Oh, How Sweet it is To Be Loved

Love is in the air!

I LOVE this time of year. I know I am totally crazy for saying that right? Mother Nature has been pissed off for over three weeks, dumping snow on us every other day causing all types of chaos but I don’t really care because I still love the month of February!

Not only is it my birthday this coming weekend, but it’s Valentine’s Day! Louis and I don’t usually do too much for V-Day.. Last weekend we took a trip to NYC and spent two nights eating the finest foods and walking at least ten miles a day to sight-see and just revel in the excitement of the city!  That was supposed to be our Valentines Day gift to each other but this morning he impulsively told me to make reservations at Barcelona Wine Bar Saturday night for dinner.. What!! I am so spoiled! 

I love Valentine’s because it is the best time of year for baking! I have so much fun with cakes, cookies, cake pops all in lovely pinks and reds with decadent flavors such as red velvet cinnamon and chocolate raspberry.  I have many orders in the works for the next few months.. so I decided to get into the spirit a few days early by sharing some sugar cookies I did last weekend. 

These were for a Valentine’s Day themed baby shower! How adorable, right?  

The more I practice flooded cookies, the better I get for sure. I love doing it, but it certainly is labor intensive and requires so much patience! I don’t want to let them dry I just want to keep going!! 

Tonight I get to work on another fun order of cupcakes for a catering company who is putting on a Valentine’s Day beer tasting in Springfield, MA! Can’t wait to share!

Stay warm, people of New England! It may be snowy but love will keep you warm! 

-Elena

Love Anchors All

A month or so ago, I posted the beach themed wedding sampler for Kathy and Paul, two people I have known for a very long time.  It was an exciting event and I was insanely flattered that they asked me to contribute cake pops to their special day in place of a traditional wedding cake. After careful planning and color coordination, yesterday was the day, and I spent all week prepping for this one.  It meant a lot to me to do these, and I think they are my most favorite so far!

To be successful in this display, I needed to create something "beachy" but classy, keeping in mind the very elegant venue which was the Branford House on UConn's Avery Point campus.  The colors needed to be eye catching but muted, and the designs had to be intricate but not gaudy.

I wanted them to stand on their own without any distraction from ribbons or "cake topper" focal points. I wanted it to be 100% edible, because it's to easy to get beach themed stuff at the craft store to put on the top. I needed sugar starfish...just HAD to have them.

This display required a lot of detailed fondant work.  The bride told me she was incorporating anchors into her centerpieces so I wanted to add them to my display as well.  They were gorgeous with a pretty gold rope.  The anchor is such a beautiful symbol of love and marriage, and I love how it was used in the decor. The fondant work was tedious but totally worth it!

Now my favorite design ended up being the ones I decided to create on a total whim.  As I molded the flip flops, I couldn't help but think sticking them on would be cute but not enough, I needed something more.  I once had seen cookies that looked like a wave washing onto shore with sand and flip flops, so I decided to create this on a cake pop not knowing what I was getting myself into! These were tough!! But I think they came out beautiful!

The pictures of the Branford House do not do it justice. I was literally floored when I walked in and saw the fireplace.  The detail in the woodwork was exquisite and the ceilings were so beautiful.  

I could not have been happier with the finished product!

The woodwork was the perfect backdrop for these bright cakes.  I took a million pictures, completely obsessed with the dark designs against the white plates.

Such a beautiful venue for a beautiful wedding. Could not be happier for the couple and they had a perfect day for the occasion!  I absolutely love catering weddings.

A Little Disney Magic

Every summer when I was little, my parents packed up the car with suitcases, snacks, pillows and car games and we made the drive from New England to Florida to go to Disney World.  My aunt, uncle and cousins came too, and together the eight of us made the best memories of our childhoods. Hot, sticky days spent waiting in lines to meet Mickey mouse, looking forward to the ride lines that had the fans that blew mist onto you... buying waters and making them last as long as possible because they were like $10 a bottle... spending days at the pool or at the beach.. picking out our souvenirs.. We had so much fun.. Disney definitely holds a special place in my heart.

This display has been in the works for months. An old high school classmate of mine reached out to me to create a display for his sister and her fiancee's Jack & Jill that would be completely Disney themed since the couple is planning to be married there in a few months! Obviously I was thrilled to do it!

This display included a lot of fondant work. I wanted it too look authentic and fun! We went with the classic red, white and black colors to capture the essence of Mickey and Minnie.

These Mickey sprinkles were a great find on Amazon that added a great touch!

I picked up some Mickey scrapbook paper and put it together to make a mat that the plates would sit on.  I also included some romantic quotes from famous Disney movies and typed them into a Disney font generator which I thought was so cool!  The Disney font is so distinct, and this really added to the authenticity of my display.

Recently I have invested in a lot of fondant tools so I can start enhancing the displays and getting more into detail.  I created dresses for Belle and Cinderella, as we decided to include them in the display as well!

More details.. Aren't the Mickey & Minnie so adorable! I feel like they are looking off into the distance at their future together.

 

 A plate of Disney treats! Mickey & Minnie, Cinderella's glass slippers and Belle's red roses.

 Finished display! I love how you could see the mat through the clear glass plates.

 Cinderella and her carriage and glass slipper!

And Belle with her red roses!

I really loved doing this display and I hope everyone enjoyed it! The details really made it and I love this color scheme! Disney themes are the best themes and this one definitely brought me back to my childhood.

-Elena