Happy 1st Birthday!!!

First of all let me say that I have a new found appreciation for Bakerella, I bow down to her in all of her cake pop fabulousness. I've done cake pops before, but 7 dozen was a bit of a task. Not to mention the fiasco of trying to find these cake pop petals that I am convinced had to have been a figment of my imagination. A few months ago while perusing the the isles of Joann's I swear I saw the cutest little cake pop petals by Wilton. At that point I wasn't making cake pops regularly but I thought it was a really cute idea. Well, I should have bought them then because they were exactly what I needed for my cake pop flowers this weekend's lady bug birthday party.

I seriously looked all over the place, called every craft store in a 10 mile radius and googled everything I could think of, to no avail. Nothing to say that these things ever even existed. So I had to turn the clever crafty up a notch. I started looking at scrap booking and card making videos and was reminded of when my mom and I used to make paper snowflakes. That gave me the idea to use mini cupcake cups to make paper flowers to adorn my cake pop flowers. They were perfect! 

Here's what I did...

1. First I pressed all of the crimps out of the liner, and smashed it out to a flat circle. Then I folded it in half. And then in half again, and again.

     

2. Then I trimmed the top edge of the triangle into a round edge, like an upside down U. And trimmed the point so that I would have a hole for the stick from the cake pop.

3. Lastly, I pulled the petals apart and opened up my cute little flower!

(So as you can see, I forgot to cut the tip on this guy before I opened it up, but you get the picture)

Yes, that's Fiddle Faddle in the background. Something had to get me through the wee hours of the morning dipping pops! Don't judge me.

Artificial grass- one of my thrifty finds, but that's a story for another day

They came out really cute.

Happy Birthday Zoie!!

Prince Erick's 1st Birthday party was at the Philadelphia Zoo. How fun! His fabulous mom Brandy just told me to use animals especially the giraffe. I couldn't have asked for better finds for his cookie pop bouquet. I am so in love with this giraffe and these little monkeys on the ribbon. They're so cute!

Full Circle...

I am just a cupcake baker, that's all. I just make cupcakes. I mean they are some pretty damn awesome cupcakes, but still, I wonder why that makes me so deserving of love that I feel from my customers.

I had two first birthday parties to do this weekend one for Prince Erick and the other for Little Miss Zoie. They could have been any other 1st birthday orders, but I knew these babies. Last year around this time I completed orders for their mommies' baby showers! These babies had Babycakes Couture before they were even born. That's so cool!

I mean, I have return customers all the time, but when I realized the connection here I felt a sense of pride in myself and my business. These moms chose BCC to be apart of two of the most special celebrations of their families' lives. BCC will be a part of their memories of these events forever. That's major to me.

I've never thought of what I do in that way before. When I think of my own wedding reception, I can't help but think about my beautiful cake and how yummy it was. But I never though of my customers thinking of my creations that way. Or that they would look at pictures from their event in years to come and think of my babycakes. That is a special feeling and I am so thankful to have been given the gift to do that for my customers, and I hope to feel that feeling for years to come.

 

Fall Fashion Loves...

Though I wish I lived on some beautiful Island where breezy summer dresses and sandals could be  my year round wardrobe, sadly, I do not. In Philly we have the pleasure of experiencing the best of what each season has to offer. So to cope with the dropping temperatures I turn to fashion to help get me through til the spring. These are a few of my fovorite things right now. 

1. These gray wool flannel wedges… OMG where’s my pencil skirt and my opaque tights LOVE!!! American Eagle $70

2. Ok, a peacock feather, really… How stinkin’ cute are these? I love unexpected little details. From the front they’re just plain old opaques in a beautiful color, but from the back… AWESOMENESS!

Modcloth.com $29.99
 

3.  I die for this Rachel Zoe knit cape. It is absolute perfection for fall, and depending on how you layer, it could take you into winter, it just aught to, it’s a tad bit expensive. Saks $425

 4. Mrs. Humphries, I think she's still married, is pictured here in one of my favorite looks of the season. Recently scarves have become a year round accessory, and I have to admit that I am a huge fan of that. You can wear a plain tee and jeans and change the whole look by adding a scarf. These chunky infinity scarves like Kim is wearing are awesome they are so warm you don't even need a jacket. Everywhere i.e. Urban Outfitter, Modcloth.com, J. Crew... Kim's is Gucci! 

What are you lovin' on this season?

Cupcake Sundays...

Today I did a sophisticated 50/40 birthday party for two ladies who are dear to my heart. As much as I love doing things for kids and baby showers it's nice to do something simple and elegant for grown ups.

