The Hunger Games movie came out this weekend, and I've never felt this excited about a movie in a long time. The books were fantastic and if you read them you will agree you cannot put them down. They didn't disappoint with the movie. Rare.
I had some fun this weekend making more tie dyed themed cupcakes and inspiration came to me to make cupcakes on fire.

Using Wilton tip #97, I filled half the side of a piping big with red icing, the other half with yellow icing.

And it piped out like this:

The original "on fire" cupcakes from this weekend:

It's becoming more and more popular to have a winter wedding. If you're lucky it will snow the perfect fluffy kind, and your pictures turn out beautifully white. If your not so lucky it snows too much and your guests have to toboggan to your reception.
This bride was lucky.

Congrats Angela and Dan! Their day was nice, especially nice for this time of year. The wedding cake was three flavours: the top tier banana chocolate chunk, the middle was blueberry cake with berry buttercream and the bottom layer tuxedo. Some winter elements were brought onto the wedding cake: royal icing snowflake toppers and sugar icicles. Here is a little tutorial for both:

How to make royal icing snowflake toppers
Print your snowflake design and place parchment paper on top, tape it to your surface so it doesn't move. Make your favourite royal icing recipe, place it in a piping bag and trace the snowflake.

• Do not pipe too thin. Using #2 tip won't work, it will be too fragile. Pipe using tip #3 or 4. Or this is what will happen:

• For a nice effect while still wet sprinkle white sugar crystals over your piped snowflake.
• Wait at least 24 hours, 48 is better, for it to dry completely.
• Once dry, flip it over, pipe a line of royal icing on the back and attach a bamboo skewer (longer than a toothpick). Wait to dry.
• Make sure you make a lot more than you need, these are VERY delicate.
• For a shiny finish, spray pearl luster spray onto your dried snowflake.

How to make sugar icicles
I used hard candy mix, pretty much just sugar and corn starch. Follow directions carefully. When the sugar is boiled to a specific temperature, use a spoon to create the icicle shape. Start with a big drop and quickly move your spoon down for the end trail. Do this on top of a greased cookie sheet, not a plate as shown below.
• Be very careful working with boiled sugar, it is hotter than oil and can burn you.
• You want to work very fast, the temperature of the sugar gets to a certain point and you don't want it over that degree--it will start to brown.
• To achieve the clear sugar icicle take the tip before this seriously...work fast :)
• They harden immediately and can be "glued" to the fondant on the cake using water (brush the back and hold on fondant for a couple seconds).
• You can spray luster dust on them for a shine.

Bringing colour into your winter theme cake can be done with a beautiful snowflake brooch or a satin ribbon. For the edges of each tier you can achieve fake "snow" using this edible glitter, looks fantastic.

And voila.
A winter themed wedding cake.

Beast: I want to do something for her... but what?
Cogsworth: Well, there's the usual things: flowers... chocolates... promises you don't intend to keep...

This is a Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Ariel from The Little Mermaid on this  Disney themed cake. Both characters were created out of fondant. I had the pleasure of baking and designing for a set of twins who are in love with Disney. Happy birthday Christina and Alexandria!

These are photos I took with hipstamatic.
I was too focused on making Belle that I couldn't stop and grab my Canon. Sorry. Next time :)

So pretty much what you see here is the character formed by building the shapes individually out of fondant and put together in layers. Starting with the largest layer, the skin.

Um. I didn't know they had this much cleavage, I guess as a kid you don't notice these things.. but wow. I wanted to incorporate the rose symbolism from Beauty and the Beast so I made a single rose out of gumpaste and brushed with gold.

ps. Can you believe the Little Mermaid was made in 1989?!!

This past weekend was the gift fair I participated in. This year I decided to do sugar cookies. They make great kris kringle gifts and stocking stuffers. I did a gold and white scheme throughout.

The lighting was pretty terrible but here is my table:

Of course cupcakes were there. Chocolate, peppermint and marble were thrown into the mix, plus I did some coconut flavours (because white went with my theme).

My personal favourite was the box of snowy tree cookies:

Above were the sugar cookies. I made holiday tags for the individual packages and as a treat for you here they are for download. These can be used on those last minute gifts I know you are all scrambling to purchase. You're not alone.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FREE HOLIDAY TAGS!

This weekend I had the pleasure of creating a cupcake tower for a very special anniversary of 50 years. It's such a beautiful thing and some would say rare to experience...
Most couples can't believe it themselves :)

Congratulations Pattie's parents, Pat & Rufus Goodland, for reaching the golden 50.

There were three flavours: Classic v, Classic c and Spiced Carrot. The decor on Classic c was a violet flower made from gumpaste. To make these, use this cutter, and the shell tool to create the texture on the petals.

Spiced carrot had gold "50" medallions made from gumpaste (the white circles) and royal icing painted with gold dust.

And Classic c had gold sugar...

As a tribute to my previous post on vintage candy shops below is a photo of some candy from the 60s. It was part of Pattie's planning to have a buffet with candies found in the 60s. Do you remember these?:

These are plantain cinnamon fudge cupcakes with PUMPKIN cream cheese icing. Using the recipe from here, add 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree to the icing. I experimented with a 1/2 cup at first but quickly found out it made the icing runny.

For the eyes, which would also make GREAT edible googly eyes, I put my Smarties pack to use.

You may not want to use the dark brown ones, the pupils do not turn out. So, just eat those ones.

Using royal icing, I use this recipe from bake at 350, pipe out a blob of icing on top of parchement paper.

Press a smartie into it, don't be perfect so that some eyes look to the side!

Grab a toothpick and dab it into red food colouring to create the bloody veins. Dye the rest of the royal icing black and pipe on pupils... again, not too perfect.

Enjoy your eyeball cupcake...

Visit The Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle today for an amazing post on how to make these beauties!

<--- my own collection of stands (you might have seen at my shop). I try to hunt for plates with patterns or unique shapes.

sneak preview of tomorrow's post ...

Here is a cake that wants to be a drink. This cake was made for my friend Melissa, happy birthday! She loves red velvet, so I filled the 'drink' portion with cream cheese icing and the outside is chocolate buttercream.

The perfect cake to enjoy on my patio...

I started by carving the shape of the coconut cup, making sure to go deep enough to have a good portion of cream cheese icing to ooze out when it's cut.

After a coat of buttercream, I melted dark chocolate and I made the texture of a coconut by 'painting' on strokes with the chocolate.

The garnishes of a strawberry, cherry, lemon and mint were made out of fondant. The hibiscus flower was made out of gumpaste.

It's a drink that won't give you a hangover.

It was my friend's 30th birthday this weekend. Happy birthday Mary! She had a fabulously fun party. I had so many ideas for her cake it was hard to narrow it down ...so I put them all on one cake. Worried it would be too much, but it wasn't for Mary. She is awesome like that.

Idea one: She loves purple and the paisley and flower pattern reminds me of her.
Idea two: Adapted from my word cake concept, her friends and family sent me words describing her and incorporated them into the cake. (Gullible was most popular...!!)

And finally I painted an abstract world map at the top, made toothpick flags of every single country she's been to. All 21 of them. No joke.

Below is the full paisley patterned cake with the flags.
Crazy.

It was custom right down to the flavour. Chocolate cake and vanilla cake layers with nutella buttercream. With the vanilla cake dyed purple, of course.