Strawberry Cake!

I baked this cake for my best friend's boyfriend on Saturday.  I originally promised him a strawberry cheesecake but I didn't have enough time to prep and bake it.  Instead, I went for a vanilla cake filled with a fresh strawberry filling and smothered in a fresh strawberry cream cheese buttercream.  It was probably one of the best cakes to date by far.  It was a perfect balance between a soft cake, sweet and sour filling and a creamy smooth frosting.  YUM! The only bad thing is that the frosting was sort of melting since my apartment gets so hot during the summer.  Melting frosting and all, everyone gobbled it up and that for me is my stamp of approval :)

Hope everyone is having an awesome Memorial Day weekend!

xo,

Daniella :)

Chicky Cake

Here is my latest cake and it's dedicated to my Little Chicky! I experimented with different techniques this time around to see how they all play together.  I think I'm becoming a little obsessed with my star tips and for good reason.  You can literally make anything with it and it always looks great.  In this case, I used it to decorate Chicky, the pink balloons (and the white balloon decoration) and the shells that border the cake.  I used a round tip for the white balloon, the white polka dots that are all over the cake and also to accent Chicky's dress and hat.  For her beak, I used a leaf tip since it makes a triangular shape (clever, clever).

In case you're wondering, I bake a basic vanilla cake and the frosting is out of a 5lb tub of Wilton icing ( I know, I'm cheating).  But hey, it works great for experimental purposes! Enjoy the pics!

xo,

Daniella :)

Chocolate shells

Since my last post, I've been on a piping craze.  I'm becoming a little obsessed with learning how to use all of the different tips that I have in my Wilton Ultimate Cake Decorating kit (try saying that a few times in a row)! This past Sunday my best friend Roberta stopped by to visit so I baked a vanilla chocolate chip cake with a chocolate buttercream.  I piped shells with my Wilton #18 tip as borders on the top and bottom of the cake.  It's not perfect but I'm kind of proud of the work I've done.  Of course with time it will all get better!

In Chicky news, I'm currently working on some new illustrations for my site which should be up this week!  Stay tuned!


xo,

Daniella :)

It's my birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me!!! :)

This year, I wanted to stay home and bake.  To some, that may not be the most exciting thing but I really enjoyed it!  I made this awesome giant Cupcake cake and yes, it's the one from the infomercials.  I made a chocolate cake (my favorite kind of cake) with a vanilla buttercream! Here is the picture along with what we had for dinner (home made BBQ sauce over baked brisket, Chinese veggies and garlic mash!)! Overall, it was my kind of birthday!

One last thing, thanks for all of the birthday wishes!

xo,

Daniella :)

It's a Cupcake Cake!

During yesterday's cake decorating class, I learned how to pipe elongated shapes and dots with a Wilton 12 tip.  We transferred the image of a cupcake to our iced cakes by tracing the image with piping gel on a piece of wax paper.  From there, we used our colored icing to fill in the image.  The dots around the cake were my little touch to make it look complete! In case you are wondering, it's a chocolate cake underneath that frosting! Enjoy!

xo,

Daniella :)

Mother's Day treats

Hey everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed Mother's Day with all the fabulous moms in your life! Saturday night I baked these cupcakes for our mother's day gathering!

These are lemon cupcakes filled with a 4 berry filling and a lemon cream cheese butter cream! 

YUM!

xo,

Daniella :)

Cookie and Truffles

Hey everyone,

Here is a picture of my favorite cookie I decorated yesterday and some truffles I made last week! The cookie is decorated with a Wilton 18 star tip.  It's definitely something that requires a lot of practice and patience to get the stars even.  As I was taught, the key is to hover a little over your cookie, squeeze the piping bag and then release before you lift the bag.  That will avoid bigger peaks.  I will be posting some more pictures of my progress soon since I am definitely baking something for Mother's Day this Sunday! 

 This is a home baked shortbread cookie with almond extract decorated with vanilla frosting.

These are semi sweet chocolate truffles.  The one at the top is dipped in white chocolate, below that the truffles are rolled in toasted coconut (left) and toasted almonds (right).

Have an awesome day!

xo,

Daniella :)

Decorating!

Hey everyone!

I am starting my first cake decorating class today! I'm totally excited to learn all of the ins and outs of piping since I think that is my biggest challenge.  I will be posting pictures of my finished decorated cookies later on tonight! Until then, wish me luck!

xo,

Daniella :)