46 Dozen Cookies & 3 Birthdays Later...

Yes - that's right - I did say 46 DOZEN cookies!!!! And I don't think I'd care if I never saw another one in my life!!! Here's a few pictures of just some of them:

They are sugar cookies frosted & decorated in royal icing.

I also did manage to fit some birthday cakes somewhere in between all these cookies, though!

The first one I did was for an aunt who loves to play slot machines...

Chocolate & vanilla cake with Bavarian cream filling covered in fondant with fondant details.

Next I made 24 of these adorable alien cupcakes from Toy Story (actually 23... the 24th cupcake had Woody on it for the birthday boy). Confetti cake frosted with buttercream and candy details.

The last one I did was for my sister-in-law's birthday. 10" carrot cake with cream cheese frosting covered in fondant with fondant accents.

Merry Christmas & happy new year everyone!!! :)

Perfect Pies!

Simply Sweets has a new product: mini pies!! The perfect solution to your holiday baking! I not only bake them for you, but you don't have to serve them either!! These come in apple, blueberry, cherry, and pumpkin so far. But if you have any other requests, hit me with them & I'll see what I can do!

Here are some cherry pie pops...

Some mini apple pies... And mini pumpkin pies...
Also, I have some cookie bouquets for sale... perfect for business clients, friends, etc. These ones have decorated sugar cookies, chocolate-covered marshmallows pops, chocolate-covered candy canes, and cake pops in them.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Lots of News!!

Wow... a lot (well, not a ton, but it feels like a lot!) has happened since my last post. I did a few cakes to finish up the month of October (which really ended at the 10th for me!). First started with a Rice Krispy cake... I offered a discount on this, since I wanted to try one to add to my portfolio...
It's a 1/4 sheet cake with flowers made from Rice Krispies as well. Very cool & unique idea - if you're interested in trying one out, place an order & we can come up with some ideas!!

I then had 300 chocolate-covered strawberries for a wedding the next day. I didn't take a picture of these, since I do so many of them, but boy was it a lot of work!

After that, to finish up my orders for the month, I had a wedding consisting of a cupcake tower... but instead of cupcakes, I made 9 dozen cookies to place on the tower instead! Also an 8" cake on top for cutting. I don't have pictures of it yet, but will get some soon.

On October 20th, I had my baby! :) We named her Vanessa Taylor... she's now a month old (I can't believe it!) and is doing great. I recovered a LOT faster than I did last time, so of course, I wanted to get right back into cakes as soon as I could! I'm not taking a lot of orders yet, but am still taking some... so if you're interested, let me know!
My husband & I are involved in a company called IMS Barter (if you are a business owner, look into it - its awesome!). They have a holiday expo every year, which we were able to be apart of this year! It was our first year doing it, but it went great and we learned a lot of things for next time! I made 200 samples (mini cupcakes) as well as a display (fake) cake for my booth. I decided to go crazy with the cupcake flavors (I couldn't limit myself!) and in the process made up a new, totally delicious flavor - Maple!
There were 9 different flavors: Chocolate chip, Chocolate, Yellow, Carrot, Pumpkin, Maple, Pumpkin chocolate chip, Chocolate peppermint, and Chocolate peanut butter chip. I used chocolate buttercream, vanilla buttercream, and cream cheese frostings. Yeah... I went a little crazy!

For the display cake, I was planning on doing a couple of different things, but got a later start than I wanted, so I ended up only making one. This was a design I'd been dying to try, and I'm really happy with the outcome. 14", 12", 10", and 8" cakes with buttercream frosting. Details done in black royal icing & silver dragees. Silk roses separate the layers.
The next day my booth had already paid off! I had received an order from someone from the YMCA who was at the expo and needed a last minute baker. They needed some desserts for a Euchre tournament. So I ended up making 100 chocolate-covered pretzels and 100 mini cupcakes. I was planning on making them simple, but the more I thought about it, I decided they needed some little cards on top! So I made each cupcake their own little fondant card & wrote on them with edible markers. 50 chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and 50 vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting:
I also received a request from my photographer with an order for a smash cake... 6" vanilla square with vanilla frosting. They requested polka dots in baby blue, yellow, and orange. Pics to follow soon!

She (my photographer) also needed a birthday cake for her son, so we picked out something similar to this:
Bottom tier: 9" chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling. Top tier: slice of cake carved from 8" vanilla cake with strawberry filling. Buttercream frosting on both & fondant accents.

