Cookie Monster Cake

This Cookie Monster cake is a large cupcake with Cookie Monster climbing out of it and is surrounded by chocolate cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies. The large cupcake is classic vanilla with vanilla buttercream.

Tuesday Top Five - Groom's Cakes

Over the past few years, groom's cakes have gone from being a Southern wedding tradition to a fun way for grooms all over the country to lend their ideas to the big day. Typically groom's cakes are displayed at either the bachelor party, rehearsal dinner or wedding and are designed with the groom’s hobbies and interests in mind. Tonight’s Tuesday’s Top 5 is a compilation of our picks for best groom's cake ideas:

5. Alcohol - Make their day by getting a bottle shaped cake of their favorite drink.



4. Food - Burgers, fries, hot dogs, pizza. Since it won't be on your wedding menu, why not make it his groom's cake?

3. Car - Every guy has a favorite car that they have either owned or wanted to own. Either way, you can give him his dream car in the form of a delicious cake!

2. Technology - Guys love gadgets, and most can't live without their iPhone, Blackberry, laptop or iPod. Now they won't have to be apart from it, even on your special day.

1. Sports - Whether they like baseball, basketball or football, there are tons of great cakes that can incorporate sports themes, including jerseys, hats, helmets and team logos.

South Asian Bridal Showcase

Recently, we were approached about exhibiting at the South Asian Bridal Showcase at the Westchester Marriot. We met a lot of fantastic vendors there, and had a great time enjoying the festivities while meeting the brides to be. Throughout the day, DJ Raj kept the party atmosphere going while guests enjoyed traditional Indian fare, a lively show complete with belly dancers, and a fashion show. Here are some highlights of the day's events:

Here's our table with a five tier cupcake stand for brides and grooms to sample.



The runway stage being set up for all the entertainment.


Moghul Catering served delicious Indian cuisine.

Flower Accent Event Planners created an elaborate display

Dhol Master entertained with lively drumming.

Parineeta's beautiful models showcased their gorgeous saris for the upcoming wedding season

Bolly Arts supplied belly dancers.

Bridal shows are really a great resource for helping you plan for the big day. They can take a lot of the stress out of finding reputable and reliable vendors. And, they are a fun (and often free) way to spend the day with your fiancee, family or friends!

Website Update

We got so many e-mails after Tuesday's Top 5 flavor combinations that we’ve added suggested flavor pairings to the Flavors page on our website. Check out our suggestions here!

The Process

During the process of collaborating with clients to design their perfect cake for a birthday, wedding or surprise bridal shower, I make sketches to help the idea come to life. Sketches are useful to ensure that the client and I are on the same page.

I made this sketch after a tasting with a couple whose design had dual meanings. They told me that they had ridden a two seater bicycle on the vacation where they got engaged and wanted a version of that bike recreated to resemble getaway transportation.

We added streamers with tin cans blowing in the breeze and a basket full of fresh flowers cascading out. The tin cans aren’t actually a part of the sketch because they were a later creative addition. The couple’s colors were brown with green accents. Pink streamers and flowers complemented the scheme nicely.

It's also helpful when clients provide a picture of a cake they've seen or an invitation that goes with the theme of their party. Inspirations can come from almost anything and providing your baker with visuals and detailed descriptions will help ensure that you get the cake you want.

Top 5 Flavor Combinations

Everyone knows the most important part of any cake is the taste; a beautiful cake can only be appreciated if it’s as yummy as it looks. Most times designs are dreamed and sketches are made before flavors are even discussed. Once clients start thinking about what they’re going to be serving their guests, they often get anxious about pairing cakes and fillings and making sure they choose a crowd pleaser.

Tonight, we’re introducing a new blog feature called Tuesday’s Top 5. Every Tuesday we’ll be doing a different Top 5 list and tonight’s list will be our top 5 favorite cake pairings. I believe that tastes vary greatly and that everyone should have exactly what they crave without regard to societal convention. This list is simply a compilation of popular pairings and personal favorites.

5. Lemon Cake with Raspberry Preserves and Lemon Curd Buttercream

4. Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

3. Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

2. Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream

1. Vanilla Cake with Grape Jelly and Peanut Butter Buttercream – PB & J!!!!

Honorable Mention goes to:
Banana Cake with Nutella Buttercream (honestly, ANYTHING with Nutella!)

