2nd dance competition done, go Legacy!

Hey this is Brenna! Mom's  busy so I get to write the post! MwaaHaaaHaaa! (just kidding!) Since I'm writing I'm going to tell you all about these (delicious) cookies and why the picture above says "Hey U". First of all, the cookie above says "Hey U" because these cookies are for my dance studio and that's the name of my jazz dance. It says #1 because our jazz dance was the TOP SCORING DANCE of the WHOLE COMPETITION! Second, Angie from the studio ordered cookies for ALL of the dance lines as congrats for a job well done. There are 6 dance lines, Little Lites, Rising Stars, Dancing Stars (My younger sister Olivia's dance line), Starlights (My dance line), Starmakers, and Highlights.                                   

These are some of the 105 cookies my mom made. Pretty sweet, huh?

On that note, I LOVE LEGACY! (Hope I get to write again soon!) 

Adios!

Brenna Lou

Hi this is Olivia. For right now I'm posting for mom. You see the good news is mom's business is great and she's really busy, but the bad news is she won't be able to post. So I'm filling in for today! GO LUCKY C'S SWEETS!!!!

So remember how mom mentioned neeh on the last post? ( If anyone's even reading it..... maybe everyone just likes the pics?!) Anywho, she said that 'cause she got an order from our friends saying they want a horse cake for the dad's mom's, birthday.  He said she loves horses and rides a lot, but she has fallen off 4 times and gotten hurt.  Her nickname is Spot because of all the freckles she has.  So, that's what inspired her.

Here's how it started.  Hoping to get a taste soon.

Weird lookin', huh?  Then she covered it with fondant.  Starting to look better. Boy, the kitchen smelled good at that point.  Still didn't get that taster of fondant, rats!

No, it's not an armadillo, it is a horse.  Don't worry he gets cuter. At this point, I still haven't got my taste :(  This horse sure was looking at me funny.  I don't know if he's shy or just knows how much I want to eat him!

Mom thought she should add a little something extra.  So, she molded some fondant into these shapes: a little emergency/doctor bag, a set of horseshoes for good luck, a journal to write her riding adventures in, and a seat belt on the horse to hold Spot on.

Here's the finished product.  I think he looks a little like Bullseye, from Toy Story, but he's still cute.  Our friends came over to pick the cake up.  They thought it was awesome! Mom gets to do another cake for them next week.  I think I heard something about a corvette.  Sounds like an old car to me.  Wonder why they want a cake like that.  Hmm.  

Anywho, we waved as the horse rode off into the sunset.  (Well, actually he was a box in the backseat of the car, but you know what I mean.)

Good news, bad news, again.  Bad news, I had to help Mom clean up the kitchen.  Good news, I was in charge of cleaning up the frosting.  After I was through with it, there actually wasn't much to clean up!

ONS out. Peace!

It's been a while since I posted. Have been so busy. No, I am not complaining!

I  don't think I have sat down in about three weeks, but it has been very exciting.  My sweets business is taking off and I couldn't be happier.  Although, sleep does sound kinda nice.   I have a few things to update and I will do so after this weekend.  Until then here is a teaser...

Certainly couldn't celebrate Easter without Chickie cupcake pops!  More to come soon. 

Did someone say Neeh? You'll see what I mean when I post my next cake adventure.  Happy weekend :)

B's 12 layer birthday cake, she was turning 12 after all!

My oldest, dear, sweet daughter turned twelve in March.  She has the second largest sweet tooth in the house, for sure. (Not disclosing who is #1, leaving that to your imagination :) 

In preparation for her birthday, we spend many days talking about what type of cake she will have to celebrate her special day.  This year her main request was something pink, but also with lots of chocolate.  Well, the fact that my little girl was turning 12 was a bit tough for me.  I know she's getting older, I can see it! I just don't have to accept it, do I? In order to keep it cute, but make it a bit more elegant for an "older" girl, I thought I would push the envelope on this one.

Twelve years old, how about a twelve layer cake! I had recently seen one posted on one of my favorite blogs, Bakerella.  In an effort to bake the cake in a shorter period of time, I used twelve foil pans to bake the cakes.  I could fit 3 in the oven at a time, x 2 ovens = 6 cakes x 2 = 12 cakes. Baked in less than 2 hours. Math again, I can't help it, I use to be a banker.

Here's how it all started~

Then with great patience and 3 kids googling at me, I layered each cake.  OH MY! I forgot to mention that in between those lovely layers, that I colored pink- per B's request, was a chocolate ganache type icing.  It was so close to heaven, that I think I heard an "AHHHH" (you know like the pearly gates opening), when I slathered it on each layer.

It dripped all over the place!  When all layers where placed, I evened out the icing around the whole cake.  Now this is where most "normal" people would stop. 

Never been "normal", never will :)

So I made some dark chocolate cream cheese frosting and frosted the entire cake to a smooth finish.  Next, I added just a touch more pink with candy hearts around the edge.  Now, I didn't even want to tarnish it's beauty with a candle, but as my 7 year old pointed out, How's B gonna make a wish? So the final touch- a single candle.

Here is a look at the inside.  Layers and all...

We barely put a dent into it! Maybe we had finally found a cake that my family couldn't devour in one sitting.  We managed to share some slices with a selected few, who thought I was crazy- but seemed to love that fact after eating their slice.

B had dance practice on her birthday.  Since the cake was for the family, we had to make another treat to share with her fellow Starlights.  Sticking with our chocolate and pink theme, I made red velvet cupcake bites.  (More on those lovely little morsels in another post.)

