Artwalk Interactive Rainbow Cake & Cupcakes

I have been wanting to make a rainbow cake for a while now, and this week I finally had the opportunity to play with red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple cake batter!

I made a 6" round 6-layer cake...

And 100 ROYGBP cupcakes. I LOVE these VIBRANT colors!

Each cupcake was topped with a white fondant circle to be decorated as part of an artwalk celebration. The idea for a "decorate your own" cake & cupcakes came from the talented Rosie of Sweetapolita.

Here is the final display I designed for the 6th annual LoDa Artwalk. The cake and cupcakes were displayed at wellbornIdeas as part of an "interactive" display.

People who visited the gallery were invited to grab an edible marker and decorate their "blank canvas" on top of their cupcake.

Here's a look at the final 3 tier cake prior to being decorated by local artists as well as members of the community. The bottom two tiers are dummy cakes and the top tier is the ROYGBP cake! To play off of the scalloped edge of the cake pedestal I thought it would be fun to create a scallop rim around each tier of cake in the rainbow colors to tie in with the theme.

Here's a look at 3 wellbornIdeas employees decorating their cupcakes.

The wellbornIdeas logo on a cupcake...

and on the cake

Here is Ashley, one of the featured gallery artists for the evening putting her artistic talents to work on the bottom tier of the cake...looking good!

I love how she used the scallops and turned them in to owl eyes, I would have never thought of that...so creative!

It was so cool to see a variety of creative minds coming together with their artistic contributions to the final cake!

Even the little ones got in on the fun!

Here's the final cake! What an amazing event to be a part of! Thanks wellbornIdeas for asking me to provide the cake and cupcakes for this special event!

To see more pictures you can head to my facebook page.

5 Layers for 5 Years

5 years...wow how the time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday Randolph and I were getting married at the Middleton Place Plantation in Charleston, SC. Our wedding was outside, it was approx 97 degrees and to say it was hot is an understatement. It was HOT, humid & sticky, sweat was pouring and bugs were everywhere...and when I say everywhere I mean in every single layer of my wedding dress. But I wouldn't change a thing about that day. It was at a beautiful venue in our favorite city and we were surrounded by our friends and family and wonderful memories!

Over the past five years so much has changed, but I won't bore you with all the details of my life the last 1825 days! Today we are just going to focus on cake! Ah yes, good old wedding cake, the other love of my life! Who would have thought five years after enjoying my 4 tiered round yellow butter cake with butter cream icing wedding cake (was that enough cake terminology for you in one sentence!) that I would now not only be addicted to indulging in a slice of cake almost daily but also in baking and decorating them too!

I was excited to try a new decorating technique with this cake and just love the end result. Using a Wilton tip #18 I piped on rosettes in rows all the way around. Tip #18 is a star tip so you just start by squeezing out a star and then gently rotate your piping bag while squeezing icing clockwise to 9:00, on to 12:00, then 3:00 then 6:00 and finishing off the circle. Super simple!

And since we are celebrating the big 5 year marker a 3-layer cake just wasn't going to do. 5 years = 5 layers of cake right? I wanted to make us a cake that reminded me of our wedding cake, only not nearly as large. Immediately I thought of Sweetapolita as the perfect place to find an amazingly delicious cake recipe. Afterall, she is the queen of beautifully decorated layer cakes. I made her Yellow Buttermilk Cake and oh my it is delicious, moist and buttery! Since her recipe called for a chocolate fudge icing and I wanted a more traditional buttercream I decided to go with this Marshmallow Buttercream frosting I found on Jessicakes. This icing is light and fluffy and I love the sweetness from the marshmallow cream! These two recipes paired so nicely together and I would highly recommend both of them!

Since our wedding was outside I decided it was only appropriate to take these cake photos outside today, temps in the high 90s, I'm dripping sweat while trying to get the perfect shot, flies are swarming the cake, buttercream is melting...it all makes perfect sense right??? Then my little fly friend landed on the cake for his afternoon sugar fix and I just couldn't resist snapping a photo! Let's just say after this mini and very rushed photo shoot today I have a new found respect for wedding photographers, especially my poor photographers that had to be tormented in the Carolina heat 5 years ago snapping hundreds of pictures for my special day!

And just in case you were trying to envision what my wedding cake looked like from my ramblings above...well wonder no longer I have searched my photos and found a picture of us cutting the cake!

Happy Anniversary R! Looking forward to our road trip this weekend filled with camping and our final destination at the Middleton Place for a few days! Love ya!

