Alex & Brie's Wedding

Simple and Elegant Buttercream Wedding Cake 

The beautiful thing about weddings is that even though the core elements are the same, they are all so unique. Upon arriving to the venue to deliver the cake for A+B's wedding, I was instantly taken back by the beauty of the property, and shocked to find the bride outside helping set up "what are you doing out here?!"

This wedding was all about the beautiful details and hand made with love. The strings of cafe lights, the little wooden signs to the gorgeous fern wall (you'll see it behind the cake) all contributed to the beauty of the day. And while these things are not required to have a wedding, it definitely adds romance if you ask me. I feel like Pinterest is a blessing and a curse these days...same with Etsy.

The Bride is a sister of a friend who I grew up playing soccer with, so I was honored that they chose me to make their wedding cake. We had a tasting consultation back in the spring to play around with flavors. We decided to go with a vanilla cake with chocolate mousse filling and vanilla buttercream for the cutting cake, but they also loved the chocolate frosting so we did the same thing with chocolate frosting in a sheet cake.

As a little take home favor from the tasting, I also gave them one of my signature sugar cookies. I was delighted to get an email from Brie that not only did they love them, but they wanted to incorporate some cookies for dessert as well. 

Let them eat cake!

Now I mentioned something about a fern wall... do you see it in the background?! Absolutely stunning. Brie saw it at a wedding show and she said she just had to do it too. It was a gorgeous background for a simple and elegant wedding cake. 

 

The cake! And that Fern Wall - Stunning

Signature Sugar Cookies

The hardest thing about being a baker for weddings, is you don't always get to see the end result or have an opportunity to take photos. So I am extremely grateful to photographers Events by Heather and Ryan for taking some gorgeous photos.

Congratulations Alex and Brie! We hope your day was everything you wished it to be and more! May your marriage be blessed.

Circus Themed Birthday Party

I have noticed that with baking there will always be certain trends that come up throughout the year. Sometimes they are centered around the latest Disney movie, wedding style trend or seasonality, but every so often some will completely catch you off guard. This little theme came up several times this summer for birthday parties. 

Circus Tent Smash Cake

The first was a 1st birthday party for a friend of mine. Her son Landon was turning one which means you have to have a fun smash cake! To go with the theme I made a circus tent smash cake for him. It was absolutely adorable! 

Circus Tent Cake 

To accompany the cake, I also did some really cute assorted cookies. This was such a fun theme to do I just couldn't decided on a select few shapes - I had to do them all! 

Circus Themed Cookies

 The cutest little birthday boy ever! Look at him eat his smash cake! I think he likes it! With his friend Lauren at his side. Happy 1st birthday little man!

The Birthday Boy! 

Circus Theme Cake and Cookies

 The popcorn cookies I would say were my favorite ones to make. But of course it is not a circus with out cotton candy, elephants, circus tents and of course your tickets!

 Later this summer when I did another circus birthday party I changed the colors slightly and did the blue more royal, than navy. But I think either of them are super cute! And who says you are too old to have a circus party when you turn 21?! The party was even complete with a bounce house! Now that sounds like fun!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and as always, please feel free to reach out with any order requests!

Hawaiian and Tropical Themed Weddings

I had a really fun opportunity this summer to provide desserts for Seattle Bride Magazine's "Best of Bride 2017" party! The theme was Hawaiian which was a very popular wedding theme this year, I wonder if it had anything to do with the movie Moana...

Me and my dessert table!

The event took place at a new venue in Belltown called Block 41. My favorite part about it was the open patio area that they had in the back. It was a really cool space, 2 levels and would definitely be fun for a wedding. 

Seattle Bride Magazine Hawaiian Dessert Table

The event was a huge success and so much fun. I met a lot of great industry professionals (over 400 people came!!). Making the desserts for the event was quite a feat. Not only was the weather in Seattle that weekend on the *warmer* side, making the kitchen itself and oven, but some of these little shapes were giving me some grief to roll and cut...mainly the palm trees and the flamingos.

Flamingo Cookies

Flamingo's I know are not technically "Hawaiian" but they still are cute and go with the overall tropical theme! Flamingos and palm leaves are very "in" right now. And boy were these little guys the hit of the party! Everyone was loving them!

Wedding Dress Cookies

 I got a couple comments from people that they though the wedding dress cookies were martini glasses? Really ?!?! Give me a break *eye roll* Put your cheaters on LOL.

Palm Tree Cookies

I actually did have a request for some Moana themed cookies this summer so I am just throwing these little guys into this blog post because they are just too cute! I love the tiki head cookies, they were my favorite and the best part about them? - I used my popcorn box shape cookie cutter to make them! It is always a little mental *win* when I get to use a cookie cutter shape that is a bit out of the box.

Hawaiian Moana Themed Cookies

Ok but back to the party! The hibiscus cookies were definitely a favorite and a hit at the party too. I loved how these little beauties turned out which I was a little unsure of using buttercream to get the detail in the flower but I think it worked out!

Hibiscus Cookies

And just in case you didn't believe me that this was a popular wedding theme - I actually did a cute assortment of wedding and tropical cookies for a bridal shower! So much fun!

Hawaiian Tropical Themed Bridal Shower

Quick shout out to my friend and wedding officiant Rev. Mary Calhoun, a childhood friend of my Mother-In-Law, she married us and won her 7th year in a row as Best Wedding Minister by Seattle Bride! Congrats Mary you are amazing!

My Friend and Wedding Minister

Lots of wedding celebrations this summer both personally and professionally this summer. I just love weddings though. 

Graduations Galore!

