I made the decision that I will no longer accept cake orders and I will keep this as a hobby as I originally intended.  When I received that rejection letter from university a couple of years ago, I threw myself into something else as a distraction. Cakes were fun, I felt like I was really good at something for a change. It was a wonderful feeling and because everyone kept saying to me, “You should do this for a living.” I followed their advice and not my heart.

Cake is not an easy career. Because of the legal issues with baking out of your home, a kitchen had to be rented or built. When it came time to make that decision I decided that this wasn’t really what I wanted. When I’m no longer happy, I know it’s time to pack it in. This time I was in Italy and while I was surrounded by the love and support of 25 women I knew in my heart it was time to close Cakes That Make You Go Mmm. It no longer brought me Joy and in the spirit of following your Joy I knew it was time.

I will continue with the blog, and I will always keep my cakes as a hobby. I will continue to post reviews and update on classes I have taken. Thanks for being a part of this for me while I needed it, and keep reading. Have a Sweet Day xo Crystal

I sketched, and sketched, and sketched some more, until I finally came up with something I felt would show a little bit of birthday and a little bit of class. It’s always nice to be able to create something with free reign on design and Melinda entrusted me with the Bee vision. I decided we definitely had to have a hive and some little bees flying around.

I wanted the cake to have a bit of whimsy and a little bit of class. I could easily transform the cake from birthday party to wedding party. Wouldn’t a Bee themed wedding be cute?

I also made some Bee Cupcake Toppers, we formed a little Bee Army.

I got a little carried away making Bee Puns on my Twitter account and posting photos like this captioned “I always feel like some BEE is watching meeeeee.” Oh yes folks, I did and I’m not ashamed to admit it. There was even a Bee wedding.

Melinda wanted Polka Dots and Stripes, and the colours had to be black, white and yellow. I love polka dots so of course I really enjoyed crafting the polka dot tier.

My favorite tier of all was the quilted fondant with black and white pearl dragees.

And who doesn’t love a fondant bow? It’s edible and elegant!

If you want to see this cake in person, head down to the Mum 2 Mum Sale on Sunday from 2-5pm at The Morrow Building on Lansdowne Street and stop by the Busy Bee Partying Planning Booth!

When I finished decorating the cake I wanted to keep it. I don’t often get much time to photograph and see the cake on display before it’s delivered and gobbled up.  The past week has been a flurry of back to school, errands and preparing for my trip that I forgot to take a moment to just breath and just be.

I think the reason why I love cake design so much is that when I’m working on a cake in the wee hours of the morning, it’s quiet and serene and I can just create. My mind is completely clear of deadlines and dance class times, lunch making and grocery shopping.  It’s just me and the cake and when I get free reign on design I can just enjoy the process of creation. When I’m painting the stripes on gumpaste bumble bees, or applying tiny little sugar wings I absolutely cannot think of anything else and it’s wonderful.

Have a wonderful September everyone and thank you for reading and commenting, for following us on Twitter or Liking Us on Facebook.  Be Sweet & Safe xo Crystal

My husband and I kicked off summer with a trip to Niagara on the Lake to celebrate our 7/11 anniversary. What’s that? 7 years married, 11 years since we had met. It was the perfect trip and we packed in so many great restaurants and little activities. My favorite part? Taking Dan to a live show of The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Our favorite meal? LIV restaurant located within the White Oaks Resort Lodge & Spa – to DIE for. The best meal I’ve ever had hands down! It was the perfect little rest and relaxation we both needed. The service at the resort and restaurant is outstanding, I was absolutely blown away and we will definitely return and stay there on our next trip.

Later we decided to camp with my sister and her family, camping with kids in a tiny trailer was an experience! Our first trip with two of our kids and my sister and her two boys proved to be a hilarious challenge in patience and putting up with bugs. Thankfully we borrowed a friends trailer and although it was cramped, the kids were thrilled. Although we dealt with massive amounts of crazy bugs, the memories the kids made were well worth it.

