Hilary Duff Inspired Wedding Cake

Remember back in October when I posted about being asked to make this wedding cake? Well yesterday was the big day, and I am pleased to say that I successfully made, delivered and assembled the bride's wish for a Hilary Duff inspired wedding cake.

So what do you think of this side by side comparison? Did I pull it off?

Structurally the cakes were both constructed of 3 tiers each being 3-layers with only icing in between each layer. Hilary's cake was a yellow cake while this bride's cake was a carrot cake, which is why the cake appears slightly darker.

The mother of the bride ordered 125 ivory roses and arranged all the flowers in between the tiers as I assembled the cake. I love how she added some green moss to give the cake a more rustic look.

While assembling the cake, Kelly the bride stopped by and I got to snap a quick picture of her with the cake. Isn't she gorgeous! I absolutely LOVE her ivory sweetheart wedding dress with layer after layer of sheer fabric. Simply stunning!

The cake was constructed of a 14" bottom tier, 10" middle tier and 6" top tier.

I must admit I really like the look of this cake with minimal frosting. The simple and natural look really fit perfectly with the entire rustic theme of the wedding.

In addition to the cake, I made some red velvet cupcakes by special request from Kelly as a surprise for her groom Kyle.

Half the cupcakes were made into a giant pull-apart cake shaped like the UNC Tarheel as Kyle is a recent grad.

The remaining cupcakes were placed on wood stumps to fit in with the decor of the day.

As a fun treat on the cupcake table, the mother of the bride found a lawyer's scale at an antique shop and had me make a cupcake representing both the bride and groom's college. The only request was that Kelly's "Georgia" cupcake weigh just a little bit more than Kyle's cupcake, so I added an extra dollop of icing to tip the scale in her favor!

Here's a peak behind the scenes of me piping some extra icing around the perimeter of the cake as it's being assembled.

This cake would not exist without this amazing cake stand. This is a one of a kind, custom made wood stand designed specifically for this cake! As I was doing a trial run with the carrot cake I realized that this was a dense cake and very heavy. I knew the commonly used plastic separator plates and pillars were not going to be enough to support the weight of this cake. Luckily one of my friend's dad does wood working and created this structure for me. Each tier is removable by spinning the wood plate that fits securely into the center pole. I will definitely be using this stand for future cakes and even cupcakes. Thank you Mr. Abreo you are so talented!

Here are a few pictures I took of the wedding and reception location, the Malbis Center in Daphne, AL while onsite assembling the cake. The mother of the bride and bride are two very artistic ladies and they did all of the decorations. I was so impressed with how gorgeous everything turned out.

They happy couple!

Congratulations Kelly & Kyle! I wish you all of the best in your new life together!

Also, special thanks to my amazing friends Katie and Jennifer who drove the "Cake Car" for this HUGE delivery and helped me get things set up! You all are the greatest!

In the works...

Here's a sneak peak at what's going on behind the scenes in my kitchen this week. Rainbow colored Candy Melts...can someone say Cake Pops!

Silver dragees and black fondant flowers to create a beautiful cupcake design for a wedding this weekend!

Let's just say there is lots of red velvet cake baking in the very near future to accompany all of these fun decorations!

Check back soon for pictures of the final sweets!

Cupcakes + Cookies = Flower Pots

Although Spring does not officially start until this Sunday, here in Mobile we are already enjoying sunny days, temps in the 70s and flowers in bloom all over town! So to welcome this amazing Spring weather, how about some flower pot cupcakes and cookies!

I will be the first to admit that I don't quite have a green thumb when it comes to keeping a beautiful garden full of vibrant flowers ever year. I am the person that goes and spends a ton of money on flowers, plant them in my flower box, and then forget to water them and they shrivel and die. No water + extreme heat of Mobile = Sad Flowers! So this year, I thought I would take a different approach with flowers, you know the kind that are edible and don't requiring watering. The kind of flower that sprouts out of a chocolate cookie crumbled cupcake!

These flower pot cupcakes just scream spring! They make the perfect addition to any dessert table, would be an adorable party favor at a baby or wedding shower, are the perfect gift for a teacher, or would be the perfect project to assemble with your kids on a sunny day.

Flower Pot Essentials:
Clay Pots + Chocolate Cupcakes + Chocolate Ganache + Oreo cookie crumbs

You can pick up the flower pots at your local craft store. I got these at Michaels for 69 cents each!

Dip the top of the cupcake in the chocolate ganache.

