Office Retirement

I am ready for winter to come!  It has been so hot and sticky outside these last few days, and I hear it is only to get worse.  Well, come on in and cool off with an ice cold smoothie - strawberry mango is my favorite!  We will make sure to have our ice makers working overtime to help keep you cool.

For this week's highlight, I thought you would enjoy our office retirement cake we did a few weeks ago.  Catherine worked at Carfax for 7 years, and one of her coworkers wanted to have a fun cake for her retirement party.  She choose to cover the cake with little sticky notes and other desk supplies.  So two days before the cake was due, we rolled out little squares of fondant in those famous sticky note shades of yellow, pink and blue.  We left them to dry so that on the day the cake was due, we could use our food markers to write all sorts of to-do items - lunch with the girls, ask for a bonus, etc.

The morning of the delivery, we made a vanilla sponge cake with fresh fruit and whipped cream filling, then iced it with a thin layer of buttercream icing.  Once that was done, we rolled out white fondant to cover the entire cake.  Once the fondant was on, we were ready to attach the prepared sticky notes and embellish with a few other items.  There was a pen, pencil, tacks, paperclips, pencil sharpener and more.  We thought the cake turned out great.

Well, until next week, stay inside where the air is cool.  But if you do decide to venture out, come stop by either Manassas or Centreville for a cupcake on us, which goes well with those smoothies!

Fun and Whimsical Weddings

It's hard to believe another week has passed us by.  We have been in wedding central in the kitchens for the last month.  So we thought you would enjoy this recent cake for a very fun couple who wanted to reflect their style at their wedding.

The setting for the cake was at the beautiful Hotel Palomar in Rosslyn, VA.  The room was beautifully decorated and the floral centerpieces was of different shapes, colors and styles.  The bride and groom chose a 3-tiered cake with buttercream icing.  They tiered round cakes with a square in the center.  The main color they wanted to have on the cake was royal blue.  The round cakes had fondant polka dots of different sizes all around, the the square cake had bold vertical stripes.  When we arrived at the Hotel Palomar, the florist had fresh flowers waiting for us to complete the design.  The flowers was all different bold colors and different.  The cake looked fabulous!  This wedding cake had both traditional elements and some very modern accents to make it unique.

Come visit us at either Manassas or Centreville through Friday, July 15 for a complimentary bubble tea to help cool you down for the summer.  Don't forget to try one of our butterbeer cupcakes from Harry Potter - the movie is coming out this week!  Until next week, you can find us at www.CakesbyHappyEatery.com.

Party with the Wu Family!

Welcome to a very late weekly blog.  Victoria and I have been taking some time off to send time with our other sister Charlotte (yes, there are three of us!).  She lives overseas, so we don't often have the whole clan together.  She came into town with her family and we have been having a load of fun.  If you can't tell from our personalities, the Wu family loves good food and desserts.  So what better way to celebrate than a big Welcome Home Party?!?!?!  We decided to take things a little easier and have all the catering (food, beverages and pastries) done by one of the best places we know - Cakes by Happy Eatery!

We came up with a nice summer menu that had items to suit food lovers of all types.  Our starters included our fabulous cheese puffs (gougeres), crab stuffed mushrooms, coconut shrimp, paper wrapped shrimp, chicken cordon blue, our brand new hot dogs baked in a bun, and some fruit.  For the main course we had roasted rib eye with a beautiful mushroom gravy, BBQ ribs (really tender and flavorful), potato salad, broccoli salad, green beans, mac & cheese, asparagus in a citrus sauce, wild rice pilaf, herbed chicken in a cream sauce, and more. 

Once we had the menu set, we had to make a gorgeous display.  Victoria wanted something with vivid colors, and as we were sitting at the dinner table at our mother's house, it came to us.  Our father planted a hydrangea bush in the backyard that was in full bloom.  It was absolutely breath-taking with blooms of different hues of purple, ranging from a lavender to a regal purple to a deep blue.  We set out our purple pintuck tablecloth with a lavender overlay.  We then asked Sher (Flowers by Sher) to borrow a tall vase to showcase the beautiful flowers from the garden.  We layered clear and purple crystals in the vase and topped it off with the dark purple hydrangea.  The table looked fantastic.