Then it was time for the moment I’d been waiting for since I opened my favorite Christmas present. The Coldplay concert! I was thrilled to find out that Marina & The Diamonds would be opening for them. I cried when my husband gave me the tickets, and I cried when the music started and the magical special effects that went with every song I’d sung along to so many times in my car. Coldplay has a special place in my heart and has always managed to have the perfect music debut during some of my lifes biggest moments. It was surreal to be standing so close to the stage and watching all of my favorite tunes come to life.

I think I bought about three tshirts, five pins and a concert book. During the concert everyone had these wristbands you wore when you entered….they began to glow and twinkle and seeing the ACC lit up like field full of beautiful neon fireflies was quite the spectacle! I felt like a kid again.

You really cannot even begin to understand the beautiful display unless you were there, no photo does it justice. The bracelets also blinked along to some of the songs and just made the show so interactive. I instructed the hubs to take photos so I could relax and enjoy the show. I refused to spend the entire time taking photos and missing out on the actual experience.

There was also confetti (my favorite!) and balloons. It was like being in the middle of a music video. A very sweaty, confetti filled, inspiring music video. Here’s a photo when it was all over, me and my super-dorkiness. This was taken just before I was asked by security to please leave the premises, the show was now over. NEVER!!!!

The following week my husband and I went on a last minute camping trip to Grand Bend and my favorite part is always the camp fire and the swimming. Their beaches are fantastic! We always wish we had just one more day when we go there. It’s so beautiful and relaxing. I forgot to take a photo…whoops! I did take a photo of the hat I bought at the Polish bakery we stopped at on the way, and I consumed a ridiculous amount of perogies to celebrate my Polish heritage. Polska!

During one of my cake adventures, my husband took the kids to visit a friend at his trailer. The kids were absolutely over the moon about visiting their little friend and had an amazing time. George was thoroughly pooped at the end of the few days they spent there and decided to have a little rest before heading back. Here he is with our friends dog Lily, I think this photo sums up perfectly what all of the parents are feeling right now as we begin the back to school madness.

I got in touch with old friends and made amends, I spent more time with my kids and enjoyed the summer sun and our pool. We practiced swimming….

and how to corral the wild  zoo of pool toys….

and most importantly mastering the art of The Canon Ball! COWABUNGA!

We planned our annual trip to Niagara Falls with the kids and this time they got to pick our activities. Zoey was intent that we must go visit the Bird Kingdom, which we had never done.  After some research it looked like a lot of people gave it high ratings on trip advisor so we agreed to go check it out.  I am so glad we did because it was absolutely kick butt amazing! The kids were thrilled to be so up close and personal with all kinds of birds, lizards and turtles. The cafe inside had delicious smoothies and the kids all time fav – slushies! You clearly did not have a good time unless you have blue teeth and lips! I love this photo of the three of them doing the bird feeding when one of the macaws landed on Georgies head. He thought it was hilarious and the staff there are fantastic!

We held parties for family milestones and birthdays and one last party to wish our niece Elsa well on her way to university. After the last hurrah we all hugged her goodbye, cried and wished her well. Even my kids laid in bed with me and we had a cry because we would miss our Elsa. I think almost every photo I took everyone had been crying so none of those here! It’s hard to believe the summer is already winding down and as we send the kids back to school and take a breath to enjoy a little silence from the hours of 9am to 3pm again.

We realized our family had outgrown my beloved little black Chrysler 300…especially after the long drive to and from Niagara. Don’t the kids look so thrilled to be going on another road trip crammed in the back seat together? Big Daddy is definitely looking mighty impressed that we were only minutes into the car ride before the fighting broke out. Thankfully the Ipad, an Ipod and the Leapster came to the rescue. Gotta love modern day technology. Remember sitting in the back of your parents station wagon, or rather jumping all over like crazed banshees fighting over who got to sit in the very back facing out? Man I loved those seats!

At the beginning of the summer my husband and I were determined to enjoy plenty of bonfires. He even purchased a brand new extra large fire pit for me, right before the fire ban that last for what seemed like the entire summer. We were able to squeeze in a couple once it was lifted. There is something so soothing about sitting by a campfire and enjoying quiet summer evenings.

During one of our family gatherings at my brothers home, we got to witness this fabulous sunset.

