And here’s some photos of the cake and cupcake display I made for my cousin’s graduation party.  It’s hard to believe she’s done with high school already; it feels like she just started last week!  The pattern on the cake matched the party invitations:

It’s interesting to note that most of the people who I make cakes for are not vegan.  Actually, most are not even vegetarian, but vegan cakes is a fun way to show them that vegan food isn’t weird or scary.  We eat what other people eat, we just make it in a different way.  At the party, it was interesting to see peoples’ reactions when they found out the cupcakes were vegan.  One party-goer who has a fondness for cupcakes ate 4 and told me that these were some of the best (or maybe he said the best) he’s ever had.  Another couldn’t believe I made them without butter.  I have to say that the reason why these cakes taste so good is that they are all homemade from scratch, I make them in small batches, and they are vegan.  If you stop eating dairy for any length of time, eating it again is totally disgusting.  There have been times when I’ve nibbled on something that has dairy in it (just to see if I would like it) and the only thing I can taste is the dairy.  I tried to eat a cookie made with butter and it was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted.  Yes, me… former lover of cheese and butter.  When I was vegetarian, I always said veganism was “too hardcore” because I love cheese and could never give it up.  Well, I did miss it at first, but now that I haven’t had it in a long time, there’s absolutely nothing appealing about it.

I digress… the point I’m trying to make is that I do enjoy making cakes for people who are unfamiliar with a vegan lifestyle.  It’s an easy, non-confrontational way to introduce them to vegan eating.

This is a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.  Everything on here is edible, except for Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder.

The cake is lemon with lemon buttercream frosting.  The mini cupcakes are chocolate and vanilla.  The dogs are made from a mix of fondant and gum paste and are completely edible.

They requested a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting and strawberry jam (delicious combo, by the way!). The GF cake is a little more dense than my non-GF vanilla cake and the frosting/jam didn’t absorb too well into it. On the top tier, it was oozing out the side a little bit (but thankfully, the oozing was occurring in the back and not the front). Anyway, I also had a ton of anxiety thinking people wouldn’t like it because it’s a much different texture than what they’re used to if they don’t eat GF baked goods often. I had issues with the fondant bubbling a little on the bottom tier. I was just a mess!

And for all of my stressing, the cake was a HUGE hit. The birthday boy and his family were so, so appreciative. The kids all ate it and liked it. My kid, in fact, ate her ENTIRE piece, which she never, ever does. She’s a frosting-licker, not a cake eater. Since it all went so well this year, I just may have it in me to try it again next year.

And for all that went wrong, at least this one didn’t fall apart!

This pink princess cake is vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream, the birthday princess’ favorite.  It is also nut-free.

I was a busy bee on Saturday baking and setting up this cupcake display.  A friend from Emma’s former playgroup asked me to donate to her daughter’s preschool auction.  I thought a dessert donation would be more fun than a gift certificate, even though it means more work for me.  The theme was Mardi Gras and it was a really fun project for me to work on.

Here are some photos:

I was really excited to use my new cupcake tower.  I had bought it back in November for a holiday party in December, but one of the stems broke and I couldn’t use it then.  The person who made it was kind enough to send me a replacement piece in time for me to use it for this event.

In total, I think I made around 300 mini cupcakes.  The flavors were: chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, chocolate cake with cookies & cream buttercream, butter pecan cake with whiskey buttercream and chocolate ganache, and chocolate cake with mocha kahlua buttercream.  Some of the cupcakes are topped with a gum paste round that I stenciled a fleur-de-lys on using a powdered food coloring.  On top of the cake stand is a cake dummy covered in white fondant.  I made the mask out of gum paste and it is completely edible.  I’m really happy with how this turned out and I hope the auction-goers enjoyed them.

The birthday girl happened to have several Little Mermaid character figurines that I was able to use as a cake topper.  At that point, though, the cake was all boxed up for transport and I was unable to get any photos of the finished product.  Here are a few photos that I was able to take before boxing everything up.  The cake was chocolate with chocolate buttercream.  The cupcakes were chocolate and lemon.  AND, I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve been enjoying the leftover lemons for breakfast the last few mornings. 

In the meantime, enjoy these photos of a cake that I made for a New Year’s bash/birthday party.  I know that feathers aren’t vegan, but I’ve got a stash of crafty supplies around here that includes some feathers.  Sorry.

On the bright side, all of the cupcakes made it to the event without injury and there was a nice big table waiting for me to lay them all out on.  Flavors:  apple spice cake with maple frosting, pumpkin spice cake with “cream cheese” frosting and vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.

Wondering what flowers are safe to use on cakes?  Here’s a list of flowers that are considered safe for decoration purposes and ones that are toxic.