A Long Time Coming!

I meet with the lovely Stacey way back in June 2011 to discuss her wedding cake for March the following year.  We had decided on a cupcake tower and all was going well!  Then I heard from her that she would need to postpone her wedding till April 2013.  I told her not to worry that we'd pencil in  April and we'll get back in touch and reconfirm everything.  Fast forward to 2013 and the cupcake tower was out and a 2 tier wedding cake was in!  Stacey wanted something that was elegant and very soft.  She had alot of pinks in her wedding and wanted to incorporate that into the cake.  She absolutely love my birthday cake I made last year and wanted me to use that design for inspiration.

Introducing Stacey & Norman's Romantic Wedding Cake

Stacey love the idea of adding a peony to the design.  I love all the floral elements with the peony and mini roses and gorgeous peach colour hydrangeas.  Placed all together with the soft pink tones and the stencil pattern on the bottom tier gave an overall feel of a very soft and romantic cake.

This cake was a long time coming and I'm so happy for Stacey & Norman that they finally got to have their special day!

Congratulations to you both!! I sure the wedding was worth the wait and I hope you both had a absolutely fabulous day!

Ruffle Rosette Heaven!

I was so excited about creating this cake for the gorgeous Thalia & her husband Jamie and couldn't wait till the week of their wedding!! I initially came up 3 designs for Thalia and was so thrilled when she decided on the ruffle rosette design.  Thalia really wanted to have peonies featured in her wedding but because the wedding was in February peony season was well and truly gone! But not to worry .... I told her I could make some sugar peonies for her wedding cake.  Thalia also wanted to have lace featured in the cake design.  Well with peonies, lace and rose ruffles I knew the cake was going to look stunning!! 

Introducing Thalia & Jamie's Rosette Ruffle Wedding Cake

I had so much create those rosette ruffles! They do take forever to do but I think the final result is so worth it!! I love having the stand as a separator for the top tier.  This just gives it a elegant feel and also provides more height which gives abit more drama to the over all look!

Congratulations Thalia and Jamie!!

Wishing you a life time of happiness together!

Pretty Colours!

And back to our currently wedding season.  We made this cake for Victoria's wedding.  I love the colours we used for this wedding cake. Pink, lilac and ivory with a little bit of mint green thrown in for good measure.  Lace and stripes with roses and hydrangea blossoms, all the things I love in a cake.

Introducing Victoria's Lace & Stripe Wedding Cake!

Peach & gold with large blooms!

This cake was a last minute order for a wedding.  We decided on peach, pink and gold for the colors and the bride loved our ruffle cakes so we incorporated that into the design as well. We decided on large floral blooms to add the finishing look to the cake.  The cake was covered in a very pale peach colour fondant which probably doesn't really show in the photo.  Jus loved all the colors, a soft and romantic cake!

Introducing Mandy's Romantic Ruffle Cake.

Rosette Ruffles!

I have seen these these rosette ruffles done on some really stunning cakes and have always wanted to give them a go.  I finally had a chance to have a go with this cake which I created for my gorgeous cousin's sweet sixteenth birthday.  I'm also in love with peach and gold as a colour combo at the moment, I just think they are perfect together.  The rosette ruffles took FOREVER to make but oh my goodness!! Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Gorgeous!! I also think this would make such a beautiful wedding cake! I hope someone ask me to create a rosette ruffle cake for their wedding soon!

Introducing Nicole's Sweet Sixteen Birthday Cake.

A very Happy Birthday Nicole!! Love you lots!

Small but beautiful!

Sometimes small is best and this is different one of those occasions!  A one tier wedding cake made for a lovely couple from London who came back to New Zealand to get married.

Fondant lace painted with luster dust with a gorgeous arrangement of fresh flowers! 

Lorinda & Khan's Wedding

Oh how I love weddings!! And I especially love creating wedding cakes! For Lorinda and Khan's wedding we decide on a 3 tier wedding cake with lace and stripes and large peonies.  Love, Love, Love!!!  They also wanted a monogram of their names on the cake as this was a feature that they used through out their wedding.  Ivory and a very soft pink were the colours of choice and I think it went so well with the design of the cake.

Introducing Lorinda & Khan's Wedding Cake

I just love to peonies so to be asked to create them in sugar is always so exciting!!