Not only did we soak up the sun and travel but I also got the fabulous idea of making over the kids bedrooms. ALL AT ONCE. Don’t ask me why, because clearly I’m not great at thinking through the logistics of doing such a task the week before school starts.

Especially when it isn’t just paint, it included hand painted murals, customized ceiling fans and 3 trips to IKEA in ONE day. Oh yes, all that bloggy goodness is coming your way folks! It may not be cake, but it’s pretty cool stuff!

I’ll be sure to update with photos of the finished projects soon. I’m pretty excited to reveal Georgies batcave room! If not before, after I return home later this month from Italy! That’s right, I’m off to beautiful land of food, wine and art to soak up a little culture and hopefully wisdom and inspiration. I’ll be back at the end of September. So just in case I don’t get time to update before I leave or during my trip I assure you I will have plenty to blog about when I return! I saw this beautiful quote last week while I was sitting in the chair at the beauty parlour. Rebecca, my wildly talented and fabulous hair stylist handed me this book – inside there are fabulous quotes by fashionable women over the age of 50/60 and I cannot recall the name but this particular quote spoke to me…

I love that! In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed a summer of sun, fun and family/friends. Welcome back to school everyone! Whether you are attending or not, doesn’t something about this time of year always trigger a feeling of fresh starts and a nervous excitement? I don’t know about you but I am definitely ready for a little routine after the chaos we enjoyed this summer. It is a welcome familiarity that comes each year and I feel like we are slowly mastering how to juggle all of our schedules. We are trying to  learn to just be in the moment and not worry so much about making sure we’re making moments. Have a Sweet Week Everyone xo Crystal

I had wanted to do some food for the party so we compiled a list together and the results were pretty delicious! Melinda made some amazing taquitos and these super yum Smores pops. I forgot to take a photo of the taquitos, I was too busy eating them!

I found a recipe via Pinterest for Cowboy Caviar and tweaked it a little to my own taste. I will post the recipe below!

The main food table set up included so many cute props. As you can see below Melinda went all out to make sure the theme was well known with bandana accents; a wooden carriage wheel, hay bales and cowboy boots, not to mention the other amazing props that really pulled off an old west feel.

Melinda always comes up with interesting ways to present the food and I absolutely loved the 10 gallon cowboy hat dip holder.

Guests also filled out wishes on stars to go on our wish tree. A beautiful little keepsake for Rachel and her baby to cherish for many years to come. The wish tree was custom made  for the party where Rachels friends could share a wish for the babys future.

It was time to let the party begin, but not before I could leave my wish!

We sat on hay bales adorned with cute red and blue bandanas and enjoyed the fresh air and last bits of summertime while Rachel opened her gifts.

Once the presents were opened it was time to chow down! The taco salad was delicious, the recipe is at the bottom of this post! Tacos are Rachels favourite food, so it was only natural we incorporate them into our theme.

I also whipped up a pasta salad that included green olives and bits of pepperoni for the perfect addition to our food spread.

The party had so many little details it was hard to capture them all on camera. I adored the Saloon sign and complimenting accents which really made the theme pop! Ice cold Coke a Cola & Bottled Water were served as our beverages. Coke is Rachels Favorite drink!

Our friend Jim made an amazing diaper cake in the shape of a motorcycle. Just one of the many thoughtful gifts Rachel received.

After all the presents were opened and the food had been devoured everyone relaxed for a visit to enjoy the cool night air, great company and of course CAKE! Our cowboy party was a success and we couldn’t have done it without Melinda of Busy Bee Party Planning! Thank you so much Melinda! Also a big thank you to my husband for picking up the hay bales and running around to grab extra tables and last minute items while I put the finishing touches on the cake. I feel very blessed to have such great friends and family! I also wanted to thank Paula for dropping off an extra table for us to use!

When it came time for the cake I think we were all ready to dive in and enjoy.  Don’t you just love the little bare bottomed gumpaste baby on the top of cake and the little hand made cowboy hat? The Cake was Buttermilk Chocolate with Vanilla Bean Dream Filling.

Looking to snag some cowboy themed recipes for your next round up? Here they are! Scroll all the way down for each one.

