Cute as a button babyshower!

About time, I know. I completely forgot this post was sitting in my drafts, with the photos already chosen and uploaded, waiting patiently for me to share.

I think I've said once before that nothing ever ends up being what you expect. I thought this blog was going to be a quirky diary of my baking exploits - primarily at the time, cake pops a laBakerella. Then suddenly I was teaching myself how to make cakes, now I'm spending every day fielding calls and emails about Cupcake Bouquet deliveries! Like I said - not what I expected!

Now I suddenly realise my big one year Blogoversary (is there a correct way to spell that...) is next Tuesday! And I haven't even had a themed party since January, much less planned one for my own celebration. What a slacker.

The white board over my very busy and important desk has a list of all the delicious things I've done in the last year but am yet to post here, so I'm biting the bullet and getting onto the first one on the list - the Cute as a Button themed babyshower I made some treats for earlier in the year.

I think my very favourite thing about this theme (besides how adorable it is) is how simple it is - nothing complex or busy about it, just cute and colourful as everything baby-related should be. Plus the colour theme of this one (picked by the clients) would really work for any baby shower.

Lots and lots of teeny tiny vanilla cupcakes

They're so teeny tiny, they'd almost be cute even WITHOUT the buttons.

And then for something different - and probably my very favourite discovery in the last year - chocolate dipped marshmallows :D

If you've never had one, go and find a marshmallow, dip it in the first chocolate you can find, and experience bliss. (Or else go and buy marshmallows and chocolate - I forget that normal peoples kitchens don't necessarily have emergency supplies of marshmallows, chocolate and fondant at all times!)

The display boxes for the marshmallow pops were another of my favourite things. Just little gift boxes with foam and shiny plasticky strippy stuff I found, with a big yellow polka dot ribbon tied around them. Doesn't get much easier than that!

And very effective - as well as better for transporting. I think I even still have them somewhere.... though if you could see all the stock and baking related bits and pieces I've accumulated in the last year, you'd understand why I can't be sure.

And then cookies! And finally - FINALLY - I found a recipe for sugar cookies that I actually LIKE. The cookies I made for my sisters Breakfast at Tiffanys party LOOKED fabulous, but didn't taste too great... In fact I think we chucked the left overs out. But these ones are sweet, and moreish, and EASY, and a perfect colour. I found the recipe here. Thank you to Megan's Cooking for sharing!

(P.S - I haven't shared the Breakfast at Tiffanys party on here yet, because I was hoping with everything crossed that Amy Atlas might share it on her site! But since that hasn't happened in 5 months, I think it's time :) In the meantime, the photos are all up on my Facebook page here)

So there you go! The full spread of goodies for a very cute Babyshower - my first! Though hopefully there'll be lots more to come - I'm dying to do a Pea in a Pod themed babyshower for someone! Think of all that green pea cuteness.

Shall have to start thinking of what to blog about on my blogaversary... Probably cake! I have some photos of a truly delicious two tiered Lemon and White chocolate Mud Cake I made that may just do the trick. But then let's be honest, why pass up a perfectly good opportunity to make MORE cake??

- B xx

Sneak Peak - Birthday Cake!

I've just finished making a cake for one of my closest friends, so here's a quick sneak peak - I can't show you the rest because she hasn't seen it herself yet! All I can tell you is that there are five layers of happiness in this one... can't wait to try it!!

Happy Birthday Jaynee!

- B xx

Happy Mother's Day!

I love the kind of weekend where you feel like you got a lot done, but not so much the kind of weekend where you reach Sunday night, and realise you need another weekend to recover...!

I was overwhelmed by orders, requests, and feedback on the Mother's Day range I put out this year - my very first! so thank you to everyone who got in touch. The cupcake bouquets (previewed here) were definitely the most popular, and I had a ball making them! Here's the line up on my kitchen table yesterday afternoon waiting for pick ups:

Not a fabulous photo, chances are pretty high that I was covered in icing sugar by this point and trying to keep my camera clean-ish. I hope they all made it to their destinations safely!