Princess and the Frog Baby Shower

I had lots of fun with this lavender and green color scheme for this Princess and the Frog baby shower. And I made my first tulle pom pom cupcake topper and cupcake tree tutu. I am so in love with these things. The tutu was incredibly easy to make and it looks soo cute.  The pom pom took me back to the days of roller skating with my mom. She would make then for me out of yarn. I think I'll make them a part of the Babycakes Couture repertoire.

The Many Faces of Babycakes Couture...

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but I haven’t been blogging much lately. I have been busy, but that’s not why. When I first started this blog it was kind of a tool for me to get out all of the cupcake fantasies I was having while I figured out what I wanted to do with them. Now that I’ve gotten some ground under my feet in that sense, I use it as a platform to share my work and to be inspired by other’s in the blogosphere. When I do something new or fancy or that I’ve never posted before I’m excited to blog and I have lots to say. When I’m just crankin’ out the fabulous everyday cupcakes that you’ve seen before, I’m not as inclined to share. But then how do I feed my writing spirit?
So, today I decided that my blog will no longer just exhibit my cupcakey talents. I am a complexly creative person. I have multiple creative personalities if you will. So with that said you will begin to see posts from my crafty side, more from my fashiony side and maybe even my foodie side. And dun dun dun… if I’m feeling especially confident I may even share some of my creative writing. I love all of these things, but I am most protective of my writing. Sharing it makes me nervous, but maybe one day I’ll feel moved to do so. So now that I realized that the topic of cupcakes was restricting my writing you should hear much more from me. I’m so excited; it makes me want a blog makeover! Hmmm…

One cupcake at a time...

Next July marks my mom's tenth year being cancer free and with next month being Breast Cancer Awareness Month it's only right that we do it big. In the month of October Babycakes Couture will donate 50% of the sales from the Pretty in Pink strawberry cupcakes to Susan G. Komen Philly. We will also one again head up our campaign, Babycakes Couture for the Cure. Stay tuned for more info.

B is baking...

I'm so excited! My sister in my head, Beyonce, has a little cupcake in the oven! Beyonce confirmed it on last night's VMA's after performing the super lovey upbeat "Love on Top" from her current Album "4". If you've ever been in love, you know exactly how she was feeling perfoming that song. You couldn't help but to feel it in this performance. She sang that song like a woman in love. In love with her man, and so proud and so in love with her baby bump. I was smiling from ear to ear the whole time. It was so beautiful to Jay-Z, the proud Papa, beaming and looking at her with loving eyes. They are so cute! My absolute favorite couples. Some people may say that I have an abnormal obsession with them, but, I would have to disagree. I occasionally stalk websites for candids of them, but that's perfectly normal.

Anywho, I'm so happy for them. Congrats Jay and Beyonce!

Source: Meet the Dealer

Can't wait to see what kind of cupcake it is...

Hear "Love on Top" here.

Putt-Putt Party...

For my son Zaire's 6th birthday we gave him a Putt-Putt party at the miniature golf course. Look how cute his golf cupcakes turned out.

I used my favorite multi- holed tip for the grass, lollipop sticks and red scrapbook paper for the flag and a little bit of white chocolate for the golf ball. I absolutely love them!

Monkeying Around

Please pardon the holiday reference, but I stated this post a while ago and never finished it.

I have the greatest hubby in the world, and this weekend I just felt like doing something sweet for him. Though he loves my baking, there is one thing that I will allow him to have from a bakery. I found this little spot by accident one day and I went in just to get him a doughnut. He loves old fashioned bakery doughnuts. Instead of a doughnut I found something I had never heard of, Monkey Bread. It was kind of doughnutty in that it had a glaze on it so I took it home a started an obsession.

He hadn't had it in while so I thought I'd treat him to one. Little did I know the bakery was closed for the July 4th holiday weekend. Of course I had already told him I would be bringing home a treat. Now what??? Bake it myself???  As much as I bake, I've never baked bread. I must say that I was also sightly intimidated by the fact that he already loves theirs. I don't think I could handle if he said the bakery's version was better than mine.

After a little research and the hard swallowing of my pride, I decided to try it. I went out to buy yeast. As I searched online for a recipe I came across a million recipes that used a roll of refrigerated biscuit dough. I don't think so! That is one shortcut I will not be taking! Finally, I found the perfect recipe. Alton Brown's Overnight Monkey Bread. Once I got started I realized I had nothing to be afraid of. Bread is easy peasy! Well that breat at least. The process was long, but the next morning it made a great breakfast accessory right out of the oven. Here is the end result. Let's just say I may have gotten myself into something. He really liked it!

This little monkey tried to steal a taste of Daddy's bread and I caught him.

