Sweet 16 Cowgirl Boots for Noelle

Brown and Turquoise Cowgirl Boots Cake

Edna M. and Daughter Noelle

I love country music and anything associated with it. So you can imagine how pleased I was to have received the phone call from Edna asking for a cowgirl boots cake for her lovely daughter Noelle who celebrated her  Sweet 16 today

Mom Edna shared with me that for Noelle's birthday, they were taking her to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and could I please construct a pair of cowgirl boots cake for Noelle. Well...my dear friends...of course I said yes! Now mind you...this challenge was a first for me. As you all know...I have created car cakes, character cakes, a Cartier watch cake, designer purses, and designer shoes...but boots?  How hard could it be? At first...it was a daunting project...but...not being one to back down from a cake challenge I forged forward.

First order of business was to talk about the style of boot cake Noelle might like.

 Remember on the Next Great Baker...when Buddy presented the bakers  with a challenge to create a cake for Miss USA? Well the one thing he said that rang true was "listen to your customer". I always try to listen to all of my wonderful clients, and then of course, I research to get inspiration and talk some more.  For Noelle's cake we decided on a cake that wasn't juvenille, no pinks or purples. I viewed several photos that Edna had sent...and from them I could see that the boots were playful...yet sophisticated. Perfect for a young lady. What caught my eye especially was a pair of boots that had turquoise in them...and so I ran with the turquoise and brown with a hint of silver beads.

I loved speaking with Edna, she is so lovely....and a cake decorator as well!!! Yah...you read correctly...Edna M. is a cake decorator...and amazingly talented!  No pressure there to create a cake that would not only make the birthday girl happy but now...it's being delivered to a cake decorator!

Well...to make a very long story short....the cake was created...and turned out to be a "piece of cake" and a lot of fun to create and deliver! I'm still in awe at how easy it was to deliver. You know how stressful deliveries can be!

And...what made it even more special was finally meeting Edna and her beautiful family in person.

Edna...if you're reading this...the offer still stands for that Cake Playdate in Port!

Happy Sweet 16 Noelle.

Hints for Ease of Applying Fondant to A Cake Boot

1. Roll out your fondant between two sheets of plastic to the size you will need to cover the area in sections on the cake.

2. Open up the plastic and place a piece of parchment to cover the fondant and immediately flip it over.

3. If you are cutting out a pattern place your template over the exposed fondant and using your hobby knife proceed to cut out your pattern.

4. Transfer the fondant still attached to the parchment onto a cookie sheet and place in freezer for about 15 minutes.

5. After 15 minutes or so...remove from freezer. Peel off the parchment and apply fondant  to cake (smooth side up)...allowing the warmth of your hands to thaw the fondant, as you go along forming the fondant to the cake.

This method is really great as the fondant won't stretch and pull...you know that awful distortion that happens when you try to apply fondant to irregular shapes.

I also use this method to cut out intricate stencils. Saves so much time and aggravation!

Cupcakes and Cookies for Shirin

I had so much fun creating these cupcakes and Cookies for the cookie tree for Shirin....a beautiful mommy to be! Shirin is a clothing designer/owner of Shirin NYC. Her wonderful Aunt Sandra and I sat together to brainstorm the concept Sandra had for the cupcakes and cookies.
Since Shirin owns this cothing company, Sandra  thought it would be a great idea to make cookies with the prints of designs found on Shirin's onsie's and little tops in the colors of the adorable outfits Shirin creates.
The cupcakes were inspired by applique designs of little birds and owls, but also fall into the theme of the cookie designs.
Sandra created the tree stand for the the cookies. How creative is that!

Cookies were a lemon/vanilla sugar cookie...and the cupcakes were a blackout chocolate cake filled with cookies and cream topped with Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream.

Here is wishing Shirin good luck.

Martini Themed Birthday Cake During The Christmas Season

Had such a hard time not making a couple of French Martinis while creating this gift package birthday cake for Mollie (aka Marlena) this past weekend. Inspiration was drawn from the holiday season and most importantly from my consultation with Theresa of the fabulous Italian Restaurant - Il Bacco in Queens, New York.
                                                   Happy Birthday Mollie!

