This was a very abstract, "Alice in Wonderland" themed Cake for a 16th Birthday Party. The cake is Chocolate with Chocolate Cream Filling. It is covered in fondant, and decorated with little candy pearls. (Which are delish, by the way!)

This year, we hosted our first annual Diamond Cupcake Sale at our school. Every year we have a "Post Prom Event" for our students to offer them a safe alternative to going out after prom. The kids LOVE it an it is EXTREMELY elaborate!! We have like a Casino area ( using monopoly money of course), Bouncy Houses, a Hypnotist, etc. The kids also have an opportunity to win things like ipads, TVs, and stuff like that; the best part is, it's absolutely free for them to attend! That being so, it is up to us to raise a TON of money to pay for the event! This is one of the ways in which we did it this year! Someone donated a $500 diamond for us to auction off. So, what we did was we (my friend Julie) baked 100 cupcakes, and I decorated them. Each cupcake was blinged out with a diamond and they sold for $10 a cupcake. Why would anyone ever pay $10 for a single cupcake you ask??? Because one of the cupcakes held the REAL diamond! The cupcakes sold in less than three hours and raised $1,000 for our Post Prom Event! A big thank you must go out to the Grand Island Community and all those who participated! Maybe we should make 200 cupcakes for next year??

 Here are some photos of the 7 dozen cupcakes I made for a college graduation party last week! The ones with the Orange Frosting are Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting....Yummy!!

(As a Buffalo State Graduate, I couldn't help but reminisce when I finished these cupcakes! lol Although, my client was not graduating from Buff State)

 The Mini Cupcakes are Chocolate cake with a mixture of Cream Cheese Frosting (Orange) and Vanilla Frosting (Pink)

And these ones here are Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Frosting. My clients were great to work with and so so nice!!

So, I randomly decided to check out Carlos Bake Shop Website (You know, Buddy, from cake boss!) and was pleasantly surprised which how much there is to explore there!! You can read all about the history of the bakery, sign up to cake decorating classes (boy do I wish I lived closer to NYC!), and my personal favorite...Buddy offers his recommendations for cake pairings! Here's what he suggests!




Buddy’s Recommendations for Wedding and Specialty-Cakes

Red Velvet cake with Vanilla or Cream Cheese Icing
Black and White Cake with Hazelnut Cream
Black and White cake with Chocolate Fudge
Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Fresh Raspberries
Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Mousse, a thin layer of Chocolate Ganache, and Fresh Raspberries or Fresh Strawberries
Vanilla Cake with Lemon French Cream and Fresh Raspberries
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

tHe OnE tHiNg EVERY bAkEr ShOuLd Have!

In case you haven't met yet, I am PLEASED to introduce you to the KitchenAid 5-Quart Stand Mixer. Can we PLEASE just talk about this for a minute?!  I received one for my bridal shower last year, not understanding exactly what all the hype was about, and I honestly don't know how I ever got along with out one! Anyone who does any kind of baking could really benefit from this, especially those of you who bake large desserts. I used to find myself going through hand mixers on a weekly basis, trying to whip up a batch of my favorite butter cream frosting - either that, or my arm would cramp up from all that stirring. Not any more though! With this, whipping together ingredients takes seconds, literally! I find myself using it for EVERYTHING - frosting, cake batter, pancakes, dips, eggs, pretty much anything that needs mixing! There are an assortment of attachments that you can buy to go with it as well - my hUsBaNd even wants to try out the meat grinder attachment - and that says a lot! I unfortunately do not have this color (Raspberry Ice); however, it is DEF going on the wish list!