Happy Halloween! Faint-at-heart BEWARE!

This cake was for a little boy turning 9 on Halloween. He had a birthday party the night before Halloween where everyone dressed in costume and he wanted a cake that would make all the other boys go, "Gross! Cool!" or "Ewwwww, that's Awesome!". This was the cake that did it!


This Halloween/Birthday cake served 65 people. The bottom tier (dirt) was a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and the top tier (head) was a white cake with vanilla buttercream.


I failed to name this little fellow which is very uncharacteristic of me. I just couldn't name something that was so awesomely disgusting! I hand carved the head from cake. His eyeballs, mouth, and ears were all made from fondant. The eyebrows were coconut flakes tinted black. All the blood is edible too! It was piping gel tinted red. The fingers that are reaching for the sky are cookies with almond slices as the finger nails.



The little bugs that are crawling around the little man were also all made from fondant, in total there is a spider, a few worms, a millipede, and some roly polies - gross but they needed to be there! And what's the purpose of having bugs on your cake if there is no dirt for them to crawl around in? The "dirt" was ground up oreo cookies (the ones with the fudge filling!).




I told you it would make you squirm - but in a good way! Happy Birthday McCoy and Happy Halloween to everyone else!

"Thank you so much! McCoy had a great Birthday and the cake was a hit!" -Priscilla G.

Pinstriped Party Cake for Michael the Motorcycle Mechanic!

This was ordered for a birthday boy who has MANY hobbies, two of which are working on motorcycles and pinstriping (you can read all about what pinstriping is here). This cake was for a small gathering and was a 6 inch square that served 18 which was more than what they needed.


Each individual piece of the motorcycle and mechanic were cut out and placed in their specific place. Michael the mechanic even has his little blue Converse shoes on.


This was the hardest part of the cake and the most time consuming. I have no idea how to pinstripe ANYTHING let alone a cake! I wanted it to look good for someone who actually did this as a living and a hobby. I hand painted the pinstriping pattern with a dark blue, then accented it with silver. I think I did pretty good for my first try.


I received kudos from both Michael and his girlfriend, Taylor (who was the one who ordered the cake to begin with)! Two compliments for the price of one is always nice to hear!

"Michael loved his cake! Thanks again!" -Taylor B.

"Sooooo sweet!! Best birthday cake ever, and it tasted good too!" -Michael C.

Paisley Pretty (Take 2)

My oh my the paisley pattern is popular right now! This cake was for a woman who saw my last paisley cake (see entry here) and wanted to order it. Well, I don't make a cake design twice so here was the new interpretation and I love it just as much!


This red, black, white, and silver paisley cake was a 10 inch square cake that served 50. It was a layered chocolate and white cake, so of course the inside looked just as pretty as the outside (black, white, black, white)! The paisley pieces, flowers, ribbon, and large flower were all fondant. Every piece that you see that is silver started out as a gray fondant piece, then I hand painted the silver dust on there to give it some sparkle. What fabulous 50 year old woman doesn't like a little bling with her birthday cake?!


I had fun with this cake and no matter where I put any of the pieces it would have come out looking just as good! However, it took me a while to make sure I had at least 1 of every combination of every pattern. Luckily, I'm a very organized person and making that list was quite easy!


Every angle was like looking at a new cake, because every side was different. No two pieces were the same!


This little flower was the piece de resistance <---said in a french accent. It really brought the ribbon and the actual design of the cake together!

Barnyard Birthday Bonanza!

What's better than a barnyard cake for a little girl who LOVES horses?!?! This cake was for a fabulous little girl who was turning 1 today. Here are the invitations that went out for her party and what I had to match to. I loved the way this cake turned out!


This cake was an 8 inch round chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling. The entire cake was iced and decorated with vanilla buttercream. The technique is called a frozen buttercream transfer and maybe someday I'll share my secret, but for now you can google it! The outline I piped on top of the transfer as well as the red barn in the background.


As you may know every little boy or girl that is turning 1 and orders a party cake from me gets their coordinating smash cake thrown in for free. Here was little Grace's... did I mention she LOVES horses? It was a white cake with vanilla buttercream icing. And once again I used the same technique. Did you notice that this horse is the same horse that is hanging out in the barn with the other animals on the party cake?


The two cakes coordinated very well with each other and looked so cute sitting next to each other. Hopefully I will get some party pics to share as well from Grace's mom, but until then you can go blind looking at these pictures!

"Sooo many compliments on the cakes! Thank you so much. Gracie loved it!" -Shannon D.

Hooo's having a baby?

This cake was for a baby shower where the guest of honor (well, in a month or so) will have a nursery full of owls, blues, and greens. Yes folks, it's a boy! Wyatt James Harder is scheduled to make his debut on December 1st and his mommy's baby shower was today!


The hosts of the shower (the mommy-to-be's sister and best friend) wanted a cake that would not only match the theme of baby Wyatt's nursery but also that would match the invitations and theme of the shower. You can see the invitation in the background. They were so cute and ordered from Josie Jean Designs. You can see her work and order more of your own here.


