April 8, 2024: Since I live in the path of today’s total solar eclipse here in Eastern Canada, I decided to make some snacks to go along with the viewing.
I found my sister’s sugar cookie recipe that was always a favourite, and split it in two: one half dyed a pale yellow, the other with dark cocoa powder added to make them chocolate.
I had so much fun making these cookies. Can’t wait to compare them to the real thing later today. My eclipse glasses are ready!
Pink cupcakes for a pink-themed Barbie party. These were lotsa fun to make. And the birthday girl loved them too!
I was invited to an Easter lunch and I asked what could I bring? Cake! Yes, I’d love to!
I’ve had this rabbit figurine forever and she’s so spring-like with her watering can. I think it’s Peter and Flopsy’s mum Josephine Rabbit — at least it looks like her — and so I added her to the top of a jadeite green buttercream cake with a few chocolate Easter eggs thrown in for good measure. The cake was lemon with lemon curd between the layers. Oh, yum!
Recently, MJ celebrated a significant birthday with a Barbie-themed party. There was lots of pink! And the cake had to be pink too, natch.
A pink Barbie car and lots of pink balloons filled the room. This cake fit the bill and MJ said she loved it and so did her guests. Yay!
Happy birthday MJ! I hope you had a fabulous celebration.
This year for Christmas, I added to the delicious spread with a gingerbread bundt cake. I found the delightful chocolate pine cones at a local chocolaterie and I knew I had to incorporate them into a cake.
I also candied some rosemary to add some winter greenery. All in all, it helped us ring in a Merry Christmas.
Here’s to a wonderful 2024 to all.
A friend was visiting Alabama and brought me back a Dolly Parton Duncan Hines banana pudding cake mix (and icing too!). When I decided to make it, I discovered that I also needed Nilla wafers and instant banana cream pudding to make it and wouldn’t you know it, both aren’t available in Canada. (Or at least not at grocery stores near me.) My sister Marci, who lives in Ithaca, NY, to the rescue! At my niece’s wedding this past spring in Toronto, she handed me the bag of goodies I’d need to complete my task.
So after all this organization and gathering of things, I was ready. And since it was my partner Richard’s birthday last weekend, I figured it was a perfect cake to celebrate his special day.
And it was perfect. Our dinner party gang ate it up and said they absolutely loved it. The birthday boy did too. Thanks Dolly. You didn’t disappoint!
I’ve backed off making cakes for awhile after surgery and just taking a big break. In the meantime, my partner’s sister celebrated a significant birthday and I was asked to make her a special cake. How could I say no?
Joan’s favourite flavour is lemon so I made a luscious lemon cake for her, decorated with candy lemon slices. Fun!
Happy birthday Joan!
Happy 50th anniversary to Jim and Roni who celebrated their big day over the weekend with this vanilla bean cake. Congrats you two!
My friend Meggin wanted a dozen cupcakes for a gender reveal party. I had already made cupcakes to reveal the gender of her daughter Nora a few years back so we changed the look up a bit. We kept it simple. Baby blue and pink cuppies with alternating coloured pearls on top. Each cupcake was stuffed with buttercream so that when the guests bit in, the gender of the baby was revealed.
It’s a boy! Congrats to Meggin, Roch and big sis Nora.
Julia was getting married on a long weekend in the summer and back in March, she asked me if I could make a cake that was a replica of her parents’ 1946 wedding. The topper would be more modern and we’d integrate Julia’s love of daisies but the look and feel would be 1946.
It was a glorious summer day when we delivered the cake to her backyard, all set up for the wedding with a large tent. The cake looked right at home.
Wishing the best to Julia and Bruce on their nupials!
Birthday cupcakes for a guy who walks on water — the St. Lawrence River to be precise — on his motorized surfboard. Happy 52nd! And here’s hoping for some fun and fast times on the water this summer.
Richard is a standup guy who loves his standup paddle board, particularly his new Body Glove board. This is a chocolate cake version of that board. Lucky guy, born in July so he could spend his birthday at his cottage on the St. Lawrence River, perhaps with a slice of cake and his SUP.