Then dip the chocolate glazed cake into the Oreo crumbs.

Your cupcake now looks like potting soil! Place the cupcake in the flower pot.

Cookie Essentials:
Flower Sugar Cookies + Royal Icing & Sprinkles + Cookie Sticks

Now I bet you are wondering how the flowers are going to sprout out of the cupcakes. This is where the cookie stick comes into play. The same cookie stick that I forgot to place behind all of my cookies prior to baking...ooops! I was a little too excited to see how this idea would come together, that I completely overlooked probably the most important detail on how the cupcake and cookie would interact with each other. So please please please when you make these, be sure to add the cookie stick to the cookie prior to baking. You can find the sticks at your local craft store.

As you can see from the picture I did manage a sneaky trick to get these cookies to attach to the sticks! You can use some royal icing left over from cookie decorating to secure the stick in place. Just allow the icing to dry overnight before you try and place the cookie upright in the pot, or else it will fall right off. But my best advice is to just bake the stick in the cookie to start with, you will save yourself lots of trouble and added stress!

Don't these little flower pots just bring a smile to your face? They have brightened up my dining room this week and I love having them as a centerpiece on my table. They are also an amazing mid afternoon snack!

For these cookies I modified my current sugar cookie recipe and added a little more sugar and used vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla & almond extracts. Oh my goodness, I absolutely love the results those changes made to the recipe! The little flecks of black vanilla beans in the cookies just make them appear special and more elegant. The texture of these cookies was slightly softer and the sweeter taste just made the cookies melt in your mouth. Randolph highly approved of this recipe too, having already devoured 3 cookies at lunch!

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies (makes about 3 dozen)

Ingredients:
-3 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla bean paste

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in bowl and set aside.
• In the bowl of a mixer cream the sugar and butter well.
• Add the egg and vanilla bean paste to the butter mixture and mix well.
• Gradually add the flour mixture, scraping down the bowl as necessary as mixing.
• Grab a ball of dough and knead it together.
• Roll dough out onto floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
• Place cookies on prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. This will prevent the cookies from spreading when baking.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes.
• Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes on cookie sheets then transfer to wire racks to completely cool.

Decorate with Royal Icing.

Here are the other recipes I used for the cupcakes.
Chocolate Cupcakes (cake recipe from I am Baker, one of the most talented cake decorators who always sneaks a little surprise into the middle of her cakes)
Chocolate Ganache Glaze (recipe from Martha Stewart)
15 crushed Oreos for garnish

Hope your Spring is full of lots of beautiful flowers, edible ones of course!

Hibiscus Flowers

Hope everyone is having a great labor day! I know I've been enjoying lounging around and working on few house projects! I'm also super excited to share with you a tutorial on how to make a hibiscus flower that was the focal point of my latest cake.

This was a birthday cake I made for my friend's mom. It was this Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake recipe with the addition of purple hibiscus.

These flowers were super easy to make and only require a few cake decorating tools.

So let's get started on the step-by-step instructions. All the tools used below are Wilton brand that can be found at your local cake decorating store.

1.Tint some rolled fondant to your desired color and roll out about 1/8" thick. Use a 5 petal flower cuter to make the outer shape of the hibiscus.

2.Place the fondant flower onto a piece of square foam and roll around the edges with a large ball tool to thin out the edges of the flower.

3.This is what the flower will look like after you have rolled around the edges.

4.Use a shell tool and go around the flower petals and gently press down to create a lined imprint.

5.Here's a look at what the shell tool looks like.

6.This is what the flower will look like after you have pressed all the edges.

7.Pinch the bottom of the flower with your fingers so that it looks bunched together. Add some flower stamens to the center. Place flower in forming cup to harden so it will hold its shape.

8.If you want to create a 2-color flower then use the flower star tool to create the inside shape. Tint some more fondant in a complimentary color for the center.

9.Cut the tips off the star shape so that it fits within the outer flower shape.

10.Place the star shape on top of the rounded petal flower.

11.Use the shell tool and gently imprint all the petals as shown above.

12.Pinch the flower in the center with your fingers.

13.Add flower stamens and allow to harden. My flowers are actually sitting inside of the bottom of my 1A round tips, they were the perfect size to hold the flower.

14.Once the flowers had started to harden I moved them over to some flower formers to dry over night before placing them on the cake.

And there you have the hibiscus flower!

The hibiscus would also be super cute on a Hawaiian themed cake in vibrant pinks, yellows and reds or even on top of some cupcakes for a summer luau party!