Happy 175th Birthday Toronto Cupcakes!

It was Toronto's 175th birthday on Friday, March 6th and the website Torontoist had a cupcake contest. For this contest, you have to design a cupcake that says "Toronto" - I had a lot of fun with this one!

Well I decided that one cupcake was not enough - so I made 1 dozen rainbow cupcakes.

Ta da - here is my cupcake design with all items handmade out of sugarpaste!   And the description that I submitted with my entry:  Toronto cannot be expressed in just one cupcake - it is such a colorful multi-cultural city, lots to see, do and eat, accessible, fun and interesting. Here is a counter clockwise tour of my rainbow cupcakes starting from the top left:
- The Airport - an international airport where everyplace is accessible
- High Park - a huge park right in the middle of the city
- Music and Drinks all across town
- Rogers Centre and the CN Tower
- Cabs everywhere - you never have to call them!
- The TTC Streetcar - easy to get around
- The Beaches in the East End - volleyball and blue flag beaches
- The 401 Highway takes you to Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal and many more!
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- City Hall
- Chinatown - always good dim sum!
- Bicycles everywhere in the city
Well, I sure hope I win this contest! I think they will be announcing the winner sometime this week. Even if I don't win, I sure had a blast with these cupcakes!  Happy Birthday Toronto!

March 12th Update: Thanks everyone for your wonderful compliments. I'm so excited - I won the contest! They did a wonderful summary of all the winners - check it out here

Feeling Blue?

A common trend when talking to people this week was that they were feeling blue.... or "it was just one of those weeks". It happens to us all - It must be delayed February Blues. So I thought we could start a fresh new day with feeling blue together - then we move on!

Enjoy these Sweet Blue Things - cupcakes that I made for a bridal shower and mini cakes I made for a local bakery!

If I can't be on the beach...I can make a Beach Cake.

It's a sunny but very cold day in Toronto.... it's -14 degrees Celsius.  So, I thought it would warm me up by posting up a beach-themed cake.

This cake was for a bridal shower where the lucky couple is going away to get married in Mexico. Lucky couple!

All the seashells, rocks and frangipani flowers were handmade out of sugarpaste, then dusted with pearl dust. They were so fun to make! I can't decide whether my favourite is the starfish or the sand dollars.

My first Louis Vuitton Purse.... Cake

I was asked to post a close-up of the Louis Vuitton Purse Cake that I have in my profile picture. I made this cake about a year ago in a class I took at Bonnie Gordon School of Cake Design.

It is actually not a Louis Vuitton style as I had copied a picture of a random no-name purse. Then I painted in the logos - so perhaps someday it will be a future Louis Vuitton purse?

Mardis Gras Cupcakes

Mardis Gras 2009 is just around the corner. It officially takes place on Tuesday, February 24th, but if you have ever been to New Orleans, the festivities start earlier!

I made dozens of these celebration cupcakes - they are chocolate fudge cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. Yum! They are decorated with purple masks that I made out of sugarpaste.

Now, a few interesting facts about Mardis Gras:
- Mardis Gras is connected to Easter, it is always 47 days before Easter.
- There is a lot of meaning to the colors: Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.
- Masks are a big part of their celebration. For those in the parade, it is law that they wear a mask.

Happy Mardis Gras Everyone!

In the Night Garden Cake

I discovered a new children's show last week when researching for my next cake for a little boys 2nd birthday.

The cake was based on a show from the UK called In the Night Garden. These characters are soooo cute - they don't have voices, but seem to squeak and make strange noises.

This cake was a 3-layer lemon cake with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. All characters were handmade out of sugarpaste - they were quite fun to make.

January 26, 2010 Update - Check out my latest In the Night Garden 2-tier cake.

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

It's Valentine's Day Weekend coming up - what better reason to have a cupcake or two or three!

I made a selection of vanilla bean cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream and red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing.

I must say that cream cheese icing is still my favourite icing.... but now I am off to the gym :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Perfect Bridal Shower Cake

This is truly a sweet and thoughtful cake for a bride-to-be.  This cake was a replica of the bride's gorgeous wedding dress, part of the Jasmine Bridal line.

I had so much fun making this cake, although I worried about the proportions.  There had to be enough cake to feed 20, but I also didn't want to make the bride too.... hippy....

I had to make the bust out of sugarpaste a week before, so that it would dry properly.  I'm so happy that it was the perfect size and shape since I didn't make a back-up in a different size.

Isn't this such a Sweet Thing?

Cake Decorator's Tip:  This is not an easy cake to make, depending on the design of the dress because you don't want any unnecessary lines.  I had to put the fondant on 3 times to get it right.  And I would definitely suggest making a back-up bust in a different size, just in case.

Scrabble Anyone?

This is one of my favorite cakes from 2008.  Yes - it's a Cake!  The entire scrabble board and all the pieces are edible!

I'm posting it now because I have been asked to make an even bigger version of this Scrabble Cake as a wedding cake in Spring 2009.  And spring is just around the corner.... right?

Chinese New Year Cupcakes

I know that I'm a week late with posting these - but these are the Chinese New Year cupcakes I made last week.

Vanilla Bean with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  The symbol on the mini-fans say "Happiness".

I hope everyone had a great start to the Year of the Ox.  This is my lunar year - so it's going to be a good one!  It is your lunar year if you were born in 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 or 1997.