With thanks

It's always so lovely to hear that people have been pleased with their Cherry Blossom creations and I quite often have phone calls from happy customers but I was especially pleased to receive a handwritten note from Claire whose 'Chocarama' cupcakes I designed back in October. She wrote, "Thanks a heap for the time and effort you took to make my cakes just exactly what I wanted. They looked and tasted exactly how I dreamt they would and they definitely made my night and were the feature of the party." I was so chuffed it put a smile on my face for the rest of the day!

Cutie Pie

These cutie pie cupcakes were a request for one of my first ever cupcakes, way back in August 2008, that caught the attention of a gorgeous little girl having her Confirmation. I really enjoyed returning to this fun design because although it is very simple it delights the little girl in all of us. The cartoon like flowers were really sweet and effective enmasse and I was so pleased with the result. These were Double Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream frosting and decorated with handmade sugar blossoms and they definitely turned out cute as a button!

Citrus and Sunshine

Well things are warming up in grey old Melbourne and I decided to create a delicious citrus cupcake to reflect my bright mood. I am experimenting with filled cupcakes at the moment and thought this might be a nice time to try a light, zesty filled cake instead of the chocolatey creations of late. I also wanted to spoil a few of my favourite girlfriends so they reaped the rewards of my experimenting! These are Coconut Flake Cupcakes filled with White Chocolate and Lemon Mousse and frosted with Citrus buttercream and decorated with handmade sugar petunias and pearls. They are a more colourful version of the ivory floral cupcakes I made for Tara's wedding because I loved the feminine design so much but felt like giving it a summery twist.

Tara's dreamy ivory wedding

When the amazingly gorgeous Tara approached me to make the cakes for her wedding I was honoured and very excited. She had a gorgeous theme of mainly ivory with rose petals and tea light candles. She also wanted to incorporate the design of her wedding invitation which were gorgeous white bows so we came up with some lovely romantic floral designs and also a very minimalist bow design. These are White Chocolate Mudcakes with Vanilla Buttercream frosting decorated with handmade white sugar bows and Vanilla and Almond Sponge Cakes with Vanilla Buttercream frosting decorated with handmade sugar flowers and pearls. She also requested a cutting cake for the top tier which was also a White Chocolate mudcake with White Chocolate Ganache filling and Ivory Fondant Icing. It was a truly stunning and glamorous function and I wish Tara and Brent all the very best, they deserve it!

Spring is in the air

I may have mentioned that Spring is my favourite season. Being an eternal optimist I just love it when my garden pops out with buds and lavender and the air smells of jasmine and blossoms. That said, I was delighted with Grace's yummy mummy decided on a spring theme for Grace's christening. The room was decorated adorably with pink and green balloon bunches topped with spring creatures like butterflies and ladybirds. It was so unique and pretty, a departure from the usual christening motifs. In keeping with the theme we designed gorgeous girly White Chocolate Mud Cupcakes with Pink Vanilla Buttercream decorated with mint and pink daisies and sugar pearls and Hummingbird Cupcakes with Mint Green Maple Syrup Buttercream decorated with handmade sugar hearts and sprinkles. I also added the occasional mini pink butterfly nestled in amongst the cakes every now and then. Happy Christening Gracie!

Chocarama!

Can you ever have enough chocolate? This cupcake is a chocoholics dream (and quite possibly a Weight Watchers nightmare!) designed for Claire's birthday party. Claire wanted a cupcake that would double as birthday cake and dessert, something rich and velvety and pretty darned sinful. At the end of a cocktail and canape function we decided it would be nice to have a satisfying and filling cupcake to cap off the night. We decided to use 70% cocoa couveture chocolate to create this cake so that it would be as dark and lucious as can be! This is a Dark Chocolate Fudge cupcake frosted with Nutella and Dark Chocolate Ganache and topped with Chocolate Fondant and a handmade aqua sugar flower. I hope everyone left enough room for dessert!

Coffee-a-holic

These cupcakes were designed for a friend of mine having a 30th birthday who is even more of a coffee fiend than I am, which is saying something! I've been sinking espressos since I was 15 and am still finding it hard to shake the habit. She wanted something coffee flavoured but still light and moist for dessert to cap off her cocktail style birthday 'do'. Many coffee flavoured cakes are artificial tasting and cloying so instead we went for 'White Chocolate and Walnut Cupcakes frosted with a light Coffee Buttercream and decorated with handmade sugar flowers, pearls and sprinkles'. These were a scrumptious end to an elegant and fun birthday function.

Romancing the rose

At the moment I am lovingly tending 10 rose plants in my new garden and crossing my fingers that all this love will result in gorgeous roses to make me happy in my home and garden. In the meantime I decided to create some rose cupcakes so that I can have some joyous sugar roses not influenced by the whims of mother nature (and crazy 44 degree heatwaves!). There is something so flamboyant and exotic about a rose in full bloom so I decided to go with a beautifully scented cake to compliment my sugar roses. These are Pistachio Cupcakes with Rosewater and Vanilla Buttercream frosting decorated with sugar roses and mini sugar flowers. They make a beautiful afternoon tea cupcake with a lovely cup of earl grey or would be so stunning for a races brunch.

Old MacDonald had a Cupcake?

When my fave coeliac buddy asked me to make some gluten free cupcakes for a 3rd birthday I just couldn't resist trying out some new farm animal sugar art on them. The party was a mix of little girls and boys so I figured some cute little moo-cows, piggys and chicks would keep everybody happy! Each animal was a different flavour cake, we had Gluten Free Hummingbird Cakes with Maple Syrup Buttercream frosting decorated with handmade sugar piggies, Flourless Orange Cakes with Citrus Buttercream frosting and decorated with handmade sugar chicks and Gluten Free Classic Chocolate Cakes with Vanilla Buttercream frosting decorated with handmade sugar cows. EE-eye EE-eye OH!

Not so sweet 15!

My nephew Jordan just turned 15 which had me thinking errr.... WHAT?!! How did my cute little blonde nephew who was watching Spongebob squarepants and playing his gameboy suddenly turn into a huge lump with size 13 feet and a laptop?! Crazy stuff! Nonetheless, such an occassion called for some yummy cupcakes and what better than Jordan's personal fave of Banana Cupcakes with real Maple Syrup Buttercream decorated with handmade sugar stars and '15' plaques. There were a few cakes left on this stand when I left the party but, judging by the circling gaggle of huge 15 year old boys,I don't think they will have lasted long!