*Pool Party*

Flip Flop Cakes: 2-layer 11x15 butter cake (carved into 2 flip flops) with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries and vanilla buttercream frosting

Beach Ball Cake: 3-layer half dome butter cake with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries with vanilla buttercream frosting and covered in fondant "painted" with Luster Dust 

Ice Cream Bar: Vanilla ice cream, crushed graham crackers, crushed Oreos, mini M&Ms, crushed Crunch candy bars, mini caramel cups, gummi bears and rainbow sprinkles

What a great way to end the summer with a bang -a Pool Party!  This party was for a 10 year-old girl who's birthday came just a few days before the school year started.  With the weather skyrocketing to record temperatures, it was a great idea to invite her friends to share the breezy shade and cool waters of her family's amazing backyard.  

If you are wondering why there are two cakes, the beachball cake was for a smaller party with just her friends and the large flip-flop cakes were for her family party. Both were a rich butter cake (like poundcake) with fresh sliced strawberries and homemade whipped cream filling. The flip-flop cakes were covered in yummy vanilla buttercream and the beach ball cake had a layer of sugar fondant that I hand painted with Luster Dust mixed with lemon extract, with a little royal icing for decoration.  Both cakes are sitting on a mixture of dark and light brown sugar posing  as "sand".  

Also featured at the party was an ice cream bar, where the guests could mix and match their own toppings (gummy bears, crushed Oreos, mini M&Ms, broken Crunch bars, sprinkles, graham cracker crumbs and mini chocolate caramel cups) with vanilla ice cream.

Decorating such a great backyard was so much fun-all the tables were covered with a "Scene Setter" ocean background, along with beach themed streamers at the corners, springy mylar spirals hanging from the underside of the upstairs patio, a cute pair of balloons with a little girl and a little boy in their beach gear and the piece de resistance-a pool full of beach balls! I ordered over 3 dozen beach balls of various sizes which brought that extra touch of whimsy and fun to the party.

Each of the children at her party went home with a great fold up beach/picnic mat and a personalized waterproof tote. It was a great idea for a more practical "goodie bag" treat but that would remind them of the fun they had at her party every time they used it.

This was the first full-blown party I had the opportunity to plan and it was a blast!  I only wish I could have stayed to take a dip in the pool...

I know Summer is still a month away, and here in Anaheim right now the weather couldn't be farther from the sunny skies of June/July/August, but I wish you all a Happy Summer and many fun hours around the pool!

*Happy Mother's Day!*

Cinderella Carriage Cake: Pumpkin-shaped 2-layer lemon poppy seed cake with lemon zest frosting, covered in fondant with Luster Dust and Royal Icing

"Cinderella, Cinderella, all I hear is Cinderella!"

Mothers are what make the world go round and we do our best to show our appreciation for all that they do on Mother's Day. Last year, we held a Mother's Day Royal Tea Party in my class and what an event! We sent formal invitations to moms, aunts, grandmothers and godmothers to share in a special day of tasty treats,good company and wonderful memories. It gave me the idea to do a Cinderella pumpkin coach cake. However, being that there would be 70 guests, my little pumpkin cake mold wouldn't be sufficient for everyone and I didn't have time to make several, so my mom (thanks mom!) came up with the suggestion I auction it off to one of our special guests. Funny enough, it went to one of the moms that didn't have any daughters! (but I heard her nieces loved it!)

Since it was a primarily white coach, it made decorating it quite simple, and very bland. So it was Pearl Luster Dust to the rescue! That and a few gold accents here and there made this lemon poppy seed cake with lemon frosting fit for a princess. 

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!