I won't be making that cake every day, that's for sure, but I would make anything and do anything for my dear girl.  She has been a sweet treat from day one.  She has an elegance and grace that many who are older than her, don't possess.  She has such compassion and shows kindness every chance she gets.  I love my B for so many reasons, sharing my affection for all things sweet, is surely one of them. 

And I was afraid I taught her nothing.

Grace's Ballet Slipper Cake

Ahhh, back to my pink, girlie groove! Stacey, a fellow pilates gal, ordered a cake for her daughter's 6th birthday.  Her daughter takes ballet and tap dance class, so we wanted to incorporate that into her cake.  Being that I have two dancers, the concept was something I am very familiar with.

Grace, the birthday girl, wanted a chocolate cake- for sure. I made a rich, dense chocolate cake and covered it with vanilla buttercream.  I was not liking the fact that you could still see that darn (scrumptious) chocolate cake showing through the frosting.  So, I decided to make some white fondant and cover a portion of the cake with it.  I covered the cake and then cut out the ballet slippers section.  I piped pink buttercream on the cake for the slippers. Then I colored some of the fondant in a darker pink for the inside of the slippers and a ribbon-like trim for the whole cake.

I used a technique that I saw on one of my favorite TV shows, Amazing Wedding Cakes.  I rolled out a long strip of colored fondant and cut it lengthwise into about a 1/2 inch ribbon.  Then you just role it up, like you would a real ribbon and unroll it along the side of the cake.  Cool, huh? Okay, no one cares. I know, I am losing you.

I added green royal icing letters and little flowers around the base.  Then, I used bubble gum tape for the ribbons on the slippers.  It makes the cake smell so good, perfect for a 6 year old. It was so cute, my girls wanted to keep it here. Nothing new there. 

Stacey's husband, Jason,  and their darling little girls came to pick up the cake. You know how people always say it's a small world? As his kids were adoring our dog, we realized we have the same breed of dog, maltipoo. And, they bought their dog from the same breeder that we did. We realized they were cousins! Also, I thought Jason looked so familiar.  Well, he is the owner of ISPIRI, a design and remodeling company  based right here in Woodbury.  I had just been to a friend's house who recently completed a design/remodel project.  Her house looked so amazing! I wanted to stay there forever.  Turns out it was Jason's company that did the work! I now have ISPIRI on my Christmas wish list! I think you may want to talk to SC about it for yours too!

Stacey and Jason could not be a nicer couple and I love the opportunity to turn people on to a great company.  Check out my links for the ISPIRI website.  So, not only did I have the great fortune to meet another wonderful family, my little pup found another family member, right in his own backyard. Life, it always surprises me!

Here is Grace's birthday cake.  I don't think it could match the sweetness and cuteness of the birthday girl, but hopefully it came close on her special day.

Congrats to N & J! We hope you have love and cupcakes 4 ever!

My beautiful sister, Auntie Nell and her love, Uncle J, celebrated with a wedding ceremony this past weekend on an island off Cancun, Isla Mujeres.   With much sadness, my family could not be there to share in what appears to have been an unbelievable event.  I must say, I have shed a few tears in my icing over the past few days.  Then, Auntie Nell sent an email with an amazing photo of her and J on a pier with candles.  It brought on chills, followed by more tears.  You can view it by going to her photographers blog.  Just go to www.onelovephoto.com .  I also have a link right here on my blog.  Just look at the column on the right under "SWEET LINKS".  You must look at everything they do!  My sister's picture is posted on their blog. The photography they do is so fantastic! I am so thankful that she could share some of their day with us, even though we were miles away.

One of Nell's favorite things in this world is cupcakes.  So, in honor of my sister, Sadie, Sadie married lady and J, the Hoodie King, here is a look at some of my cupcakes.

A little valentine filled with love

Wishing for spring ensemble

Do I need to say a word about this little chunk of chocolate heaven?

This one was for my hubbie, Snevs, who is not much of a sweets fan.  But he does love his bacon cheeseburgers, so...

The one at the beginning of this post is Nell's favorite.  It is much like her in a way. Sophisticated, unique, elegant, gorgeous, sometimes unapproachable, filled with sweetness and a deep red heart center that when opened, gives you more than you expected. She has always been a gift in my life, since the day she was born.

Red velvet and Nell, two things I could never be without.

Sugar cookies, pretty tasty (hopefully pretty and tasty too!)

Sugs (pronounced shougs) as my kids call them...

Oh, I love cookies! Mixing (dough testing), baking (sampling), decorating (making sure the icing is tasty) and best of all~ giving! I love the basics, like chocolate chip, PB and such- more on those later. However, a pretty, tasty sugar cookie ranks pretty close to the top of the cookie chain for me.

I have had some people say, "Oh they look too cute to eat." Huh? Seriously? I am flattered they think they are so darn cute, but they are cookies.  Meant to be enjoyed and shared.  My kids think I may be a bit too generous on the latter part.  Every time I make cookies and sell them or give them away, they act like they may never see another one.  Of course until they come home from school the next day and smell fresh ones baking just for them.

Like these ~

Or these for their dance competition ~

A skating party anyone?

Taekwondo Tournament (ayyahh!)

We have celebrated many occasions and just plain ole Sunday afternoons, with sugs and a glass of milk.  I invite you to do so too! I know a  pretty girl, who has a hilarious sister, who has a handsome little brother, who loves his daddy, who is married to a woman with a gigantic sweet tooth (keeping Dr. P in business), who would love to make them for you.