1st Birthday Cake

A few blog posts ago, I showed a sneak peek of a pale blue and chocolate brown 1st birthday cake.  Here are some more photos of that 3-tier cake.

Here is the inspiration photo that the client sent me.  I knew plaid would be challenging to make - but I'm so happy how it turned out.  Well worth it!

Christmas Cupcakes

It's that time of the year again for Holiday Cakes and Cupcakes.  There are always lots of fun ideas when it comes to Christmas like stockings, Santa stuck in a chimney, rudolph, a string of Christmas lights and so many more.

 

Even more fun, a cupcake tower topped with a big ornament cake with cupcakes decorated with sugarpaste christmas lights and ornaments.   Hope you enjoyed these cupcake ideas!  Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

Winner: Tetley Tea Gift Basket

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Tetley Tea Colour Therapy Gift Basket contest.   But before I get to the winner, a sneak peek of a 1st birthday cake I did this weekend.  What a wonderful colour palette:   chocolate brown and pale blue.

Now, onto the contest.... Thank you everyone for participating in the contest via blog comments, email submissions and leaving comments on the SweetThings' facebook page.  And a big Thank you to Tetley Tea Canada for providing the wonderful gift basket.
The winner of the wonderful Tetley Tea Colour Therapy gift basket worth approx. $70 with 2 containers of each tea, a canister/teapot and 50 mood influencing gift card is.....

Congratulations to edmontonjb!  I will be sending you an email to get your address to send you this lovely gift basket.  Have a wonderful day everyone!

Louis Vuitton Purse Cake

Fashionista cakes are always very popular cake inquiries.  I love making them the exact dimensions so people think that it is actually a purse.  I did one of the most challenging patterns recently... the Louis Vuitton Monogram Multicolore Speedy 30.  It was a surprise 30th birthday cake for my client's wife.

This cake was pretty big - 11.8" x 8.3" x 7.3" (LxHxD) - about 8 layers of vanilla butter cake.  

Here is a view from the back.  I really did underestimated how many logos I needed to paint.  But finally in the wee hours of the morning when  I finished handpainting each side - it was amazing to see it all come together.

Elephant-inspired Baby Shower Cake

I posted a sneak peek of this cake on Saturday - now here it is.  A very cute elephant inspired 3-tier baby shower cake.  The top two-tiers were vanilla butter cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream.  The bottom tier was chocolate velvet with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.

 

I was sent this lovely inspiration photo from the Potter Barn Baby website.  Isn't that so adorable?

 And another view of this cake.  I just loved this colour palette.  And speaking of colour, if you are from Canada, I'm running a Tetley Tea Gift Basket contest until December 19th, so enter now.

Contest: Tetley Colour Therapy Gift Basket

A sneak peak of the a cute baby shower cake that I made this weekend.  One of the things I loved about this cake was the colour palette.  I will post more on this cake on my regular Tuesday blog post.

Speaking of COLOUR.... Tetley Tea has a new line of herbal teas based on how colour influences our lives every day.  Our surroundings and colour choices can have dramatic effects on our mood and well- being.  You can discover which tea will suit your mood by visiting their website.

Even better.... Enter this contest!  Tetley Canada has provided me with this gift basket for one of my readers to win.  Available in Canada, excluding Quebec.

Win this Tetley Colour Therapy gift basket worth approx. $70 with 2 containers of each tea, a canister/teapot and 50 mood influencing gift cards.  Deadline for entry is Friday, December 17th, 2010 at midnight EST.

How to Enter

1. Visit the the Tetley Colour Therapy website and tell me what tea or colour you selected
2. Leave a comment on my blog - make sure you leave me your email address so I can get a hold of you if you win.  Or send an email to info(at)sweetthings(dot)ca if you'd prefer.
3. For an additional entry, visit the SweetThings Facebook page and leave a comment.
4. A maximum of 2 entries per person.  Available in Canada, excluding Quebec.
5. Deadline for entry is Friday, December 17th, 2010 at midnight EST.
6. One winner will be randomly selected and posted on Saturday, December 18th, 2010 at noon.  Also notified via email.  The gift basket will be shipped to you.

Good luck everyone!  Have a colourful day!

A Birthday Surprise!

A cake can celebrate so many fun occasions.  It can also be used to announce a wonderful surprise like a baby on the way or something fun like this cake...

It was a 2-tier cake to celebrate a 29th birthday...

 Oh wait.... the top tier opens up and there is something inside....

And she said "Yes!"  Here's a note that I received from the newly engaged gentlemen:

"Everything went very well lastnight and couldn't be any better.  She had absolutely no clue when she saw the cake. I presented the cake to her along with a birthday card and she thought that was it. 
After a while, she was looking at the cake, admiring how beautiful and cute the cake is and she sort of shifted the lid over and realized that it is openable.
That is when I took out the male figure as she was opening the lid. So at that point, she saw the male figure and saw the ring box in the cake and realized that I was proposing to her.  She started crying and it was a very touching moment."

Baby Shower Cake

I was asked to create a baby shower cake with only 1 request, that it would have a pair of sugar running shoes on it.  Otherwise, I had all the design freedom.  I love cakes like these and I loved how the cute running shoes turned out.

I designed the cake based on a little wagon, inspired by my nephew who loves to pile things high and pull it around the house.  I can't wait to do a similar design this weekend.

Here is a view from the top of the cake.

And another photo of the running shoes.  I don't use a template - I just search for cute shoes on the internet and try to copy them.  I'm so happy how they turned out.

Toronto Life Cupcakes (and a cake....)

I was invited to be a part of a Toronto Life online article called The City's Most Beautiful Cupcakes.  And you know how I love creating Toronto-themed cupcakes....

