Chocolate Lilac and Lace Wedding Cupcakes

This weekend I baked for wedding....and it was definitely one of my favoutite orders in a while! :) The wedding was for a girl name Stacey - she teaches the other Grade 6 class as my sister's school (so I had to do a good job).

Stacey came to me a little while ago with a request for chocolate wedding cupcakes.  She said that her fiance loved cake, so we had to go through a tasting before we found her the perfect cake.  Eventually she settled for dark chocolate cupcakes coverd with marshmallow and white and dark chocolate drizzle - delicious!

My favourite part about this order though, was the decorations on the cake and cupcakes....the wedding had a lilac, white and black colour scheme, so the cupcakes were made to match.  Each cupcake had beautiful lace and lilac ribbon around it, with a little sparkling glitter detail....I loved they way they looked!

A special little mention must go out to the groom and his Mum for selecting the cute little cake topper....isn't it awesome when the groom gets involved with the cake - other than just to taste it! :)

Stacey and David, I wish you all the best in your life together....may it be filled with good times and great memories!  I hope the cakes tasted as good as they looked!

xx

Rose Chocolate and Ganache Cake

Some of you might remember late last year that I made a very similar cake for a guy in the UAE who wanted to surprise is his girlfriend for her birthday....if you need to jog your memory, you can check that post out here. 

Anyway, it turns out that the cake was such a hit, that the same family whose daughter received the cake, ordered one almost exactly like it so that they could take it to a function that they were attending...I love reorders like that!  What a great reason to bake such a beautiful cake! :)

White Chocolate Mini Cake

Happy Birthday to my Granny today! :)

I won't get to her today, so I made her this white chocolate mini cake over the weekend to celebrate....vanilla sponge with white chocolate cream icing....mmmmm mmmm melts in your mouth when you eat it....awesome!

Love you Gran, hope you have a super birthday
x

Blueberry and Nut Cake

One of my favourite reasons for being in this business is so that I can help people who are far away connect with those people in SA that are close to them on their special days!  This particular cake was a good example of one of these stories...

A couple of weeks ago, a girl by the name of Nervanya got hold of me to order a cake for her mum's birthday.....Nevanya does not live in SA, but her Mum does.  We got into the planning of the cake...what it should look like, how it should taste etc....and then she got her sister Verusha involved and between the three of us we decided on a vanilla sponge with white chocolate icing topped with blueberries and nuts....decedent and delish! 

I delivered the cake today to a very surprised "squirrel" at the school that she works at - she was so touched by the lovely gesture that her daughters had made.....they sent through a beautiful message which I wrote out in a card.....the whole thing just made my day! Nothing quite like getting a surprise from your family on your birthday....especially when that surprise is a cake that you can enjoy with the whole office!

Happy Birthday Mala, I hope you were as delighted by the cake as your daughters were by sending it to you! :)

Your mother should have named you lovely

Today was my Indian's birthday, so I made him a cake to celebrate.  His favourite cake is maderia, but that seemed a bit boring for a birthday, so he got a personalised chocolate cake instead. (In truth the maderia cake that I baked had an argument with my oven, and my oven won)

The message on top was specially crafted to suit my friend - on a daily basis I hear the phrase "Your mother should have named you irritating" whenever I ask for artwork - it seemed only fair that a similar phrase appear on top of his birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Sel! 
I hope that this year you do not receive a Weber braai and that your friends buy the right watch...Heaven help them if they don't! ;)
Wishing you a great year ahead my friend.
x

Pretty in Pink Chocolate Birthday Cake

 

It's not often that I bake a cake that I really struggle to have to give away.....but this delicious chocolate number definitely tugged at my taste buds as I handed her over!

My friend Haylea ordered this cake for her sister-in-law Mags...my instructions were to "make something that she would want to eat her way out of"....it's not your average descriptor for a cake, but if you know Hales, then you will completely understand!

Hales - you are a great apprentice chef...I just can't leave you alone with the icing...if I did, there wouldn't be any to put on the actual cake! :)

Happy birthday Mags, this cake may not be as cute as your new puppy, but at least it was good enough to eat!

Lemon and Lace Cake

In the spirit of Nelson Mandela Day, I got an email at the end of last week asking me to bake a cake for the grannies and grandpa's of Riverside (a home for the elderly in Pietermaritzburg).  The email came to me from a girl named Sarah, who lives in JHB.  Her Granny used to live at Riverside, but sadly passed away six months ago, and she thought it would be really cool to surprise some of the other elderly people with a cake for Madiba day.

My grandpa actually used to live at Riverside before he passed away (lots of love to Grandparents who have passed on), so I was only to happy to do this special thing for Sarah...hopefully the beautiful lemo and lace cake made the grannies and grandpas of Riverside feel some love today.

Thanks Sarah for the awesome gesture
xx

Peppermint Crisp Cake

Seeing as thought I was already baking cakes for the grannies and grandpas of Riverside, I thought I should show some love to my own Gran, so I made her this chocolate and peppermint crisp cake.  I had some of it yesterday with tea....and it was amazing....even if I sat so myself!  It was rich and creamy and delicious....if you have a sweet tooth, this one is most definitely for you! 

