Where are the Washington Capitals from?

These were a custom order for a friend. She asked for the logo for the Washington Capitals, so I chose the bird with the red white and blue, and the shape of the Capital Building flanked by the lower parts of the wings. It took a few tries to get the fine detail, and I still would like more practice but bottom line I was pleased with them! I'll just add them to my hockey repetoir.

Cinderella Goes to the Cake Ball!!

Always up for a sweet challenge, I couldn't turn away the opportunity to recreate my interpretation of "Cinderella" using the medium of cake. I decided to keep the designs quite traditional and opted to do Cinderella, Prince Charming, the glass slipper, two kinds of mice and the magic carriage, though not a pumpkin carriage. My friend who ordered these pops informed me that in this Pantomime, they were deviating from the norm and doing a Christmas pudding carriage. (Or course you would at Christmas!) No problem, I do a Christmas pudding design.

I did my best to make Cinderella beautiful giving her sugar pearl earrings, and to make Prince Charming handsome with his broad smile. The mice were adorable, and the glass slipper was very glamorous and shiny. I hear that the cast members approved of their post-performance celebrations!

Cinderella in the front, Prince Charming just behind, the glass slipper to the right of him, the Christmas pudding carriages are to his left, and of course the mice in the far side.

All of the cast members all wrapped up and ready to go!

All the pops set up for the cast members to enjoy (photo taken by Casey)

A Hybrid Christmas Tree

This was really an experiment, and I'd have to do a bit more testing before I offered these as order-able options. This particular tree was born when Mum and I went to a luncheon at our next-door neighbour's and I was bringing the cake. I didn't just want to bring cake pops, I wanted enough regular cake to feed a group of people also.

I baked a butter cake (which I dyed green) and iced and decorated it with a regular butter cream icing. I used the butter cream to make the garland, the star, and the tree stump. The lights, however were a different story. These, I made out of cake pops! They added a fun 3D element to the cake and made it more than just a normal cake.

I thought of a couple other ideas using this hybrid technique: How fun would a kid's birthday party be if the cake was Noah's Arc, and the animal pairs were made from cake pops? Or what about a teen birthday where the main cake is a pool table and the balls are made from... you guessed it, truffle cake balls. Wheels are turning!

Come Dine with Me!

Cake pops are not only adorable but versatile too! What better way to host a dinner party than with a colour coordinated edible place marker?

Picture your dinner table set with your evening china, lovely flat wear, ironed napkins, and lovely wine glasses. How welcome will your guests feel as they sit at their clearly assigned seat and see a delectable little treat with (literally) their name on it. These place markers can be made to match your soiree by using an appropriate coloured chocolate or decoration theme thus making them the perfect flourish. Plus you can serve them with coffee or simply offer them as a take-home gift for your guests.

These are a couple examples of designs for place markers.

A simple, but elegant design. Single dipped in red chocolate held in a gold cup with matching red name plates. And because all orders are bespoke, they can be made to fit your evening perfectly.

These were ordered specially by our neighbour for her Scottish relatives who were visiting over the holidays. I made my classic reindeer but placed the stick in on top to attach the card for the names (the Canadian flag).

Happy Birthday Victoria!

My first official Birthday order. When Victoria's Mum approached me about these cake pops, the only two specifications she asked for were that they be made of chocolate cake and that her daughter's favourite colours were blue and green. My little wheels started turning, and I immediately started thinking what cool designs I could come up with. My eldest niece is about the same age and Victoria so I kept her in mind too when designing the pops. I knew they had to be funky, but still look grown-up enough to please the birthday girl!!

Things that Look like Cake

On Sunday, someone suggested I tried making different classical composers into cake pops. True, these tiny little delectables do lend themselves well to representing all sorts of creations but my imagination only goes so far; I'd like to open the floor to suggestions. I'm always up for a challenge, and the last time someone suggested an idea for a design, the "creche pops" were born. Maybe I'll try and translate some suggestions into an edible design! Feel free to leave a comment in the box below. (As you can do with any of my other postings, I always like to hear what you have to think! After all, I'm not making these for myself)

I'm Going Postal

Today, I am sending my very first shipment of cake pops. Granted, I have a willing guineapig in Alberta, thank you Cousin Adam, who will let me know of their safe arrival, because before I send an order to someone I want to know they wont just be getting flattened objects on sticks that once resembled a cake pop.