A view from the top!

They were blown away by their wedding cake and absolutely loved it!! This just makes my job even more special when I hear that the cake was so well received.

Congratulations Lorinda & Khan!!

Richard & Sonaly's Wedding!

I had the honor of creating a very special cake and cupcakes for a friends wedding.  Richard I have known from when we were little and was very excited to hear that him and his partner Sonaly were FINALLY going to tie the knot!  So when they asked me to create their wedding cake I jumped at the chance.  Sonaly wanted a cake that was pretty yet simple that had a touch of vintage lace.  

Introducing Richard & Sonaly's Wedding cake.

In the end we decide on ruffles with some lace.  Roses and large lilac blooms to give it a romantic feel.  

They also wanted some cupcakes to match their wedding cake.  I kept the colour palette the same with ivory embossed lace cupcakes with a mixer of roses, hydrangea blossoms and large lilac blooms.

Roses & Lace

 Hydrangea blossom & lace

Large lilac blooms and lace

Their wedding was amazing and we all had a fantastic time!! It is always super special when I get asked to create a wedding cake for people who close to my heart.

Congratulations Richard & Sonaly!!  Wishing you both a life time of happiness together!

New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker Part 2

After the great success of my teddy bears picnic cupcake tower, New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker asked if I would create a wedding cake as a centerpiece for another episode.  How could I say no!

After a lot of brainstorming I eventually found a gorgeous Vera Wang wedding dress and using it as my inspiration.  I love the unusual colors and the structure of the bodice and the gorgeous mermaid style and ruffle bottom.  As soon as I saw the dress I could instantly see the main elements on each tier of the wedding cake.

Introducing the Holly cake, inspired by Vera Wang

I didn't want the cake to all be one color so decided the two middle tiers would be in a peachy tone.

Vera Wang's gorgeous "Holly" dress : Spring 2012 collection : My inspiration

This tier was inspired by the lines of the bodice.

And the bottom tier inspired by the gorgeous ruffles of the dress.

The show was absolutely thrilled with what I had made for them and I'm really looking forward to seeing the cake on the show later on in the year.

Happy Baking!

Only the best for such a grand venue!

I have been so excited about creating this cake for 2 reasons! It is my first ever 5 tier wedding cake and secondly the wedding venue that this cake will be calling home.

I always think that you can never beat a black and white colored cake for effect!! They always stand out and will I think this cake does just that!! It was a huge cake bottom tier measured in at 14 inches. I wanted the cake to be striking yet still romantic and I think the roses add that romantic touch. 

Now let me tell you about the venue.  The Wharf is such an amazing venue, it sits right on the waters edge very close to Auckland's habour bright.  Amazing 180 degree views of the water and spread out over 2 levels.  I've also wanted to create a cake for a venue that gorgeous and as you can imagine when the bride said that she was having it at The Wharf I was squealing inside.

Here is a photo of the cake at The Wharf

I had such a wonderful time creating this cake for my very lovely couple!! Glad that I can now say I have made a cake for The Wharf and that I've done a 5 tier wedding cake!! Yipee! 2 more things to tick off my list.

Happy Baking!

For Denise & Danilo

I love wedding season and I especially love it when I get to create a tiered wedding cake!! I so wish I could do more of them!! 

Anyhow I am this for a wonderful couple who married over the weekend.  Denise and Danilo wanted a wedding cake that was elegant with clean lines.  They wanted each tier to have a special feel and really loved the lace embossing that I had done on my previous cakes.  

I just absolutely fell in love with this cake!! I loved everything about it.  I wish I could get married again {to my hubby of course} It would be so much fun making my own wedding cake!!

Introducing Mr & Mrs Salvador's 4 tier wedding cake.

Handcrafted large fondant roses in dusky pink &  ivory.

The wedding reception was held at the gorgeous Heritage grand tea room.  If you haven't been there, it really is beautiful!  I absolutely loved the ceiling!! Such amazing details.

I'm so happy that Denise & Danilo loved their wedding cake as much as me.  I had such a fantastic time making it for them!!

Congratulations D&D!! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together!

White Wedding!