COWBOY CAVIAR – Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

2 Cans of Corn drained and rinsed

1 Small Can of Old El Paso Green Chiles 

1 Can of Black Beans drained and rinsed

1 Can of White Kidney Beans drained and rinsed

1 Small Sweet Onion

1 Bag of Kraft Shredded Tex Mex Cheese

1 Red Bell Pepper diced and cubed

1 Cup of Sour Cream

1 Cup of Mayonnaise

1 Bag of Tostitos Multi-Grain Scoops

1 Bag of Tostitos Scoops 

Mix all of your ingredients together and refrigerate. Serve with a mix of multi-grain and plain Tostitos Scoops. You could also use their salted lime chips or regular restaurant style nachos. Yummy!

COWBOY PASTA SALAD

2 Boxes of Bowtie Pasta

1 Pepperoni sliced and cubed into bite size pieces

1 Red Bell Pepper cubed

1 Green Pepper Cubed

1 Cup of Green Olives chopped

1 Bag of finely shredded mozzarella/chedder mix

3 Small tomatoes chopped

1 Package of Club House Powdered Ranch Dressing

2 cups Mayonaise

2 cups Sour Cream

This makes a very large bowl of pasta salad, feel free to cut amount of pasta and sour cream/mayo in half.  Cook pasta al dente and rinse well.  Add chopped ingredients, cheese and pasta into a large bowl and toss.  Mix mayo, sour cream and ranch dressing together in separate bowl and pour over the pasta mixture.  Mix well and refrigerate before serving. Wasn’t that easy?

TACO SALAD

2 Heads of Lettuce (the original suggested iceberg but I chose romaine)

2 lb of lean ground beef

2 packages of Old El Paso Taco seasoning

2 Red Bell Pepper Chopped

2 Tomatoe Chopped

2 Green Pepper Chopped

1 Cup of Green Onions Chopped

1/2 Large Bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos

1/2 Large Bag of Fritos Original Flavour

1 Bottle of Catalina Salad Dressing

Prepare Taco meat with seasoning as per package directions. Drain excess grease and set aside to cool. Rip up lettuce into bite sized pieces and add the rest of your veggies, cheese and meat (once it has cooled).  Just before serving add bottle of Catalina salad dressing and crunch up chips on top. Toss well and serve! This makes a large amount of salad so again just cut the recipe in half for a smaller meal. Make sure not to add the dressing and chips until you are ready to serve or they will become soggy. 

So what did you think of our Cowboy Round Up baby shower? Are you planning on having a cowboy themed party of your own? Thanks for checking out the blog and please feel free to leave a question or comment.  We love it when our friends, family and visitors share our blog posts on facebook and twitter.  You can also like us on Facebook and follow our Twitter page for more information on cakes and parties! Have a sweet day! Crystal xo

Everyone arrived at the class and we started to work on making our sea shells and pearls (all edible). I love the little details and as anyone who attended the class can attest I fell behind (as usual) because I couldn’t stop painting my shells and making them look as realistic as I possibly could. I could hand paint/dust flowers and details for days on end, I find it very relaxing and therapeutic. It’s always been my favorite part of the cake decorating process.  All of the shells you see featured in the photos came from moulds I purchased at Flour Confections, Lisa carries a variety of beautiful moulds that really stand up to the test of time. I think the starfish and sand dollar are my favourites!

I love the laid back pace of Andreas classes and watching other students come in from all areas of the globe to participate.  Andrea recently had a student from Saudi Arabia fly in for private lessons! This class had students from Quebec and Montreal as well as a few locals.  We all really enjoyed each others company and chatted away while we worked to make the perfect beach bucket cake to take home.

One of the students there is famous for her gorgeous sugar cookies, Marlyns piping is phenomenal and she offers tutorials online as well.  You can check out her Flikr photos here! Seriously some amazing work, you have to appreciate the time that goes into making those gorgeous confections!

As the class nears it’s finish I am always awe stricken at how quickly everyones cakes come together. It always seems like we spend so much time on details and that we might not finish but in that last hour when the cakes are placed along with the decorations it just all pulls together perfectly. The inside of my cake was a chocolate and vanilla layered with vanilla bean buttercream. The kids were anxious to bite into my edible starfish but I had to save them because sometimes certain pieces of a cake are just too pretty to eat, don’t you think?