These are just a few suggested pairings , but this list could easily have been a Top 20. What are your favorite flavors?

Our #1! Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

Cake Bites

Sometimes, to plan ahead for cake mistakes, bakers will bake extra cakes that don't get used right away or they'll have large scraps left over from the carving process. One popular method for dealing with this bonus cake is making Cake Bites. Recipes for Cake Bites (or Cake Balls) can be found all over the internet and were popularized by super crafty blogger, Bakerella.

Start with your extra cake (or scraps). I used chocolate cake, but you can use any flavor. (Note: the cake works best when it's been chilled).

Break the cake up into a KitchenAid mixing bowl.

Add a sweet liquid (like melted chocolate, canned frosting, or leftover buttercream) and add it your broken up cake. I used cream cheese frosting because that's what I had leftover!

Mix the frosting with the cake in the KitchenAid.

Use a cookie scoop (or your hands) to make balls and then put them on a half sheet to be placed in your fridge to set.

Melt chocolate, cover the cake bites with the chocolate and put in the fridge to set. I added nuts to the chocolate for a textured look, but you can also leave the chocolate plain.

Decorate however you choose and enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day! Here are some of the cupcakes we made for this busy weekend. The cupcakes are chocolate with vanilla buttercream and a delicate sugar heart.

The Making of the Jack Daniel's Cake

Here's a picture of the base I painted to give it a wood grain effect before the cake was on it. Can you tell which is the base and which is the actualy wood table?

When I was trying to get the right color for the whiskey I tested a few variations on this piece of fondant:

Once again, here's the finished product:

Birthday Cupcake Tower

This weekend we made a 6 inch cake and coordinating cupcakes for a birthday bash in Brooklyn. The colors were hot pink, orange and silver, and a diamond pattern appeared on all of the pastries. The cake flavors included coconut cake with coconut buttercream, chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and red velvet with cream cheese frosting.




Here's a picture of the cake and cupcakes on the tower:

Wedding Cake Article

Today, wedding blog Shiny Orb posted an article I wrote suggesting alternatives to the classic white wedding cake. Check out our article here!

Jack Daniel's Cake

We delivered this Jack Daniel's cake to Public House in Manhattan tonight for a surprise 30th birthday party. The cake is rich chocolate with peanut butter buttercream. The entire cake is edible! The fondant on the base was painted to look like a wood grain bar.

Wedding Registry Event

Last night we attended Crate & Barrel's Wedding Registry Event in Soho and offered complimentary tastings to all of the brides and grooms to be. Cupcake flavors included Yellow Butter with Vanilla Buttercream, Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting and Rich Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream.

The staff at Crate & Barrel were so helpful and let us use their cake stands and serving pieces to display our pastries.

Here's a picture of the table we created:

We added small bowls of M&M's and jelly beans to match the brown and white color scheme:

This Sunday we'll be at the Crate & Barrel on Madison Avenue from 9-11 am. Hope to see you there!

Baking Arsenal

Since my baking hobby turned obsession turned career has evolved, I have amassed quite a collection of cookbooks and bakebooks. Here’s a look at one of my shelves:

My first cookbook, which is actually my mom’s:

If I could only have one cookbook to use to serve my family all their meals (dessert included), then this would be it. Betty Crocker recipes are accessible and have a very familial quality. Of course, there's an updated version now but I do just fine with this one.

My favorite bakebooks are the ones that have a lot of pictures, so I can visualize how my pastry should turn out. Although I'm a sucker for anything with the words "Martha Stewart" attached, her books really are geared for the home baker and offer step by step instructions accompanied with beautiful pictures. I also love Good Housekeeping's Best Loved Desserts for classic homestyle desserts.

Check back tomorrow because we'll be posting pictures from the Crate & Barrel Wedding Registry Event!

Inspiration Boards

Inspiration boards are a great way to help you visualize the colors you want for your wedding. Recently, a bride on Martha Stewart's wedding website WeddingWire used one of our cakes in an inspiration board (ours is the green cake with purple flowers!)

Inspiration boards are useful for more than just cakes; add invitations, flowers and dresses to get the whole picture. Here's one that we made using our Black Tie Ribbon Cake.

You can now check out Pastry Girl Cakes photos on Flickr, where you can create your own inspiration board.