Keegan & Tarik's Birthday Cake

For Keegan & Tarik's birthday I was challenged to make a dragon cake like one they saw in a picture at the Phoenix Zoo - only it had to be Gluten-Free & Vegan!

the inspiration

I had to make a few modifications, like a smaller tail and fewer eggs, to make room for the "Happy Birthday" salutation. I also added a second wing; the original picture only showed one, which seemed strange to me. I've never heard of a one-winged dragon. ;-)

view from the top, before I added the second wing

the entire thing is edible: the dragon's body and head are made of cake, covered in vegan fondant

guarding her eggs...
the cake beneath is a 10-inch double-layer chocolate cake with mocha no-buttercream filling

the eggs were made of vegan fondant

To round everything out, and make sure there was enough cake for the birthday party guests, I made two dozen chocolate cupcakes, topped with no-buttercream, and a fondant dragon egg.

some were pink-hued

some mostly green

others were brown & orange

This was a fun and challenging cake. Happy Birthday Keegan & Tarik!

minis

I made these lil cuties for a Go Baby Go party this afternoon.

They are gluten-free & vegan, in pinks and browns to represent the Go Baby Go logo.

vanilla cake with pink-hued citrus no-buttercream, vegan fondant deco

chocolate cake with mocha no-buttercream, vegan fondant deco

... more Cupcakes

Today's cake order was for 30 standard-sized, filled cupcakes - in flavors that are becoming my most-requested, good ole standby combinations.

dark chocolate mousse filled chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream... and chocolate sprinkles 

lemon curd filled vanilla cake with citrus buttercream

chocolate cake filled with homemade marshmallow creme topped with vanilla buttercream

a multi-colored flower cupcake garden ;)

These flavor combinations are also available Gluten-Free and Vegan. 

Super Crazy Rainbow Cupcakes

 Last night I hosted an Usborne Book Party and naturally made some cake for the occasion.


(if you have never heard of Usborne books, you really need to check them out! Follow this link here to see what all the fuss is about. Usborne is a children's book publishing company, and they have such an excellent selection of educational books! I just love them!)


 As the Usborne book representative (my friend Jamie) is vegan, I made these delicacies vegan-friendly so that she and her little one could enjoy them as well.

Why Super Crazy Rainbow Cupcakes?

Why not? ;-)




These were jumbo-sized cupcakes, filled and topped with vanilla no-buttercream.

and oh SO Yummy!

Prayer's Birthday Cake

This was a custom vegan cake for a tea-party themed birthday party. So much fun!

top view of the cake

mini heart-shaped vegan sugar cookies to accompany the tea

This was a triple-layer cake (two chocolate, one pink-colored vanilla) with strawberry filling

covered in vanilla no-buttercream.

The spout and handle are made from vegan sugar cookie dough, iced with vanilla no-buttercream.

Rachel's Birthday Cake

I surprised my friend Rachel with this cake for her birthday.

eight-inch double layer chocolate cake with chocolate peanut butter mousse

&

a five-inch four layer chocolate cake, with alternating layers of 

gianduja mousse and hazelnut buttercream

all frosted and decorated with vanilla Swiss buttercream.

all deco was done by hand.

Sara's Wedding Cakes

Sara requested two cakes in celebration of her wedding:

Part One: 

a half sheet chocolate & vanilla marble cake with gianduja mousse and vanilla Swiss buttercream.

Part Two:

a ten-inch Sachertorte with vanilla Swiss buttercream deco.

Congratulations Sara & Dierk!

Robert's Birthday Cake

Robert's first birthday cake was modelled after Mod Monkey images I found on the web.

this was a ten-inch double layer chocolate & vanilla marble cake with strawberry filling, 

with chocolate and vanilla buttercream. 

Baby's smash cake was a vanilla gluten-free cake with vanilla buttercream, 

and a cute lil monkey made out of chocolate buttercream. 

Cupcakes! and more Cupcakes!

A visual assortment of some basic cupcake flavors that are available:

jumbo vegan chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling, vanilla no-buttercream, vegan sprinkles

jumbo chocolate cupcakes filled with raspberry jam and chocolate topped with vanilla buttercream

Vegan Medley:

vanilla cake with lemon filling and citrus no-buttercream

chocolate cake with raspberry filling and pink vanilla no-buttercream

chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and purple vanilla no-buttercream

jumbo chocolate cupcakes with chocolate mousse filling 

and chocolate-vanilla swirled buttercream

lemon-filled vanilla cupcakes with orange buttercream

vanilla creme filled chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream

vanilla creme filled chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream

chocolate cupcakes filled with peanut butter mousse, topped with chocolate buttercream

Just for Fun

Periodically I like to make a cake that truly is just for fun.

With no set plan in mind, I gather whatever leftover frostings and fillings I have on hand, bake off a new-to-me cake recipe, and see what happens. 

This is one of my favorites. 

double-layer lemon cake with lemon curd filling

Madison's Birthday Cake

Madison's birthday cake was a Dairy-Free nine-inch double layer chocolate cake with dark chocolate mousse filling, and chocolate buttercream, accented with purple deco. 

Eliana's Birthday Cake

I made another first birthday cake in April, for a sweet little princess named Eliana. 

For her I made a Princess Castle Cake with Cupcake Flower Garden.

white cake cupcakes filled with lemon curd, topped with pink & purpled swirled vanilla buttercream. 

The centerpiece was a ten-inch triple layer white cake with lemon curd filling.

The towers were made of rice krispies treats covered with fondant; the turrets were buttercream-covered ice cream cones rolled in pink sanding sugar, all finished with buttercream deco. 

Princess Eliana's smash cake. 

Jameson's Birthday Cake

This is a custom birthday cake I made in April, inspired by Eric Carle's book, "The Hungry Caterpillar."

It features two dozen filled cupcakes and a triple-layer leaf-shaped cake.

The leaf-shaped cake.

Alternating chocolate and vanilla cake layers with faux-Hostess cupcake filling.

The head of the caterpillar served as baby's smash cake.