25th Anniversary of Jazz & Pizzazz

Welcome back to another busy week.  Don't forget to try our new chocolate hazelnut crunch cupcake and let us know what you think.  While we look forward to the summer, the kitchens have been hot from all that baking!  Let's get on to our greatly anticipated cake.

Glenn and Mary came to our bakery a few months ago in preparation for the 25th Anniversary of Jazz and Pizzazz, a production put on every spring by the Chantilly High School Music Department.  This is a huge event for them, and they asked for show-stopping cake.  After some sketches and thoughts put down on paper, they decided they wanted to replicate their stage.  We didn't have a photo of the stage to work with so we did a bit of sketching to come up with the blueprint.  From there, the pastry chefs an decorators took over.  The other thing the chefs had to consider was that they were displaying this cake for two days in honor of all alumni coming in for the celebration, and it was too large to fit into our fridges in Centreville.  So we stopped baking production mid morning to cool down our kitchen and to clear enough table space.  The bottom "stage cake" was to be made with chocolate devil's food cake and the backdrop was vanilla buttercake.  The entire cake was covered in vanilla buttercream, then covered in black fondant.  We added purple shimmery "curtains" on the two sides and on the front of the stage, some steps and a microphone in the spotlight.  The back wall had their 25th anniversary logo, which was a must.  But what made this cake so special were the handmade musical instruments on the top.  There was a drum set, guitar, trombone, saxophones and trumpets.

I had the honor of attending the show on Friday night after delivering the cake.  What an experience!  The talent of all the students and the dedication of the teachers, staff and parents at Chantilly HS are truly incredible.  This did not feel like a high school production at all.  I cannot imagine the number of hours that were put into this, so I encourage everyone to put this on their reminders of "TO DO" for next spring.  And to show my support, I invite the Chantilly HS students, faculty, staff and parents to come by either location for a free cookie through Friday, June 3 when you mention this blog.  Until next week and another fun adventure.

Calling all Mouseketeers!

Well, spring has certainly come in our kitchen!  The communions and confirmations are just about done, college graduations are still in full swing and the weddings have definitely on a roll.  In the midst of it all, we still find time for some really fun cakes.  So here is another cake for everyone's inner child.

A client came in about a month ago looking for a cake to replicate a Mouseketeer hat for her husband's birthday.  They both love Disney and Mickey Mouse.  Her only request was that the hat be made of 100% cake, even the ears so that they would taste good.  We were up for the challenge.  We started off with our vanilla buttercake and loaded it with mini chocolate chips, then filled it with some delicious Bavarian cream.    Once that was set, we started to shape the cake into a dome, just like the Mickey Mouse hats.  Once the shape took form, we gave it a base coat of vanilla buttercream and let it cool down in the refrigerator.  As that was cooling, we made red fondant and started on the ears.  We cut small rounds for the ears and covered them in black fondant.  We then covered the hat portion of the cake in red fondant and attached the ears.  We then added the details with the yellow and black ovals, just like Mickey's pants, and a black ribbon trim around the bottom.  The front looked amazing, but the back looked a little plain.  So we decided to personalize the hat, just like you can do at Disney!  We "stitched" the birthday boy's name with some yellow and it just made the cake come to life.

So Happy Birthday Jeff, we hope you enjoyed reliving your childhood, even if it was only for one evening!  Through Friday, May 27 stop by the Centreville store and visit me for a complimentary chocolate chunk cookie - they are my downfall, but hey, someone has to try all the goods!  We will have a fabulous cake to talk about next week - think of Glee meets Chantilly High School Choral!

Graduation Time!

Welcome back and I hope you are all staying dry on this crazy wet day!  We have been making graduation cakes non-stop for the last two weeks.  I thought you would enjoy our latest cake we made for our regular customer, Jennifer.  She always has some fun ideas and cakes.  We have made her a margarita glass, Thomas the Train, bikini cake, and most recently, the Radford Highlander.

Her son just graduated from Radford University, and she was having a party down in Radford for him.  So she asked what could we make that would be fun and different.  We had her look at a few different graduation cakes for inspiration, and she decided that the Radford University mascot was in order.  She asked us to put the Highlander on top.  I hadn't seen him before, so she emailed a picture over.  Well, he looks like a rugged mountain man with a Scottish twist!  So we got to work.

