Shopping Bag Cake!

In Montreal, every girl knows that one of the best places to shop is Holt Renfrew! From makeup and handbags to jewellery and clothes, Holt's is known as the high-end retailer!

Since it's such a landmark for every shopaholic, I knew it wouldn't be long until I would make a Holt Renfrew shopping bag cake, and here it is!







The cake was for a 30th birthday celebration! The birthday girl also recently had a baby so I added a silver Tiffany baby spoon (since Holt's is home to Tiffany's!) falling out of the bag.

Holt Renfrew, Tiffany & Co. and pearls - the perfect combination for a shopaholic's ideal cake!

Doctor Cake!

Since I’ve started this cake decorating journey several months back, my boyfriend has been leaving me less than subtle hints about what kind of cake I would be making him for his birthday! For the most part, he has been dying for a hockey cake, but unfortunately for him, I've stripped it from my cake repertoire. Instead, I found the perfect replacement!

My boyfriend is currently in medical school, so I decided that his birthday cake should reflect this other important aspect of his life (besides hockey!).

Here’s how it turned out!







I had SO much fun making the little pills, (bloody) band-aids, stethoscope and of course, the essential reflex hammer (which I actually find rather amusing in real-life too!). And obviously I had to throw some chest hair into the mix also!

He absolutely loved his cake!!!! Plus, it was chocolate cake with Oreo buttercream frosting - what's not to love??

A Special Surprise For a Milestone Birthday!

Unfortunately for me, a significant part of my family lives out of town in Toronto. This means that we are rarely able to celebrate important family events as a complete cohesive unit! The fact that my mom, my dad and I have different work schedules doesn’t help the situation either – making it difficult for us to get away together to visit the family.

However, with a huge family milestone coming up, my parents were planning a quick weekend trip to Toronto. The milestone? My Grandfather’s 85th Birthday!

Since it was a BIG birthday, my dad and his two sisters in Toronto were planning to throw a party to celebrate the occasion!

One of my aunts had the idea that even though I wouldn’t be able to make the trip, I should make a surprise birthday cake for the event, and send it off with my parents! I was so excited that although I was not able to be there in person, I would be able to contribute one of the most important elements of a birthday party – the cake! Not to mention, my grandparents have been two of my greatest supporters throughout this whole experience, so I knew that having me make the birthday cake would mean so much, not only to me, but to them as well.

Before my grandfather retired, he worked as an engineer at Bell, so although I immediately nixed the idea of a phone cake when my aunt brought it up, I went along with it anyway!

Seeing as my grandfather, grandmother, dad, and aunts were one of the first families to test out the fashionable “Princess” phone, my parents thought it would be fitting that I make an exact replica of the one they used to have in cake form. So I did!









The pink Princess phone – like the one my family used to have! – was vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. It sits next to an old Bell Telephone book, which is chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting (I come from a long line of chocoholics!). Next to the Bell Telephone book, I placed a fondant message pad with a Happy Birthday message on it, along with a fondant pen!

I was so happy to be able to take part in the family celebration through my custom cake. Even though I wasn’t there physically, my grandfather would know that I love him and that I was thinking about him on his milestone birthday!

25th Anniversary Cake!

When my friend Emily asked me for a last minute 25th anniversary cake for her parents' friends, I was definitely up for the challenge, even though I had another HUGE and VERY important order to work on!

With the deadline only days away, here is what I came up with!



The cake was vanilla with chocolate frosting and I covered it in light blue fondant, with white and yellow polka dots, and a yellow 25 brushed with silver to emphasize the milestone anniversary!

Black & White Beauty!

As you can see from going back to older blog posts, my friend Jaclyn and her family have done a great job at sustaining and expanding my cake portfolio! With HER birthday fast approaching, I knew I had to make something really special!!

During one of our many coffee dates, I took mental notes about what kind of cakes she recently loved when watching “Cake Boss” and other such shows, so I knew a while in advance what kind of cake I really wanted to make for her!

As her birthday drew near, I didn’t know if Jaclyn wanted to design her own birthday cake, if her mom would pick for her and make it a surprise, or if I could surprise BOTH of them and execute my very own cake design idea! After telling Jaclyn that I had the most PERFECT idea in mind, she decided to let me have creative control and surprise her!

Here is what I came up with!







This black, white and gold cake was PERFECT for Jaclyn! It was simple yet beautiful, classy and elegant all at the same time – just like her!!

Though it was hard for Jaclyn to LET me surprise her, I think that the end result was definitely worth the wait!

Happy Mother's Day!

Even though I had 4 other orders due this weekend, I knew I wanted to do something special to celebrate mother’s day!

I decided to make simple yet beautiful and elegant flower cupcakes to show my appreciation for the special ladies in my life!

Here they are!









Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!! :)

A Walk on the Wild Side!

With the continuing popularity of the animal print cakes, I was not surprised in the least when I got a request for a leopard print cake for a 15 year old girl’s birthday celebration!