Andrea is a fabulous teacher. I know I have more than a few entries on her classes but I cannot recommend them highly enough. She is so patient and kind, always willing to help a student and make sure everyone leaves with something lovely. Her classes are well detailed and she gives so many tips, tricks and lists of suppliers she uses. Andrea is truly a gem among the cake community and I don’t think she is nearly as appreciated or coveted as she deserves. Being that I consider her one of my best friends, maybe I’m slightly bias but she really is bursting with kindness and amazing talent.

You hear that Food Network?? I don’t know why Andrea doesn’t have her own show because her talent is second to none.  If you have seen her work on Flickr, or her facebook page you can attest that her designs are truly one of kind.  Andrea, I know at some point you might read this and I just want you to know how grateful I am for having met you, for the classes you have taught me and the laughs we have shared over the past couple of years.  I wouldn’t trade a second of it for anything, well, maybe a kiss from Duff? :-p Have a Sweet Day everyone!

It was an early morning drive and the 401 was especially kind to me on this particular day with no traffic jams. Upon arrival the girls all greeted each student hello and showed us into the classroom.  Everyone had their own station set up with everything we needed.  Anytime I don’t have to bring materials to class I’m a happy camper! Lisa had also put out some lovely sweet breads/pastries and coffee and tea for everyone.

The class began with Chuck (on the right of the photo) from Swank Cake Designs. He taught us a myriad of techniques for making isomalt gems and how to work with isomalt and apply it to cake design. Part of our class kit included a bag of pre-made isomalt to use at home and some moulds.

Wayne taught us how to make beautiful sugar jewellery using moulds and a variety of techniques to really dress up a cake. We were given two silicone moulds that he selected for each of us which was a killer bonus in my opinion!

We all completed our gems and stopped for a lunch break.  Can I just say what an amazing spread Lisa puts on? Sandwiches, salad, cookies, veggies and dip.  It was really lovely and much appreciated by the students.

After lunch the magic started to happen! Wayne guided us step by step on how to make a beautiful shoe. Everyone worked on their shoes and created a beautiful piece of sugar art to take home.  I was amazed at how each shoe was the same but still unique to it’s owner. We all shared a lot of laughs and Wayne and Chuck were both really helpful and kind to each of the students.

Everyone went home with a shoe making kit that included everything we needed to make a variety of shoe styles, formers, moulds, isomalt and instructions.  The value for the amount of items we took home as well as getting three lessons combined into one was phenomenal! Now that I know how to make a shoe I’ll be sure to create some beautiful designs soon!  By the way – it takes a week for a shoe to be completed, we had some help skipping some steps – this isn’t normally something that can be completed in one day.  A big thank you to Wayne & Chuck as well as Lisa & Scott and the staff at Flour Confections for a fabulous class!

After doing a google search and finding her website I discovered Debi had in fact been diagnosed with breast cancer and she was currently doing an alternative treatment.  I wrote an email and waited, within a few hours I had a lovely email back.  We spent weeks/months chatting online during her treatment and my dream it turns out was correct, she was about to quit her current treatment plan. Debi continued on her alternative treatment plan and continues to do so with excellent results!

When Debi asked me if I could do a birthday cake for her son and a separate gluten free cake for her I asked her why don’t we just make the cake gluten free so they could share the same cake?  Debi was thrilled there was such an option and my search for the perfect gluten free carrot cake began.  I found one that had received great reviews and got to work.  Her son Dash loves to hunt and fish and had recently lost their family dog Promise, a beautiful golden lab that had been with them for many years.  I remembered Promise fondly, a faithful and steadfast friend, always curled up close by. Debi wondered if we could incorporate some of this into the cakes design and I assured her we could make something special.

The cake inside was 3 layers of gluten free carrot cake and it was so moist it was almost difficult to put together! I confess, I ate an entire leftover layer myself. I have to taste test right?!

I definitely wanted some edible water to represent the lake on top of the water blue cake and I really loved the delicate lily pads with  blooming lily flowers on top. (And yes, they are all edible as well).