Now a party wouldn't be the same without desserts from our favorite bakery!  We chose to keep the dessert menu simple this time and highlight some of the popular trends right now - cupcakes and cake pops.  Our kitchens were busy making dozens of miniature cupcakes in assorted flavors, which included classic chocolate, dulce de leche, red velvet, lemon raspberry, mango mousse, simply strawberry and more.  We have also added cake pops to our dessert line.  We made red velvet, birthday cake (vanilla chocolate marble cake), death by chocolate, vanilla and more.  And we couldn't forget our popular fruit tarts - a true summer treat!  They were a fun addition to the party and many of our guests were walking around popping the mini desserts as they visited with everyone.

So don't forget about us the next time you have to plan a party.  Our catering menu is fantastic and our food is all made to order.  Come visit us in either Centreville of Manassas for a cake pop on us through Sunday, July 10 when you mention our blog.  Until next week!

Sushi Anyone??

Welcome to another week.  We have been bringing out all the fun summer time treats.  Check out the new cake pops in different flavors (the death by chocolate is my favorite), lemon cream tarts, key lime pie, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a very refreshing watermelon smoothie.

This week we are featuring a grooms cake we made to highlight the groom's love of sushi.  First we made a rectangular cake to look like the trays that sushi is served on at the restaurants.  We rolled out white fondant to cover the entire cake.  To create the wood grain effect, we used a light brown color and a paint brush to apply the color.  The bristles of the brush resembled the imperfections of a wood grain.  As the sushi tray was drying, we started on hand-rolling all the sushi.  We took out fondant and started out with some dark green seaweed, dark red tuna, light salmon, white rice and orange roe.  Once we had all the components ready, we rolled them together to create a mouth-watering display of sushi.  We finished it off with a pair of chopsticks, some soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.  The cake looked fantastic and delicious.

Join us next week for another fun cake adventure.  Until then, come visit Victoria or myself in Centreville or Manassas and have a brand new cake pop on us (through Friday, July 1).  Remember to enjoy the beautiful weather and don't forget to pick up dessert for your 4th of July picnics.  Parfait bowls, strawberry pies, cupcakes and strawberry shortcakes are perfect for your BBQs!

A spring wedding

I know it's a little late in the day, but I haven't forgetten about the blog.  I have had quite a full day of spring cleaning (a few months late) and decided I must treat myself to a very cold cup of bubble tea with a warm chocolate chunk cookie tomorrow.  So come join me for a complimentary bubble tea in either Centreville or Manassas (through Friday, June 24) to toast my long-lost and very much forgotten about muscles!  And if you need help with your overdue spring cleaning, I offer up Victoria's muscles - she is fantastic, fast, efficient and remember to look for her in Manassas and she will be ready with extra large trash bags!

Well, after last week's wedding cake mishap, I thought you might enjoy one reading about one of our favorite wedding cakes we have done recently.  This cake was done about two months ago at the height of cherry blossom season.  The bride and groom really wanted to highlight cherry blossoms and had a special love of chocolate.  So they went with a three-tiered wedding cake with alterating layers of mocha and chocolate sponge cake iced with chocolate buttercream, then covered in dark chocolate fondant.  Since the cherry blossoms they chose have a hint of pink, they wanted to accent the cake with a thin pink fondant ribbon band.  We then piped some branches in a slightly lighter chocolate and made our own version of a cherry blossom tree.  The cake looked fantastic!  We were all in awe of how well the cake turned out.  The design was very clean and elegant, it had a touch of traditional with a very modern twist - WE LOVED IT!

 We also want to congratulate all the recent graduates.  Congratulations Class of 2011 and good luck on your next adventures!  Don't forget to stop by or visit our website at http://www.cakesbyhappyeatery.com/ for some sweet treats.

WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?! - Don't forget to always stay cool.......