Happy Canada Day, eh?
Celebrating 46 trips around the sun, this cake was the perfect thing for a weight-lifter’s birthday party. I particularly love the mini barbell at the top too. So much fun. Yippee for strong arms and a belly-full of lemon cake!
Vanessa was celebrating her birthday with a Margaritaville-themed party. I had so much fun making a cake with a tropical vibe!
I decided that colourful macarons would look terrific beside the parrots and fondant hibiscus blooms. And I just love the look.
Happy birthday Vanessa. I hope you were “wasting away again in Margaritaville” and had a spectacular birthday.
Every year for my birthday, I try make myself a crazy cake. This year I came up with the idea to make a terrarium trifle. I pulled out my my mother’s trifle bowl and layered it with chocolate rocks at the bottom. Then I added crushed pretzels, broken up brownies, chocolate pudding, another layer of brownies and then a layer of lemon sponge coloured to look like moss. The cake toppers were succulents made from fondant.
I love experimenting with crazy ideas! Happy birthday to me.
These frilly, white cupcakes were for a bridal shower held last Sunday. They were an accompaniment to a white-themed, floral shower cake. We weren’t sure if there’d be enough cake for everyone at the party, so cupcakes to the rescue…just in case!
A bridal shower was held on Sunday, a beautiful sunny day, celebrating the upcoming nuptials of Alix to Lawson which will take place next month. The aunt of the groom hosted the shower and we talked about all sorts of designs. We decided to go with a white on white theme to honour the bride. Eucalyptus leaves served as a back drop to silk white flowers that looked to me like waterlilies floating on a pond. I loved the look.
Best wishes to the couple!
I was delighted to make a cake to celebrate Gigi’s 96th birthday. I had made her 90th and her 95th birthday cakes so when her granddaughter contacted me to say they were having a big outdoor celebration for Gigi’s 96th and could I make a cake, well I was thrilled.
The theme was a “Rainbow full of birthdays.” The invitation had a rainbow, of course but as I drove by the yard of the house, there was a 3-D rainbow set up too! Arched balloons of yellow, orange, pink, blue, green and purple made up a rainbow where guests entered the house. So fun. And later when I saw the photos, Gigi’s youngest granddaughters were in pastel rainbow dresses. Adorable.
Happy 96th birthday to Gigi!
My niece had several friends from England visiting Toronto for her wedding to Mat. After the nuptials, the visitors and the married couple headed out to Prince Edward County where they rented a house and enjoyed wineries and toasted the newlyweds.
During their stay, Liam was celebrating a birthday so my niece asked if I could make a wee cake for him as surprise. Liam is a big cricket fan so that was the idea for the theme of the cake. It was a fun challenge for me as I know very little about the game so did a bit of research so I could make a bat and ball from fondant as cake toppers.
I heard from Liam and his wife Lacey, who both let me know how big a surprise it was. Liam (and their wee boys) were all thrilled with the cake.
Happy birthday Liam!
My niece Sam married her fiancé Mat over the weekend. Since she was a little kid she always want me to make her wedding cake and I finally had the chance.
We decided on something rustic and elegant. She absolutely loves buttercream so a naked cake was definitely not on her radar. And the couple’s favourite flavour is vanilla, so a vanilla bean cake was on tap.
They call each other “bear” so bears had to be on the cake. Sam made the bears to be placed on the cake and they were super cute. I added their names on a cake topper and fresh flowers that kept with their colour scheme and Sam’s bouquet.
In the end, the two-tiered cake seemed a perfect ending to a perfect day.
Best of luck for all the happiness in the world you two.
My friend Kathy started the Madagascar School Project a few years back and to date has raised enough funds to erect two schools and teach 500 students — kids who wouldn’t have had an education if it weren’t for these schools and her amazing efforts.
