Welcome to the Jungle

I love making birthday cakes. They're just so much fun and there are always lots of opportunities to add whimsical details. The latest cake was for a jungle-themed birthday party for a little boy.

I was given artistic license to do whatever I wanted with the design, so long as it went with the theme and the inside of the cake consisted of the ever-popular chocolate and buttercream combo.

I figured what little boy doesn't like monkeys? They're like nature's clowns (hmm, maybe that's why I don't like monkeys). Anyhow, I took off with the monkey idea, which naturally led to bananas. I thought the banana bunches (along with the grass) gave the cake a nice three-dimensional aspect in contrast to the flat monkey and jungle leaves.

It may be a jungle out there, but it's just tasty cake in this jungle.

Nine Sweet Years of Wedded Bliss

My husband and I celebrated our 9th (!?!) anniversary yesterday. I can't believe that we've been married for almost a decade now! It has been a very wonderful nine years and I can't imagine life without such a sweet and loving husband.

To thank him for being such a great companion, I baked him a mini-anniversary cake. It was his favorite, chocolate cake filled with buttercream and draped in ganache. I decorated it with white fondant flowers and leaves, then added sugar pearls around the flower cluster.

Happy anniversary and here's to many more sweet years together!