I {heart} weddings and LOVE creating special pieces of edible art for my brides.  I love creating my cupcake towers but would also like to do more wedding cakes.  I think I've only done about 6 or so tiered wedding cakes and thought my portfolio was in need of some more wedding cake designs.  So what does one do while they are on holiday?  Made some wedding cake dummies of course.  My studio is also in need of some pretty cakes, so it is the perfect opportunity. 

I create this simple but I think stunning 4 tier wedding cake display.  I love that classic, clean lines kind of look and I think this cake encumbers those elements.

Fondant covered with hand pipped royal icing dots.  Fondant stripe ribbon bow and gumpaste handmade roses.

It is so lovely to walk into my studio and see this cake.  I have a few others that I'm working on at the moment and look forward to sharing them with you all when I've finished.


Happy Baking!

Welcome to my Kitchen!

I had brought my camera to the shop the other week, so I thought it would be fun to take some more "behind the scenes at Bella Cupcakes Headquarters" photos.

While all you lovelies out there are fast asleep, I'm usually in my kitchen with the music going full blast making magic happen.  It's really lovely knowing its just me and my cupcakes.  Working away getting everything ready for my lovely customers.

Busy! Busy! Busy! Cutting out fondant to cover my cupcakes

 I absolutely love this part - decorating the cupcakes.  These are my handmade fondant roses - I think they look lovely on the lace embossed cupcake.

So what's the story behind these cupcakes?  These were made for a wedding.  The bride-to-be loved my purple rose cupcake tower I did awhile back and she wanted something similar.  I don't really like to do the same design twice so, I change a few things and well just love the final look of everything.

The bride decided to go for our delicious chocolate mud cake for the top cake.  And for the cupcakes our very popular white chocolate & raspberry and something a bit tropical: coconut and pineapple cupcake with infused coconut buttercream {YUMO}.

Another fun cupcake tower to make and just love all the details.  My favourite would have to be those super large roses!!  My bride just loved everything about it too, which just makes me super happy!

Happy Baking!

Peonies & Roses

I had the pleasure of creating this cake for some very good friends of ours who got married over the Easter weekend.  I've known both Mui & Andy for a very long time {since high school}and it was so lovely to be able to make their wedding cake.

Mui really wanted peonies on her cake and well you know me and peonies {LOVE} I was so pleased with how my peonies turned out.  It was my first attempt at making an open peony and Oh I love, love, love,love,love them {heart}.  Peonies, roses and bride & groom topper were all made with fondant with a little bit of added CMC powder.

All three tiers 6, 9 & 12 inch were chocolate mud cake filled with chocolate ganache and covered in ivory fondnat.  The bottom and middle tiers were 5 1/2 inches in height and the top tier measured 6 1/2inches.  It was so heavy! Lucky my hubby was there to help delivery the cake.

Everyone loved the cake and I got lots of wonderful comments about it at the wedding.

I also had to dismantle the cake at the wedding and man!! that was so strange!! It's funny you spend hours and hours on a cake and then to take it all apart is quite a freeing experience!!  It was some nice to see everyone enjoying the cake!!!

Congratulations Mui & Andy!! Wishing you a lifetime of blissful happiness together.

Happy baking!

A million and one roses!

Some weeks I question myself and wonderful how I manage to get everything finished and delivered on time! And will this was definitely one of those weeks!! With over 400 roses needed to be made... lets just say that I was in the pits!! {lol} 400 roses!! What was I thinking? Clearly ... I wasn't thinking at all.  Oh well what is one do to but solider on and get it done and Yay!! by the hairs of my chinny chin chin, I managed to get every single roses made.  What an accomplishment. {Can I please pat myself on the back for this one?} Stage one completed, now came the fun bit {Decorating cupcakes!}  Oh how I love to decorate my cupcakes, I'm like a little girl in a candy store .... it is just so much fun!!

 

But what I love more then decorating cupcakes is putting a cupcake tower together!! You can never envision just how a tower will look like when it is put together, so there is always that little bit of excitement and wonder.  This tower came together perfectly.  All the colours just came alive, with the hints of blues and spring green just adding to the soft tones of the dusky pink and mauve. 

 Because the cupcakes were so detailed I design the top cake to be simple but still elegant and stand out.  I achieved this by making one large roses.  I think the top cake was perfect and definitely still made an impact.

 All in all another crazy week here at Bella Cupcakes!! I came away very exhausted, but still had the time of my life!

The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart
{unknown}