baptism + first communion cakes

Whew! I almost forgot how to post, it's been so long. Not that any of you are waiting with bated breath for my ramblings, but I just thought I should at least acknowledge my absence. Things have been moving right along here at A. Party Style, which is awesome, it just means less time for posting. The good part in all of this, I have a line up of great stuff to share!

First off, I've put together a few cake photos I've done this spring. With spring, comes all the religious celebrations for little ones - Baptisms and First Communions. I thank all the parents of these children for letting me create something for their special day.

 

easter cake

I was just downloading photos from my daughter's birthday party last weekend and guess what I found!? The cake I made to take with us to friends house for Easter. I'm so out of date! I thought about posting it next year around Easter... yeah, if I don't post it now, I'll definitely forget.  

modern animal baby shower cake

This is a recent baby shower cake I made. For the animals, I used my Cricut Cake machine - They look much better than if I were to cut them out! The mommy-to-be's nickname is banana, hence the saying "Welcome Baby Banana". (Just wanted to clarify that she's not like Gwyneth Paltrow naming her children after fruit.)

shoe and purse cake

This was a recent cake I did for a 13th birthday party. Instead of making all the purses and shoes out fondant/gumpaste, I used ornaments from my master bedroom Christmas tree with the same theme.  I would never be able to get that level of detail at that scale. It was a win-win... easier for me and cheaper for my client. Happy 13th, Victoria!!!

baby shower cake

Hi lovelies! I am alive. Well, barely. I apologize for my complete lack of posts. I have been so busy lately... I know, I know, we are all swamped this time of year. Beyond my own personal holiday to-do list though (which basically hasn't even been started), we bought a new house and are trying to move, my husband had hand surgery, I was a guest speaker at a women's network group, a couple Christmas party dessert tables, a few cake orders, and I could go on and on. I do have two more events and then I'll be on vacation - well, if you call moving vacation! Ha!

I wanted to take a quick break though and show you something... This past weekend I had a baby shower cake order. The color palette for the party was pink and black. I love that combo, don't you!? I was really happy with how the cake turned out. I used a new technique from I Am Baker.  (LOVE her!) It is so easy, but so pretty!

retirement cake

Last Monday, I delivered a cake for a surprise retirement party. It was a big cake that took me a long time - 56 hours to exact! (Ouch!) I was given a list of items about the retiree and included them all on the cake - a collage about him and his 26 years of service as a safety director of a construction company. My favorite parts were the fishing pole and the hard hat. (Major props to my hubby for building me an outstanding base for the hard hat! Doesn't it look great!?)

xmas in july :: christmas cakes

These are a couple of holiday cakes I've done in the past (and previously posted), but I couldn't do a Christmas series and not have any holiday goodies, right?! 

ny rangers cake

A couple of weeks ago, I filled a cake order for a woman who bought a gift certificate I donated to a cancer benefit for a little girl who is still in a fight for her life.  (Prayers welcomed and needed!)  The purchaser decided to use her certificate for her husband's birthday.  As you can probably guess from the finished product, he is an avid New York Rangers fan.  I had the logo printed on sugar paper and placed it front and center on top.  Along the sides, I made plaques with numbers of well-known players and a hockey cake wouldn't be complete without a few sticks and pucks about.  

construction cake

I had a cake order this weekend for a little guy who loves construction - especially construction cones!  His mom provided me with his favorite construction toy trucks and I included them in the design.  I "excavated" out some of the cake and made a mound with it along with a little flag.  I added a fondant road, some candy rocks and there you have it - an edible construction site!

A little sidebar I have to share... I still get nervous every time I deliver a cake.  While driving, all I can think about is "I hope they like it, I hope they like it, etc."  I always hope I have exceeded the clients expectations.  Well, this delivery was awesome.  Not only did they like it, but the mom even started crying!  So sweet!  She made me as happy as I made her.  Thanks Kary!

polka dot cake

This is just too pretty to eat - it took my breath away!  I love when a design is so universal it could be used for almost any celebration... from baby, birthday party, a wedding.  Gorgeous! 

 

(artist Damien Hirst, image via pretty little things)

beautiful cake

I didn't even know what to call this post, but I just had to share this with you guys.  This wedding cake (well, cakes, plural I guess) took my breath away.  I was perusing Google images looking for some examples to share with an upcoming cake client and I stumbled upon this beauty.  I don't know who made it (I only have the website I spotted it on), but who ever they are, they are very talented.

Just look at the colors!  The overall display.  (Gotta love the custom acrylic stand.)  The perfect piping work.  I could go on and on.  I will definitely be keeping this beauty in my inspiration file.  WOWZA!  Can you tell I love it!?  The colors and shapes are inspired from the wedding correspondence - invitations, menu cards, etc.

{source}

  

xmas in july :: ornament cake

More frosting!!! A great friend of mine has me make a Christmas cake for her every year to share with her family. I really liked how this one turned out.

christening cake

I recently made this christening cake for a little girl named Charlotte. I used the invitation below for design and color inspiration. The dress is made of fondant and was just lifted off so the rest of the cake was yummy buttercream. I always try to have all my fondant pieces be removable so what people are actually eating is just buttercream. It just tastes much better. I know this is an ongoing debate, but I'm a buttercream girl! I am going to be trying a new homemade fondant recipe while I have some down time here on vacation. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I like the taste of it. I'll let you all know. Anyone else have a great tasting fondant recipe? Please share.

cake inspiration books

Okay, now for my favorite cake inspiration books. Like with the party books, I have lots more, but these are the ones I look to first. I am constantly on the look out for new ones - tell me which ones are your must-haves.