I am hoping this will open a new door to allow me to bring sweet happiness to people. Afterall, I do have a lot of friends in England. I will keep you all posted on the developments!

Scenes from the Creche

These particular little creations of mine were especially commissioned to celebrate the Sunday School's Nativity play this coming Sunday. Years ago, I was the dancing star at the front of the procession of the pageant, and I gradually moved my way up through the ranks to be the donkey (with a solo), then finally Mary. Now, years later, I find myself on the sidelines supporting the new cast members! In their honour, I made Mary and Joseph with their little baby Jesus, along with the Donkey Mary rode in and to round things off, a camel.

Mary and Joseph were fairly similar in construction, barring the colour of their head scarves and most obviously Joseph got a chocolate beard, and Mary also got blush applied. Baby Jesus on the other hand was a bit more tricky. I wont go into details, but needless to say he started off upside down and headless, then was flipped round "capitated" and double dipped. The animals were a little different, not least of all the shape and colour. The donkey came out much like my original design, right down to the colour of his muzzle and his mane. The camel on the other hand... different story. I had only made a rough sketch of his profile for a general shape, so when it came time to doing his facial features I had to do a bit of googling. I have learned that camels really are quite hilarious looking creatures; A cross somewhere between a large guinea pig and an old man playing with his dentures. Believing I had worked out how to make their little cake pop faces look less like the kid's TV show Arthur, I held one away to get a better look. Mum asked me how they turned out... my thought was that I now know what an angry hamster looks like. I think next time I'll turn the ears round and face them out.

Overall, I love them. They're iconic and recognisable and bring another side to the Christmas season. After all it's not all just about trees and snow.

Ole ole ole ole!!!

Just to prove that cake pops can be more than just cute, I fasioned these more "competitive" designs, and I felt inspired to make an ode to hockey. I kept the background plain, but I want to eventually try using team colours as the dipping colours too. The logos themselves are hand-made with the all mighty tooth pick. I melted all the colours needed, and drizzled them in layers to make the emblem.

I'm thinking of planning parties just so I can make specialty cake pops!

Let's Go to the Movies!

Yet another design from the book. (Truth be told, I chose to do this one because I had white chocolate melted already) In any event, I thought this one would be fun to make because my Mother hates (emphasis on that last word) the smell of popcorn, and unfortunately I love eating popcorn... vicious circle. Believe it or not, this is a popcorn-free cake pop. In fact, the little kernels of popcorn are mini marshmallows that I squished. I started drawing on the red stripes with edible ink; Fail. I chose instead to use the red chocolate that I had melted already, and drizzle it on with, yes you guessed it, my trusty toothpick. As with the other examples I made, this is just the coming attractions!

Happily ever After...

I saw this design when I first received the Cake Pops book a few months ago. I didn't quite get there in time, but after feeling inspired by my best friend's wedding I made a bride and a groom pair of cake pops just to see what they's look like. This is how my first attempt came out. I'll deinitely have to work on my drizzling, but now that I have a little bottle instead of a spoon I should be able to develope a better technique. Also the groom's suit could be better dipped next time, but I'll just have to make a few more to experiment...

I deviated slightly from the original design by giving the bride a pearl necklace with sugar pearls instead of the white prinkles.

Gingerbread People

I can't claim that I took hours moulding and shaping these little guys. The effect is fabulous for very little effort. The trick is in the cookie cutter! I took the same amount of cake as all of my cake pops and pressed it into a cookie cutter which gave me the perfect little person shape. From that point I dipped as normal into a mix of milk and white chocolate. Decoration was nice an simple too. With my trusty toothpick I drizzled melted white chocolate and added sprinkles, in that oh-so-traditional gingerbread design. I just made these with vanilla cake, but I'm thinking of flavouring the cake appropriately next time, for that extra little something.