THE SWEET SPOT

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes with my favorite Chocolate Frosting ~ Enjoy! Well, so much for good intentions!  I enjoyed blogging '31 Days of Tricks & Treats' last year from Sweetest Whimsy's blogs from Paper Dolls and The Sweet Spot .  However, I paid absolutely no attention to the actual calendar all of last week!  I seriously did not; I only changed my paper calendar in my office from September to October yesterday.  Pathetic, I know. Anyway, better late than never so here we go--today's TREAT (saving the tricks for tomorrow)!  Today's post is an awesome and ridiculously easy recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes!  I don't usually encourage cake mix cakes unless they are particularly good, because baking from scratch takes just about as much time.  However, these are really yummy and I've had total strangers tell me how much they love them. Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes (based on a recipe from Chocolate from the Cake Doctor by Anne Byrn) ...

Pooh's Birthday Gift Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr. Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. He's Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh. Willy nilly silly ole bear. ~Winnie the Pooh song Interest in the Pooh bear has waxed and waned since I made my first Pooh cake in 1999, but he still has a loyal following!  After all, he's been around in some form since 1924.  

Baby Boy Baptism Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr. Baptism and First Communion cakes are very special to me. I feel so honored to be part of such a significant day in a child's life!  

Minnie must be making a come-back (or perhaps she's never been out of style!) because I still get requests for her in all her frosted glory. I heart Minnie Mouse. Minnie Mouse Shaped Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr.  

'House for Sale' Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr.  This was for Joann, a local realtor, as requested by her husband for her birthday! Unfortunately, her hubby ordered the cake flavor that she does NOT like (men!) but she thought it was cute anyway.

Cinderella's Glass Slipper Cookie , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr.      When you have two daughters, you host your share of Princess themed parties. Princess Storybook Party, Princess Spa Party, Cinderella Theatre Party, and the list goes on! We've mixed things up a bit with cookie cakes and individually decorated cookies over the years.

Dora the Explorer Shaped Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr.  I have done several variations of Dora the Explorer cakes over the years; my girls, when they were younger, adored her!

Baby Boy's 1st Birthday Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr. Very often I am given a party napkin or invitation as the starting point for one of my cakes. This was one of them--invitations, napkins, plates and favors to match!

Brave Merida 3D Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr. I love how this cake turned out! I also love the character of Merida from Disney's Brave , so it was fun to create this cake. All decor made from fondant or gumpaste.

3D Pirate Cake , a photo by melissatarun on Flickr. A variation on my earlier 3D Pirate Cake, only this one was slightly better. (Got my "sea legs" now!) This was supposed to be the Wiggles' Pirate Ship so I used Wiggles' colors.  

Oops, this is wee bit late in getting posted!  Meant to get this to you about 3 hours ago, but was putting the finishing touches on some cake orders and had to get it done! Today's TREAT is some seriously adorable Cupcake Toppers from Smilebox and John Beach Design . How cute are these cupcake toppers?!  I love freebies!  Suitable for your little Princess-in-Training's royal celebration, but also perfect for a non-birthday, totally pinked out shindig.  Trust me on this one.  You can one dozen toppers to print in 4 designs.  Download and print yours here right now. Smilebox is known for their simple application for PC or Mac that lets you easily create slideshows, invitations, greetings, collages, scrapbooks and photo albums on your computer.   These cute cupcake toppers coordinate perfectly with Smilebox's Pink Party Princess invitation that can be emailed or printed for an enchanting celebration!  Have a party coming up?...

You know the phrase "Don't sweat the small stuff"?  When it comes to cake decorating, it's ALL small stuff! In recent weeks, I've found myself crafting tiny, detailed decorations for my cakes.  Repeatedly.  But this is, after all, the work of a cake decorator.  And I do love it, usually.  For example, about 4 dozen tiny fondant Legos: Over 3 dozen individually molded seashells, starfish and seahorses made of white and dark chocolate, some marbled with coral tinted chocolate, and fondant.  Each molded chocolate and fondant piece was one-of-a-kind:  Or how about some bubbly bubbles in pink, light pink and white fondant?  Just when you think you've made enough bubbles for the tub, it's time to make more for the rest of the cake!  Each "bubble" is painted with edible pearl dust, for that bubbly sheen.  And can't forget the dozen and a half cosmetic and nail accessories out of gumpaste and fondant.  Each one is tota...

Today starts Sweetest Whimsy's 31 Days of Tricks & Treats, my own personal challenge to post a TRICK or TREAT for you every day in October!  I will either post here, on The Sweet Spot blog, or here , the Paper Dolls blog.  Check both sites daily for a little trick-or-treating throughout October.  Who knows what you'll find?  I know I don't!

When I teach my cake decorating classes or bake at home, I wear an apron.  When I don my apron, my mind goes into cake decorator mode.  Everything else is secondary. And when you put on a fabulous apron, not some frumpy, old, stained number, then you're really cooking!  You're not just a cake decorator or cook, you're the awesomest cake decorator or cook!  (Yeah, I know that's not really a word, but I love it.) I have one of these fabulous aprons.  What makes it fabulous?  It makes you look fabulous, and you feel fabulous!  It's fun, flirty AND does what it's supposed to do--protect your clothes. Here's mine: Women's Apron Marilyn Sugar n' Spice My fabulous apron comes from the charming site Flirty Aprons !  Their aprons are fun, flirty, sweet and sassy, all at once.  Put one on and you feel stylish but you're still protected from spills and stains.  Brilliant.  The hardest part about visiting their site is choo...

Texas Cake-Lovers Rock! (Texas cake, Fall 2003; photo has been swiped by others and has appeared on other sites!) THANK YOU, Sweetest Whimsy customers & fans, for helping to make the Texas Baker's Bill (Cottage Food Bill) a LAW in the state of Texas! I appreciate each and every one of you who took time to call or email your state representatives and Senators as well as the Lt. Governor and Governor these past few weeks in support of our law. What a difference this will make in the lives of many Texans! Thank you too for putting up with my daily (or hourly) tweets, Facebook posts and email pleas for your help! The Governor's office reported having quite a bit of interest and calls regarding this bill, so thanks all you cake-loving folks out there. What does this mean for Sweetest Whimsy? I can now run ads and promote my business in this state. I will continue to teach others about my passion for decorating cakes and other sugar art techniques. I will continue to do what I...