Helicopter Cake

I often think that I am pretty lucky to have such great friends...and I do....but it turns out that I am not the only one!  I made this cake for a guy named Sean, he lives in La Lucia and he just qualified as a helicopter pilot, but this story isn't really about Sean, it's about Kelly - the girl who bought Sean the cake.

Kelly lives in Canada and she called me last week to order this cake for Sean....something for his birthday (which was today) and to celebrate his recent qualification....how awesome is that!  She had it all down, the idea, the type of cake, everything - all I had to do was bake it, so it's almost as though it was half made by herself! 

It's always such a pleasure to bake for those who are far away - I take such delight in being able to bring them a little bit closer to their people on their special day.  Sean, you are a lucky dude to have a friend like Kelly!  And Kelly - I hope you approve of the helipad!

Coffee and Nougat Cake

Happy Birthday to my Dad! :) 

xx

The Farmer is coming to visit us in Durbs today for a birthday lunch, so I decided to make him a birthday cake....given that he likes nougat, I thought i would be nice to top the cake with some chopped up pieces of Sally Hansens finest...although it has to be said that when the cake was finished it looked a lot more like it was topped with popcorn than it looked like it was topped with nougat....it was delish all the same!

Wendy's Chocolate Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Wendy for last week Tuesday...I was still on Holiday, but I hope this chocolate cake makes up for missing the actual birthday celebrations! ;)

Naidoo Wedding

 

Congratulations to the happy couple who got married at the DLI Hall this weekend...you can tell by the pics that there were huge celebrations had at this wedding....400 people....that's insane! :)

Happy BIrthday Happiness

Today my domestic worker Happiness turned 22, so as part of her birthday present Meg and I gave her this chocolate cake.  She was so stoked - it is the first birthday cake that she has ever been given...makes my heart warm just to think about it...amazing what a difference something as little as a cake can make!

Happy Birthday Happiness
x

Chocolate Chuckle Cake

Chocolate cake + chuckles (the Woolies kind) = heaven.

Nuff said.

Basic Vanilla Sponge

There is something about a simple vanilla sponge cake that just goes so well with an afternoon cup of tea!  I baked this cake on the weekend, I was home for a visit, so I thought it would be nice to spoil the family with some sweet treats....Mum and Gran were stoked!

Fluffy and light with just the right amount of sweetness in the icing...delish!  Personally I think the best part was the piping design with the glitter and little pearl details...but that's just me :)

Hanna Montana Guitar Cake

Hanna Montana is all the rage with young girls at the moment....if you didn't know this by now...."like where have you been mom!  Obviously that is the theme I want for my birthday party!"

And so with that comment in mind, a very "hip" lady contacted me to make a birthday cake for a little girl's birthday party this weekend.  Pink, purple and shinny guitar was the brief - I think it was met - there was more glitter and sparkles on this cake than you would find a jewelry store!

I got this email from "hip lady" today, just to say thanks for the cake.  (Thanks for the email Katey - I love hearing back from happy Clients!)

Hi Niki 

After having a piece or two my hubby confidently handed out some of your cards. 

Thank you for the lovely cake, not only was the cake decorated beautifully, the cake was moist and soft. 

Will be sure to call again.   

Thank you.  

Katey 

So it sounds like it went down a treat....all you other mom's out there - you have been warned Hana Montana "is like so in right now" and Miss Cupcake can give you exactly what you need, so pencil me in for your kids parties!

Blueberry and Lemon Drizzle Cake

Tea and cake was the reason behind this blueberry delight.  My cousin (Barker) and his friend (Ricky Bobby) came over for a visit, so I thought I would make a cake for tea.

To my mind, tea and cake were a bit of an unconventional choice for two male, rugby-playing giants....how wrong I was....that cake didn't stand a chance!  Ha ha.  What started off as a begrudging "just one slice please" (as though they were doing me a favour) ended with them eating THE WHOLE CAKE in one sitting!

Inbox me if you guys want the recipe....this one is a keeper!

Purple Wedding

So, like I said in my previous post, I was in Cape Town last weekend to bake for a wedding.  It was held a Monchique Barn, which is kind of between Constantia and Hout Bay and the colour scheme was purple.  

As is always the case with weddings, everyone wants to know what the tables looked like and what the bride was wearing - unfortunately I was not around to see the bride, but I did capture a bit of the vibe going on at the reception...enjoy! :)

 

Baking is in the genes!

The five little faces that you can see in the pic above made this cake....how cute!  It was also for my Gran's 80th, and the little faces are all cousins of mine....much younger cousins, but cousins all the same.  I thought their efforts deserved some praise so now this pic is on my blog.

Well done guys...definitely the best chocolate cake I've ever had! :)

Christmas Cake...it's already that time of year!

I cannot believe that is already the time of year when covered fruit cake is appropriate!  I feel like I have blinked and the year has just disappeared!  That said, I was quite excited to make this Christmas Cake - love the little fat angel, she didn't make it onto the cake in the end, but she is too cute!

A note to all of you out there - Christmas is almost here....just a little over a month to go...so those of you who are looking for cakes, make sure you get your orders in early!