I also added the fish I had moulded by hand out of gumpaste and painted with assorted colours of lustre dust. I’ll admit they are my favorite part.

For a little bit of whimsy we included a frog with his tongue perched out.

And of course, then came Promise, the dog, lounging on the grass in the lazy hazy sun.  Debi came for a visit where we spent hours catching up and laughing. She does look twenty years younger, slimmer and is doing really well.  Dash was ecstatic about his cake and could not believe it was real and all edible. The party guests were equally wowed and it was a great surprise for him. Debi is currently writing a book on her experience with cancer and it will be available soon.  If you would like to donate funds towards her treatments and read more about her experience, please take a peek and feel free to contact her through her website.  You can also help by purchasing some of her beautiful artwork and prints on her website as well. Have a Sweet Day!

We would play endless games of Barbies and house and when I was getting ready for a date (I was 17) she would sit behind me and chat away.  If I had time I would curl her tiny little blonde hair and let her use some of my mascara and lipgloss.  I taught her how to say scrumptious “Scrumpish!” and once I taught her how to play surprise by making her hide in a laundry basket and jump up – that didn’t end so well…

When they moved into their new home I cried, I would miss my little buddy.  Thankfully we remained close but it was pretty weird to have the whole upstairs all to myself again.  Now that Elsa is almost 18 herself, she has grown up into an amazing lady.  I like to think I had a small part in that, she’s off to med school in the fall! (Did I mention I bought her the scandalous pregnant Barbie? Oh yes I did, and I’m positive that right then and there she decided to be an OBGYN because I bought her this barbie)  The Barbie was hilarious, it came with a detachable belly and two babies.  We laughed to kill ourselves when we gifted it to her.

She babysits for us almost every week and our kids think she is pretty special.  It’s amazing to see how time changes but how special Elsa is to my kids what I hope I was for her.  She graduated with honours and she will be leaving us in the fall for a big adventure!  To celebrate her graduation I baked her a cake that combined her favorite things – chocolate and peanut butter.  We kept it simple and rustic looking so that it could be enjoyed.  No fondant decorations or typical graduation embellishments, just down to earth goodness! We played in the pool, hung out and ate dinner, the kids jumped on the trampoline with Elsa and her little brother Andrew (Andrew’s the one holding the cake). We all gifted her with items for her big move and I think we all felt a little nostalgic and wee bit sad to see our Elsa-baby all grown up and ready to leave the nest.

When Elsa was born, my oldest nephew nick named her Elsa-Baby.  Well Elsa, you are no longer our baby but a beautiful young woman and we are so proud of how hard you have worked! xo Love Auntie Crystal

My big brother Billy celebrated his twenty fourth birthday for the second time a couple of weeks ago.  He wanted a lumber jack cake, so I made sure to do something a little silly and whimsical.  Billy is one of my four brothers – go Mum! We call or text each other every single day.  If we miss a day or two we get frantic until we talk to one another, we’re just silly like that.  My big brother was always a little bit of a rebel, but he taught me a great deal. He also helped me when I was rather young with a bully problem.  I was in grade seven at the time and the boys at school were relentlessly  picking on me, I was fairly over-developed for my age and it gained some unwanted popularity on the bus.  I told those boys that one day my brothers would come and beat them up for being mean to me.  They would just laugh it off. Billy had a beautiful Harley Davidson and he said that he would pick me up and take me to school one morning.  The timing was excellent, I could put my money where my mouth was.

After a particularly rough bus ride home being teased and called names, I was really looking forward to not having to endure a morning round of being picked on. True to his word (as always) Billy picked me up, he was wearing all of his biker gear and had a nice shiney black helmet for me.  We waited at the end of the driveway for my bus to pull up and stop.  I shouted I had a ride to the driver while secretly wishing I could give everyone on the bus the finger and laugh.

