Book Birthday Cake

      So, along with cakes, I adore books. Naturally, when I received this order, I stood up and did a little happy dance. Well, the happy dance turned into I-hate-this-cake verbal abuse situation about 3 hours into it. The pages were maybe ripped off three or four times before I thought they looked decent enough to go out. I really don't know how my husband stays married to me. Really.

Cakers, here's the book cake.

Don't have a reason for cake?

There's always a reason for Cuppies.

Pink Flower and Bee Cake

Cakers, can I just tell you this cake was almost a disaster. Well, disaster in a cake sorta way. I was zipping through orders this morning and then I got to this one. I had it covered inwhite  fondant sitting as pretty as can be on the turn table waiting to be decorated. I glanced at my notes and noticed ... oh yeah, it's PINK not white. Oi. so, after a quick run (read: one and a half hours) to the cake shop for some pink air brush color, everything came back together. Crisis averted.

So, I present you with the Pink Bee cake.

Brownie from the ... Browns

This cake was for one of my favorite regular customers. She will remain one of my favorites despite her husband being a Cleveland Browns fan. But, I digress. Cakers, this cake is an 8" Carrot Cake with Rum Buttercream. Brownie is hand drawn and colored onto fondant.

Go Bengals! (he he)

iCarly Cake

This cake was one of the most special cake I've sent out to date. I recently joined a group called Icing Smiles, Inc. They allow families of children with serious illnesses to sign up with them to get a free dream birthday cake. Well, I was ecstatic to get the call that there was a family in my general area that needed a cake. The little girl I was baking for was named Brieonna and she was turning 7. Brieonna has a cancer called acute myelogenous leukemia, or AML. I got a few of her favorite colors from her mom and a theme and went to town. 


The cake is a vanilla cake filled with cookies and cream buttercream. If you're a baker and interested in joining Icing Smiles, Inc please click here. You'll help make a birthday that much more special for these amazing families.

Army Cake Order

Hi Cakers! This cake order was for a gal who was recently engaged to Logan. Logan happened to be heading off to Army Basic as well. So, as a surprise she ordered this cake. The only guideline I had to go off of was to include Army green in there somewhere. The cake is a Chocolate Fudge cake filled with Creamy Chocolate Buttercream.

Congrats you two! And thanks Logan for serving our great country.

Cuppie-tastic!

Good Morning, Cake Nation!

I just wanted to send a little blip out to let you know that CH&L is firing on all cylinders. All Cuppie cylinders that is. For next month, we have over 615 Cuppies ordered! So, here are a few pics of things that have been keeping us busy lately. Enjoy, Cakers!

The Baking Has Begun ...

Hi Caker Nation!

CH&L is back and the ovens are going. We've already sent out 7 dozen cupakes over the past week and a half. We've got LOTS of cuppies going out this weekend along with a small cake. Life is pretty sweet.

This week, though, one of the cupcakes we sent out was one we've not posted a picture of. So, Cakers, meet the Neapolitan Cuppie.

Life's better at the beach

It's that time of year. Time for Cake, Hope, and Love to close down shop for just a bit. I'm heading to the surf and relaxation. So, this gal will not be caking or cupcakin' until August 10th. If you send an email between now and August 9th, it may not be responded to until the 10th.

So, see you Cakers on the flip side. And remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder ... of buttercream.

Dr Seuss Cake

Cakers, who doesn't like Dr.Seuss? I mean, the man is gifted with nonsensical words. So, when Keri suggested this for her theme for the ALL BAKED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO cake contest, I knew I had to choose this one for the pure delightful design aspect.

The top tier represents Horton Hears a Who. The pink "fluff" is spun sugar. The bottom tier represents The Cat in the Hat. All the pictures are hand drawn replicas from the original book. Over all, I had a marvelous time making this cake - from bake to box

Enjoy!

Frog Prince and Pillow Cake

This was one of those cakes that you are rushing to just get finished. I didn't get the chance to take a good picture of it before it arrived at the party. This cake was a 12" square rich Chocolate cake carved down to a pillow shape. The frog is made of fondant and the crown adn tassles are made of gumpaste. The entire thing is covered in fondant.

