Week ending 25 October 2009

Two birthdays and a wedding... that's what we've been up to this past week, and it was a lot of work!

First up we had the wedding of Allie and Pete, at the amazingly beautiful Eynesbury Estate. The theme for the wedding was bright and colourful, and I think the end result certainly met that design brief!

The cupcakes were a mix of vanilla bean and white truffle raspberry, and all decorated with white fondant over buttercream, and decorated with a hand piped, pair of wedding rings painted with edible gold lustre.

The co-ordinating cutting cake was to celebrate the heritage of the bride and groom - the Union Jack for Allie, and the Sri Lankan flag for Peter. The cake itself is flourless orange and poppyseed, torted with ganache. I'm really pleased with how this cake turned out, given how much is going on with the design!

On top of all the cupcakes on the stand (which was half the order), the balance were boxed in acrylic cubes supplied bu the couple, tied with a bow, and stacked ready and waiting for collection:

Next in the order book was a birthday cake for Mia (we have now done Mia's christening cupcakes, her parents wedding cake and cupcakes, and now her 1st birthday cake!)... Mia's Mum loved the ballet- inspired mini cakes we did for a ballet troupe some time ago, and wanted to incorporate that design into Mia's cake... a 1.

The cake is vanilla bean, torted with vanilla bean buttercream, and is covered in white fondant over ganache.

Here is a detail shot of the ballet skirts:

Last order on the books for the week is another 1st birthday, this time for Summer. Bright and cheerful is the order brief, in orange and pinks, and our signature "Daisies and Dots" decorating style.

A cutting cake is also part of the order, which we think looks amazing:

Vanilla bean cake, torted with vanilla bean buttercream, with white fondant over ganache. The matching cupcakes are vanilla bean buttercream, and chocolate fudge, in orange and pink foil cases, with our "Daisies and Dots" in orange and pink. All together, they look fantastic!

Next week, it's Halloween central!

Week ending 18 October 2009

OK, I know... it's been a while - quite a while! Busy, busy, busy is all I can offer as reason behind my absence. Sorry!

Here is a small sampling of what we have been up to while away from the blog:

First up, we had another red and white wedding. Java Jolt cupcakes were the flavour of the day, with white fondant over vanilla bean buttercream, and topped with my camelia-roses, this time in red/red... I think they look stunning, and the bride was thrilled.

Then, our first of two Target catalogues came out, with a really funky cupcake stand supported by our cupcakes:

Then there was Gace's wedding, and our first official departure from "Just Cupcakes", as Grace's order was for a full size cake only. The design brief was white, romantic, girly, and to take direct inspiration from the haute couture catwalks of the current season...

This is the result of that design brief:

Swiss dots (to match the swiss dot tulle in Grace's veil), and a petal skirt (a current design trend from the US), with a pink camelia-rose (a la Coco Chanel).

The cake itself is built of three flavours - bottom tier of chocolate fudge, middle tier caramel mud, and top tier vanilla bean. All torted with vanilla bean buttercream, with fondant over ganache.

These cookies were placed on platters at each table for the reception:

Our next project is Sweet Charity. These cupcakes were provided to the VCA-ATOD for a fundraising event held at their new Melbourne campus dance studios on Saturday and Sunday last (10th and 11th).

We have since heard that not only were the cupcakes a highlight of the event, but that they reached their fundraising target to boot - congratulations!

In the middle of all that, we received a call from Tonya for some "alternative" gingerbread men for her "Girls Night In" event.

These hot pink, lustred, fleur de lis gingerbread cookies are what we came up with. Almost 6" in length, they were bagged and beribboned for the client, and they went over a treat!

Last but not least on our action-packed calendar of late is the wedding of Jennifer and Gil. The reception was held at the lovely Le Gourmet restaurant in East Melbourne. The weather was Melbourne's typical "pouring rain one minute, sunny the next", and I THINK that the sun held out just long enough for the lovebirds to tie the knot in our stunning Fitzroy Gardens.

White truffle raspberry, decorated in our signature whimsical style in shades of blue, and chocolate fudge cupcakes with a buttercream swirl in Wedgewood blue and a large whimsical butterfly were the cupcakes du jour. The matching cutting cake was Jaffa, torted with ganache, and pale Wedgewood blue fondant over ganache.

The personalised cake topper was provided by the client - aren't they the cutest couple?

Oops, almost forgot... our latest Target catalogue was also released last week, and this is the first time our cupcakes have been used for a non-homewares feature - this time, they were the supporting role for the girlswear, Spring Racing Carnival fashion story...

Coming up this week, we have a wedding and two 1st birthday celebrations - stay tuned!