Though I absolutely love doing the zebra print, it was nice to try something new while keeping the same animal print theme alive!

Since leopard print consists of black and different shades of brown, I was asked to top it off with a pretty pink bow, since the cake was, of course, for a teenaged girl!

Here’s how it turned out!





Everyone absolutely loved the cake, and it's always nice to get the chance to try something new!

A Special Birthday Treat!

During the week (when I’m not trapped in the kitchen!) I work at an elementary school. One of my co-workers - and her family! - has been following me on my cake journey every step of the way! With her daughter’s 10th birthday coming up, she knew that the celebration would not be complete without a custom cake by me! She decided that she wanted both her daughter and herself to be surprised by my cake creation so she left all of the decorating details in my hands!

Here’s what I came up with!





Instead of the usual birthday gift style of cake, I wanted to do something a little different! I came up with this new custom cake in order to give her daughter a cake design that no one else has had yet!

They both LOVED it!!! I was so happy to be able to play a small role in the birthday celebration! :)

A Trip to India!

As you can probably already see, my family has done a great job at promoting my cakes - even from far distances! A while back, my aunt in Toronto told me to expect an e-mail from her friend here in Montreal regarding a cake, and alas! The e-mail arrived!

My aunt’s friend wanted something special for her niece who was about to celebrate her 25th birthday. Seeing as her niece was to leave for India a few days after her birthday, she thought that something India-themed would be suitable for the occasion. Knowing that I could not possibly pull a Taj Mahal cake off, I went the “inspired” route instead!

The birthday celebration was to be rather small, so instead of dealing with lots of leftover cake (since most of the people attending don’t even eat cake!), I was asked to make a dozen cupcakes instead!

Here they are!







The end result was a truly India-inspired batch of cupcakes!!

Football Cupcakes!

With my boyfriend’s brother’s birthday approaching, I knew I wanted to do something special to help celebrate! Knowing that his birthday weekend was also going to be one of my busiest weekends to date (5 orders – 3 days!), I decided to make some cupcakes instead – a nice alternative to an actual cake!

His brother loves sports so the cupcakes definitely had to reflect that. Luckily for me, football is one of his favourite sports (I didn’t have to make a Habs cake!) so I decided to make a dozen little football cut-outs to top off each cupcake!



Needless to say, he loved them!

1 order down, 4 more to go!

A Hole in One!

When my friend Diana asked me to make a cake for her mom's birthday, she immediately knew what kind of cake would be perfect for the occasion! Seeing as her entire family loves a variety of sports, it seemed fitting that her mom's birthday cake keep with that tradition. Her mom LOVES to play golf, so Diana thought it would be a great idea to showcase her mom's love of golf in her birthday cake!



The golf cake is chocolate with green buttercream grass frosting, and some crushed graham cracker sandtraps!

Diana's mom LOVED her birthday cake, making the end result totally worth the painfully tedious piping job! :)

Sweet 16: Take Two!

Animal print has really become a popular cake design option! Paired with some fun, bright and girly colours, it has the potential to be the perfect cake design for a Sweet 16 Birthday bash!

I was asked to make yet another Sweet 16 cake, and with the ever growing popularity of the zebra print, it seemed like the perfect design for a celebratory cake (not to mention, the party invites were zebra print, so what better way to tie the whole theme together than with a matching cake?!). Since the invites featured bright pink as well, I incorporated all of these elements on a 2-tiered cake to create a beautiful and cohesive theme!









The bottom tier was vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, and the top tier was chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.

And of course, no Sweet 16 cake is ever complete without a great big bow on top!

Sweet 16!

A while back I was asked to make (my very first!) Sweet 16 Birthday cake! Since it was for a Sweet 16 party, it definitely had to be able to feed a good number of hungry teenagers, so in addition to it being my first Sweet 16 cake, it was also my very first 2-tiered cake!

Despite being terribly nervous to face a few of my "firsts" in just one cake, I was also excited to have the chance to make a really fun and girly cake, something I could really get creative with!

I was asked to make the cake pink, purple and black with either stripes, polka dots or anything else suitable for a Sweet 16.

With that in mind, I came up with what I'm quite certain is a truly fun, girly and celebratory Sweet 16 cake!





The purple bottom tier is covered with pink and black polka dots of various sizes, while the pink top tier is covered in black zebra stripes! And of course, it wouldn't be complete without a giant purple bow on top! I also added a curvy "16" to the front of the cake to emphasize this very special birthday! It was truly the perfect cake to help celebrate such an important day!

With 2 more "firsts" out of my way, I'm ready for my next cake challenge!

Spring has Sprung!

With spring FINALLY here after what seems like a long and terrible winter, I was delighted to be asked to make a cake for a woman who loves the colour purple (also one of my favourite colours!) and tulips! What a perfect way to parallel the beatufiul weather we've been having (besides today...it's actually quite dark and rainy out!) in the form of a delicious cake!