The latest thing I've done is these cake pops, which I'll be adding to some cookie bouquets this weekend. The santa hats are chocolate cake mixed with chocolate frosting on the inside, dipped in chocolate with sprinkles on the bottom. The Christmas trees are white cake mixed with vanilla frosting on the inside, dipped in green chocolate with sprinkle "lights" & mini star fondant toppers.

Gorgeous Wedding

This past weekend was a light one, thank God! I can only do some much these days!! I had a wedding cake to make for a longtime friend of my husband's family. On top of that, my kids were in the wedding as well! This wedding was gorgeous!!!! Every single detail was so thought out & everything went perfectly together. They didn't leave one item out either - even the coffee stir sticks had decorations!

Her colors were sage green, ivory, and black (which looked awesome together!). She chose a wedding cake design by Martha Stewart... so beautiful & definitely one of my favorites.

Only the bottom tier & top tier of this cake were real. She had sheet cakes in addition to this to serve to her guests. Bottom tier: 16" almond cake with buttercream filling. Middle tiers: 14", 12", 10", 8" dummy cakes. Top tier: 6" chocolate chip cake with buttercream filling. All tiers were frosted in buttercream with buttercream piping (most of it was freehand).

Company/Birthday Weekend

No weddings this weekend! I had 2 birthdays & cakes for a company picnic to do.

I started out with this 30th birthday cake... The mom ordered this cake for her daughter, who was extremely unhappy about turning 30! 4", 6", 8" white cake offset tiers with chocolate ganache filling and whipped cream frosting. Coffin topper is styrofoam covered in fondant & tombstone is fondant.
Next I made a cake for my husband, whose birthday party was yesterday. It was hard to decide what to do because I love having the ability to be totally creative with it! I decided on a carved handgun, because he loves to go shooting. He loved it. :) Case is chocolate peanut butter chip cake with chocolate buttercream frosting covered in fondant. Handgun is white cake with vanilla buttercream frosting covered in fondant with fondant details. Both cakes are handcarved! Bullseye & bullets are fondant as well. I'd also made about 3 dozen assorted dark & milk chocolate truffles, but they were gone too quickly to get a picture!
Close-up of gun details:The last thing I had to do was a cake & desserts for a company picnic for the hair salon I go to: Attitudes Hair Design & Spa. (FYI - they're amazing!!) I made 80 milk & white chocolate covered strawberries, and 80 milk & white chocolate cookie dough balls (which I didn't get a picture of). I also made this Reese's barrel cakes (one of my favorites!). I absolutely love this one though, I think because it feels so "fall-ish" with the colors of the ribbons! 4", 6", 8" chocolate cakes with chocolate buttercream filling & frosting. Kit-Kats around sides & filled with Reese's Pieces.

Time For Cookies!!

So this week was an easy one, and I had some leftover cookie dough so I made some cookies for some different people. All of these are sugar cookies frosted/decorated in royal icing.

First I made 1 dozen for a friend who just had a baby boy.
I also had the idea to make a 1/2 dozen minis for a bridal client I had a meeting with. These are handpainted.I made 1 dozen for a client who my husband just completed a job for (he does remodeling by the way, if anyone needs some work done: www.pottersclayremodeling.info).
And last I made 3 dozen fall cookies (because this weather was calling for it!!) for my doctor's office.

Insanity!!

This past weekend was another crazy one! I'm really not sure how I made it through! First, I had a wedding cake... 5 tiers! I love the look! This was done for a reception at the Plantation Party House in Spencerport. My sister had her wedding there - I love it, totally gorgeous location & awesome food! Anyways, the cake was 12", 10", 8", 6", and 4" round marble tiers all with fresh raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. All the flowers were made by me out of fondant.
Next, I made a birthdya cake for my nephew's 3rd birthday. He is in love with Toy Story, specifically Woody. So I found this idea for a neat cake & re-created it for him. To see his face when I brought it in made it all worth it! :) Bottom tier: 9" confetti cake with chocolate buttercream filling & frosting and covered in fondant. Top tier: 6" chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling & frosting. Fondant accents & hat topper.
After this, I had another monster of a wedding cake. This was another 5-tier. 12" carrot cake w/cream cheese filling, 10" chocolate cake w/chocolate ganache filling, and 8", 6", 4" white cakes w/fresh raspberry filling. All tiers with cream cheese frosting & covered in fondant. Diamond press on sides w/pearl dragees and satin ribbon and pearls at the bottoms of each tier. Fresh roses.And since apparently I didn't think I was already swamped as it was, I decided to pick up a last-minute order for Geva Theatre. They needed 2 sheet cakes; 1 to celebrate their 38th season & 1 for the play they were doing this week: Amadeus. One was chocolate cake, one was yellow cake. Logos done in fondant & royal icing.

