A Sith Fifth

When a good friend and neighbor asks you to make a cake for their turning-five year old, it's just a no-brainer. when that 5 year old is one of your child's best friends, there is no doubt that the cake has to be GOOD.

However, when that very same cake happens to have a star wars theme, a topic that is literally eaten and breathed in your house... such that you are forced to act in character most days before your feet even hit the floor in the morning... well.. you'd best believe the cake better go big or go home. like to a different galaxy, if it doesn't measure up to the critical judgement of your own house of padawans.

I was ready, though. I had successfully created a Star Wars themed cake for another boy, and like I said.. every day in this house is like my very own Jedi-training camp. Of course, I did retain some hesitation, because I had also signed up to create a tank cake for the very same day... but I was up for the challenge.

My target client was a 5 year old boy, and he wanted something to focus on Darth Vader, and the 'Blue Storm Trooper.' No-- not the blue CLONE Trooper we all love and adore as Captain Rex... he wanted a blue STORM Trooper. (Totally different helmet, dude!) I was gonna work the Sith for this Fifth.

The mom gave me free reign to do what I do, but requested that there be 2 dozen cupcakes to serve to party-goers, as well as a small centerpiece cake for candle blowing etc. Vanilla cupcakes, vanilla buttercream, and the cake was to be chocolate with cookies and cream filling. Easy peasy.

After creating my own Darth Vader and Storm Trooper cookie cutters, it was simple to create my 2 dozen fondant cupcake toppers.

I created a larger, 2.5-D replica of Darth's helmet to use on top of the cake. (yes, I did write 2.5-D... it wasn't totally three dimensional, but it was more than the flat fondant toppers. you can thank me later for introducing you to 2.5-D) From that point, it all just kind of came together. (with a little use of the force, that is!)

The end result was a 3-tiered, 8-inch round cake, covered in black fondant. a little light-saber red fondant trim here and there, some painstakingly tedious hand-cut lettering and 5 more blue storm trooper guys (get it.. FIVE stormtroopers? cause he was turning FIVE?) oh, and a fondant cape and a light-stick for a light saber... and you get the following.

My live-in advisory board gave me high-fives and deemed the cake to be "AWESOME"... so with confidence I brought everything to the party for set up.

Once all the cupcakes were in place on their towers flanking the cake, I MIGHT have started humming the Imperial March... but I won't admit to anything else like breathing like Darth himself. Cause you know... THAT would be weird.

In the end, Jacob seemed to like the cake, and his crew of pals also got a kick taking a bite out of the Dark Side.

Happy birthday, Jacob!!! May the force be with you always!!

Blooming Cupcakes

When it comes to birthdays, I love a good cupcake. However, if I'm being honest.. I get a little bored of just arranging them on a platter when presenting them to the birthday boy or girl. Sure for a party, they look nice when arranged on a cupcake tower.... but this spring I wanted to do something a little different.

Recently, I was able to put my creative juices to work when I was asked to make some cupcakes for a teacher in my daughter's school. I was told she likes blues, greens, butterflies and chocolate. After trolling the internet for inspiration, I decided to do a blooming flowerpot of cupcakes, and finished with some fake leaves and butterflies.

For the first 15 minutes after assembly, I think the bouquet looked amazing. But then... the weight of the buttercream started to prove too great for the angle in which some of the cupcakes were attached, and started to slide off the cupcake bases. Overall, I'd rate this project GOOD.... but not awesome.

When I delivered the bouquet to the school, another teacher saw the cupcakes and contacted me to see if I could do something for her daughter's birthday that weekend. She was having a shabby chic theme, and thought it would be great to have a cupcake centerpiece. not being able to resist the chance to improve upon the last concept, I eagerly agreed and set about thinking of a way to make it better... and less heavy.

What I came up with was essentially a topiary structure (all pale pinks, greens and ivory... totally shabby chic!) which hosted MINI cupcakes instead of the full sized buttercream beasts I used last time.

I absolutely loved the way this came out, and at the center of a long table, it looked completely darling next top the lace napkins and china place settings. As seen from the picture below, the mini cakes were able to defy gravity much better than their heavier counterparts.

My only regret is that the icing roses got a bit hard... especially the thinner edges of the rose 'petals'. At least the cupcakes were soft! Next time I do a centerpiece like this, I will be sure to find a hybrid solution. perhaps just a single dome structure, but use the minis instead of the regular sized cupcakes. I think the lighter weight and removing the need to defy gravity will allow me to use a softer buttercream that won't dry out so fast... OR slide off.

Dr. Seuss Week

In order to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, my daughter's school hosted "Dr. Seuss Week", in which they had a chance to partake in something Seuss-related each day.

Wednesday seemed like a great day to bring in a Stepford-version tribute to the famous author, so after some arranging with her teacher, I created a platter of Green Eggs and Ham. The ham is, of course, not really ham. I molded some rice crispies treats and covered with a fantastic shade of green, then used my edible black marker to cartoonize it even more. Fondant must have been created with Seuss in mind.... looks like it came right out of the book.. including the fancy fork! The Ham was flanked by some basic butter cookies, including a handful of gluten free cookies for a child who had allergy concerns.




of course I couldn't stop there, and had to add another thing or two. Or, Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes, to be more precise. Behold some chocolate cupcakes, topped with a very blue buttercream, garnished with blue cotton candy "hair".



together they made for a fun presentation, and the kids (all kindergartners, by the way) truly enjoyed celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday with a little party.



Once at the school and all set up, I also added 2 more final gluten-free cookies to my cupcake towers. While I did not make gluten free cupcakes for Thing 1 and Thing 2, I did create two decorated cookies in their names.


So here's to Dr. Seuss, and all of the wonderful ways he's sparked our imaginations over the years! Happy birthday!