This cake was an 8 inch round white cake with vanilla buttercream filling. It had fondant accents for the dots, branches, leaves, and this oh so cute little owl! It was just enough for the shower guests and for the mommy-to-be to have two slices! Hey, she's allowed!


Here's the cake in all it's glory on the serving table at the shower. The hosts did a great job of pulling the colors and theme throughout the entire shower and this cake just topped the whole party off. Oh and in case you were wondering, yes I was at the shower. The mommy-to-be is a friend of mine and I was so pleased that she wanted me to make the cake for her! CONGRATULATIONS BRIDGETT!

I want my MUMMY!!!!

Yeah, you heard me, I said mummy!


While these ghostly treats are far from scary they will have you wanting more! These were made for the Lenexa Chili Challenge (see previous post to read all about it). It's October and I wanted something cute and festive but also delicious! So the mummy pop was raised from the dead!


I made lots of these little guys which took a long time but the comments I got from them were well worth it! They were chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream icing. They were coated with vanilla candy melts. The scary green eyes were fondant and the "wrappings" were made from royal icing.


They were gone within a couple hours, no one was scared of these mummies! I can't wait until I get to make more of these, but different decorations next time!

Bringing the HEAT!

If you live anywhere near Lenexa, Kansas (as I do) you know that the Lenexa Chili Challenge is a big deal! Hundreds of teams set up tents, make chili, and turn it in to be judged. Spectators can pay $2.00 to get in and everyone has a spoon for which they can use to sample everyone's chili! YUM! A huge part of chili is jalapenos, which got me thinking... I was going to try something not many people have heard of, CHOCOLATE JALAPENO CUPCAKES!


These cupcakes consisted of a delicious chocolate cake with a little heat thrown in. Chopped up candied jalapenos were distributed throughout the batter along with a little jalapeno juice to spice it up a little more. These devilishly delicious cupcakes were topped with a cooling cream cheese icing and a candied jalapeno on top.


I made these little pretties bite sized because I knew that no one could just have one! We figured out that the more you chewed these mini cuppies the more the jalapenos showed their true red hot colors. Everyone loved them and they were a huge hit - to the tastebuds!

If the Shoe Fits...

THEN EAT IT!!!!


This cake was for my step-daughter Madison, Madi for short. She was turning 13 (uh oh!) and one of her favorite things is Converse shoes! What a better cake than Converse Shoes that you can eat!

I wasn't quite sure as to how many people the shoes would feed but it turned out that one shoe fed 15 people. Needless to say she had a lot of cake leftover for her classmates at school to enjoy on Monday! It was a chocolate cake, her favorite, with vanilla buttercream filling and icing. Then I covered the cake with fondant and added fondant and gumpaste decorations to make it look like a pair of pink Converse shoes!

The shoelaces were fondant. I made them sparkle and shine with a vodka/shimmer dust mixture. Don't worry, the vodka evaporates very quickly making it 100% safe for those who are under the age of 21! :)

I had to put the #13 somewhere on this cake! I mean, becoming a TEENAGER is a big deal! In addition to how many years of life Madi has got under her belt, the shoes turned out to be a adult shoe size 13! What a coincidence!


The Converse logo also had to be present on this fabulous cake for a fabulous little, oops I mean, young girl! The white circle and black star are fondant but the writing was hand piped. Not an exact replica but it really added the extra umphf this cake needed to be 100% positively recognized as Converse Shoes.

And now for the big payoff.....

the birthday girl with her new shoes...

drumroll please...



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Happy Birthday Madison!

"She loved the cake! It could not have been anymore perfect." -Rik P.

Cheers to 50 Years!

This cake was made for a man who was celebrating his 50th birthday. His birthday party was at a local brewery you may have heard of... Boulevard Brewery! I was fortunate enough to attend this event and even got to cut the cake that I had spent so much time on!


The cake was a 10 inch square that served 50 people. It was a white cake with vanilla buttercream filling. The paisley pieces and ribbon around the base are fondant with hand piped details. It was a very time consuming procedure but in the end I felt like it matched the napkin I was given very well!


This was my labor of love! Oh the hand cramps that went into hand piping the details on all of those paisley pieces!


The ribbon around the base of the cake did not match perfectly to the napkin I was given, however I think it looks good. You can't have everything matchy-matchy right?

I actually got to work the party and lets just say I brought more than a few business cards with me! I saw the cake in all its glory and the overall look of the party was great!

The party was really fun and there's something to be said about the thrill of cutting your own cake! It was my first cake cutting experience for someone other than myself, family, or friends! I received rave reviews at first on the look of the cake but then the party guests tasted it and more rave reviews came rolling in. It was a great feeling!

Here's the birthday boy with his cake. He was very nervous about the cake sliding off the board, but he smiled through the fear! Happy Birthday Carl!