Here's a couple cute cupcake details from that I Love Sugar book.
Butterfly cupcakes... cut the top off, frost, cut the top in half and then lay them back on at an angle. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Easy, peasy!



Carrot cupcake... thinly peel a carrot lengthwise with a vegetable peeler, roll the pieces up like shown and top with a small piece of the carrot stem. Cute, cute!



Some day I want to join the ranks of these books. One of my eventual goals is to write a book myself. I have always had this dream of walking into a book store and seeing my own book on the shelf. Gotta set goals!

cakes

I know I shared this cake with you guys a couple posts back, but after looking at my pictures again, I found a shot that shows the "glitter and glamour" a little better. (Click on it to make it bigger) The flash reflected the iridescence pearl dust, edible glitter and sugar sprinkles. In person, you could see it a lot better. The diamond pattern pieces were covered in pink sugar sprinkles - that was no small task! Anyway, I just didn't want you guys to think I'm loco - it did sparkle!



Moving on... here are a couple cupcake jobs I've done lately...
Piggy Cupcakes - look at these "girls" all ready to party with the birthday girl!




Deservedly so, parents of my daughter's pre-school organized a teacher appreciation lunch. I decided to make cupcakes. Small token of my appreciation. The toppers spelled out "Thank you NMS teachers". NMS stands for Neighborhood Music School. Hence the musical elements on the other cupcakes.


Thank you Serena, Christine and Denise. I only hope teachers that follow will be as talented as you!

A fun cake order for a 6th birthday! Hello Kitty will never grow old.

cake time

I am in full blown production mode. I have a couple cake orders due this weekend and the state of my kitchen is proof! Yikes! Anyone want to come do dishes, cut out fondant pieces, sculpt cakes... anything you want, you can do it! So since I'm too busy to actually post about what I want to post, I thought I'd put up some more cakes. I still have to download last months cakes too! I can't keep up, but I'm not complaining. I'm loving it! Enjoy!

I loved making this cake. It was for a little girl named Charlotte for her third birthday. Her party was held on Halloween so they decided on a "Charlotte's Web" theme. Isn't that the greatest!!! Hence the Halloween mixed with farm animals. Notice the number three "weaved" into the web. If I would have been really ambitious, I would have spelled it out like the real Charlotte's Web did.




Next up, a little camping cake. I'm sure you all know this trick, but just in case... the trees are upside down ice cream cones. I just used a star tip and piped all over them. I love the little sleeping bag rolled up inside the tent. I also love (and use all the time) the candy "rocks". They are just candy coated chocolates. Kind of taste like M&M's. You can get them in small and large sizes.



This cake, oh this cake. One of my hardest. Not in terms of technique or difficulty, but concept. The client told me she wanted a cake for her husband's surprise 50th. She told me he was into running, had completed an Ironman competition, had a Porsche and was a doctor. All I kept thinking was "What the heck am I going to do with that!?!?"




This was a 40th birthday cake. The birthday boy has a love of hot rod cars and has owned several in his life. His wife asked me to use his existing hot rod as an inspiration for his cake. The white-wall tires (notice the inflating tube), the flames and a hot rod wouldn't be complete without a rear-view mirror scarfed in fuzzy dice.



A Steinway & Sons piano cake for a pianist/composer.



And the last cake for today, was a retirement cake. I actually did very little on this cake, but I still wanted to show it to you so you know you can use anything to decorate a cake. The client wanted to use specific Playmobil pieces (great creative toys) she had, so she brought them to me and I built up a scene around them. What better way to celebrate retirement than sitting in a hammock tied between two palms right!?

cake in a can

My dear friend Laurie recently turned forty years young. Since 3000 miles separate us, I obviously couldn't spend the actual day with her. So I had a dilemma... what could I do for her that would really make her feel special on her big day??? Then I remembered something. One time she had said she wished I could make her 40th birthday cake. That was it! I wasn't going to let the miles between us keep me from making her a cake.

I baked a cake in a aluminum tin, topped it with yummy buttercream frosting and then decorated it with fondant to make shipping possible. Fairly simple, forty candles for forty wonderful years.

In preparation for Laurie's birthday, I did a "dry run" if you will. Another friend, who lives much closer, had a birthday and I tested the process. I thought if a trip to Brooklyn, NY goes smooth, then I'll shoot for the cross-country trip. The note with this cake said "Wish we could just hop on the F train to come sing you happy birthday".



**Update**
Yes, the cake did arrive safe and sound. Sorry I didn't include that information the first time. You can see Laurie's write up about receiving it here on her blog. I will say it looks like the card I stuck in there left small indentations on the fondant. I knew I shouldn't have put that in there when I did it. Oh well, live and learn!

more cakes

Calling all cake junkies... as an addict myself, I can call you that! Here you go! As you requested, here is your next dose of sugary fun!

A sushi cake for a sushi lovers birthday. Everything was edible except the chopsticks - I would have drove myself crazy trying to get those perfect!




If you have a preschooler, I'm sure Dora and/or Diego have made a presence in your house. This was for a Dora birthday - obviously!



A first birthday halloween cake. Not too scary for the little ones. And just a note, this cake was actually purple (not blue), but the cameras (yes, plural) could not capture the actual color. Weird, huh!?




I made this cake for my best friend for her surprise 30th. Her husband surprised her by flying all her close friends to Phoenix for a girls weekend. So I hand carried this cake from Connecticut to Arizona. It was a great conversation piece - I couldn't tell you how many people stopped me in the airport/airplane to look at the it.



I have a wonderful client who asks me to do a Christmas cake every year for her immediate family. A couple years ago I made this one.



Hope these give you the fix you need! Since it seems like you guys like seeig them, I'll keep posting more cakes periodically.