Friday, December 20, 2013

Festive Treats

I have the best friends ever and it is even better that they are photographers! 

I dropped off some golden goodies to my friend Melena from MSD Photography and she did what she always does and dressed up my edible creations. 


This picture makes me want to live my life like its golden. Thanks Mel!!

Here are more pics from her photoshoot today.



How to make a bling pop!

One of my best friends asked me to make scandalicious cake pops for her scandal party. We came up with this great idea to bling them out just like the ones she saw at an event...so of course I obliged because she is a gem herself so here we go. 

First, I had her send me a picture of what she wanted. Then I researched bling cake pop sticks and saw so many options. Who knew? I took my cake decorating material and got to work.

1. Using the diamond rhinestone wrap in the color she wanted I measured out how much I needed. 

2. I took the cake pop stick and wrapped the bling around it to ensure I had enough to wrap. FYI it took me 2 tries but I finally got it. 

3. Then I commenced to blinging out my cake pop sticks. Using a glue gun I wrapped and glued the bling around the stick. 
Blinged out! 

I can't wait to show the final product. It's a surprise for her :)


Saturday, November 30, 2013

Baby Shower Bliss

I am currently working on a baby shower for a good friend of mine for this weekend. I am so excited for her and baby Carson :) she is the cutest little thing and I know he will be too! 

Today I will be making her cake pop stand for the shower so I am off to get the materials. Stay tuned for the How to Make a Cake Pop stand post.  

Photo below is just the cake pops in a vase filled with water gems but mommy-to-be wanted a stand and she's a hard bargainer so you must obey lol. 

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Mini pies for a birthday party

So I have a client who wanted to serve mini apple pies for her daughter's birthday so I made it happen. But boy was it some work lol. I got the best workout rolling out the dough with my rolling pin. They loved them so I am happy :)

Mini apple pies and vanilla ice cream with a cherry on top...so worth it!!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Testing the Strawberry Recipe

Ok so as I am preparing for my upcoming event, I had one more recipe to test. Strawberry of course! I know, I know, you would have thought I had a strawberry recipe given my name, Strawberries Cakes, but surprisingly I have never had that request. I love strawberries and so does Logan, my son, and I am determined to demonstrate my love by letting everyone taste a strawberry. Well a good strawberry that is and with that being said I tested a recipe to incorporate strawberries. 

My first test included a basic vanilla recipe in which I substituted frozen strawberries that I let thaw. It was a disaster. The strawberries had thawed but were not room temp so the cupcakes looked great but tasted horrible and had a horrible watery consistency. Now on to the second test that I used fresh strawberries and puréed them and added them to the recipe which worked out perfectly. 

So what did I learn, I need to test the idea of strawberry chunk cupcakes with letting the strawberries thaw to room temp, dry them with a paper towel, and chop them up. Then add to the recipe and go from there which I am going to do but until then I am satisfied with my fresh strawberry cupcake with strawberry icing. I am still working on the icing consistency since the fresh puréed strawberries made it very watery as you can see in the photos. Testing will continue and I will make sure I post the icing when I figure out the perfect formula.

My neighbor doing a taste test :) who doesn't love free cupcakes! 

Saturday, October 5, 2013

My Handmade Cupcake stand

I am so excited about my new stand. I love doing events and weddings but I will love them even more now that I build customized stands. I can't wait to show everyone once it's all complete. Today I purchased the wood and my goal throughout the week is to find unique embellishments to compliment the desserts that will be displayed. Stay tuned!!! 

Thursday, October 3, 2013

So excited about the new adventure!

It's been such a long time since I have posted anything but I'm so excited about the new things going on right now. I can't wait to share so here we go. These past few weeks have been such a world wind for me with setting up a new business venture (Strawberries Events and Strawberries Cakes), website, planning an event, and testing recipes. The recipes this week were vegan recipes that everyone loved. Here are some pictures from my "on the go" tastings.
I had so much fun but I learned a lot too, for instance, make sure you label the cupcakes if they are decorated the same. LOL, I couldn't believe I didn't do that but oh well next time. I am preparing for my test this weekend which will be cranberry orange. Well, if I get the cranberries and oranges...forgot them at the grocery store. Mental note: pick up cranberries and oranges tomorrow :) Now off to planning for my big tasting event, I'm so excited!!!!

Cupcakes and Cocktails: An Interactive Tasting Event
October 28, 2013 at 7:00pm
Roses Dejavu
1378 H Street, NE
Washington, DC
 
Special thanks to my testers last weekend (Natalie, Nicole, and Sana) you guys gave me some great feedback that will definitely be applied.