Lovely Lemon Cupcakes

In case you haven't noticed from my recent posts - I have been baking up a storm lately! This week I decided to break free from all the vanilla cake I have been baking and try something a little lighter, fresher and summery - Lemon Cupcakes.

I used a variation of my favourite vanilla sponge recipe found here, I just subsituted the buttermilk with a cup of organic vanilla yogurt, and swapped out the vanilla extract for some lemon extract and added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of freshly grated lemon zest and VOLIA lovely lemon cupcakes! I found these cupcakes to be quite light and airy. For the buttercream icing I again swapped out the vanilla extratct for some lemon extract in my usual icing recipe found here and the result was amazing - not too sweet and just enough lemon flavour! I think these cupcakes will be making a repeat appearence in my kitchen very soon!

Sweet Pink & Purple Baby Shower Cake

This weekend I made a cake for my very good friend's surprise baby shower. Since she is having a girl, I decided to create something very sweet and feminine. I used white fondant to keep the background clean and fresh and then decorated with hearts, birds and flowers in pink and purple. I topped the cake off with a handmade baby girl holding a couple of flowers and a cute little flag with the announcement "it's a girl!"


For the cake itself, I used the same vanilla sponge and butter cream I featured in my Pretty in Purple - Floral Themed Baby Shower Cake, but with a slight twist! I added crushed up Ferraro Roche chocolates to the butter cream and absolutely loved the result. The chocolates added an unexpected surprise that left everyone wondering what the secret ingredient was! I can't wait to try this combination again soon!

New Vintage: Painted Mason Jar Floral Arrangements

I created these mason jar arrangements to go with the Pretty in Purple: Floral Cake I designed for a friend of the family’s baby shower. I wanted the arrangements to be soft and girly with a touch of vintage.

My original thought was to create the arrangements using vintage milkglasses as vases; however, I could not source enough milkglass pieces in time for the shower. I decided I could achieve a similar look by spray painting mason jars with a flat white spray paint. It took a couple of nights, lots of drying time, 2 cans of spray paint and about 5 coats in total, but in the end I was very pleased with the final look.

As for the flowers in the arrangements I wanted to stick with a purple colour scheme to coordinate with the cake. I also decided to create two different styles of arrangements to add some additional interest and depth to the décor. The first arrangement was created using white hydrangeas that were lightly sprayed with a purple floral paint; the second arrangement was created using purple roses, spider mums and lisianthus.  

Pretty in Purple – Floral Themed Baby Shower Cake

A friend of the family recently asked me to make a cake for her baby shower. I took my inspiration from the baby’s nursery and used purple and white as the colour scheme for the cake. I decorated the cake with cascading gum paste flowers and butterflies to give the cake a modern and girly feel.

If you are curious about what’s underneath all that fondant and gum paste, I’ve listed recipe links for the cake and buttercream below. 


Cake: http://www.marthastewart.com/315436/versatile-vanilla-cake
Buttercream:http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html

DIY Jewellery Organization

A few weeks ago I was looking for a way to organize my costume jewellery. I had previously stored everything in drawers and boxes and it drove me absolutely crazy – I hated having to route through a bunch of boxes and drawers to find a specific piece.

Using a bunch of items I had around the house I created a jewellery display area along a small portion of used wall space in my closet.

The necklaces are hanging from a large key rack that I had originally intended to hang near my front door to hold my car keys.

I strung the bracelets along some extra chandelier chain and secured it to the wall with some leftover hooks from a kitchen organization project.

I used a thin cork tile from an old corkboard covered in lace from an old blouse to create the earring holder.  I secured it to the wall using a scrap piece or ribbon and another hook from my kitchen organization project.

I love the way my little jewellery corner turned out! Having everything so visible and accessible makes accessorizing any outfit a snap!

Personalized Flower Arrangements

Nothing brightens up a room quite like a vase of fresh flowers! This year for Mother’s Day I decided I wanted to treat each of my grandmothers to a special floral arrangement. I selected a bright and cheerful colour scheme of yellow flowers and chose a personalized container to serve as a vase. The teapot arrangement was created for my maternal Grandmother because of her love for tea and her collection of teapots. The utensil crock arrangement was created for my paternal Grandmother in honour of her amazing culinary skills!

Although, I used these arrangements as Mother’s Day gifts, I think they would also make great gifts for any of the following; hostess gifts, end of school year gifts for teachers or birthday gifts. They would also make beautiful centerpieces for a spring/summer wedding, bridal shower, baby shower or even your kitchen table.

You can also get creative with your container choices, you are not limited to just utensil crocks and tea pots. If you have a friend who loves baking you could create an arrangement in a loaf pan and attach a recipe for banana bread. That is what I love about this style of floral arrangements, when the flowers die the container can serve its original purpose instead just collecting dust amongst the other vases under the kitchen sink.

ps. If you want to create a similar look, the flowers I used in my arrangements are as follows: alstroemeira, tulips, and fuji spider mums.