We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Oh Christmas time...  My favourite time of year.  My house is filled with the smells of cooking turkey, sounds of family and of course.... desserts!

This year, we decided to kick it up a notch.  We bought some new items for Christmas dinner and decided to make it a more traditional looking Christmas dinner.  Nice tableware, nice tablecloth, Christmas crackers, nice wine... and even a new gravy boat!  Oh yeah, Christmas was getting serious!  I even purchased a glass pie plate to make a new dessert I wanted to try out.  Who would have thought, little miss baker over here doesnt have a pie plate!  Who knew?

So what did I come up with, you ask?

May I present to you... the Apple Crumble Cheesecake Pie!  Yup... cheesecake pie. 

Essentially it is a apple crumble cheese cake in a pie crust.  It was yummy.  But in hindsight, I would alter the recipe if I was to make this again.  I would prefer a different type of crumble on top.  I would have enough pastry to do a big crust.  I didn't have enough pastry to make a pretty pie crust.

But, the taste was good and enjoyed by all.  That is all that matters!  It just might make an appearance again... sometime.

Seriously??? Goat Cheese & Cupcakes?

My darling pod spouse Kim has been bugging me for 3 years to make her a goat cheese cupcake.  Yes, that is what I said.  A goat cheese cupcake.  The thought was never appetizing to me as I am not a goat cheese lover, so I have never seriously entertained her request.

However, Kim's birthday is December 25th.  So every year, to make sure that she feels special on her Christmas birthday, I make her a special cake or some cupcakes.  So what better time than her birthday to experiment with goat cheese.

After some time on the internet, I was surprised to find out this concept was not that new.  It had been done... quite a few times, in many different ways.

So after some thought and consideration, I decided on my flavour combination and how I was going to create this goat cheese frosting.

The result, this lovely blueberry cupcake with a goat cheese/cream cheese frosting.  I was told that the cupcake was very flavourful and moist, and the frosting was like a cream cheese frosting, but with a kick!

A success.  Kim advised me that they now belong in her book of favourites!

Happy 29th Birthday Kimmie!

The Camper's Lifestyle

So I was asked quite some time ago to make a canoe cake. 

Again, I couldn't say no.  Well, the 3D canoe cake was scaled back a couple times due to party size.  And after much deliberation, we ended up here.

This is an 8" round vanilla bean cake with vanilla bean frosting.  Set amongst the camper's lifestyle.  This was created for a friend's husband who canoes through Algonquin every year. 

She was quite thrilled with this cake and I cannot wait to see it lit up with the candles in the fire pit!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Dufferin Entrepreneurs Trade Show

I was invited by a dear friend to attend the Dufferin Entrepreneurs Trade Show in November with her.  She runs a wonderful catering company called "Hands on Catering" and she thought my cupcakes on display would be the perfect compliment to her wonderful home cooked meals.

I was flattered by the invite and just couldn't resist!  30 dozen cupcakes and 3 days later... a success.  I never knew that I could have so much fun selling my products! 

It was truly an inspiring day and I look forward to more shows in the future! 

This is BJ - owner of HANDS ON CATERING!

And behind those cupcakes is Melissa... my one and only bestie!  No matter the task, this girls got my back!

Autumn Harvest

This 2-tier cake started out with an entirely different concept.  Someone had presented a Wilton cake design and asked me to make it using fall colours.

Unfortunately, after 4 hours of work with my bestie, we looked down at our decorations and thought... "ugh that's ugly!"

Luckily, my client was willing to allow me to use my creativity and I put together this beautiful fall colour inspired cake.  Clean lines and satin ribbon.  Beautiful fall flowers. 

It came together wonderfully and everyone was happy in the long run!

Top layer was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Bottom layer, apple spice cake with maple buttercream!  Yummy fall flavours too!

"It's my Life"

It's my life.... it's now or never.... I ain't gonna live forever.... I just wanna live while I'm alive... It's my life!

So I was asked if I could make a 3D guitar cake.  At first I was quite apprehensive about this request for 2 reasons.  First reason - I was really busy and was hoping to take a step back from cakes for a while.  It's these big 3D cakes that take up all my time!  And secondly - I had never done a 3D guitar cake before.  I've done a piano cake, but never a guitar!

But the second reason that caused the apprehension is the same reason that... well... I just couldn't say no!

And it was a committment from there.

This cake was made from red velvet cake.  The arm and top piece are made from rice krispy treats. And as you can see, it wasn't very stury on it's own, therefore needed reinforcements under the arm.

This cake almost didn't fit in my trunk.  And this cake board was made myself from cardboard and tin foil because I couldn't find a cake board big enough!

I had planned to use a craft wire for the strings.  The cakes I had referred to online had the string made out of fondant and they didn't seem to lay too flat.  But unfortunately, the craft wire was just too thick and strong for the fondant.  Hence, the thread came out.  It worked perfectly!!!

And there you have it.  My very first 3D guitar cake. 

This was made for a fellow employee at my place of work and it was for her good friend's birthday party.  This friend is the lead singer in a Bon Jovi cover band... hence the title of this blog "It's my life!"

I have to say... I quite enjoy making these instrument cakes!  Maybe another one will make it's way to my schedule soon!