Green is my favorite color!

Seems most of my baking this year has been related to my husband's work...but at least it gives me a reason to try new things!

They had a charity bake sale on St. Patrick's Day, and I couldn't decide on one flavor, so I went with two! 

The first is White Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl. 

Yum. 

So, to stay with the St. Paddy's theme, I added a little green food coloring (my favorite color!) to the batter. 

Don't worry: that's not a pad of butter!

Dove white chocolate. It's so worth it to have to unwrap each little square!

Before I placed them in the oven, I just added it right on top, but because of its weight, it sank right down during baking:

Then I added a little of my special buttercream frosting, and decided it needed a little more green.

See how easy? Just a roll around in some sugar on the side and a couple sprinkles on the top!

 Next up: Chocolatey Chunk!

 (I forgot to take a before picture, but I just put in some mini Milky Ways before they were baked.)

 

Since my frosting was green, I didn't want to use the same green sprinkles, so I chose the little pearls. I think they give it such a sweet touch.

Now they're ready for purchase! 

And one shot of the insides:

Shower cakes!

K's class has two teachers and one of the teachers is pregnant, while the other one recently got engaged.

Two of the other class' teachers decided to be sneaky and sent home secret notes asking the kids' parents if anyone wanted to contribute to a stroller and dish set for them, but not to say a word to them!

So, of course, my brain thought of cakes!!

They are what every celebration needs, right?

So here's a little close up of the cakes:

As you know from the previous posts, I chose to make two 8" cakes, because of the design I wanted for the inside: ombre and checkerboard.

(Incidentally, the recipe that came with the checkerboard pan tastes just like a sugar cookie to me - fantastic!) 

I'm working on my frosting skills for inside the fondant. It's tricky when using a regular knife but I can't justify the price on a frosting spreader just yet...

And, oh man, I just love how smooth fondant feels. I even made my husband feel an extra little piece.

I don't think he cared as much as I did.

So, first up is the bridal shower cake.

I have to admit that these cake ideas were totally found on pinterest...but were so cute I just had to do it!

First I got to make a little wedding dress.

See those little imperfections? yeah, I forgot to sift the powdered sugar first.

But it's all good - that's what little pearls are for!

And I just love how the folds fell at the bottom of the cake!

Next is the baby shower cake:

She's having a boy, so I knew this was the one!

The little laundry basket and socks are too cute!

Oh, how I'm in love with this cake!!

*****update!*****

So, we just gave them the cakes! They were speechless! :)

Sweet kids who kept a secret for nearly a month!

And what I've been waiting for - the insides!

The baby shower cake was the ombre cake.

Blue was definitely a good choice! Turns out that is also her favorite color - score!!

Haha - thank goodness for frosting filling - those cakes did *not* bake evenly!

Seems like it might be a good time to invest in some baking strips.

Then, in the bridal cake was the checkerboard cake.

A rough cut, but man they look so good with those colors!

I doubt I'll ever do a black and white one again :)

I'm so happy I had a reason to make these cakes!!

I'm so happy I had an opportunity to make it!

Sneak Peek!

Well, I'm anxious to get these cakes finished tonight for the big surprise tomorrow, but I couldn't wait to share the beauty of the inside of these cakes!

I'm making two different 8" round cakes for .... well ... I don't feel like I can say just yet. On the offhand chance they find my blog before the big reveal tomorrow... well, I'd just feel awful for ruining it!

But in the meantime.... here are some baking pics of the cakes (the decorations will get finished tonight)

The first is an ombre cake. I've seen a few on pinterest with the frosting in a gradient, but I liked this one the best - almost like a surprise in the cake! 

Only, I chose blue :)

It almost looks like a tin pan of tempra paint!!

And such pretty shades! 

I used Wilton's Gel Coloring in royal blue and teal, with a little mixing in between...

And then once they were frosted and stacked.....

Super fun!

The second cake was decided because I knew the 4 and 5 year olds would love to see the inside!

I let K pick out the colors....I think she did marvelously! 

So, do you know what these three bulls-eyes will make in the stack? 

Check back this weekend to see the inside cuts and decorations!

AAAAAH! Real Monsters!

K's 5th birthday! 

Oh man, 5 years?? 

just craziness!

So, she wanted something pink, and something with googly eyes (Thanks Nana and Poppie!)

We went with monsters.

Here they are:

She wanted strawberry and chocolate - so I complied! 

Shiny pink frosting looks great!

Adding a little purple for hair....eyebrows...beards...whatever sounded fun!

Then we added some mini m&ms for noses:

and added the googly eyes :)

fun and unique!

and then some fun mouths!

Then we started on the purple ones....

SO pretty!

looking silly!

See?

And now for their mouths...

And my personal favorite!