Unsurprisingly, the LAST thing my Mum wanted this year was cupcakes - of any form - so I had to compromise on cake (since then it gets "shared" :)) and a painting (slightly less edible, but equally time consuming).

Again not a great quality photo, but would you believe - when I went to edit it tonight, it was focussed on some of my ridiculously long hair which had dangled into shot. Sigh. I clearly wasn't paying ANY attention at the time. Given that I was half asleep when I finished the painting itself, it's probably for the best :)

But back to the cake, since that's what we all came here for.

And not just cake. Cake with a VIEW

And Frangipanis! And happiness. And 3 layers of ribbon because I had no patience for letting the buttercream set, and it kept soaking in. White ribbon + tiredness + no other ribbon colour options = fail. Luckily you can't really tell in the photo. (Hush, no need to spoil my illusions!)

This was my very first go at making frangipanis, very last minute, and with no tools, cutters or molds... These were entirely hand made and shaped, and then painted with a little food colouring and water. I love the way they turned out for something so last minute - definitely inspired me to learn the RIGHT way though! Wonder if there actually IS a right way... I'm sure there's a gadget that does it all for you, but then where's the fun in that!

And the best part? (seriously, the best part) underneath all that buttercream and sunshiney goodness, are two tiers of dense and delicious White chocolate and lemon mud cake. YUM. Every time I try a new recipe I fall in love with it, no idea how people ever pick favourites!

I've made the lemon and white chocolate variation before, but this time I put half brown sugar and half white. Only a teeny tiny change really! but I think it made all the difference. Funny how just changing the sugar makes the difference between chocolate mud and caramel mud, then a dash of lemon juice and it's all different again! Just another reason to love mud cake, as if I needed one....

So there you go! Mother's Day over for another year (in my corner of the world at least). A big Happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there! I hope you've had/are having a lovely day and being spoiled rotten. Thank you especially to MY mum (though I don't believe she's figured out how to read this...) for being patient with all my Mother's Day musings over the last few weeks, I hope the cake makes up for all the pestering :)

What did you do with your mum/kids to celebrate this year?

- B xx

Sneak Peak - Cupcake Bouquet for Mother's Day!

I've started testing out some ideas for my Mother's Day collection, so here's a sneak peak of my first try at a Cupcake Bouquet!

So simple, but cute and effective - and a tasty twist on a classic bunch of roses!

Does anyone else know what they're planning to give for Mother's Day this year?

- B xx

Easter Lemon treats and Ruffle Cake

I hope you've all had a lovely Easter break! I had very much hoped to have a post up BEFORE Easter weekend, but even with all my good intentions - it turns out working for a chocolate company the week before Easter is busier than I had intended!

I've been promising the photos from my Cute as a Button Babyshower, and the post is sitting there just ITCHING to leak into the blogosphere, but I figured I'd best share my Easter happiness while the season still lingers. If you really and truly can't wait any longer - you CAN see the Cute as a Button photos on my facebook page here or the flickr album is here - like the page, become a contact, or just share the love at either of those locations while you're visiting!

We spent our Easter break up at our bach at Waiterere Beach, reading, eating chocolate, and lazing about achieving not much at all! Exactly what I needed. I HAD intended to make a whole bunch of Easter cupcakes, specifically these ones from Bakerella that I've been wanting to make for forever - so cute! Or giant homemade Creme Eggs that I found the recipe for at Pimp That Snack (A must visit site!). But alas, none of that happened. I still plan to make the creme eggs this week - so do let me know if you've tried them before and they worked!

Luckily though, my sister came down for the holiday break, and brought with her the magical - and very secret - recipe for Lemon Tea Cakes...

YUM. Look at them. Lined up like little lemon soldiers of happiness.

Most importantly, I needed something to put on this ridiculously cute Easter stand that I bought from Cake Stuff, that clearly was far too seasonal to NOT use at this time of year...

Perfect!

Not even $20 NZD, and they even have little holes to punch out and fit Easter eggs into! Doesn't get any better than that. I strongly recommend getting in and buying one for next year - or maybe for a Spring Celebration party...? Bunny party? Because you like to pretend Easter happens all over again in May...?