Graduation Isn't Over!

I made this cake awhile back (I think in July!) and deleted the pictures I took on accident. Luckily, the client had taken one (even if it was with a cell phone!) and was kind enough to pass it along.

10" & 8" spice cakes with buttercream filling & frosting. Lime green & silver fondant accents with white fondant graduation cap for the topper.
I also had made a 1/4 sheet cake (1/2 chocolate & 1/2 vanilla) with buttercream frosting & lime green and silver polka dots to match.

Warner Castle

This place was where my most recent wedding was held. I never knew it even existed until this past weekend... and if I had, my husband & I so would have been married here!! It's called Warner Castle and it's right in Rochester at Highland Park! The couple also had a Celtic wedding, so it went great with their theme. I do know you have to bring in your own caterer though.

The outside looks amazing...And then there is this amazing garden spot for some awesome pictures! I LOVED it!!I'm sure there was more to it, but we didn't walk around too much.

Esperanza Mansion

So this is the beginning of my wedding venue posts! My husband & I went on an overnight getaway a few months ago to Esperanza Mansion. This place was gorgeous!! It turns out this is where one of my cousins was married, and I can totally see why!

This is the front of the mansion - so many options for pictures!Here's a view from where we ate breakfast - I'm assuming this is where they would set up for your guests to eat? They had a wedding going on the night we were there and they had a tent set up to the side of this. Either way - the view is amazing.
Here's a picture of the set-up tent...
And a picture of the banquet hall inside. They have doors that they open up to allow guests to go outside also. Obviously this wasn't set-up for any events, so you'd have to use your imagination!
This is just a picture of one of the hallways inside - I loved the look of this place!
They also offer lodging for your guests, and the rooms are like bed & breakfast rooms - each with a different look/theme. This is just what our's looked like.
The mansion is located in Bluff Point, NY. It's a little ways from Rochester, but its totally worth it. And, by the way, I do deliver out there. :) Eieio Photography also does weddings here as well!

Let the Craziness Begin!

September has/will be an insane month for me. I have 5 weddings just this month - talk about finishing with a bang! I'll be stopping mid October until at least the 1st of January 2011 because of the new baby. I am, however, currently booking weddings for next year!!This past weekend was crazy. I had a wedding on Friday, anniversary on Saturday, and baptism on Sunday. The wedding cake was neat - different from all of my previous ones!12" bottom tier dummy cake, 10" & 8" middle & top tiers were almond cake with white chocolate ganache filling. All tiers were frosted in buttercream. Bottom & middle tier had royal icing detail work (bottom had beadwork, middle had Celtic knotwork). Top tier had sugar rose garland (all made by me) and topper was sugar roses as well! Lots of detail, but I love it! I worked with my photographer, Chelse from Eieio/Glow Photography on this wedding (hence the gorgeous picture!).I also did a surprise groom's cake for her husband - a Rochester police dept. badge because he is an officer. It's chocolate cake with peanut butter filling and covered in fondant. The fondant was airbrushed & had royal icing details.
My next cake was for a 60th anniversary party. I totally loved it because it was fall-themed and these past few days have felt like fall (which I love!!). It was a 1/2 sheet yellow cake with custard filling and chocolate buttercream frosting/basketweave. All flowers were royal icing & made by me.
My last cake of the weekend was for a little girl's baptism. Her mom sent me a bunch of different pictures, and liked elements from each, so we incorporated all the little things she liked into one cake. I love doing that, because the design comes out different - and I think this one turned out so nice! It was also a special cake because both the cake and the cookies were all dairy-free! So if this is a need of yours, we can work with it and still make you a gorgeous cake!!
The bottom tier was 8" chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling. Top tier was 6" yellow cake with vanilla buttercream filling and slices of fresh strawberries on top. Both tiers were frosted in vanilla buttercream with the diamond press/dragees on sides & fondant bow/accents. She was doves as the main theme, so we made a banner topper with doves "holding" it up.
They also ordered 3 dozen sugar cookies frosted & decorated in royal icing. They were wrapped individually for use as favors.
I'm planning on doing some posts about the different reception venues I do weddings at. The one from this past weekend was awesome, so it got me thinking about doing it. So be watching for those!