Big Flop Cupcake...

It was inevitable that one day I would have a customer request a giant cupcake. Especially with that darn Big Top Cupcake commercial on every five minutes. Everyone knows that I don't make cakes. I hate cakes actually. I hate how long they take to bake, I hate icing them, and I absolutely despise fondant...YUCK!! So when people ask I always tell them cupcakes and only cupcakes, well cookies too, but you know what I mean.

This weekend I had a beautiful bride who wanted a giant cupcake to top her cupcake tree. You can't say no to a bride. So off I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up this stupid cupcake pan. So let's back track, one thing you should know about me... I don't like shortcuts. My dad always told me never take the easy way out. So when I see something like the Big Top Cupcake contraption I feel like that's being lazy and taking the easy way out. Nonetheless, I purchased my pan and went on my way. I Googled and Googled until I could Google no more to get ideas of how I was going to do this and make as uncheesy as possible. All of the pics I found looked...well... cheezy, not to mention juvenile. I got my creative juices flowing and put together a plan of action.

Friday night I whipped up a batch of my strawberry cake and popped it in the Big Top thingy and baked as I normally would. 35 minutes go by... not done. 45 minutes go by... not done. I baked that cake for an hour and 10 minutes took it out of the oven and don't you know if fell. Sunk right in in the middle. It looked like it was hit by a meteor. I was so engrevascent! (That's a word we use in my family. My daugther made it up when she was 3. It means very angry, LOL) I didn't event attempt to figure out the problem. I just popped it out of that silicone mold thing right into the trash. That's exactly why I hate shortcuts. Needless to say I couldn't sleep thinking about how I was going to make this cupcake happen for my bride. Then it came to me...in a dream. Not really!

The next morning I got up extra early whipped up a batch of red velvet split it between two of my 6 inch round cake pans and the cupcake top from the Big Top thingy, and baked. 35 minutes later I had a perfectly baked red velvet cupcake cake puzzle. After I whipped up my faboo cream cheese icing i put it together making a three layered red velvet cupcake. I accordion folded some coordinating scrapbook paper and wrapped that puppy up, and VIOLA!!! I had my own gigantic cupcake and it was too cute.

Now, one of these days I am going to take the time to photo document each step that I so eloquently described above. But for now, the after pics will have to do.

 I could have cut my wrapper just a wee bit shorter. My cupcake is looking like an ice cream sundae in a bowl.

Cookie Couture...

After my first attempt at decorating cut out cookies with royal icing was a complete debacle, I vowed that that was one thing that I did not need on my menu. They were delicious no doubt but they looked awful. The icing flooded for sure... all over the table. It was a disaster.
Well, as you can see from a previous post or two I think I've gotten pretty good at it. I recently did pocketbook cookies for a ladies night party. Sidebar what do you call them, pocketbooks, handbags or purses? I say pocketbooks and people always look at me like I'm crazy. I think it may be a Philly thing.
Anyway, the pocketbooks came out really cute. I also did apple cookies for my son's last day of kindergarten and his teachers loved them. I found these cute printable Thank You tags somewhere and they were perfect for the boxes.

 

 

 

Recycle... Reduce... Reuse...

I've been trying to think of a cute way to get people to return the clay pots that I use for the cupcake bouquets. Not for economical purposes or anything, just to be less wasteful. I came up with something; it's not creative at all. I am offering a $5 discount on the next bouquet order when you return a pot, given that it's in reusable condition. Don't go digging out the fern you planted in it just to get a discount. That won't work.

Now as I said, I came up with a non-creative idea for cutting down on waste, well one of my customers did just the opposite. One of the doctors I work with on my day job purchased a hydrangea bouquet for his very pregnant wife, which she loved, and wouldn't you know it she was hit by the creativity bug. For the good doctor's birthday she gifted the pot back to him as a cute little flower pot picture frame artsy thingy. I absolutely adore it.

So, in addition to accepting the clay pots back, I welcome pictures of customers' creative uses for them as well. I know there are some crafty folks out there and I would love to see what you come up with.

 I feel a contest coming on.

Sunni Days sweeping the clouds away...

This past week my daughter, my first born child turned 13, ugh, even now saying make me feel a little queasy. When did that happen? I don't recall being a mom for 13 years, but some how, here we are. As I remember all the birthday parties with frilly dresses and butterfly decorations, I have to come to grips with the fact that she's a young lady now and wants nothing to do with all of my frilly and girly ideas of what a birthday party should be. Now, I just have to wait for girly birthday orders to come in and live vicariously through my customers. And that's just what I did this weekend.