Mixed Berry Smoothie

Just in case you were wondering, my diet isn't made up entirely of cake and frosting! I know that is hard to believe since 99% of CIS focuses on butter, sugar, flour and more sugar! But truth be told I am very health conscious and eat a well balanced diet of fruits, veggies, proteins and carbs. I believe in eating a rainbow of colors in fruits and veggies and most mornings I start my day off with a huge bowl of fruit or my new favorite Mixed Berry Smoothie. I can't think of a more refreshing drink during these hot summer months than a fresh & fruity smoothie. Smoothies are the perfect way start to your day, make a healthy mid afternoon snack or can even be considered an after dinner dessert!

Fruit smoothies are such a wonderful source of vitamins and nutrients and the recipes can be easily adapted for your favorite fruits, juices and flavor combinations. My favorite smoothie right now includes strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. I used a combination of both fresh and frozen berries for this recipe and I love the deep purple color produced. The magic of smoothies is that when berries aren't in season you can always use frozen. Don't like all the berries, swop in a banana or some peaches, the possibilities are truly endless.

Mixed Berry Smoothie
(makes 2 servings)

Ingredients:
-1 cup strawberries
-2 cups frozen mixed berries (I used raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
-1 cup orange juice
-3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
-3 Tbsp honey

• Place all ingredients in blender and pulse on high until combined.
• Pour mixture into 2 serving glasses. Add a straw and some fresh berries on top and enjoy!

What's your favorite fruit smoothie flavor?

Bachelorette Cookies

What do you get when you have a bachelorette party at the beach...yellow polka dot bikini cookies of course, and some pink ones too! I had first seen the idea for the itsy bitsie teenie weenie cookies at Bake at 350 last summer and thought they were adorable. These cookies were a yummy addition to my beach weekend with friends to celebrate the bride to be Katie! We spent a few days at Orange Beach, AL soaking up the sun during the day and singing and dancing at night! Good times were had by all the ladies, including wearing some flirty feathered masks to hide our identities, prancing around with a horse on a stick (don't even ask, long story...but it did get Katie and her 2 sistas on stage with the band!), and finishing off the night with a game of "run, jump, funny landing" which was a favorite game of the bride and her 2 sisters growing up! It was just an awesome weekend with wonderful friends!

And there was also a little lingerie shower thrown in too...so you know what that means...more cookies

These cookies were made all in good fun and I wanted to keep them tasteful. A friend had sent me a link to some lingerie cookies before titled "when men bake" and I thought they were hilarious. Never did I really think I would actually be making them. But when I knew we were having a lingerie shower I thought it would be the perfect occasion to use my heart shape cookie cutter for another purpose! I found the inspiration for the cookies I made here. Everyone got a kick out of these bra and panties cookies!

Only a few more weeks until Katie's wedding day and I'm in charge of the cake and dessert table! The vision is for a clean, elegant and white dessert table inspired by Amy Atlas and the wildly popular rose cake from i am baker. Can't wait to share pictures of her wedding day sweets with you soon!

Honey Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting & a Giveaway!

Today is an exciting day for several reasons...

1.It's the first day of Summer...YEAH!
2.I've got a new cupcake recipe to share with you! YUM!
3.It's my debut over on Half Baked as a new blog contributor...WOW!

and...

4.I've got a GIVEAWAY for one lucky CIS reader!

So here we go,

First off, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Carrie at Half Baked for asking me to be a monthly contributor on her blog to share new cupcake recipes with all her readers! The day I received her email I was both shocked and excited! Shocked, that out of all the bloggers out there, especially cupcake bloggers, that she chose me to contribute to her blog. WOW, what an honor! And excited because Half Baked is truly one of my all time favorite cake blogs! It was one of the first blogs I ever started following and one that I am always eager to check out each day to see what new cakes Carrie will feature. She truly has an eye for all the new cake trends and showcases some of the most gorgeous cakes I have ever seen! So thank you Carrie for this opportunity, I am truly grateful!

So to kick off summer I came up with some Honey Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese frosting, which were inspired after sampling some local honey from our farmer's market!

To read all about the cupcakes, find out some of my favorite cupcake tools and to check out the recipe head on over to Half Baked.

And to celebrate the first day of Summer, my love of cupcakes and also the debut of Crave. Indulge. Satisfy. over on Half Baked I am going to give one lucky CIS reader 3 of my favorite cupcake must-haves!

