Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Summer is quickly approaching and I can't think of a better way to cool off than with a Root Beer Float...cupcake that is! I've turned one of my all time favorite summer drinks into a cupcake that I think you all are going to love. This is one heck of a chocolate cupcake loaded with Root Beer in both the cake and frosting! And of course you've gotta have that scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

Head on over to Half Baked for the recipe!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla & Strawberry Swirl

Happy Friday and Happy May! It's been a LONG time since I've last posted and I apologize! But there is definitely good reason for that...I recently became a new mom and I've been spending lots of time with our precious little boy Sam! I have definitely missed baking and sharing the cake projects I've been working on with you all! So today I'm so excited to be back on the blog again and share with you a delicious new recipe, Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla & Strawberry Meringue Buttercream. I love a classic vanilla cupcake but these are extra special with the addition of vanilla bean paste and some fresh seasonal strawberries in the frosting. These cupcakes will be absolutely perfect for you to spoil your mom with this coming Mother's Day!

Head on over to Half Baked for the recipe and more photos that show the steps to creating the vanilla & strawberry swirl on top and the DIY ruffled & rick rack cupcake wrappers!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to make a KY Derby Pie to celebrate the Derby tomorrow!

Navy & Pink Wedding Sweets

Earlier this month my good friend Molly got married. My obsession for baking and cake decorating all started a few years ago after Molly and I took our first Wilton Cake Decorating class together! Since then I've enjoyed developing new recipes and trying new decorating techniques. For Molly's wedding shower I created some fondant monogram cupcake toppers in her wedding colors of pink & navy to showcase her soon to be new last name "Spain".

Molly had asked me soon after she became engaged if I would make her wedding cake and cupcakes for her special day since she knew how much I enjoyed baking. After thinking long and hard about taking on this huge commitment, I had to turn her down though. The reason being b/c by the time her wedding rolled around I would be 37-weeks pregnant and not sure of how I would feel baking and decorating. Or would the little one make an early arrival and leave me in the hospital in labor during the weekend of her wedding...what a nightmare that would have been! So instead of baking I told Molly I would help with decorating her wedding sweets!

Molly came up with the idea of cupcake flags to top her cupcakes, so I found some fun pink & navy paper stock and she supplied 10 different words and phrases that she wanted included on the flags.

I made 100 cupcake flags to embellish their wedding cupcakes.

In addition to the flags Molly wanted me to add some navy fondant petals around the tiers of her wedding cake. She had a local bakery in Mobile bake her wedding cake and then I added the finishing touches. I was a little nervous about doing this at first, after arriving to the reception location and seeing a beautifully decorated white wedding cake standing tall, was afraid to touch it. I made sure with Molly's mom and sister-in-law before I started adding the fondant petals that Molly really wanted me to add these decorations. I have never added decorations to a cake that someone else baked before so I was a little worried I would mess something up.

The petals turned out fine though, just like the picture Molly had supplied for me to reference. And lucky for me, I got to see a sneak peak of the bride before the ceremony while I was there decorating!

Here's a picture of me with my 37 week pregnant belly and the beautiful bride to be, Molly!

Congratulations Molly & Keith! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

Polka Dot and Stripes 1st Birthday

Polka Dots, Stripes & Primary Colors...what a fun way to celebrate a 1st birthday right! I had a blast decorating these bright cakes and cookies recently for such a sweet little girl, Linnie Grace (how cute is her name!!!). Her mom contacted me about creating a cake, smash cake and some #1 cookies for her very special 1st birthday! She had the idea of polka dots & stripes and wanted the colors to coordinate with the location of where the party was being held...red, yellow, blue and green. To add a girly touch to the cakes I added some fondant ribbons around the bases of the 2-tier cake and some multi-colored buttercream ruffles around Linnie Grace's smash cake!

Happy 1st Birthday Linnie Grace!

Chocolate Mint Oreo Cupcakes

One of my all time favorite cookies are Oreos! Who doesn't love these chocolate sandwich cream-filled cookies? The variety of flavors sure have come a long way since I was a little kid! One of my new favorite flavors is the Cool Mint. So here's to enjoying one amazing cookie inside of a delicious cupcake jam-packed with chocolate and mint! Head on over to Half Baked to check out the recipe for these Chocolate Mint Oreo Cupcakes!

Did you know this month Oreo celebrates it's 100th birthday! What is your favorite Oreo cookie flavor?

Thomas the Train Birthday Cake

Here's a cake I made back in January for one of my favorite birthday boys...Joshua, who turned 4! This is the 3rd year in a row I've made his birthday cake! Let's just say he's giving me some good practice on boy-themed cakes since our little boy will be arriving in about 18 days and then for years to come I'll get to make his birthday cakes too!

Apparently Thomas the Train is the new trend with little ones these days, and I'm sure I will come to find this out very soon as well! I picked up a few Thomas the Train toys at the store to add to the top of the cake and then thought it would be cute to make some train tracks all around the edge.

The birthday boy was super excited when he came to pick up his cake!

He was wearing his Thomas the Train shirt in preparation for his party...how cute is that! Of course I had to get him a few toys to go with the party theme as well.

He loved his new Thomas the Train puzzle and book! Isn't that the best face ever! Love that little smile!

Happy Birthday Joshua! Sorry I'm just now getting your cake posted to the blog...I know you've been anxiously awaiting for it to go up!

I also made him some tractor cookies to share with his friends at school for his birthday!

Bow Tie Cupcake Toppers

Bow Tie Baby Boy shower themes seem to be a new trend these days! I was so excited when my friend Hannah contacted me about making some bow tie cupcakes for her sister's baby shower! She sent me the shower invite for color inspiration and I absolutely fell in love! I think it's because her colors for the shower featured some of the same colors...green, blue and orange that we are currently decorating our nursery in for the arrival of our little boy in just over a month!

Unfortunately I didn't snap photos of the step-by-step process of making these bow ties but the they are super simple.

Bow Tie Supplies:

-fondant (tinted in the colors of your choice)
-a 1.5" square cutter
-a round cutter (I used the end of a decorating tip)
-a Pastry Wheel
-fondant roller & cutting mat
-paint brush
-water

1.Tint fondant desired colors.
2.Roll out colored fondant using fondant roller on cutting mat.
3.Use 1.5" square cutter to cut out square shapes.
4.Use your pastry wheel to cut diagonally through your square shapes to make an "X". This will create 4 triangles within the square and give you 2 bow tie shapes.
5.Pull apart the triangle shapes opposite each other to use for a single bow tie.
6.Place triangle shapes tip to tip with a little space in between.
7.Cut out your round fondant shapes to create the center of the bow tie.
8.Using a small dab of water and your paint brush place water on the triangle tips of each bow tie and place the round circle on top. Allow to try overnight.
9.Once fondant bow ties have hardened then place on top of cupcakes.

If you want to create some custom bow ties with different patterns such as stripes or polka dots then start by rolling out white fondant and making the bow ties following the steps above. To paint designs on them you will need a little vodka, color gel and a paint brush. Put a small dab of color gel on a paper plate and add the tiniest drop of vodka to the color and mix with your paint brush. Then start drawing your patterns on the bow ties. The vodka/gel mixture will dry overnight and you will have some super cute bow ties!

I was thrilled with how these turned out and just couldn't help snatching a ton of pictures! Hope you enjoy! I definitely think I'll be using the bow tie theme sometime in the near future with a party theme for our little boy!