Ladies Luncheon

I had the wonderful opportunity of making desserts for a ladies luncheon at church this weekend. The spread was pretty simple, but it was definitely the most cupcakes I've baked at once and the most chocolates I've ever made. The desserts were a huge hit. They looked beautiful and they tasted amazing.

Here is what I made.

Mini Dark Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Min Milk Chocolate  Cupcake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Salted Caramel Cups

Peanut Butter Cups

Chocolate Mousse Cups

Mint and Hazelnut Chocolates

Cake Truffles Made with White Cake and Vanilla Buttercream and then dipped in White Chocolate

Addison's 4th Birthday Cakes

For this little lady's fourth birthday she celebrated with two parites: one with her friends and one with her family. I had the wonderful opportunity of making both of her birthday cakes. Better yet, the colors were pink and green, one of my favorite combinations, and the parties were strawberry themed. 

Birthday party with friends cake.

Birthday party with family cake.

The first cake was a teeny cake (for a tiered cake of course) because there were only a few party guests. The bottom tier was a 6 inch 3 layer cake, while the top tier was only a 4 inch 3 layer cake. I used white cake and filled the layers with white chocolate mousse and fresh sliced strawberries. After stacking the tiers and frosting them up with vanilla buttercream, I piped all of the swirls and stripes finishing it off with mini candy strawberries I made out of color flow icing. The topper was 3 hand dipped white chocolate covered strawberries rolled in pink sanding sugars. The end result was perfect for a small party.

Addison's second birthday cake for her family party was similar to the first, but still different. I wanted her to be surprised again. I didn't want her to see this cake I had spent hours working on only to think, "It's the same as last time." She probably wouldn't have cared much because cake is cake, but to me it had to be special.

I used the pink and green again, but this time the cake was much bolder in color. I loved it. I was also able to use the same color flow icing strawberries I made for the first cake, and they still had matched well.

One obvious change besides the color was the piping. I did paisley on the bottom tier this time around. It's so girly and cute. (Just like Miss Addison.) I love the way it turned out on this cake. 

This cake was slightly larger with a 8 inch 4 layer bottom tier and a 6 inch 4 layer top tier. The cake was alternating layers of vanilla and milk chocolate cakes filled with vanilla buttercream.

Classic. Simple. Delicious. Appeals to most everyone. 

I kept the topper the same just because it's cute and fits perfectly with the theme. 

Princess Tiara Cookies

I had the opportunity to make cookies for a baby shower for a friend's friend. The couple was expecting their first baby, a sweet little girl named Kimora. My friend planning the shower, Nicole, throws the most beautiful, thoughtful, and well coordinated parties of anyone I know. This shower was appropriately themed as a princess shower for new little one, so tiara shortbread cookies were the perfect choice.

I hand decorated each cookie with color flow icing, royal icing, and a variety of sanding sugars and sprinkles. After the color flow had dried, and before adding the piping details, I brushed each cookie with luster dust to add shimmer. I was inspired to do all of the piping by these cookies I came across on the internet doing a google search. I loved the intricacy. The pearlized sprinkles make these cookies fit for a princess.

"K" is for Kimora.