He's cute, he's sweet, and so much fun, the little sweetheart is turning one!

Birthdays are in the air! My old friend Erin contacted me about doing her son's first birthday cake and smash cake. I was so excited when she told me it was a sweetheart theme because Jackson was a little Valentine baby. 

She sent me this invite and wanted to stick to a teal chevron and red heart theme. 

She also wanted a red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting. That complicated the idea of fondant because while cream cheese frosting must be refrigerated, fondant cannot be. 

So I stuck with a clean frosted cake and used a 50/50 mix of marshmallow fondant and modeling chocolate just as the decorations. 

The cake turned out stunning, don't you think?! 

I also made a matching smash cake with chevron sides using the petal method. 

I think someone enjoyed it...

Pretty Peacock

One of my former co-workers sent me a picture on Thursday of a very intricate jumbo peacock cupcake for her mother's birthday.  Admittedly, this thing was so intricate, I thought she was joking for a second.  Regardless, I (of course) told her "no problem! see you Sunday!"

The longer I stared at the photo, the less intimidating it became, and I finally figured out the logistics of this.  Despite wanting to charge punitive damages for the emotional distress {bad lawyer quip}, it actually was far less daunting.  It turned out so beautiful, and Sandy's mom said it was the prettiest cake she had ever seen.  {blushing a little!}

It was just a simple white cake in the jumbo mold. Instead of fondant, the peacock is covered in modeling chocolate for a better taste.  The tail feathers are also made of modeling chocolate.  Although the pictures don't display it, the feathers are painted with a gold luster dust.

Stay Sweet!

Market Research

After trick or treat was over, my husband and I were left with an abundance of candy. Not wanting to let my inner fat kid completely take over and have snickers for breakfast, I decided I needed to find a way to make use of our leftovers, Pretty Sweet style. 

We had some of our friends over to test out my new creation, for which I have yet to come up with a name more clever than "Butterfinger Cupcakes." I feel another Simspons reference coming on...

Anyway, the first couple we had over to test the cupcakes approved to say the least. In fact, Erin gave arguably the most vulgar-and-complimentary-at-the-same-time response when she finished. She put the wrapper down and said "I think I need a cigarette." Admittedly I was shocked and flattered. 

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the first, ahem, satisfying cupcakes. Naturally, we had more friends over so I could whip up a fresh batch. Here they are, chocolate cupcakes with a butterfinger ganache center and peanut butter cream cheese frosting. 

And of course we need to see the center of these bad boys...

We have another couple coming tonight to complete our market research taste test, but I think it's safe to say these are making a permanent appearance on the menu. 

Any ideas on a catchy name?