Danielle's Birthday

More bubbles and lace (I'm in love with my new lace molds!) for my friend Danielle's birthday party!  Both tiers were chocolate cake; the top was filled with chocolate ganache and cappuccino cream filling, and the bottom filled with chocolate ganache and raspberry preserves.

The gorgeous birthday girl with our friend Mike - and cake!

Danielle - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!  Hoping that the year ahead is the best ever! xo

Featured on The White Library!

Remember the black, white, and red dessert table I created for my friend's housewarming party earlier this year?  I am thrilled and honored to say that it is featured on The White Library!  The White Library is an absolutely gorgeous resource for event design inspiration and inspired living.  Whether you're looking for some dessert table eye candy, home or event design ideas, or crafty projects - the White Library has it all.  Head on over and be inspired!

Ivory and Lavender Bridal Shower Cake

I made this gorgeous ivory and lavender cake for a bridal shower this past weekend.  The top tier was lemon cake filled with lemon curd; the bottom tier was chocolate fudge cake filled with chocolate ganache and raspberry jam.

I think one of the challenges when starting large(r) projects is estimating how much you'll need in terms of ingredients - as well as time.  It doesn't matter what industry you are in - it all comes down to resources and time!  Just to give you an idea of what goes into a cake like this ... 6" and 9" square cakes, 3.5 quarts of buttercream, an entire recipe of chocolate ganache that uses 1lb of chocolate, a pint of lemon curd, just over a cup of raspberry jam, and about 7lbs of fondant, between covering both cakes and the embellishments.  And yes - a lot of time as well.  Whew!

Laura and Jay - wishing you a beautiful wedding day and a lifetime of happiness together!

Kim's Graduation

I am SO proud of my little sister, Kim.  You all first heard about her almost 2 years ago, when she married her amazing husband, Brian.  Well, Kim has been a pretty busy bee over the past few years.  Yesterday, she graduated from her accelerated pharmacy school program as a Doctor of Pharmacy, and is now entering the Airforce as pharmacist and a captain!

Kim being promoted to *Captain*!

As part of her graduation gift, of course I had to make a cake.  I wanted to make something pretty and whimsical (and I also wanted to try out my new lace mold!).  The cake was chocolate fudge filled with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.  It was a super rainy day in Boston yesterday; I was very happy to have a few minutes to take some pictures outside.  Yes, my parents' backyard really is that green - spring is wonderful!
 

Kim - CONGRATULATIONS!!!  We are so incredibly proud of you, and we can't wait to see where your next adventure takes you!  I know that the next few years are filled with many unknowns, but I know that you can rise above any challenges that life throws your way.

Cupcake Kit Giveaway Extended!

Update 5/13: And the lucky winner is ... Nisha!  I'll be contacting you shortly so that you can claim your prize :)  Thanks all for reading, participating, and for sharing your favorite recipes - this is the first give away of many!

Due to the problems with Blogger yesterday and today, I've extended the giveaway for another day!  Apparently, they had some problems with a maintenance update that they put out, and "temporarily" removed all comments, etc from yesterday morning onward (check out Blogger's twitter feed).  So, a few comments on the giveaway post were removed :(

Sorry about this all - bad timing!  If your comment was removed, please re-add it :)  And for all of you that haven't entered yet - you now have until tonight at 8PM EST!