Sweet little Sunni Anysa turned one and for her "Sunni Days" themed party I got to pump up the girliness. For Miss Sunni, it was only fitting that I did sun cupcakes and cookies, along with a few other essentials for a sunny day.

 

 

 

 

Go Phillies!!!!

I had a request from the mother of an avid Philadelphia Phillies fan, to make baseball cupcakes for her son. He was turning 21 so I couldn't just make any old baseball cupcakes, they had to be sophisticated. I brainstormed a bit and these are what I came up with. I think they're pretty awesome myself!

Stopping to smell the roses...

I recently halted all cupcake production to spend the afternoon with my husband and kiddies to have some very long overdue family pictures taken. My new favorite photographer/blogger/friend Nicole of Girl Photography took the pics for us. When I tell you she is amazing, I mean she is amazing! I am not the biggest fan of having my picture taken and she just made it super easy and I was able to relax. We went down to Old City, the historic area of Philly. Nicole scoped out a spot and we got down business. My kids are not the easiest to wrangle, but I think for the most part she had a good time with us. The end result of the shoot is a set of awesome shots that so vividly express exactly who we are and the love that we have for one another. It was a beautiful day.  To view the shots click here, Family Photo Shoot.

Time flies when your having fun...

These days it seems like I fall asleep and when I wake up a month has gone by. I am diligently working on my business plan which I'm sure is to blame for my lack of blogging juice. I just can't think anymore. By the end of every night brain is fried to the point where I can't even form a complete sentence. Talking about my vision is easy, but thinking about it in depth, and in terms of profitability and functionality and putting that into words is so much more challenging than I could have ever imagined. But in doing so, I'm learning things about Babycakes Couture that I hadn't previously thought of. Hopefully I will be done soon and back to blogging.
In the meantime, I've come up with a new cupcake flavor... Pina Colada! It's a pineapple cake, the same cake that I use for my pineapple upside down cupcakes, wait...did I even post about them yet? Ok, pineapple cake with a pineapple coconut cream cheese frosting. No coconut flakes, just coconut flavor. Yum!!! They turned out so amazingly yummy! I love a good pina colada. That recipe is a winner! I topped it off with a little sour gummy straw. Too cute.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcake and A Mini Pina Colada

                               

I'm just squirrel trying to get a... cupcake...

With the onslaught of animated movies like "Over the Hedge" and "Open Season" that personify animals, and give them a sort of secret life, I wanted to join the rankings with this post. I was determined that I would script the video that you are about to view, and add voice over to create a hilarious commercial for Babycakes Couture Sweets. Alas, I don't have the time nor the energy to sit here an figure out how the heck to do it. The video is pretty cute and funny on it's own, so I'll share it anyway.
Sometimes I have leftover cupcakes for orders that I've filled, more often than not I will take the leftovers in to the day job and give them away. Sometimes I forget and as the members of my household are all cupcaked out, for the most part, they end up going in the trash. Yes, sadly there are times that I throw cupcakes in the trash. Well this particular time I had thrown two Blonde Bombshells in the trash and taken the bag out side. A few days later I just happened to look out on the deck to find a shred of a cupcake liner. "Those dang squirrels!" I thought. My back deck must be some type of squirrel hang out or something. They are all ways out there terrorizing my poor cat from the window and doing their business on my grill cover. They are evil I tell ya! Anyway, I realized what must have happened, a squirrel had gone in my trash and swiped one of the cupcakes. I knew that there was another, so I vowed that I would catch those little thieving menaces in the act and the next day that's exactly what I did. I had no idea it would be so funny. Now that I'm typing this, I really wish I had figured out the voice over thing so it would be really cute.
Maybe I still will...

Please don't mind the background conversation about the video. I was on the telephone explaining what was going on and my girls were talking and laughing as well.
Enjoy!

DC Cupcakes...

So, I took a break tonight to spend some time or my seriously neglected hair. While I sat with my henna gloss deep treat on I indulged in some lady TV. After back to back episopdes of "Say Yes to the Dress", "DC Cupcakes" came on. I was in heaven! That is until I realized how phony they seem to "act", and I use the term loosely. I don't know if it's me, which it could absolutely be at this time of the month, hint hint. I don't remember it being like that last season, but for some reason now it seems totally scripted. Has anyone else noticed this?

Butterfly in the sky...

I had the pleasure this week of doing some birthday cupcakes for a beautiful little butterfly named Breanna. She turned 10 this week and was very involved in the design process that comes along with birthday cupcakes. For her actual birthday we went with butterflies. I handmade each butterfly to top off her Scarlet (red velvet) cupcakes; per her request. For her part this weekend it will hearts and bling... I'll be sure to share.