2nd Birthday Cake: Space-themed Cake

Last year, this little boy celebrated his 1st birthday with a Where the Wild Things Are party.  For his 2nd birthday, the theme was space.  My client shared some of the photos she took of the event.

The first and second tier of the cakes were vanilla and strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream.  The top tier was styrofoam.

Pumpkin Cake

Who loves pumpkin cake?  This cake wasn't pumpkin-flavor on the inside - it was alternating layers of strawberry and vanilla cake.   Plus a little matching smash cake to go with it.

2nd Birthday Cake

2 years old sure love Thomas the Train and Elmo - so give them both!  Kids love cake and cupcakes - so give them both!

Bubble Guppies Cake

Bubble Guppies cake for a 3rd Birthday.  The cake was alternating layers of chocolate sour cream and vanilla bean with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream.

Baby Shower for Runners

Having logged many, many, many miles myself, I loved creating this custom cake.  The parents-to-be are amazing running athletes and coaches.  These little handmade sugarpaste Saucony runners along with baby's first race bib were perfect for the cake.

Here's a close-up of the super small details that I painted on the bib.  The bib number is the due date - wishing them all the best!

Couch Potato Cake

This is not my first couch cake, but it was my first "couch potato" cake.  The birthday boy was turning 50 and happily on the couch with his iPad, Maple Leafs Jersey and Diet Coke.

Bridal Shower and Wedding Cake

First there was a bridal shower.... The bride and groom love chocolate chip cookies, so I encorporated that into the cake.

 Then there was a wedding.... A simple design and inside was carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

I usually make back-up sugarpaste letters for my cakes, in case anything happens during transport.  This time, they came in handy to add to the candy buffet that the bride put together.

Girls' Superhero Cake

My daughter loves her superheros and has been talking about her birthday cake for the longest time.  She told me exactly what she wanted: A super tall cake (she wanted a 3-tier), superhero girls on the top and villains on the bottom.

 I wonder what she will design for her cake next year!

Winner: Yonanas Classic Ice Cream Maker Giveaway

Thank you everyone for participating in the Yonanas Classic Banana Ice Cream Maker contest via blog comments, twitter, instagram and leaving comments on the SweetThings' facebook page.

The winner is....

 ... a Twitter Entry from @valerieann47  Congratulations!  I will be contacting you shortly to get your address to ship the Yonanas to you

Recipe: Paleo/Vegan/Gluten-free Banana Ice Cream Treat

Only a few more days to enter the Yonanas Classic contest.  Full Contest Details here and make sure you enter before Thursday, July 9th at midnight.

Here are the amazing little banana ice cream treats that I made for my daughter's 4th birthday party - the recipe is below.

Paleo/Vegan/Gluten-free Banana Ice Cream Treat 

Step 1:  Make your crust and let it cool. You can use any regular pie crust recipe, but you probably only need 1/4 of it.  I used a 6" square pan and the following recipe:

• 3/4 cup ground pumpkin seeds (or almonds)
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tbsp avocado (or coconut) oil
• 1/4 tsp sea salt 

Mix together and press in pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes (or until slightly browned).

Step 2: Follow the instructions in the Yonanas maker and make 3 flavors.  I only ended up using about 4 frozen bananas. I started with the lightest color - pineapple, then raspberry, then blueberry - so the color wouldn't bleed too much.

With your cooled crust, spread your first flavor on and/ put in the freezer for a few minutes.

Step 3:  Remove from freezer and spread the next flavor.  Then re-freeze for a few minutes.  Repeat with final flavor.

Step 4:  Slice it up and place on small cupcake holders.  You can store them in freezer until they are ready to be served.

Contest: Yonanas Banana Ice Cream Maker

Happy Canada Day and it's time for a contest!  I received a Yonanas Banana Ice Cream maker to test out some recipes, but I already had one.  So, one Yonanas "Classic" Ice Cream Make will be awarded to one of my lucky blog readers in Canada.  Contest starts today until Thursday, July 9th, 2015 - details below.

What can I do with this machine?

You can make this gorgeous Gluten-Free/Grain-Free/Paleo/Vegan Banana Ice Cream Layered treat!  This recipe will be posted on Tuesday.

How to Enter

1. 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.
2. For 1 additional entry, visit the SweetThings Facebook page and leave a comment.
3. For another 1 additional entry, follow me on Twitter @SweetThingsTO and tweet the following including the shortened url:  I want to win the #Yonanas Classic from @SweetThingsTO and @Yonanas http://goo.gl/ZVDw6p
4. For another 1 additional entry, follow me on Instagram and leave me a comment
5. A maximum of 4 entries per person.  Available only in Canada.
6. Deadline for entry is Thursday, July 9th, 2015 at midnight EST.
7. One winner will be randomly selected and posted on Friday, July 10th, 2011.  Also notified via email.  The Yonanas Classic (valued at $50 at Loblaws, Canadian Tire and Walmart) will be shipped to you.

Good Luck Everyone!

Olaf Cupcakes

It's official as of Sunday.... it's SUMMER!!!   And Olaf sure loves summer!

These cupcakes were very fun to make.  It was actually to celebrate a 40th birthday, his two little girls call him Olaf all the time.

Wedding Cake with a Hint of Purple and Football

Several year ago, the groom was the recipient of this Raider's Helmet Cake.  I had fun keeping this cake simple and elegant with a touch of purple, a touch of the Raiders and also the couple's two cats.  I didn't get a good close-up of the handmade sugarpaste characters - but I wanted it to look "Superman-like". 

Carousel Cake... and Cookies!

I had the pleasure of designing a celebration cake for my friends' 10 month old twins.  They were visiting from out of town to celebrate their Christening.  I mentioned previously about having fun with fondant covered cookies and this design was perfect!!

 The cake was alternating layers of zesty lemon and chocolate sour cream cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream with that added bonus of sugar cookies.  I also displayed it on a lazy Susan so it was fun to spin it around.

Wedding Cake with Grey Accents

One of my favorite cake designs - so simple and elegant.  This wedding cake was delivery to the lovely venue, The Berkeley Church.  All 3 cake tiers were chocolate sour cream with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.

Archery Target Cupcakes

My husband celebrated his 40th birthday last month.  In the past year, he has been getting into Archery as he inherited my dad's bow, so I decided to have a surprise party for him at Archery District.  It's like paintball - but with bow & arrows with giant marshmallow foam at the end. 

It was lots of fun and after running around, everyone enjoyed their gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese icing.

Fondant Covered Cookies

I usually stick to my specialty of custom cakes and cupcakes, but on occasion, I have dabbled in making some fondant covered sugar cookies.  These cookies are usually for a selection at a Sweet Table or a takeaway gift.

Monster High Cakes

I first created a Monster High cake in 2012, but it looks like they are still very popular.  This lucky 7 year old had 2 dolls to keep, Lagoona Blue and Clawdeen Wolf.  Their dresses were made out of cake and sugarpaste.

The cakes were chocolate sour cream with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream.

Social Media Cupcakes

These are fun cupcakes!  I actually forgot about these - I made these last year.

Cinderella Cake

For this lovely little girl, the past few years' cakes were: My Little Pony, Bubble Guppies and Hot Pink.  This year was Cinderella and I had so much fun making this lovely carriage.

There is something so magical about pink and gold!  This cake was layers of vanilla bean cake with strawberry buttercream.