At last! June is here which means school is almost out for the summer (although summer in Washington tends to just make cameos throughout the month) and I am busy in the kitchen cooking up lots of fun graduation treats. From high school graduations and excited future freshman to mature seniors ready to take on the "real world," I think I have covered just about everyone this year! 

Washington State University Graduation and Football Cookies

Graduation cookies are one of my favorite assortments to make because I love seeing all the school colors and mascots come together like in this picture below! So much fun to make and to celebrate, and this wasn't even all of them!

Assorted Graduation Cookies

 I had some new school requests that I haven't made in the past, special shout out to Gonzaga University, Arizona State University, Mercer Island High School and University of Southern California (USC)!

Gonzaga University Graduation Cookies

 I thought these Arizona State graduation cookies turned out pretty cute! Especially the pitchfork which was a bit tricky to do in buttercream.

Arizona State University Graduation Cookies

  And yes I had to make some (more like many) graduation cookies for the University of Washington - I have to give the huskies a hard time being a coug and all (GO COUGS). But I guess they do deserve some special recognition. Good job Huskies.

University of Washington Graduation Cookies

My cookies have made their way up to the Sammamish plateau to the beautiful Skyline High School community. I am so proud of my cousin who graduated this year and decided to go to Washington State! Her brother broke my heart when we switched and decided to go to Arizona instead...but actually I don't blame him and I probably should have done the same so I could wear shorts and tank tops all year versus Ugg boots and North Face fleeces...oh well!  I am super excited to go and visit her though and she is going to rush!

Skyline High School Graduation Cookies

 University of Arizona graduation cookies! BEAR DOWN! I am really hoping to make it down to the Arizona vs. Wazzu game this year but we will see. I have never been to Tucson and some nice sunny weather in October sure doesn't hurt.

University of Arizona Graduation Cookies

 University of Colorado graduation cookies! Colorado is on my bucket list for traveling. But I can't decide if I want to go in the summer and hike or in the winter and ski more? Tough decision because I hear it is beautiful either way.

University of Colorado Boulder Graduation Cookies

 University of Southern California....again why couldn't I have picked a sunny and warm place to go to school. I haven't been to SoCal in a long time, I think the last time I was there was when I was 15 and I convinced my mom to get my belly button pierced on the Venice boardwalk...she ended up getting her's done too. hehe. Good times! Maybe a trip is in order and a little visit to Disneyland!

USC Graduation Cookies

 I love the Mercer Island High School logo with the overlapping MI. Shout out to all the MI peeps!

Mercer Island High School Graduation Cookies

Congratulations to all the graduates of 2017! If you would like to order graduation cookies please send me an email to info @ seatownsweets DOT com. 

Watercolor Fish Cake

My in laws came into town the other weekend to celebrate my father-in-laws big 66 birthday. That's the retirement age and a "big" deal. They live in Eastern Washington about 2 hours away, so it is always fun for them to come over to the "big" city and play. We lucked out weather-wise fortunately.

 My mother-in-law asked me if I would make a special cake for him for his birthday and of course I said yes! He is very much into fishing and so I started brainstorming ideas for the cake. Obviously I wanted it to be watery. I have seen a lot of techniques using fondant to make the waves or a ruffle in buttercream around the cake. I love the ruffle look but I thought maybe a bit "girlie"

Watercolor cake- Top of the cake

Naturally, I started my research on pinterest. I looked up "fish themed cake" and I saw this really cool one of a fish (made from fondant or gum paste) jumping out of the water...BINGO! That is what I wanted to do. 

The "Big" One Fish Themed Cake

 If you haven't noticed my quotations around "big" in this post then I am pointing them out now because this indeed is a "big" birthday. I loved the play on word of "big" as it relates to fishing.

For dinner we went to Ivar's on the piers to even suit the fish themed birthday even more. Unbeknownst to him as it was a bit of a surprise cake. I love the look on his face in this picture! He is thinking of his birthday wish but is just so tickled with joy at the same time! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Succulents Don't Suck

If you are like me and obsessed with succulents then this blog post is for you! I have been dying to play around with some piped buttercream techniques to make them. I did some in depth research, by first visiting my local craft store to take some pictures of the fake ones to see the shape and the coloring. I then read up on some techniques online to make them and checked out what other people have been doing and the possibilities are just endless!

Succulent Garden Cake

 What's your favorite succulent? There are just so many fun ones to choose from. And of course I don't know all the "technical" names for them. On the cake I like the spiky one that looks like a zinnia (the minty green one on the right). I also liked making the ones that stick straight up and are also spiky.

Another fun thing I got to try on this cake is playing around with gold leaf. It is SUPER delicate and has a static cling reaction when you peel it off. I got it all over me the first time. Luckily that is why I bought extra haha. I think what I love most about having it on the side of the cake is that it almost looks like the succulents are growing on top of a rock. My husband was the one who actually pointed that out to me. And I think he is right especially since it is a "Semi-naked" cake. It does look very earthy.

 The technique to make them are relatively easy. I used the petal tip, leaf tip and star tip to make most of them. The lime green spiky ones I used a #5 round tip to make them stand up straight.

Succulent Cake 

I was debating about making themed for Mother's Day and still thinking they would be a fun option. However, I just got my hands on some Russian piping tips which I am super excited to try out. (I am hopefully going to get to that this weekend.) And if all goes well then I will have a tough decision to make.

Succulent Cupcakes

Another fun little baking project I got to do was succulents on cupcakes! How cute are these?! And yes I may have added a couple cute little cactus themed ones in there too because I like them. 

Succulent Buttercream Cupcakes

Various Succulent flower cupcakes

See the little minty guy above. He's my fave