Twilight Saga: Eclipse Cake

Cakers, if you've been keeping up, you know I am a Twilight fan. I know. I know. So, I jumped at the chance to make an Eclipse cake for the movie premiere. (And yes, I did wait in line for 3 hours to go see it at midnight Tuesday night thank you very much). So here's the design that was born. It's from the beginning of the book - a quote from a Frost poem.

The cake is a 9" rich Chocolate and Vanilla cake. The 6" is Devil's Food cake covered in vanilla fondant. The ice is blue poured sugar. The flames are also poured sugar that has been hand detailed in red. The topper is a hand painted replica of the Cullen family crest.

Go Team Edward. (ducking head and running)

All Baked Up and Nowhere to Go Contest

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Back by popular demand is the second ever ALL BAKED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO cake contest. It opens for ideas today, June 25th and runs through 5pm on June30th. This contest will be a two tiered scrumptious chocolate cake with a fun cookies and cream filling.

All you have to do to enter is leave an idea for a rocking good cake design. I will announce the winner by unveiling the cake sometime Friday night, July 2nd. The cake will be available for pick up only Saturday, July 3rd.

So Cakers, get brainstorming and a few of you I'm sure will get googling. I look forward to reading your cake ideas and ultimately making one of them come to life!

Shannon

The winner of our second ever ALL BAKED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO CONTEST was Keri Sauer and her theme of Dr.Seuss. Without further ado ... here's the winning cake.

Wizard of Oz Cake

Cakers, this cake was a blast to make. I am addicted to lots of color. This cake has that in spades. Plus, we got to dabble in some more poured sugar and play around with an LED light for the Emerald City. It doesn't get more fun in the kitchen than lots of colors, lights, and a castle. Just sayin'. Oh, and did I mention red edible glitter for her shoes? Yeah, and the MOUNDS of silver luster dust for the tin man. Pure sugary fun.

The specs: This cake was a 10" and 6" Buttery Gold Cake filled with rich Vanilla Buttercream. The castle is poured sugar and all decorations are edible. Woot! Well, minus the LED light built into the cake under the castle.

Happy Birthday, Angie!

Red Rose Wedding Cake

Cakers, this cake was a vision in person. It was all shimmery and just covered in lush red roses. The topper is made of poured sugar and has a LED light built into cake underneath it. At the reception, the light shined up through the poured sugar topper so it was illuminated softly among the flowers. All of the roses are hand made from gumpaste and then individually shaded with a shimmery luster dust. I fell in love with this romantic cake when it was finished.

This cake was a 10", 8", and 6" Buttery Gold Cake with Strawberry Fluff filling. Congrats to the lovely bride and her lucky groom.

Air Force Retirement Cake

This cake was a privilege to make. My Dad also retired from the service, so it was sort of a throw back of memories from growing up. Cakers, this fellow was an over achiever. See all those ribbons? Yeah, his over achieving ways were thorns in my side when making all those little bronze and silver leaves to go on his plethora of ribbons. (I kid ... I kid)

The specs on this cake: it is a 10", 8", and 6" White Cake filled with Whipped Lemon Curd. All decorations are made of either fondant or gumpaste.

Thanks for your service, Matt!

Cakers, could there be sweeter words? I think not. Place an order now through June 25th for anytime the month of September or October and receive 15% off the final order price.





Orders for available dates only. A 50% non-refundable/non-transferable deposit is required to hold a date. Remaining balance is due one week before delivery/pick up. Wedding cake tastings excluded.

Iron Man Cake

Iron Man in cake form. This cake was a lot of fun to make. The cake itself is a 9" carved chocolate cake filled with strawberry fluff covered in buttercream and then finalized in fondant. The eyes are poured sugar glass pieces with LED lights behind them.

Cakers, we are finally using poured sugar. I told my husband I think I just want to shellac every cake with a coat of poured sugar. He assures me this is not as good an idea as I make it out to be in my head.

Have a great Memorial Day and thanks to all who have served!

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Cute as a lamb ....

Cakers, have I mentioned that I love cupcakes? No, well, I do. I think they are bite sized adorable-ness. Is that even a word? 

This is a baby shower order and here are the specs: The cupcakes are an assortment of strawberry cake with chocolate buttercream, mocha cake with pink hazelnut buttercream, and double chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream. The 4" cake topper is double chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream.

(The lamb inspo was from pinkcakebox.com)

Congrats, Tierney!