Along with Kathy there are a bevvy of volunteers who help with a annual fundraising dinner, held locally, which includes a cake auction and each year I’ve donated a cake for the cause. The pandemic put a kybosh to these fundraisers but this year the event is back and I was up to make a cake to help.
In the past attendees, for the most part, buy a cake for their table (they all chip in) and eat it right then and there. So I decided on a three-layer chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream, topped with chocolate ganache and accented with wee chocolate truffle hedgehogs. Now how cute is that?
I heard the the cake had some serious bidding and it raised an ample sum for the school. Yippee!
For more information on the Madagascar School Project: https://www.madagascarschoolproject.com/
My friend Jenna’s son Gavin was born on May 4 and was celebrating his first birthday. May the fourth…the theme naturally, had to be Star Wars. We discussed all sorts of characters for the cake but in the end Jenna wanted a Chewbacca cake. And it had to be chocolate (perfect for his fur!).
The party was held outdoors compete with Darth Vadar balloons and Storm Trooper paper plates. And wee Gavin grabbed a piece of the cake, sat down in the middle of a blanket, and ended up mostly wearing the cake. Very adorable.
May the fourth be with you Gavin, now and always
Two of Karen’s favorite things topped her birthday cake: Her horse all wrapped up in its favourite white coat and her black cat, which sat atop a Rice Krispie square and shredded wheat hay bale. Perfect for her special day. Happy birthday Karen!
A springtime bridal shower celebrated the upcoming wedding of Defne to Connor. Don’t cherry blossoms just scream spring?
Best wishes on their nuptials.
Colleen received the Order of Merit of the Police Forces from the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada at Rideau Hall, Ottawa. Congratulations on your well deserved success, Colleen!
My Oreo-loving brother celebrated his 70th birthday last fall. How could I forget to post the photo of his cake? Argh, I did, but it’s never too late!
My brother has loved Oreo’s since we were little kids. He’d remove the centres and add them to one single chocolate biscuit and then top it with another chocolate biscuit to create the biggest Oreo you ever did see. This was long before Big Stuff Oreos were invented. Maybe Larry invented them!?
Anyhow, we celebrated his 70th with a weekend away. Most of the family got together and had great meals and played Scrabble. He asked me to make him an Oreo cake. It was vanilla with a crushed Oreo icing between the layers. A chocolate drizzle on the outside with crushed Oreos at the base and more Oreos at the top. An Oreo cookie overload to be sure.
Happy birthday Larry!
Tonight we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a corned beef and cabbage dinner (with boiled potatoes and carrots too), so I figured I’d have to come up with something clever for dessert.
Finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow sounds good to me, even if it’s only an edible version.
Here’s to green beer and shamrocks. Luck of the Irish be with you!
Marie Josee asked me to make her a birthday cake using her favourite colours, pink and gold. She gave me free rein to create any design that inspired me. Just use pink and gold.
The cake was strawberry with lemon buttercream, tinted pale pink. I used pink macarons and white Lindt truffle balls that I splashed with edible gold paint. I finished off the cake with a few pink buttercream details and a sprinkle of gold sugar. The pink silk lotus seemed like a natural with all those other fabulous textures and pink tones.
Happy birthday MJ!
A local entrepreneur celebrated the opening of her new offices with a ribbon cutting and snacks too! I made various cupcakes: Several that featured the logo of Business Sisters in fondant and others that used the colours of the logo in a buttercream swirl.
Congrats Doreen and knock them dead out there!
I heard that a friend of mine was feeling poorly and I know he loves my cupcakes, so I contacted his daughter and asked if he’d like a pick-me-up. She thought it was a great idea.
I knew he liked flowers so I figured I’d send over a bouquet of a dozen buttercream posies. A few years back, I made him a Cherry Blossom cake, his favourite chocolate bar, so I picked up a few Cherry Blossoms at the store and used them as the centres of the sunflowers.
Apparently he loved them and the timing was perfect as his niece and her kids were visiting and the whole bunch of them dug into the cuppies.