Well, our kitchens certainly kept us busy this past weekend.  The hot and humid weather sure did not help us out any.  So we wanted to share a little reminder to everyone as the summer is about to officially begin (the 90+ degrees for the last two weeks was just spring!).

On Friday morning, our Centreville kitchen started up early to produce a wedding cake to be picked up at 9am.  The bride and groom were having a small wedding with about 15 people on Friday afternoon.  They chose a two-tier red velvet cake with cream cheese filling and buttercream icing.  For the design, they wanted something simple and elegant.  They went with a light pink ribbon wrap with scroll work and fresh pink roses on the cake.  We had the cake ready for them when we opened at 9:00.  That morning, it was already 90 degrees outside, and they weren't serving the cake for another five hours, so we made sure to remind them to refrigerate the cake when they got home.

Well, almost two hours later they walked back into the bakery with the cake box.  One of our staff members (Brian) asked what was wrong, and they lowered the cake box.  I think Brian's heart may have jumped a little when he saw the remnants of the cake.  All the buttercream icing had melted, the cream cheese filling had also melted and the cake was sweating.  Brian asked what happened, and our nervous groom admitted he had stopped to run an errand before going straight home, therefore he left the cake in the car by itself, with no air.  This happened almost two hours since he left with the cake from the bakery!  Since it was over 90 degrees, it meant the inside of the car was like an oven, and the entire cake could not handle the extreme heat.

We were not able to save their original wedding cake due to the melted icing and compromised support structure.  We asked them to come back in another 90 minutes so that we could figure out our next step.  Luckily, we had some more red velvet cakes for orders that were picking up later that afternoon, so we pulled those cakes and trimmed them for a brand new wedding cake and had the baker start on another batch of red velvet cakes for the later orders.  We quickly filled and iced the new cakes, then decorated them to look like the original cake.  When the groom returned, he had two cakes - a beautiful wedding cake for his beautiful bride, and a groomscake that was sure to be the talk of the pre-summer heat!

So here is a little rhyme from our desserts so that you will never forget to keep dessert cool:
Our gentle reminder that just like you, please keep us (desserts) cool,
We don't like to sit, unwind or relax by the pool,
For we are not made to stay hot,
And we will try to give it all we've got,
But you may forget about us and go take a dip,
And if you do, we will most certainly drip, and may even strip!

Sweet Sixteen

Welcome back to another crazy busy week!  The kitchen in Manassas is busy producing all things graduation for Friday.  We have some fantastic graduation cookies that have been flying off the shelves.  Centreville just created a new sponge cupcake, it tastes like velvet, butter and air wrapped up in a cupcake!  They are only $1 each, but if you mention our blog through Friday, June 10, we will share it with you on the house, and we will make sure our Manassas location has some starting tomorrow (Wednesday).

I thought we would feature a recent sweet sixteen birthday cake we made a few weeks ago.  I received an email about two months ago from Nanci about planning her daughter's 16th birthday party, to be held at a restaurant in Fair Oaks. They were looking for a showstopper that was friendly on a budget.  The first picture they had in mind was a three-tier topsy turvey cake, but that did not fit within their budget.  So I asked what elements from the cake they liked, and we went from there.  The birthday girl was very flexible and loved hot pink, zebra print and black.  So we sketched out a tall two-tier cake, with the bottom iced in hot pink buttercream with a black fondant ribbon band around.  The top tier was covered in a zebra print with a small row of hot pink dots to tie the two together.  To finish it off, we made a 16 out of hot pink fondant and outlined it in black then added in little dangling balls of black, white and hot pink to complete the fresh and young feel for the party.  Nanci was excited when she saw the cake. 

The cake was iced completely out of vanilla buttercream, with just a touch of fondant for the ribbon bands, 16 topper and colored balls.  Our decorators do an amazing job of making cakes look glass-like smooth without the use of fondant.  So come on out and visit us at either location.  If you need to cool down, we have plenty of bubble tea and smoothies to help you out!  Until next week.

Emily