Giveaway includes:
-Martha Stewart's cupcake book
-an Ice Cream Scoop (I know we aren't making ice cream here...but trust me it is perfect for making uniform cupcakes)
-some assorted cupcake liners

Here's how to win:

Main Entry: Tell me your favorite summer time activity or where you are going for summer vacation!
Want extra entries?
1.Become a follower of Crave. Indulge. Satisfy.
2.Become a fan of Crave. Indulge. Satisfy. on Facebook.
3.Become a fan of Half Baked on Facebook.

Details:
-This giveaway is open to US residents only, and will end on Friday, July 1st at 11:59pm CST
-Winner will be chosen via random.org and will be contacted via email
-Winner will have until Tues, July 5th to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen

Here's to a great summer!

Triple Berry Fruit Pizza

Fresh berries...my fridge is stocked full right now! YUM! Not only do I enjoy eating these luscious berries by the handful for a snack but I also like using them to garnish sweets! Growing up there was one go-to dessert we would make every summer...Fruit Pizza. Sugar cookie dough, cream cheese icing and fruit. It really doesn't get much simpler than that.

Our traditional fruit pizza was always in the shape of a rectangle and decorated with blueberries and strawberries to resemble the American Flag...does this sound familiar to anyone else? It seems like this was always our staple dessert for 4th of July weekend. It was so patriotic with the red, white and blue.

So with loads of fresh berries on hand, it was the perfect opportunity to make some Triple Berry Fruit Pizzas. This time around instead of one large pizza, I thought it would be more fun to create individual mini pizzas using a round cookie cutter. This would be such a fun dessert to make with the kids and a great way to encourage them to eat fruit too! Just slice up your favorite fruits and have them decorate away!

Triple Berry Fruit Pizzas
(makes 18 mini pizzas)

Ingredients:
-1 package Sugar cookie mix (or roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough)
-1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
-1 cup Cool Whip
-Fresh Fruit: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries (or whatever else you prefer)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  
• Prepare sugar cookie mix as package directs for roll out cookies.
  
• Roll out dough onto lightly floured surface and cut out mini pizzas using round cookie cutter. I used a 2 5/8" cutter.
• Place cookies on prepared cookie sheets and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes to chill before baking. This will prevent the cookies from spreading when baking.
• Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before icing.
• In medium bowl mix together cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and Cool Whip until smooth.
  
• Spread icing on pizzas and decorate with desired fruit.
• Fruit pizzas are best enjoyed the day they are made. You can store in an air tight refrigerator for up to 2 days.
  

What fruit would you use to top your fruit pizza?

Versatile Blogger Award

I am excited to be the recipient of the Versatile Blogger Award from Hadley at Hadley Designs. Hadley is one of the most talented women I know and has an amazing blog and website showcasing her design portfolio ranging from invites, websites, logos and illustrations! Thanks Hadley for choosing Crave. Indulge. Satisfy. for this award!

So here is how the award works:
1.Thank the person that awarded you by linking them back in this post.
2.Tell us 7 random things about yourself.
3.Pass on the love by awarding at least 2 recently discovered new bloggers (or blogs you love!)

So here we go...random things about me

1.I wake up most mornings around 5:00AM and go for a run before starting the work day!

2.My favorite ice cream flavor is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

3.I have an addiction to collecting cake pedestals & cake decorating books! Big surprise??...probably not considering the amount of cake featured on this blog!

4.My new favorite website is Pinterest. I love looking around for beautiful cakes & sweets, party themes and design inspiration for the home. You can check out my pin boards with things I LOVE here. Be warned, this can be very addicting!

5.One of my favorite seafoods is oysters, and I recently made an oyster mirror with the left over shells that I plan to hang in my living room. Here's a link so you get the idea.

6.I often eat cupcakes for breakfast...I just can't help myself!

7.My favorite color is GREEN!


I am passing this award on to two recent blogs I have discovered...

Miso Bakes - A recent cake blog I discovered when featured on another cake blog (Half Baked) that I follow. Miso is an up & coming talented cake designer that creates some of the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen! You have got to check out her latest DIY paper flower cake, simply stunning!

Mod Mom Furniture - I was watching Shark Tank on Friday night and was immediately hooked on the story behind Mod Mom Furniture. There is something so inspiring about women entrepreneurs who discover a talent they have and turn it into a full time business. If you didn't see this episode check out the website and blog and be prepared to ooh and awe over some of the cutest modern furniture for kids. Love her toy boxes!

Hope you enjoyed learning more about me and two of my new favorite blogs!