Sunny Days Chasing the Clouds Away

A great friend of mine hosted an Elmo party for her daughter's 2nd birthday.  Because no child likes to be told they must wait their turn for a piece of cake to be cut for them, my friend thought it best to make character cupcakes instead.  Quick delivery makes for happier children.  And, because getting our kids to eat vegetables tends to be an uphill battle, she also requested carrot cake cupcakes which I diligently packed with carrots (my boy was eating them, too!)  I have a panel of people I turn to for various critiques (flavor, colors, tools, design, etc).  For this project, I turned only to my soon-to-be-2 year old son.  When he saw the finished product he yelled "Cake! Elmo!"  Ah - "S" is for success.

 

 

Dolphin Splash!

 

 

Alright, let's just get to the point of it - it's a dolphin.  Of course I insisted on carving the shape by hand (who needs a pan?) but somehow among the carving and icing this sea creature seemed to morph.  I turned to my most trusted critics and all guessed it to be a dolphin (with the exception of my dad, who guessed t-rex...), so I decided maybe I was being a little too critical.  This is why it is best to make such creations for people you have known for over 20  years (a greater number in light of us only being 26).  Besides, I'm pretty sure the 3 layers of chocolate cake and 2 layers of vanilla buttercream and fresh strawberries ended all questions regarding the specimen of what was being consumed.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day (a week later...).  I used Mother's Day as an excuse to test out some future cake projects.  This was my first time making carrot cake with the infamous cream cheese icing.  It's tough to know what to expect when you have never even eaten carrot cake yourself.  But, it seemed to go over very well with the family!  I am going to tweek the recipe a bit, but am set for next week's carrot cake cupcakes!  This was also my first time decorating with rosettes.  My roommate from college brought this simple, yet elegant, design to my attention and I promptly promised her such a cake when she comes to visit me in the Fall.  I didn't have the called-for tip (that problem was later remedied), but they turned out pretty cute still.