The bus pulled away from the end of our lane and Billy pulled out directly behind it.  At the back of the bus the boys and their crew were sitting and looking out the window. I will never forget the look on their faces when they saw my little head poking over Billys shoulder, I think it’s appropriate to say I was wearing a shit-eating grin.  They looked scared and I was having the time of my life.  Billy remained stone faced, he stopped at every stop the bus did until we got to school.  When the bus pulled in, one of the boys wearing a cast and on crutches at the time – came flying off the bus.  Running, cast and all, crutches thrown to the side of the yard, they were all running scared.  Oh what a moment, I ate it all up and enjoyed the attention.  Billy made me cool, and he also scared the pants off those boys who never again uttered a single mean word to me.

Over the years Billy would get me out of trouble, pick me up from friends houses, occasionally he would send a friend to pick me up with one of their bikes so I would maintain my super tough girl image. When family falls out of touch, as they sometimes do, Billy would always make sure to write or call me.

I’ve had some pretty bad days over the course of my life and Billy has been a part of pulling me through and cheering me up almost every single time.  Whether it was a phone call, a funny joke, or just checking in to make sure I was alive when it felt like no one else cared.  I love my big brother so much and would do anything for him, so of course I obliged and made him a delicious little cake, we had a party with balloons and presents.  Ate his favorite meal and hung out with the family.

I got my brother a little plaque, despite his disdain for nick nacks, I saw this in a shop on Niagara on the Lake and couldn’t  help but pick it up for him.  It read: “To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other’s hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time.”  I think I even saw my tough lumber jack brother get a little wispy eyed over that one! When I had seen it in the shop I started bawling and knew it was perfect! Happy Birthday Billy!

Baking and decorating all day, even the kids helped me to make the popcorn accents.  A lot of time and effort went into these cupcakes, so imagine our surprise when we arrived at the fun fair to see them on sale for 50 cents each. Yikes, I can’t even make them that cheap!  Next time I think I’ll donate a decorated cake to be raffled instead.  The school had blow up bouncy castles, slides and obstacle courses, cupcake walks, games set up in every room – even face painting!  It was a really big event and the kids had a blast winning prizes and bidding on fun fair gift baskets.

A silent auction was held to raise funds as well, and the kids from each class were asked to bring in a specific themed item to compile a gift basket for their class.  The baskets were massive and filled with so many great items.  We won a summer fun basket for $60.00 – so many awesome things inside, Tim Hortons Gift Card, iTunes Gift Card, tons of Pool Toys, Sunscreen, Gardening Tools and Gloves, Tableclothes and outdoor games for the kids to play.   It was a steal and the gift baskets certainly raised a great deal for the school.  They also had a room set up with guessing jars – people compiled candies of all kinds and you could pay for tickets to guess how many were in each jar. What a fabulous idea for fund raising that doesn’t involve your child having to bug friends and family for donations!  It was open to the public and no doubt they raised a good amount, it was absolutely packed!

Want to make some Red Velvet Cupcakes of your own? See below for our recipe including the cream cheese frosting!

See how beautifully Red they are? I would bet I could even get away with using 1/2 teaspoon of the gel colour and still get beautiful results.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Food Networks Red Velvet Cake Recipe)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 Cup of Buttermilk (don’t have buttermilk? 1 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar – allow to sit for 10 minutes – Voila!)

2 Large Eggs (room temp – if cold, soak in some warm water to bring to temp)

1 tsp of GEL food colouring ie) Sugarflair Red Extra, Americolor Super Red or Wiltons No Taste Red** 

(**I am not recommending liquid red flavouring as I find it’s simply too much Red dye, if you do use it’s 1 ounce)

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (We’re going to turn it down when the cupcakes go in so don’t forget this step!) Prepare you muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Sift together all of your dry ingredients and set aside. (Don’t have a sifter? Use a whisk – it’ll work just as well!)

Add red gel to your buttermilk and mix well.  This prevents a huge mess in your mixer and it’s pre-mixed and ready to be added to the batter.  Some recipes will recommended mixing the cocoa with the red dye (recommended if you use a liquid dye).

Using your stand mixer, add your wet ingredients together and mix until well combined.  Slowly add your dry ingredients 1/3 of the batter at a time and mix until batters texture is smooth.