We decided to use vanilla cake to sculpt the Highlander's face.  After some time, the face started to take shape and we covered it in fondant.  While the fondant was still soft, we added in the facial features and the high cheekbones.  The facial hair had us all.  On that Friday morning, the bakery was full of female decorators who have no facial hair.  One of our decorators started a 5:00 shadow look, so I had to explain that this was a mountain man, one who had not shaved for a few weeks, so make his beard a little fuller and his hair a little higher!  She then added his braid on the side.  We finished him off with a plaid headband and he looked fabulous!

We then started on the cake underneath.  Jennifer has a soft spot for our red velvet cake and chocolate devil's food, but her son leans towards the chocolate.  So we made the bottom cake devil's food with chocolate buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream icing, which would travel well for the 4-5 hour drive down to Radford.  We finished off the design with some RU logos on the side and some plaid stripes.  We placed the Highlander on top and added some graduation hat sprinkles along with the plaque to say Congratulations Travis.  I must say, we had a really great time with this cake.

Come out and brave the forecasted rainy week.  When you mention our blog through Friday, May 20, which happens to be my 11th wedding anniversary, join me for a complimentary cupcake!  Until next Tuesday, you can always visit us on Facebook or at http://www.cakesbyhappyeatery.com/.

First Communions and Little Flowers!

Welcome to another Tuesday.  We have been quite busy in both kitchens.  We were cupcake central on Friday and Saturday, then quickly shifted to communion and graduation headquarters!  This week we made a simply gorgeous First Communion cake we would like to share with you.

One of our clients wanted a very special cake for her little girl's communion on Sunday.  It was to be a square vanilla cake filled with fresh strawberries, topped with buttercream icing, then completely covered in fondant.  That was the easy and delicious part.  While the fondant was soft, we had to emboss the sides with the diamond pattern.  Fondant dries very quickly, so we had to move fast.  After that was done, we had to hand roll and cut out each little flower to place in each corner of the diamonds.  Let me tell you, it may sound easy, but it sure is time consuming.  I was so kind as to find another cutter so that Victoria could join in the fun.  I called her many times, and this may sound familiar, but she was no where to be found.  I went searching, and she was hiding behind the counter trying to tidy up an already clean counter.  She then offered to wash dishes, in heels!  Well, I went forward, alone, and sang along to the ipod a little louder - private concerts are always fun first thing in the morning!  Once I attached all the little flowers, I had to go back and place a tiny pearl in the center of each.  A few bows in the four corners and the cross on top finished off this gorgeous cake.  Congratulations Catarina Elisa on you First Communion.

So, enjoy the photos and our handiwork.  As special incentive and to help out Victoria, I propose that you each receive a free cupcake at our Manassas location through Friday, May 13 when you ask Victoria to custom make a flower on top!  If you want to visit me at our Centreville location, I will share a free chocolate chunk cookie (I'm munching on one now) through Friday.  Until next week, visit us at http://www.cakesbyhappyeatery.com/.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

OK, we know Tuesday has passed so we are a day late, but we wanted to write about the fantastic cake we made for a client today.  The client came in to us on Saturday wanting a cake with red ruby slippers for a little movie her daughter loved named The Wizard of Oz!  Well, we are HUGE fans of the movie.  Victoria and I always seemed to catch this movie every year on television in December as we put up our Christmas tree.  Timing was always funny, it seemed that no matter when we bought the tree, early or late December every year, this movie happened to be on television the night we decorated the tree.  So we have very fond memories of The Wizard of Oz and the famous yellow brick road!

The client was not as familiar with the movie, but her daughter really wanted ruby red slippers.  So we told her not to worry, we would make her daughter proud.  We knew she had to have the yellow brick road on the cake and thought it would be fun to add in the grass and flowers all around, after all, Munchkinland is beautiful and colorful.  We also knew we had to craft the ruby slippers and flowers early so that they would have time to dry and set.  This morning, we came in to ice and decorate the cake and add some embellishments.  In order to create the yellow brick road, we took a sheet of yellow fondant and found a handy little brick impression to make it look authentic.  We then cut it and laid it down on the cake.  We piped green grass all around it and added in the sugar flowers and two large ones to write Happy Birthday Margaret for the special birthday girl.
We had a fun time making this cake today.  I just wish I could put up my Christmas tree tonight and watch it, but I may have to settle for some good a buttery popcorn, followed by a really big chocolate chunk cookie!  Well, we are off to create some more treats in the kitchen.  And when Victoria and I recuperate from the hundreds of cupcakes for cupcake weddings this weekend, I am sure we will have some more fun stories to share!  In the mean time, please visit us at either location for a complimentary cupcake in honor of our busy weekend through Friday, May 6.