Red Velvet Candy Cane Cupcakes

Last Saturday night, I went to a Halloween party for one of my best friend's birthdays....as fate would have it, she was born on Halloween, so Halloween parties are kind of her thing....this year it was a Zombie Apolocoypse.  I went as a zombie nurse...obviously...what Halloween party would be compete without one!

In years gone by I might have been inclined to make Halloween themed cupcakes....giant spiders or the like, but this year I decided that the "treat" side of "trick or treat might be a little more appropriate for my friend....while she makes an amazing "prom zombie"....I think in real life is is a lot more prom queen and a lot less zombie...so I made her these....

They are red velvet candy cane cupcakes (coz red velvet is her favourite kind of cupcake)...and then had them delivered to her office this morning so they would be fresh for her day at work....coz no birthday is ok without cupcakes at work...even when I don't live in Cape Town anymore!

Lex,
Happy Birthday my precious friend! 
Thank you for a fantastic party on Saturday...loved it!  I hope that you are absolutely spoiled today and appreciated every second of this day for the amazing person that you are :)

Lots of love to you
xxx

Happy Birthday to my Mum

Happy Birthday Beazle! 
I hope you have the a wonderful day today....looking forward to dinner in PMB tonight!  Love you lots Mum
xx

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

My Favourite Family...Birthday Spoils

Meg and the goodness that she baked for my birthday

It was my birthday yesterday, and (not for the first time), I was spoiled rotten by my family and friends....I'm so lucky like that! :)  In particular, my sister Meg went all out this year!  She and her (newly aquired) husband James invited me over for birthday dinner, where she baked the most delicious chicken and mushroom pie and some scrumptious chocolate cupcakes in cute little crown holders...for my crown birthday....sweet hey! 

The pie was honestly one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted - you can see it in the pic above, complete with pastry roses on top and everything - I was madly jealous that it was not something that I myself had baked!

Card and cupcake gifts from Barker and Hales

As if the spoils from my sister were not enough, my friend Hales and her boyfriend Barker (who also happens to be my No 1 cousin), gave me a whole lot of cupcake inspired gifts....Hales even hand painted my logo onto a pj top to match the cupcake pj pants that they gave me....now that is serious effort!  But, it must said, that even though I loved the gifts, my favourite part was the card....there is a pic of it on the left...you okes are such beauts!

Thank you all for the spoils...love you dudes lots
xx

A-muis-ing Birthday Cake Biscuits

 

It was my friend Alice's birthday in the middle of July, but she went off to Cape Town to spend a million years there - so when she got back on this week, she came over for dinner to collect the goodness that had been baked for her :)

Muis child....hope you liked the biscuits, sorry they were late, but that is what you get when you choose to be such a jet setter! :)
xx

Birthday Biscuits for Tash

Tash works in my office, and it is her birthday this morning  - I didn't have time to make her cupcakes coz I was in Joburg last night, so she got the next best thing....chocolate chip cookies! :)

Happy Birthday Tash!
Hope you have a fantastic day today :)
xx

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! ;)

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

I got a last minute order this week for these Hello Kitty Cupcakes this week - they are for a little girl named Kendall, it is her birthday this weekend.  

I had such fun making them, mostly because I had some assistant chef's in the kitchen with me last night....thanks for all your help with the whisker making and bow shaping - Lu, Hales, Barker and Mike you are the best hello kitty face makers I have ever met! :)

(Apologies about the poor quality of the photos - I didn't have my camera with me...thank goodness for Blackberry!)

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

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!

Mini Flower Cupcakes

Happy birthday to my friend Emma!  I can't believe that it has already been a year since the last one (See those cupcakes here...baked before work the morning after our office Christmas party...good times!)

Apart from the cupcakes, Em received a special rhyming birthday card from some of us girls in the office - made me laugh when I read it, so thought I would share...

Em Dog,
Happy Birthday you HOT saucy minx, here's to a great day and a few drinks! 
Enjoy your weekend away, it will b e so romantic, from what we have heard, Muz is quite GIGANTIC.
Thanks for being so special, and such a super mate, we'll love you forever - we just think you are GREAT!


Love us
xx


Happy birthday my friend - I hope you have a fantastic day!
xx

Animal Cupcakes....it's a zoo out there!

These cupcakes belong to my friend Gwyn - it is her birthday today, and being an animal lover I thought she would appreciate the little animal characters on top of the cupcakes.  Admittedly, the Lion needs a little bit of work, but I think the Elephant and the Rabbit are pretty rad!

Happy Birthday Gin....I hope you have a fantastic day my friend.  Cheers to you for 25 great years - will  have a drink for you from Durbs tonight - sorry I'm missing you dinner!  

Lots of love to you moley girl :)

xx

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! :)

Granny's 80th

My Granny turned 80 last week, so the whole family (except my aunt and uncle in England) went to Salt Rock for the weekend to celebrate.  We had a fantastic lunch on Saturday with awesome food and lots of wine...and cupcakes for dessert  

Happy Birthday Granny - 80 years old and still going strong - I'm so glad I have your genes! :)

xx

Chocolate and Decadent Nougat Cupcakes

I'll be honest, it is not often that I feel the inclination to want to eat the cupcakes that I bake - most time my concern for my hips get ahead of me and I refrain.....not so with these ones!  Sally Williams may just have been my favourite person in the whole world when I made these cupcakes....her nougat is seriously to die for!

Vanilla cupcakes topped with chocolate icing and a piece of luxury nougat...it doesn't get much better than that my friends!

Rowan - happy birthday dude, hope you enjoyed the actual cupcakes as much as I enjoyed the toppings for them! :)

Birthday love for Lex

I woke up on the 31st of November feeling very hungover after a rather large Halloween party (thank you Bakes) and made these cupcakes for my friend Lexi's birthday lunch.  What a fantastic day!  Good food, good friends - you know the rest! :)

Happy birthday my Lex, thank you for an awesome lunch.  Love you lots.
xxx

Arrggghhh....happy birthday me matey!

For my birthday this year I decided to have a pirate themed dinner at a restaurant called Panama Jack's which is in the harbor in CT...but of a dingy looking place, so completely appropriate for the theme!

Everyone made such an effort with their costumes...the least I could do was make cakes to match!  Loved the party - I have the most fantastic friends and family in the world...thnks guys!
x

Happy Birthday almost ex-pat

Happy Birthday Jarrie - I hope that SA flags serve as a reminder about where you need to end up eventually...we're gonna miss you when you go friend!