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Butterfly Cake

Cakers, I love this cake. I know I say that about all the cakes, and the moment I finish one, it is my favorite. This cake just looks sweet. The bottom and top tiers are both delicious Strawberry Cake filled with Strawberry Fluff and sliced fresh strawberries.

Think Summer ... think the Butterfly Cake.

Piece of Cake

Cakers, this cake was a pure pleasure to make. Well, except for getting the yellow pieces of fondant to stick inside the cut out piece. And then those white strips, those were a pain too. But, look how cute it all came out. So, really, it was a pleasure.

This cake is a 9" round 2 layer chocolate fudge cake filled with vanilla buttercream and covered in vanilla fondant. Green piping is buttercream and the dots are little candies. This cake is made even sweeter because of the recipient. Mrs. Wesbecher, my sons second grade teacher. She is retiring this year after 30 plus years of guiding kids on to being better people. She made a huge difference to my son and I am so thankful.

Thanks, Mrs. Wesbecher!

This cake may be one of my favorite designs to date. I love the classic and elegant look of this order. The specs are as follows: 14" is marble cake, the 12" is white almond cake, the 8" is chocolate fudge, and the 6" is snickerdoodle cake. All are filled with vanilla buttercream.

The entire cake is iced with vanilla buttercream. The flower cascade is a mix of silk orchids and sugar orchids.

Cakers, behold the Orchid Wedding Cake.

Silver 25th Wedding Anniversary Cake

This cake order was the epitome of clean and classic elegance. The cake was a 12" and an 8" layer of Red Velvet cake. The entire thing was iced in vanilla buttercream and the covered in white fondant. The dogwood flowers are hand crafted from gum paste.

Bouquet of Daffodils and Lily of the Valley

Cakers, this cake was a dream. This was one of those designs I had in a folder marked "favorites - want to make". Can I just tell you that I was beyond excited to know this was a design she wanted for a 50th birthday cake. Sigh. I love when cake dreams come true.

This cake was 3 layers of 6" Chocolate Fudge cake filled with Almond Buttercream. The stems are rolled fondant and the flowers are made from gumpaste.

Happy Birthday, Wendela!

Road of Life- 40th

This cake was a blast to make. Mostly because I love making little shrubs. Odd, I know, but the truth. This cake was for a fella that was a semi driver who also happened to be hitting the big

40. All decorations are made of fondant and are edible. Yes, even those street sign posts.

Cakers, here are the specs ... this cake was 10" round of Snickerdoodle cake on the bottom and 6" of Carrot cake on the top. The entire thing was filled and iced with vanilla buttercream.

Happy Birthday, Shannon!

Brown Poka Dots Cake

Cakers, this cake was all about the "cute". Desiree (the MaMa) ordered this cake for her daughter's first birthday. The only thing in the way of ideas she gave me was a brown napkin with polka dots. You all know how I love to dream. Well, here's what I came up with.

The specs: The bottom layer is a 10" round White cake with Strawberry Fluff filling. The top layer is a 6" round of the same. Both are covered in chocolate fondant with vanilla fondant accents.

Happy birthday, Charlize!

Klimts, The Kiss in cake

This cake was an absolute pleasure to make. I was asked to submit a cake for a live dessert auction supporting a local Academy. The core theme was Italian Fine Art. Well, my husband and I are huge fans of art period. A lot of couples have a song that they claim as theirs, Mike and I have a painting. It Gustav Klimt's The Kiss.

Cakers, this was a dream to make. There is almost an entire container of Gold Shimmer dust on this cake that unfortunately does not show up in film. It was a beauty. I am pleased to say this cake raised $300 in the auction for Dominion Academy.

So, here are the specs .. the bottom tier is two 3" layers of 10" round Cinnamon Cake filled with Hazelnut Buttercream. The top layer is two 3" layers of 6" round Cinnamon Cake filled with Hazelnut Buttercream. The entire thing is covered in rolled fondant and gold luster dust. The softer side of the cake is hand painted in colored gels.

Enjoy!

Twilight Cake

Cakers, can I trust you to not make fun of me? Well, I'm going to be honest and say I am a Twilight Saga fan. Oh yes. I am one of those women. In my 30s and still perusing the Young Adult section looking for Twilight related things. Covertly, of course.