I have to admit, I had never made tulips before so I was a little bit nervous. Also, I had no idea how I would actually display them on the cake!



I used a few different shades of purple, as well as yellow and white for contrast. Everyone loved the cake! It was definitely the best cake for a purple tulip lover!

Sorority Sugar RUSH

With the end of the university semester fast approaching, many other things are also coming to a close. My friend Emily wanted to surprise her sorority sisters with something special for their last sorority meeting of the year. What better way to surprise them than with a custom cake by me?!



The cake features the sorority's colours as well as some of their symbols, like a gold key and some owls.

The sisters were so surprised and they absolutely loved the cake!

Even though I'm not in their sorority (or any other sorority for that matter), I was still really happy to play a small role in their last meeting of the year!

Triple Birthday Extravaganza!

When I was asked to make a cake to help celebrate the birthdays of 6-year-old twin girls and their grandmother, I was quite honored to play a small role in such a multi-generational celebration!

Since it was Easter weekend and since it is FINALLY starting to feel like Spring, I was excited to make a fun, girly and bright cake that would truly fit the occasion.



It was definitely a nice change to make such a bright and girly cake! Spring has definitely sprung and it was so nice to be able to show it through this fun birthday celebration cake!

A Special Thank You Cake!

I'm currently in my last semester of university (2 1/2 weeks left!!) and cannot wait to graduate so that I can follow my dreams and head off to pastry school! Throughout my university career, many people have helped me along the way and this past week when I needed some major help (and QUICKLY), one person in particular truly stepped up to the plate and worked her magic!

I was SO grateful and wanted to thank her with a special gift - a cake!







It turned out to be the perfect thank you gift! It also quickly became one of my favourite cakes that I've made thus far and I can't wait to make more like it!

Missoni Mission

It's become a birthday tradition in my friend Jaclyn's home to celebrate with a cake by me! So with her mom's birthday fast approaching, Jaclyn got right to work to come up with the perfect birthday cake idea. After some thought, Jaclyn found a gorgeous Missoni sweater that she wanted me to use for inspiration for her mom's birthday cake.

I used the colours and the squiggly stripe pattern of the sweater to come up with my own interpretation of a Missoni cake!



Jaclyn and her family (and especially her mom - the birthday girl!) LOVED it!

It truly was a made-to-order designer cake!

A Cake for Dog Lovers

When my aunt asked me to make a birthday cake for her sister-in-law, I said yes! When I asked what she had in mind, her answer definitely intimidated me - a Bernese Mountain Dog cake! It was the only natural choice seeing as my aunt's sister-in-law and her husband love, own and have even been known to breed BMD's, but it was still a daunting task!

After some research, I knew it would be impossible (and maybe a little scary looking) to make a realistic BMD cake, so I went the cute and cartoon-y route and this was the end result!



Needless to say, they LOVED it! It was the perfect cake for a BMD lover's birthday!

For more information about these precious pups, please visit this website: http://www.baergliberners.ca/baerglihome.htm

Let Them Eat....Salad?!?!

When my friend Emily asked me to make a birthday cake for her younger sister, of course I said yes! Emily and her parents were unsure of what kind of cake they wanted me to make, but after some thought, they came up with a pretty clever idea! Emily's sister actually doesn't really enjoy eating cake, so they thought to disguise the cake as her favourite meal - a salad!

Having a very specific idea of what a salad cake should look like in mind, I got started on what was sure to be a tedious cake job. Here are some pictures of the process as well as the final product.













The cake itself is meant to be a table with a tablecloth draped over it. On the tabletop, there's a wooden salad bowl with matching salad tongs, a napkin, and a "Happy Birthday" placecard (in keeping with the whole table theme!). In the wooden salad bowl, I put a mix of several different kinds of individually hand crafted and painted lettuce leaves, a sliced grilled chicken breast, red and orange peppers and some crunchy noodles!

They LOVED it!

I pretty much say this with every new cake that I make (but it's always true!), but this was one of my favourite cakes to make! Despite it being a terribly time consuming process, the end result was just too funny!

Since the cake looks like a salad, the caloric value per slice is significantly less...right??

African Cake!

After being asked to make an African themed cake, I immediately had a bunch of different ideas floating around in my head. Before committing to one, I decided to do what I usually do when I'm unsure of which idea I should use for a cake; I Googled!

There were so many different African themed cakes! Some had animal print, some had animals, others were even in the SHAPE of Africa! With only a few days to get the cake done, it was only logical to scratch the mini-African-animals idea, it would be too much of a meticulous and time consuming job for the amount of time I actually had to work on the cake. So instead, I went the animal print route and here's how it came out!











Every angle of the cake is different so I thought I'd share a few more pictures of the cake than usual!

Instead of going with just one print, I decided to split the cake up into zebra and giraffe prints. Around the cake I put some huts and piped grass to really emphasize the African theme (as opposed to just animals!).

This Africa-inspired cake has quickly become one of my favourites!