Every year I try to make a fun Valentine’s Day themed cake for dinner. Usually, it’s a cake for two with some sort of chocolate interior, as it’s a fave for both of us.
This year I decided to get on board the comic cake train. It seems everyone is making cakes that look like they came off the pages of a comic strip.
The sweet thing about this cake is that it’s really small. I found a china cupcake stand I had bought years ago and that was the base for the entire cake. My freezer seems to be full of odd lot cake bits, leftover from some former cake project. I took my largest circle cutter (about 4″ across) and cut two chocolate rounds and one from a strawberry cake. Then I iced them together, putting the strawberry round in the middle. I placed a lollipop stick through the centre to secure it as it was pretty tall.
To top it off, I made a red heart out of paper and taped it to another lollipop stick and put it through the middle to complete the look.
Sweet, comic valentine indeed.
An Encanto cake! Could I make one? Of course, but first I had to watch parts of the movie to see get a feeling for it.
Since I was given the actual characters to add to the cake, the house was the thing. I had so much fun making the terracotta roofing tiles out of those round, chocolate-filled rolled cookies. Buttercream walls and bricks, along with pink buttercream bougainvillea climbing the walls and roof made it look somewhat like the house in the movie. It really was a lot of fun to make.
I have to run. The popcorn is ready and I’m off to enjoy “Encanto”!
When Sheila’s son David let me know that his mum’s 80th birthday was coming up and that he was throwing her a big party, I was excited to make a cake for this special occasion. Among other things, Sheila has helped organize the Vankleek Hill Old Time Fiddlers for over 50 years.
I thought an elegant, ivory-coloured cake with fondant flowers would be just the thing for Sheila with a chocolate fondant fiddle as a nod to her love of the instrument.
The cake fed 50+ guests and her party featured a gaggle of fiddle players (Sheila included) accompanied by a pianist. Sheila and her husband Harvey even took a turn on the dance floor!
Happy 80th birthday Sheila and many happy returns.
John is my go-to guy if something mechanical (or otherwise) stops working. I have a 1950s lamp that I love but the switch broke. I mentioned it to John one night when he and his wife Doreen were over for dinner, and he said, “I can fix that!” They took it home with them and now it now works like a charm.
John’s a handy guy and is always fixing stuff around his house. When I heard that he was celebrating a significant birthday, a duct tape cake seemed in order. A chocolate duct tape cake at that.
Happy birthday John!
Poutine cakes are one of my favourites to make. I first made it about 10 years ago for my partner, sort of as a joke, when he and I were at the helm of Poutine Chronicles, a blog featuring reviews of various poutines from across the globe, sent in from eager tasters. It even got a mention in the NY Times! But I digress…
I remember coming out with the cake and singing Richard “Happy Birthday.” The look on his face was, “Why is there poutine on my cake?”
Since then, I’ve made this cake at least a dozen times, each one a bit different, depending on which “gravy” I decide to use. This time I used Dulce de Lecce and I just love the look. The drippy look is new too. Every time I make the cake, there seems to be more drips added down the sides.
Hugo is a big poutine fan so the cake was perfect for him. Happy 17th birthday Hugo! I hope you get to enjoy lots of poutine, sweet or savoury, on your special day.
Happy 50th birthday to Yves, founder and owner of Groovy Yurts, which delivers authentic Mongolian yurts across North America in a semi-trailer very much like the one on this cake. Except this truck is completely edible!
Turning 90 is a real milestone! To celebrate this special birthday, it seemed natural to pay tribute to the birthday gal’s inseparable sidekick, her Siamese cat named Quincy. Apparently, he’s a real character and from what I hear, he might have even helped blow out the candles!
These Christmas-themed cupcakes were a gift to the oncology department at a local hospital from a grateful patient.
Thank you to all the front line hospital workers and support staff for the amazing and lifesaving work that you do, all year round.
Anna’s husband Adrian was celebrating a milestone birthday so we decided that since he loved woodworking so much that a cake that focused on the tools of that trade would be in order.
