"Three Sweet Stories" - Hannah's 18th Birthday

For book-lover Hannah's 18th birthday, no ordinary cake would do.  To celebrate three of her favorite series, she received a three-tiered 4"-6"-8" cake covered with hand-painted royal icing symbols from The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Harry Potter books.

The top and bottom tiers were red velvet while the middle was "butterbeer" cake with butterscotch ganache filling.  It was frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream, covered in marshmallow fondant, and accented with everything from a mockingjay pin to a ruffled tulip a triwizard cup.

"Peace, Love and Presents" – Megan’s 12th Birthday

Hippie chick Megan’s groovy birthday cake was inspired by some cool party decorations.

It was a two-layer, 8” round chocolate sour cream cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and hand-cut fondant decorations.

"Salgira at mubarak!" – Parwana’s 24th Birthday

Did you know that "salgira at mubarak" (تولدت مبارک) means “happy birthday” in Dari, one of the national languages of Afghanistan?  I thought it made a fun addition to my repertoire of international phrases!

Parwana’s bilingual birthday cake was a two-layer 9” round.  The flavor was "devilish chocolate" with caramel French buttercream frosting and chopped walnuts.

"Sesame Street" - Gavin's 1st Birthday

For Gavin's first birthday, he got to take a trip to Sesame Street, with a buttercream-frosted 13x18" half-sheet chocolate cake and hand-painted fondant characters.

"Amazing Race" - Audrey's 11th Birthday

Audrey had her heart set on an "Amazing Race" themed birthday party, and of course a colorful cake to match! Her 9x13" chocolate cake was filled and iced with buttercream frosting, then accented with a hand-cut fondant game board pathway and banner.

"Old Age Survival Kit" - Rob's 50th Birthday

Luckily, Rob didn't mind a little good-natured teasing on his milestone birthday, especially since it came in such a sweet form! His 9x13" chocolate cake had a thick layer of peanut butter filling and was iced with vanilla buttercream frosting. The dentures, pill bottle, "over-the-hill" pills, bingo card and prescription for a happy birthday were all handmade from a fondant/gumpaste mixture.

"Put me in Coach!" - Bekah's 27th Birthday

This two-layer 8” round red velvet cake was filled and iced with cream cheese frosting, then topped with a Coach brand fondant scarf and a wallet made of Rice Krispy treats covered in fondant (hand-painted with food coloring).

"Rockin' the iPod Touch" - Ethan's 13th Birthday

This is a single-layer 9x13” white cake, torted and filled with vanilla buttercream frosting. The birthday boy loves music and especially his iPod touch!

"In The Jungle" - Justice's 2nd Birthday

This 2-layer 12” white cake was frosted vanilla buttercream but had a secret chocolate buttercream filling! It is accented with fondant polka dots and topped with handcrafted fondant animals.

"Toy Story" - Lily's 2nd Birthday

This is a Toy Story themed 2nd birthday cake featuring the famous Buzz Lightyear and Woody in the form of frozen buttercream transfers. It is a single-layer 9x13" marble sheet cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.

"Blooms" - Lily's 1st Birthday

 

This is a two-layer 9"x13" half-chocolate and half-white sheet cake with a royal icing plaque in the form of a stained-glass lily.  Along with it came a two-layer 4" chocolate "baby cake" topped with a hand-painted stargazer lily made from gumpaste.