Cora's 1st Birthday

I recently had the opportunity to help with the sweets for my friend Jennifer's little girls' 1st birthday party! Miss Cora sure is one special little girl, and also Sam's girlfriend so I wanted to go all out for her party!  Jennifer had the vision to decorate with shades of light and dark pink and lime green with both polka dot and stripe patterns. She coordinated all the party decorations and together we brainstormed on the sweets for the dessert table. We decided on cake balls, cookies and cupcakes, and of course a smash cake for Cora. I tried to carry the polka dot theme through the sweets as much as possible using pink and white polka dot cupcake wrappers, white cake balls with pink sprinkles, and #1 cookies with pale pink polka dots. We used some lime green polka dot wrapping paper as the table runner to balance out all the pink and add an extra pop of color to the table. Jennifer came up with the theme "year of firsts" from the invitation she chose so I used this idea to create a few special cupcakes with toppers displaying some of Cora's memorable "firsts". Jennifer really did an amazing job with all the party details and I was so honored to be able to help in the sweets department! Hope you enjoy the pictures from this sweet pink 1st birthday party! 

Just wait until you see Cora and her smash cake...not so sure she is a huge fan of icing just yet!

Waddle it Be? - Gender Reveal Party

This weekend I finally got to reveal a secret I had the privilege of keeping for two weeks now! Another one of my friends is pregnant and asked me to do the honor of making the special cake that would reveal if she was having a boy or girl! Gender reveal parties are definitely a new trend I have seen over the last year as a fun way to get friends and family together and share in the excitement of a baby that is on the way! You may remember last year I got to bake two cakes for a twins gender reveal party!

Jennifer texted me at 15 weeks pregnant saying "I have an envelope in my purse for you that contains the gender of our baby". The next day I drove over to her house, received the secret envelope with the ultrasound and we started planning her gender reveal party! She had come across the theme "Waddle it Be?" from a blog and we both thought that idea was super cute and one that was very unique!

Jennifer's vision for the party was to keep things very neutral in color with yellow and white being the primary focus and adding pops of green! Of course there had to be a dessert table!

I absolutely love what she came up with for the polka dot baby garland backdrop and the dessert table.

She made all of the gorgeous flower arrangements and even hand cut the felt flower embellishments on the vases and wrapped them in twine.

Before it was time to cut the cake and reveal the gender of the baby, guests could munch on lemon squares...

bags of popcorn...

and cake balls that had been tinted both blue and pink inside to keep everyone in suspense.

The secret cake...will it be blue or will it be pink inside?

I have seen so many cute cakes lately with "cake bunting" on top and thought that would be a super cute and simple way to decorate the cake for the big reveal.

Guests were also invited to place their best guess and best wishes in a jar before the big reveal!

Here's the glowing mama to be Jennifer with our friend Andrea, who also helped with a lot of the party decorations and food.

Here's Jennifer and me just before it was time to cut the cake.

The proud parents...Brian and Jennifer! Oh and by the way Brian already knows the gender...apparently he peaked at the ultrasound!

Time to cut the cake....Jennifer was convinced it was a boy!

Love that look of excitement on her face...

Such a happy and SHOCKED mama! It's a GIRL!

There was so much excitement and screaming when the piece of cake was revealed! There are currently 9 boys and only 1 girl grandchild on Jennifer's side of the family so everyone was so excited to know another little girl was on the way!

Jennifer sharing a hug with her mom!

The happy parents!

The ultrasound is finally revealed to Jennifer!

All the guests at the party were encouraged to dress in their best guess...blue or pink. Blue was definitely the majority vote...but they were so very wrong!

Here's the pink group....smaller but smarter!

Congratulations Brian & Jennifer I am so happy for you both and so honored that you allowed me to know the sex of your baby before you! You are going to be amazing parents!

Owl Cake Pops

Today I'm excited to share with you my latest adventures in cake pops! How cute are these little Owls? Ever since I ordered my copy of Bakerella's Cake Pops book when it first came out I have been dying for an excuse to make these adorable little creatures! Well lucky for me I finally got the chance this past weekend.

My college roommate, Laurie gave birth to a sweet baby boy Max two weeks ago and I sent her these along with some cute little baby outfits! She had shown me some owl fabric they picked out for Max's bedding and immediately I knew these owl pops would be the perfect treat once he was born!

I couldn't help myself and made some blue and brown cake balls to send too!

After wrapping them in about 10 pounds of bubble wrap I shipped them off and hopped for the best! I heard from Laurie today and she received the owls and they were still recognizable...thank you Mr./Mrs. Postman for the safe delivery!

Congratulations Laurie on your new little bundle of joy! Can't wait to meet him soon!

Chocolate & Peppermint Candy Cane Cake Balls

I still can't get enough of chocolate and peppermint this year! You may remember my Chocolate & Peppermint Whoopie Pies. I thought those were melt in your mouth delicious, but I think these Chocolate & Peppermint Candy Cane Cake Balls just one-upped them. I have been popping these into my mouth one after another, I'm addicted.

If you are looking for the perfect dessert for your Christmas party, this is absolutely the one you must make! I have taken these to two parties this past week and this is the one dessert that gets completely devoured in no time!

So here's what you need:

1. Chocolate Cake Recipe: I used Maratha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate, a box mix would work just as well

2.Peppermint Buttercream: recipe from my Chocolate & Peppermint Whoopie Pies

3.White Chocolate Candy Melts: 2 bags, you can buy them at your local craft store

4.Candy Canes: 6-8 crushed for garnish

• Bake cake per desired recipe in a 9x13 pan. Once cake cools cut into large chunks and grind up in food processor to fine crumbs. Pour cake crumbs into large bowl.
• Add about 1 - 1 1/2 cups peppermint buttercream to cake crumbs and mix with spatula until cake will form into a ball. Roll cake balls and place onto wax paper lined cookie sheet.
• Melt 2 bags of candy melts in microwave per package directions.
• Using a spoon gently place cake ball into melted chocolate and roll around to cover completely. Remove cake ball with spoon, lightly tapping off excess chocolate back into the bowl and placing ball on cookie sheet. Garnish with crushed candy cane.
  
• This will make about 50 cake balls.

These are so good and I want to share them with my family, but since I promised my husband I wouldn't do any baking while we are in KY I might have to convince my sister to make these for me. Emily if you are reading this, will you please please please make these cake balls for Christmas Eve! Pretty please with Candy Canes on top?