The cakes Blackout Chocolate Cake filled Raspberry Preserves and Strawberry Compote Italian Meringue Buttercream. They were served with a fresh sugared strawberry topping - which by the way is so very easy to make.

                                                     Sugared Strawberries

                                                     1 Pint Fresh Strawberries
                                                     1/2 cup sugar

Rinse and quarter strawberries and place in a bowl.
Pour sugar over strawberries and mix through to evenly coat the strawberries.
Cover and place in refrigerator for about 2 hours. The sugar will draw out the yummy juices from the strawberries.
Serve the strawberry goodness.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL!

AND

MAY 2012

 BE

HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS!



                                 

Barbara Streisand Theme Birthday Cake for Lauren's Mom

When Lauren M. called me to create a cake for her mom's birthday for this past weekend I was thrilled. Lauren one of my newest customers had me create a Knick's themed birthday cake for her dad just about two week ago.

 Lauren's mom loves Barbara Streisand! Enough said...I knew exactly where to go with this cake.
Barbara in a black gown, a mic in her hand and a hat that she might have worn ... no guarantee there, in Hello Dolly....but then again...the hats she wore in that movie were really big. Nevertheless, I wanted to get a hat of sorts on my little figurine characature of her.
I had seen Barbara in pearls and with other hats with flowers and a fan so I incorporated those on the side of the cake as well as "pinkish" make-up. I don't think I've seen Barbara in bolder color lipsticks.
As a cake designer, people ask sometimes, where do you get your ideas? Well honestly, for the most part the initial inspiration comes from my customers. I get an idea as to what they have in mind, then I simply go off and do research on what they've said. This time was a little harder as there weren't any and I mean there weren't any cakes I could find with a Barbara Streisand Theme to help jumpstart my creative process. So,  I just found pics of Barbara and her movies, watched her song videos  and listened to a cd of her music I had stashed in my cd archives. My God she has an awesome voice! Once in the Barbara zone...there was no turning back!
Lauren's mom's birthday celebration was held at "388" a lovely restaurant in Roslyn, New York.
Oh...by the way...the cake flavor? Blackout Chocolate Cake filled with Cookies and Cream.
Okay...so now...Barbara's song is stuck in my head...."Memories of the Way We Were". How I love that song!

Winter Wonderland Sweet 16 For Michelle

Here ia a photo of our beautiful Michelle LaRinga who had her Sweet 16 on Friday, December 2. She not only is beautiful on the outside but beautiful on the inside as well. When I first met Michelle and her mom Maria and brother Luca at the shop, I was taken by her sweetness. It was as if I knew her and her lovely mom and brother for years!

Together we designed her cupcake favors. They chose a Winter Wonderland theme featuring white snowflakes to be place in a hexagon box in a cloud of white tuille, tied with a silver ribbon.

The cupcakes after the tasting were half - vanilla butter cakes, filled with a luscious passion fruit buttercream and topped with vanilla buttercream, sprinkled with coconut.  The other half of the cupcakes...Michelle and mom wanted to please all their guests with a choice of cupcakes - Deep Dark Black Out Chocolate Cake filled with Nutella Buttercream, drizzled with caramel and topped with a Vanilla buttercream.

Michelle's Venue was the lovely Roma View on Cross Bay Blvd. in Howard Beach, New York.

Well Sweet Michelle...I hope you had a fabulous Sweet 16 Party. May you always be happy! And, may all of your Sweet 16 wishes come tru

These gorgeous centerpieces were created by Rose of Designs by Rose in Howard Beach, New York. Rose creates the most beautiful and creative floral designs. Her design work is worthy of being featured on David Tutera's Bride Show!

Noah's Army Cake and Cupcakes

A first for Sweet Alchemy by Amelia....an army cake for my young friend Noah...Laura's son on his birthday. Noah is all about army...army tanks...army camoflage, army guys...army uniforms. You rock little army guy! Hope your party was the best ever.

Happy Birthday Noah!

Hannah's Little Mermaid Cake and Cupcakes

 Little Mermaid Cake and Cupcakes for Hannah

  Here is a cake and cupcakes I created for my little friend Hannah for her birthday. Hannah and her mom Laura love love love Ariel in the movie "The Little Mermaid". Their favorite scene is when Ariel is sitting on a rock and singing while the ocean waves splash behind her.
Happy Birthday Hannah!