non-profit who would be receiving 10% of our profits for the month of July. (I didn't choose one for June as I was in the process of moving from TN to CA and did not take on any jobs). For the month of July, Maggie May's has chosen the ASPCA as our non-profit of the month.

The ASPCA was the first humane organization in the Western Hemisphere.  Their mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States."  The ASPCA works to rescue animals from abuse, pass humane laws and share resources with shelters nationwide.  To find out more about this organization, please click on the following link:   http://www.aspca.org/

Here is also a YouTube video about the organization:

Pastry School

Wow... in less than a month I'll be off to Chicago to participate in their L'Art du Gateau program at the Chicago French Pastry School and I'm freaking out a teeny tiny bit (please read that I'm being sarcastic as I'm very much freaking out) as I still don't have housing.  I'm trusting that, as in any situation, God will come through and provide me with a place to stay.  Anywhoo... here's a quick update on some of the projects I worked on the past couple of months...

This is a 'Clubhouse Mickey' themed birthday cake for a 5 year old little boy.
The only requirements for this cake were that it be chocolate and surf/beach themed.

Gumball themed cupcakes!

Cupcake Apples

Cookie Monster!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Monkey-themed Onesie Baby Shower Cake

Baby Shower Cookie Favors

I'm a bit behind on posts. I'm not really sure where the days go anymore...sometimes I wish that I could just slow down the clock on my life!  I did receive one very exciting piece of news last week- I was accepted into Pastry School for next semester!  I'll talk more on this later, but needless to say, I'm both excited and terrified at the same time!

Enough about that for now... here are a few cakes/cupcakes I recently completed.  First is a ballerina cake I worked on for a little girl who was having a dance recital and her mom wanted to celebrate with a cake because, apparently given the choice, the little girl would choose cake over any other gift- sounds like my kind of girl!  :)

I also worked on a very simple Orange Creamsicle Cake- nothing fancy at all, but I have to say that it was so yummy!  I never thought that I would like an orange-flavored cake, but this recipes has definitely changed my mind!

Lastly, I made 5 dozen vanilla and chocolate cupcakes in celebration of a 40th Birthday. 
We went with a very simple design.  Vanilla and chocolate buttercream topped cupcakes with fondant decorations on top.

Thanks to all who requested cakes/cupcakes this past month!

Month of May

Hello,

For the month of May, 10% of the profits will be going to the Nashville flood relief efforts of Graceworks Ministries, Inc.

In response to the recent catastrophic floods in Nashville and the surrounding areas, Graceworks is collecting financial donations/gift cards, cleaning supplies and other household items.  Graceworks is providing much needed cleaning supplies, gloves, face masks, etc. to those who are helping clean out the homes damaged by the floods.  In addition, they are collecting money and gift cards to give to the families directly impacted by the floods.  Lastly, they are organizing relief efforts- sending teams out to affected areas to help residents with clean-up and restoration.

If you'd like to learn more about this organization, please click on the following link.  http://www.graceworksministries.net/

Thank you!

Cakes, cakes and more cakes...

This past weekend I had three cake decorating assignments. The first is a Birthday cake for a little girl. Her birthday party was a Purplicious theme, based on the Purplicious book. My customer sent me a picture of how she wanted the cake to look- the picture was taken from 'The Icing on the Cake' blog by Marj Jenkins. (I would really encourage you to check out her blog... she makes fabulous cakes!) The cake is covered in purple fondant and has fondant and gumpaste decorations. It was so much fun to do!

The second cake I made was for a little boy's 7th Birthday.  He had an Indiana Jones' themed party and they wanted a tiered cake with a waterfall.  They also had several Indiana Jones Lego figurines to incorporate into the cake design.  Again, another fun cake to make :)

Lastly, I made a graduation cake with a Louisiana/Saints theme to it.  It's done in Louisiana/Saints colors- purple, gold and black, and has a cute out of the state of LA on top.