Too cute - thanks Trina for making them for us! And sorry they didn't last more than a few hours....!! To see more of her cute creations visit her blog Musical Butterfly - same place you'll find all the photos of my Magical Apron! Or go back and have a look at my post about it for details.

~~~

I made a ruffle cake last month since they seem to be all the rage! And I wanted to give it a try. Since it was pink and ruffly and happy and cute (even though Mum thinks it looked like a toilet paper holder - not entirely untrue!) I decided it needed a little bunny on top! So here's a preview of that, rounding off the easter theme - and more photos to come! I'll try and round up all the youtube instruction videos I found on how to actually DO the icing - it's much much easier than it looks!

Stay warm if you're in my half of the world - send us warm thoughts if you're not!

- B xx

Sneak Peak - Winnie the Pooh!

I'm working on putting together the details and photos from a Cute as a Button babyshower I did earlier in the year, but in the meantime - here's a sneak peak of a Winnie the Pooh 2nd birthday I did this morning.

Love the way it turned out - just as well I'm a details-staying up 'til 4am-perfectionist kinda person!

Lots more photos to come!

- B xx

RECIPE: Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl

"Peanut butter [is] the pâté of childhood"

Florence Fabricant, NY Times

So I mentioned in my last blog post that I was hoping to try lots of new recipes and learn some new skills, but while going out into the magical world of the internet to find some exciting new ideas, I was really underwhelmed by the number of recipes that came without photos! I'm a big photo person (clearly) and apprehensive about trying a recipe that doesn't give me some idea of what I'll end up with...

Maybe that explains why I got into reading cook books instead of text books :)

Either way, it inspired me to start sharing some of the recipes I DO use, so that hopefully someone else who has my debilitating photo-less phobia can find some peace!

This recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl I actually found (embarrassingly) while trying to find recipes for a bake sale for Christchurch, and it was the only thing I already had all the ingredients for! Plus it's pretty, and delicious, and easy, and it combines chocolate and peanut butter, arguably one of the best combinations in the world - sorry Nicole, and Matt, this one's for Katie and Jayne!!

The cake itself was a caramel mud cake with a really rich chocolate ganache that I made for my good friend Katie for her birthday - it's important to note that I once made a very sweet - and very experimental - peanut-butter-cream-cheese-chocolate-slice-concoction for Katie at work, and she literally ate the whole thing... *sugar overload at the thought*

Needless to say, this was perfect for her :)

Warning : the recipe kinda suggests making this as a slice, but it is REALLY really sweet. I used half the recipe in the same size pan to make the slabs for the side of the cake - and even then it's very sweet! Love how it turned out though - and it went surprisingly well with caramel mud cake! (but then what doesn't :))

Enjoy it!!! it's absolutely delicious, and really addictive! I promise I'll look into some caramel options for those with an (unhealthy) aversion to the peanut butter :)

I recommend using blocks of chocolate (Cadbury, Dream, Lindt) instead of cooking chocolate for this - it's important that you like the taste of the chocolate since it's pretty much the main component!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl

360g white chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (140g) smooth peanut butter

400g dark chocolate, chopped (I use milk, but it doesn't really matter)

1) Grease 20cm x 30cm lamington pan; line base and sides with baking paper extending 5cm above edges of pan (important, otherwise you can't get it out! trust me!)

2) Stir white chocolate in small heatproof bowl over small saucepan of simmering water until smooth; cool 5 minutes. Add peanut butter, stir until smooth

3) Stir dark chocolate in small heatproof bowl (blah blah - you know how to melt chocolate - I do it in the microwave in 20 second blasts!)

4) Drop alternate spoonfuls into pan. Gently shake the pan to level the mixture. Pull a skewer backwards and forwards to create marbled effect

5) stand at room temperature for 2 hours until set

Easy as pie! Though I recommend running lines gently through it with a knife after about an hour to make cutting slices easier later

Let me know if you try it and love it!

Katie - a very happy birthday! hope you're feeling better

- B xx