The most fun for me was making a circular saw blade from fondant, letting it dry and then inserting it into the side of the cake. Now that was a first for me.
The chisels were also made of fondant as was the measuring tape. The wood shavings? They were actually from a Lindt chocolate bar!
Happy 60th Adrian. Here’s hoping for some fabulously creative days in your future.
Lynne’s two favourite things are painting and playing mahjong. So when she turned 70, I was asked to design a cake featuring both of her favourite pastimes. Everything on the cake is edible including the fondant brushes and mahjong tiles. Happy birthday Lynne!
Our local artists’ collective, Collectif d’artistes Glengarry Artists’ Collective celebrated their 6th anniversary with an AGM and a cake, a perfect combo. The cake was also a perfect combo of chocolate and vanilla inside and on the outside featured a fondant palette and brushes with a colourful drip all around the sides.
Congrats to this creative group of artists who have thrived and continue to create art wherever they go. You rock!
Little Alexander was celebrating his 2nd birthday over the weekend and his mum decided that a “food truck” would be the theme of his party. She sent me the invitation that featured a bright red food truck and I went from there. The special of the day marked on the blackboard had to be “Happy birthday Alexander” right?!
Apparently little Alex loved his cake and so did everyone else at the party.
Happy 2nd birthday Alexander!
Since my partner Richard cuts, splits and brings in all our wood, I decided a wooden stump cake would be perfect for his birthday. I also ordered a personalized cake topper for the occasion.
There were many ways to make the bark but I decided on dark chocolate shards, carefully placed on top of chocolate buttercream. A four-layered, 6″ cake made for the correct proportions.
All in all it was a fun way to bring in another year. Happy birthday dear Richard!
It was so much fun to make a cake for a fellow who has a passion for old barns. I decided to paint a cake all the way around with various barns, set in a November rural setting. I used food colouring gel, watered down with vodka to make it have the feel of watercolours. And I think it worked pretty well. The cake reminds me of the look of my nature journals that I paint in when I travel.
The birthday message was scrawled onto a piece of faux barn board, made of fondant. And to bring it all together, I made fondant oak leaves and acorns to soften the edges.
Apparently, David loved it so much, he didn’t want to cut it! Happy birthday David.
We’re having a Halloween potluck lunch today at work so I offered to bring cupcakes. Black cats seemed like a perfect choice. And best of all, they’re made from my favourite cookie! Oreos all the way.
MJ is changing jobs and decided to throw a goodbye party to salute her friends and co-workers. She’s setting up a candy bar, with all sorts of candy to choose from along with these candy-covered cupcakes. What fun!
Good luck in your new endeavours, MJ!
My partner’s sister Annie was celebrating a significant birthday last weekend and since we were already getting together at her place (for our Thanksgiving celebrations), Annie’s sister Mary texted me and asked me to bring a cake for Annie.
I figured that a fun, floral cake would be just the thing. I made a lemon cake with lemon buttercream icing and used colours that were sort of “fall-ish.”
We lit up the cake with a few candles and sang our hearts out. Wishing Annie all the best for a fabulous year ahead.
Friends of mine were hosting a 1970’s themed party featuring a live band playing (mostly) disco tunes. As it happened, three of the partygoers had consecutive birthdays so three disco-themed cakes seemed apropos.
Mirror-balls (placed safely on a fondant-covered cardboard disks that were removable — just in case a mirror happened to pop off its ball) sat atop a neon pink dripped fondant cake. Bold and sparkly numbers announcing the trips around the sun that each birthday boy has made were the finishing touch.
Happy birthday to Phil, Marc and Paul! Hope you boogied on down to celebrate your special day!
My friend Heidi wanted a pineapple cake to commemorate a significant birthday. Pineapples represents warm welcomes, celebration and hospitality. She likes the fruit so much she even has a pineapple tattooed on her forearm. How ’bout that?
Happy birthday Heidi. I hope your birthday is full of warm welcomes and awesome celebrations!
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