Fill your baking cups about 3/4 full (I use a large muffin scoop I got from Pampered Chef).  Place your tins in the oven and reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees.  Bake 15 minutes and check by poking a toothpick in the centre.  Cupcakes will be finished when the toothpick comes out clean.  Why 15 minutes? It’s a good time to start checking the batter to ensure you do not dry out the cupcakes.  The red dye can dry out the batter, to ensure you have moist cupcakes anytime you bake follow this method.  Check the cupcakes every 2 minutes until complete.

Remove the cupcakes from the tin 10 minutes after they leave the oven to a cooling rack to prevent the wrappers from becoming saturated with steam and peeling away from the edges of your cupcake. This recipe yields about 18 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 Pound of Cream Cheese Softened

1/2 Pound of Unsalted Butter Room Temp

4 Cups of Powdered Sugar/Icing Sugar (SIFTED)

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

In the bowl of your stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the sugar, butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add a small amount of the icing sugar 1/2-1 cup at time and mix well.  Add 1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Extract and mix well.  Scoop into piping bag and fill/top cupcakes for a deliciously sinful sweet!

If you would like to make your cream cheese frosting a little more stable (it’s prone to melt) mix it with half a batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream to create a stiffer frosting.

(This recipes yields enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes)

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Why do you only recommend using gel colour? Where can I find it?

Liquid red dye is pretty potent.  I don’t recommend that most children consume it in larger quantities (ie large cake slice and frostings/fondant with it in it).  Liquid colour makes a mess and will dry out your cake/cupcakes.  I get my gel colours from Flour Confections in Pickering.  They have great starter kits with a variety of gel colours or they sell singles if you use colours on a regular basis.  Gel produces better results and less mess. (Beet Juice can also be used and we are working on a recipe and will post as soon as we have it perfected for a natural dye option!)

Every time I make Red Velvet it’s dry and not very tasty, how come?

Chances are you are baking with a recipe that has a heavier dry to liquid content.  The liquid colouring is what’s killing your recipe, and the taste!  Switch to the Gel colour paste and you will see better results.

Do you have a recipe that uses a natural dye instead? Like Beets?

We’re working on it and will share as soon as we test it! Promise!

How do I keep my cream cheese frosting from melting?

Mix half with Swiss Meringue Buttercream above. If it’s really runny, try putting it in the fridge for a bit and keep checking on the consistency.  It should be much easier to pipe and stay put!

I would love to have my wedding cake red velvet with cream cheese frosting at my summer outdoor wedding – can it be done?

Red Velvet is either something guests love or hate.  I think the filling is what sells the cake, plus it’s really moist. I usually advise brides to pick at least one other flavour when it comes to their wedding cake. Because the filling contains cream cheese, and your cake will be outdoors might I suggest you have a display cake outside and the real cake inside an air conditioned venue/kitchen? You don’t want to make your guests ill, and cream cheese + heat do not make a great mix.  Display cakes can be made using styrofoam dummies.  The real cake can be kept in the kitchen to be served by the caterer on site for optimum safety.

Why is my fondant covered red velvet cake oozing cream cheese everywhere and melting? My cake is ruined and no matter how cold I keep it the filling runs out and under the fondant.

Whenever you use a filling such as cream cheese, you need to pipe a solid dam of swiss meringue to hold in the filling. Cream cheese melts fast and will ruin your beautiful work if you don’t pipe a dam first to contain the filling!  Never cover a cake in cream cheese frosting and expect fondant to cover it without looking lumpy and a mess.  Although brides will argue they want all cream cheese frosting, might I suggest showing them some examples from Cake Wrecks? :-p There is a reason we crumb coat all of our cakes no matter the filling with a plain vanilla buttercream on the outside – it keeps everything in, and it will stay solid in order to be covered in fondant and avoid any red velvet soup cake disasters.

No one will taste the difference, cream cheese is plenty powerful to overpower the very small amount of flavouring you would get from a Swiss Meringue Buttercream covering the cake and creating a dam.  I promise you, and brides everywhere to trust this advice.  We did the same for Brad & Katies wedding cake last Spring – despite the heat and humidity plus 1 1/2 hour delivery time, the cake stayed solid and kept it’s shape – no buldging! All of the guests raved about the taste.

Have any questions? Post them here or email us and we’ll answer them in the blog! Have a Sweet Day!