First Catering Gig!

Busy, busy, busy! I booked my first professional catering gig recently creating desserts for the crazy talented Jeff Lavia from Dinner MoJo, and was asked to provide one hundred mini cupcakes and one hundred cake pops for a private "winter lodge" themed Christmas party. Having a ton of chocolate ganache left over from our Haute Chocolate fund raiser, I psychotically decided to bust out over a hundred truffles for the party to showcase what I can do, in hopes of booking future jobs.

Adorable mini spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Chocolate cake pops with snowflake sprinkles.

Truffle mania!

And the party was gorgeous! Everything was already set up at the dessert table. I just filled in their cake stands with the treats and left them with pan after pan of goodies to be replenished throughout the night. What a great first experience!

All the extra work was totally worth it when I received this text from Jeff: "People are raving about the desserts!! And that was probably the best cake pop I've had. And the truffles - omg - those were the best truffles I've ever had, hands down. Great job!!! I was not expecting the hard shells and the soft chocolate inside."

Hooray for rave reviews!

Garden Shower

My friend Dorothy needed some help throwing a garden themed baby shower in her backyard, and I was more than happy to lend a hand. The mom-to-be had gestational diabetes, which I was a little nervous about because my party centerpieces are usually the dessert buffet. Dorothy and I came up with a diabetic-friendly menu and found some sugar free chocolates and caramels for the dessert table, knowing the guest of honor would allow herself to indulge in a sweet treat or two. Enjoy the following behind the scenes photos of putting together this bright and colorful party.

Sandwich picks with darling butterfly detail

Sweet teacups with silk flowers to hang from the balcony.

Oversized dragonflies get some bedazzling.

Colorful gum balls

Toadstool pops

Chocolate dipped Pirouettes become "Fairy Straws"

The happy garden themed dessert buffet.

Dessert table details

Garden themed cupcakes

Cake Pops

How cute are these mushrooms?! These tasty toadstools are actually cake pops, a candy-dipped cakey confection perfected by the one and only Bakerella. I've been surfing her site forever, just gaga over what she manages to create and finally screwed up the courage to give it a whirl myself. I was thrilled with how easy they were to do and how great they turned out!

Bake up one boxed white cake and crumble finely in your mixer. Add to that about 3/4 can of white frosting and mix together to form a moist dough.

Roll dough into about 2 inch balls.

Squeeze the bottom half of ball in your fist to create the stem and form the mushroom cap with the top portion of ball using your fingers to pinch and sculpt cap to desired shape.

I made three different types of mushrooms for a wider variety and more visual interest - pointy topped, rounded topped and flat topped - and pressed them on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Then put them in the fridge for about 15 minutes to cool and firm up.

Heat white candy melts in the microwave in 30 second intervals until you can stir them smooth. Holding mushroom by the cap, spread coating on stem and smooth/remove excess with your finger. Work quickly as the candy will start to set up. Dip one end of a lollipop stick into white candy and insert into bottom of stem. Insert mushroom pops into floral foam to dry and put back in the refrigerator to harden. (TIP: wrap floral foam in Seran Wrap to keep clean for future use.)

When all mushroom stems are dipped and chilled, heat red candy melts the same as the whites. Holding on to the lollipop stick, roll the mushroom cap on edge in the red candy so it touches and just covers where the white stem meets the cap. Then dip cap straight down and wiggle out to get a smooth covered surface.

Press in large white nonpareils to mushroom cap while still wet to finish off the look.

Place mushrooms back in styrofoam block to dry. Voila! Mushroom cake pops! These red capped beauties are too cute for words.

Cake pop detail.

I stumbled upon this fab hollow log-shaped I-don't-know-what at the thrift store for only $2 and just knew I'd find a use for it. Filled with floral foam and covered with moss, it makes the perfect serving piece for these fanciful fungi. Just the thing for the garden themed baby shower they were made for.