Without further embarrassment, here are the specs. This is a fairly tall cake. As it seems they all are. The bottom tier is a 10" round 5" high rich Vanilla Cake speckled with smooth chocolate morsels. The top tier is a 6" round and 5" high tower of the same yumminess. Both tiers are filled with creamy vanilla buttercream and chocolate morsels.

Go Team Edward and Happy Birthday, Abby!

Frog in a barrel cake

This cake was a barrel of fun to make. *Knee slapping* Ok - enough. Really, this cake let my imagination stretch. The only idea I had starting this cake was that the person getting this cake loved frogs and was a retired officer. That my caking friends, left the door wide open to some cake fun.

This was a lot of cake, per usual. It was 3 layers of 9" round chocolate cake on bottom and 3 layers of 6" round chocolate cake on top as well. All decoratins are made of fondant or something edible except the white flag pole. Cakers, enjoy the splendor of the Frog in a Barrel Cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDADDY!

Pink and Yellow Elephant Cake

This cake was so much fun. These last few cakes have been a blast. All girly and cute. And cakers, you know I like my luster dust. Girly cakes are loaded with sparkle.

This cake is really tall. The bottom is10" round of three 2" layers of my decadent 24 Carrot Cake and filled with rich Cream Cheese Buttercream. The top layer is 6" round of two 3" layers of the ever popular Marble Cake filled with yummy Chocolate Buttercream.

The entire cake is covered and decorated in fondant. The elephant and cupcake are hand sculpted from gumpaste. Over, what a cutie, eh?

Entire Order: 2 tiered cake, smash cake, and a dozen cuppies.

Random acts of kindness are oh so sweet!

I know we've all heard about Random Acts of Kindness. We've maybe even see one in action. They are some of the greatest things to witness. Here's the question - have YOU ever committed a Random Act of Kindness? Cakers, now is the time.

This FREE cake give away is really all about giving. You giving away kindness and Cake, Hope, and Love giving YOU a free cake. That's right! What could be sweeter?

Here's the deal. Submit photgraphic evidence of yourself showing a Random Act of Kindness before midnight e.s.t March 31st. The winner will win a FREE cake that serves up to 45 people. That's right. Give back and we give to you.

It's that simple. It's that sweet.





*Orders are subject to calendar availability and are available for pick up only. Cake value limited to $125.

Monkey Business - girl style

This cake was a birthday present for our good friends daughter, Bri. When they ordered, here's what I heard. Here's a picture of a plate we bought her, so, it's something to go on. The plate was ultra girly with lots of bright colors and butterflies. Then, Bri says, and I want a monkey on top. Well, what could give more of a chance to be creative than that?!

So cakers, here's what I came up with. It's a 10" round three layer cake on bottom and a 6" two layer cake on top. The whole cake is vanilla with vanilla buttercream.

Happy 10th birthday, Bri!

Pink, Green, and Buggy Delight Cake

Cakers, this may be one of my favorite cakes to date. I mean really, does it get much cuter than this? I think not. This cake was a creation for two little girls for their special day. Their mom, Jennifer, sent me the girliest invitation to go by. I was more than excited. After playing in pink fondant and shimmer dust for two days, this is what they got.

Here's the specs: The top two layers (6" and 4") are Double Vanilla cake filled with Strawberries and Cream filling. The bottom layer (9") is a Devil's Food Cake filled with a rich Chocolate Buttercream.

Thanks Jennifer for such a great order!

Groovy Record Player

This cake was a really fun cake to make. This was for a gal named Lisa who wanted to surprise her husband for his 50th birthday! She said he loved the sixties and was into vinyl. Well, this is what I came up with!

So cakers, here are the specs. This is a 10" chocolate cake filled with raspberry preserves. All decorations are made of fondant. Hope you have a groovy birthday, Mark!

Dallas Cowboy themed goodness

This was an easy and fun order to make. I love when I get the chance to make cuppies to match a cake. The customer, a friend of mine, wanted a cake for her husband's birthday. Obviously, he's a Dallas Cowboys fan.

So Cakers, here are the specs. This is a 2 layer 6" carrot cake filled with Almond Buttercream. The cake was then rolled in fondant. The cuppies are also carrot cake and are topped with Almond buttercream and a fondant star.

Overall, I love the clean look of this cake. So, Happy Birthday Thomas and thanks for the order Marrita!