We were asked to submit a sampling of our cupcakes, whatever flavors we wanted and whatever design that best represents our cupcakes.  A Toronto Life magazine is the perfect inspiration for cupcakes - so I made a magazine cake and then cupcakes with handmade sugarpaste toppers to match the different sections.

From top left and clockwise:  Food,  Drink, Cupcakes (of course), Shopping, Pizza and Weddings.

 

For more photos, there is a flickr page from the writer.

Interview over at A Cake to Remember

One of things I love about blogging and twitter is all the the wonderful people that I have met.  They share their thoughts, ideas, rants and cake designs.  It is always funny and comforting to see tweets from cake decorators late on a Friday night when I am doing the same.

I visit my favorite bloggers and twitter friends often to see what they are up to.  One of those bloggers is Kara from A Cake to Remember in Richmond, VA.  She has been making beautiful custom cakes for over 15 years.  She recently interviewed me and here is the blog post if you want to learn a little more about me.

This interview made me think back to my first wedding cake project in 2006.  I dug up this photo from a class I took at George Brown College.  I remember the teacher saying that she was very happy because I went "outside the box" and designed my own cake, instead of copying one.  That was an affirming moment for me.

Bar Mitzvah: Hockey Cake

Who is lucky enough to get 10 cakes for their birthday?  This birthday boy who celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at EZone which is indoor sports and entertainment complex.

I was able to blend in his love for hockey, Pittsburgh Penguins and personalize everything it for his special day.

I loved how it all turned out and everything was completely edible.  I would say the hardest part was making 2 matching skates.

When I made carved cakes, I always bake extra cake, just in case.  So, I added in these mini-cake pucks.  Wouldn't this be a great idea for a boys birthday and everyone gets their own puck!

1st Birthday Cake: Green & Pink

I'd like to thank whoever designs kids' party invitations.  Aside from being utterly cute, they provide the perfect inspiration for cake designs.

Here's a strawberry vanilla 1st birthday cake for a little girl named Sophie.  The inspiration came from the invitation and sticker shown below.

 

And some additional orange dream cupcakes made it the cutest cupcake tower.

Halloween Cupcake Tower

Happy Halloween Everyone!  I wanted to share this fun cupcake tower with a Mummy cake topper and halloween cupcakes.

If you'd like to see how I made these cupcake toppers and cake, click on over to visit Kathia at Pink Little Cake for a how-to and mini-tutorial.  Aside from being a fabulous cake designer, Kathia has a great blog that I follow.  Over the past month, she has been putting together a collection of fabulous blog posts called 28 Days of Sweet Halloween Ideas.  Lots of great ideas and I am happy to participate with my fellow bloggers.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy halloween weekend.

Green and White Wedding

As many of you know, I got married last month.  And yes, I did make my own wedding cake(s) and sweet table.

The wedding inspiration was different shades of green, white and paper lanterns.  Decor, signs and invitations were designed by my talented sister Yvonne.

It was a beautiful, warm September day for our afternoon outdoor ceremony.  It was held at Cedar Ridge Creative Center and Botanical Gardens in Scarborough.

We had a cocktail reception in the historic house catered by Daniel et Daniel.  Following a champagne toast, our guests enjoyed the sweet table which I absolutely loved putting together.

The sweet table treats included: S'mores, chocolate covered strawberries, gluten-free chocolate cake, mini strawberry vanilla cupcakes, sugar cookies, zesty lemon sphere cakes, chocolate dipped pretzels, white chocolate truffles, chocolate covered almonds and orange cake bites.  The croquembouche were made by the caterers. 

It was such a perfect day for Steve and I.  We had so much fun and would like to thank our family and friends who were able to join us.

Photography by You+Me Weddings
Make-up by Janine Falcon and Hair by Alexis Jardin
Wedding Officiant Daniel Brereton
Green Wedding Shoes by John Fluevog
Sweet Table by me, SweetThings Toronto

Wedding Cakes Inspired by the Wedding Dress

When designing a cake, sometimes the elements can be inspired by the bride's wedding dress.  It can be a single element, it can be exactly the dress or it can be the main elements of dress.  Here are two wedding cakes that I made which were completely inspired by the wedding dress.

This cake was inspired by Vera Wang's Dinah dress in a light ivory.  The top and middle tier were Strawberry Vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream and the bottom tier was Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with chocolate buttercream.

 

The couple also had 2 cherries as part of the design of their invitations, so I was able to encorporate it into the piping and also to the cake stand.  I love this angle for this photo.

This 2-tier cake was for a couple who were married overseas.  The design was based off of a photo just after they said their "I Do's" at their beach wedding.

Baptism Cake

This was a re-creation of one of my past Christening Cakes - similar, but a little bit different.  The top tier was strawberry vanilla cake and the bottom was chocolate sour cream cake.

Here is a picture of the front of the cake and I also decorated the back as this was for a special family dinner celebration with people sitting around the table.

 

I should also mention that Sienna's birth was also celebrated with a SweetThings baby shower cake earlier this year.  And Sienna's dad celebrated a birthday a few months back with SweetThings custom cake.  I look forward to continuing to make wonderful and creative cakes for this lovely family.

1st Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

This was one of those cakes that I couldn't saying "It's so cute!".  A clean and simple design, but oh-so cute!

 

I was given this wonderful inspiration photo of the little girls room.  I loved the lettering of the name Logan, so I re-created it in a 3D way with gumpaste.

 

The 2-tier cake was vanilla butter cake and there were also chocolate sour cream and orange dream cupcakes.

Here is the beautiful birthday girl, Logan, with her cupcake before.... and after.  Happy 1st birthday to Logan!