Celebration Cake (Yellow Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache)

When it comes to yellow cake, fluffy and moist are where it's at in my book. But sometimes I just can't deal with all the crumbs that break off the second I apply frosting. Especially in planning my first ever multiple-tiered cake, I knew I'd need a yellow cake endowed with a touch more strength and structure than my current go-to. I get enough baking anxiety without adding collapsing cake tiers to the not-so-little list of horrors! Luckily my favorite white cake recipe had a yellow cake (egg yolk) variation built right in! A double batch was just right for the 2 tall tiers pictured above (5 x 4 inches and 8 x 5 inches), and the cake came out nicely firm without sacrificing moistness or flavor.

Yellow Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache and Covered in Fondant

Surrounding each cake layer was a generous coating of milk chocolate ganache (I used Trader Joe's Pound Plus bars, which are just $5 for 17.6 oz. and taste seriously amazing). I recommend a milk chocolate-to-heavy cream ratio of 2.8 or 2.9 to 1 so that the ganache will set up firmly and provide a sturdy, smooth (and decadent) base for your fondant covering. And I calculated the total amount of ganache needed using this awesome tool called The Ganacherator. Now if you've read anything about fondant, you'll have heard that a cake covered in fondant will only look as good (read: smooth and straight) as the buttercream or ganache underneath. This is absolutely true, and ganache is much easier to learn with as it will set really firm at room temperature (unlike buttercream). Making celebration cakes is really an art-form and I've got a long long ways to go (as evidenced by the elephant skin, not-quite-straight sides, and drooping of the corners in the above cake). But for anyone interested in going down the rabbit hole, I've shared some of my favorite video tutorials below of ganaching, covering, and smoothing the fondant to get a clean professional look to your fondant cakes. I hope this helps the other beginners out there, and I'd love to get feedback on improving my fondant work from any cake experts out there! Cheers!

Making Ganache for Decorating Cakes by Inspired by Michelle

Covering a Cake in Ganache with Smooth and Straight Sides by Inspired by Michelle

Rolling out Fondant, Covering, and Smoothing a Ganached Cake by Planet Cake

Smoothing Cake Covered in Fondant to Get Sharp Edges by Inspired by Michelle

Sweet Baptism Treats for Baby Warren!

Moon, Stars, Angel, and Lamb Baptism Cake for Baby W's Christening
Inspired by This Cake by PhoebeCakes
Photography by John Manansala

Hi there! Hope you all have been keeping cool if your area's as hot as our's (up to 108 degrees F at one point this weekend!). My new smartphone keeps buzzing me with heat advisory alerts. Even without any heat from baking, AC on full blast, everything dark, and 3 fans on, we were sweating like crazy. Please (oh please) do tell me that the summer heat's simply peaked early. Because if it turns out summer hasn't even brought out its big guns yet, I may not last the season =p. *Starts hummin' tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies...

The actual point of this post isn't actually to whine about a little temperature hike but to share some treats I made for an actual baby =p: my very first fondant cake as well as pistachio French macaron pops and decorated cookies to celebrate the christening of my friend P's little boy! I'm absolutely delighted for his entire family and can't wait to see how quickly Baby W grows in the coming year.

Pistachio Macaron Pops for Baby W's Christening
Photography by John Manansala

The inside of the cake consisted of 3 moist coconut cake layers, freshly chopped mango and mango curd filling, and silky coconut Swiss meringue buttercream. But to tell the truth, most of my attention fell to its outside. Covering my first-ever fondant cake was both exciting and a bit terrifying! I'm quite happy with how everything turned out, but I did have some issues with cracking and definitely have a lot to learn about handling fondant. Now that I've worked with it myself, I'm doubly impressed with all the smooth-sided, straight-edged cakes I see online! Even though I've watched just about every Youtube video that exists on covering cakes with fondant, I think it's one of those things that you have to learn by doing to a large extent. With my first wedding coming up soon, I've already ordered more fondant to practice with.

Hope you enjoy seeing my first fondant effort and other baptism treats and would welcome any tips or favorite fondant brand/recipe recommendations you might have to share!

Angel, Cross, and Sweet Lamb Decorated Cookies for Baby W's Christening
Photography by John Manansala

November Wedding Photo Shoot with Janice Cui

Today it's my delight to finally be able to share a few of the gorgeous photos from a wedding photo shoot to which I contributed desserts. I'm always trying to expand my repertoire, so I jumped at this chance to make ruffled gumpaste flower cake/cupcake toppers inspired by My Cake School. Thanks to wedding photographer Janice Cui for capturing everything wonderfully (I can't get over the bokeh in that first photo of the bride, can you?) and for getting me involved with this project to begin with. All the vendors involved did a splendid job, and I encourage you to check out their sites (linked below). Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

VENDOR CREDITS
Event Coordinator: Elegant Party Plans
Photographer: Janice C Photography
Flowers: J. Morris Flowers
Bridal Gown and Accessories: Layne Corban Bridal
Cake and Cupcakes: 6 Bittersweets
Hairstyle: A Cut To Dye For

Angry Birds! Fondant Cupcake Topper Tutorial!

Happy Friday! I hope everyone's got something fun planned this weekend. Tell me about it comments, please. That way I can at least live vicariously as I prepare for another blistering round of exams 8). Boring things in my life aside, I'm excited to finally share this Angry Birds Fondant Cupcake Topper Tutorial that I was lucky to photograph a few weeks ago. This was one of several recent collaborations with Christine of Pure Joy Events, who recorded the directions while the incredibly talented Loan of PhoebeCakes demonstrated her surprisingly easy technique behind these adorable, edible Angry Bird cupcake toppers. I'm actually a bit behind the times with my dumb (not-so-smart ^_^) phone and have never actually played the Angry Birds game. But it seems to get people pretty excited, so I hope you guys enjoy this! Please head over to Pure Joy Events for the full step-by-step photo tutorial for Angry Bird cupcake toppers!

Spooky Graveyard Vanilla Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes (Guest Post for Pure Joy Events)

Halloween is just over a week away! And I'm uber-excited to announce today that I've been asked to become a regular contributor on my incredibly talented stylist friend Christine's blog, Pure Joy Events. You've probably figured out by now that Halloween is my favorite holiday (what with all the themed posts I've been doin' lately ;p). So it's a no-brainer that my first post over there as an official contributor should be another spooky and scrumptious Halloween-themed cupcake! Please head over to Pure Joy Events to check out my post, recipe, and step-by-step tutorial for making these fondant skull and bone toppers! If you're in a hurry, the printable recipe+tutorial can be found here and the FREE printable for tombstone toppers shared generously by Heather of Chickabug can be downloaded here.

Under the Sea! (Little Mermaid Birthday Treats)

Hey there! I'm taking a little break from studying to share these "Under the Sea" cupcakes I made for a birthday order. They're s'mores-flavored with a graham cracker crust, chunks of Hershey's milk chocolate, chocolate cake, toasted marshmallow frosting, graham cracker "sand", and sea creature marshmallow fondant toppers I made! I also made the cupcake wrapper using the shape I bought online, an image from the movie, card stock paper, and double-sided tape. The birthday girl, Alaina, is turning 6 and loves The Little Mermaid, so of course these and all other desserts were ocean and mermaid themed =). I had a lot of fun with this order -- so fun to get a chance to be creative!

Photos of Entire Dessert Tower Taken by My Mom =)

Sew Sweet! Spools of Thread Cake Pops (Guest Post for Pure Joy Events)

Last week I shared the happy news with you that I'd gotten to contribute treats to the beautiful and imaginative Vintage Sewing Party that Christine of Pure Joy Events threw for her daughter's 7th birthday...and then I promised you a lesson in making your very own edible spools! Well today I'm delighted to unveil my tutorial for these fanciful cake pops as a guest post over on the Pure Joy Events blog. We'd love for you to come join the fun and why not stick around a little longer to browse through the other inspiring party ideas and tutorials available there? If you're in a rush and just want to grab the printable tutorial, you'll find it here.