Strawberry Shortcake Themed Cake!

I made this cake for my daughter's  Strawberry Shortcake themed first birthday party! 

 

I might have sketched out about 15 different cake designs and looked up a gazillion cakes for inspiration! LOL!

 

I actually didn't know what I would do after the 15th sketch and I remembered what a wise (and hot- might I add :o)) woman once told me!

 

When I was planning my wedding, I was looking up cake ideas and none of them were 'it' for me. My sister told me "YOUR cake hasn't been made yet. That's why it isn't yours". She was right, I started to use the same attitude when I came up sketches and designs for others.

 

 

 

So for this, I ''free styled'' - and hoped for the best! (Only because my daughter is not a client and she's too young to say ''how dare you free style my cake" LOL)- I mean, what's the worst that could happen right?

 

I hope she sees this cake when she's older and says "good job free styling mom!"

*fingers crossed!*

 

 

Flavors included green and pink French vanilla (with a polka dot interior- I will post how I got this at a later date) and red velvet!

 

 

The topper is courtesy of JellyCakeDesigns (on Etsy)

 

Picture by Fola Lawal Photography 

 

Calabash and Kolanut Traditional Wedding Cake

This past summer (and I say 'past' because the warmth of summer feels like AGES ago) we made a few traditional wedding cakes.

 

I love making traditional wedding cakes (OK I confess I love all things cake) but I especially love when clients ask for something I've never done before. It gets the creative juices flowing in my head. This type of cake is pretty common in Nigeria but a first for me.

In Traditional Nigerian igbo weddings, the bride gets a cup/glass of palm wine from her father, and presents it to her husband as a way of showing her family that this is the man she has agreed to marry.

                       This traditional wedding cake depicts palm wine flowing from a calabash/gourd. Next to it   are kolanuts on a saucer and traditional bracelets.

The main cake is french vanilla with fresh strawberries and cream filling and a white chocolate frosting. The gourd is fresh strawberry cake filled with fresh strawberry buttercream.

Our handmade fondant kolanuts make their debut again :)

To learn more about traditional weddings, click here. You can also click here for pictures of nigerian traditional weddings.

Congratulations to all our 2013 brides!

Icing Smiles

This week's post will be a little different from the usual. I would like to talk about an organization I love: Icing Smiles. Icing Smiles is a non profit organization that provides celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the illness of a child. Their goal is to create a custom cake for the ill child, or their sibling, that provides a temporary escape from worry and creates a positive memory during a difficult time.

BimsFlavors has partnered with this amazing organization by signing up to be a Sugar Angel and we are looking forward to 'Baking a Difference''! We look forward to baking a smile for the families involved with this organization!

I found out about Icing Smiles about a year ago. I would say I discovered this organization by accident but I don't believe in accidents or coincidences. I also believe that to whom much is given, much is expected. I work in cancer research by day and create the cakes and treats you see on this blog when I'm not 'researching' and I couldn't figure out a way to merge both of my worlds. Enter Icing Smiles. As I read through the Icing Smiles website, I was overcome with emotion. Simple things like a birthday are luxuries to families who are battling illness. Imagine that.

I just love this description on their website:

Memories have magical powers.  Long after the cake is gone, the memories linger-- memories of the kindness of a stranger, of the art of the design, of the sweet smells of a special treat, of the smiles and laughs, of a normal childhood experience so often stolen from these children.  These memories are why we say, "It is so much more than a cake."

I truly believe that it's so much more than a cake.

So how can you help? You can help by clicking over to their website and making a donation to help bring a smile to a child.

To read more about this amazing organization and its founder Tracey Quisenberry and to read real stories about these families, take a look at Tracey's blog at www.icingsmiles.org/blog

 

You too can make a difference!

Have a sweet day and be blessed!

Sophie's Mess Party

In my next life, I would like Natasha to be my mommy. Why? Because she knows how to throw a kiddie party like no other! 

Natasha's daughter Sophie turned 3 last week and the theme was a Mess. Yes, you heard right...a Mess party! What is every kid's dream? to make a mess everywhere. :o) Why not?!

Natasha sent us this cake for inspiration. It was made by Cake Lava (Hawaii). The thing about making a mess cake is that you have to make a 'neat' mess....a mess that's not ugly....and also an edible mess (how many times have I said 'mess'? lol). OK I digress.

If you recall, we made this  Sleeping Beauty cake for Sophie's older sister Sam. We also made this Katy Perry inspired cake for Sam's Candyland pool party. Do you see what I mean when I say the girl can throw a party? 

The cake was blue velvet with a french vanilla bean filling. Sophie's favorite color is blue :o)

The 'mess' was made using strips of fondant, oreos, and tinted white chocolate. We also drizzled it with blue syrup. I mean, why not?

                                           The cake board was 'adorned' with colorful sprinkles.

Natasha gave us a WONDERFUL REVIEW  on her blog. See it here along with pictures of this awesome party! You might get some ideas of your own!

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Orange and gold Traditional Engagement cake

We've done some engagement cakes in the past and we always have fun doing them!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of creating a suitcase cake for Saidat and Habeeb's traditional engagement celebration.

We worked with Yetunde of The Upper Room Events on this event. Yetunde and I have missed several  opportunities to work together in the past until this past weekend and I must say that she [and her team] know how to put together an event like no other! I look forward to working with her on more events, both professionally and personally!

Ofcourse it helps trememndously when the bride you're working with knows what she wants. For some reason or another I never physically met Saidat (the wonders of technology) but from speaking with her numerous times, one could tell that she is just such a sweet person. She knew exactly what she wanted BUT was also open to suggestions!

She sent us ideas for inspiration and then we went through an initial sketch and added and removed a few things. One of the added items was the gold rings that adorn the bottom tier of the cake.

Special thanks to Joanne for working with us on this gorgeous topper!

Saidat sent us a picture of their outfits to match this beautiful topper. The bride and groom are seen here sitting on a draped stool.

                                                Both cakes were vanilla with caramel filling!

Last night, I got a text from Saidat that warmed my heart. She said "Hey Oby! Loved my cake...you captured us to the T....even down to my necklace...Job well done!!!"

I also got one from Yetunde saying: "Hey Oby...Thank you sooooo much... The cake was delish.. And it looked wonderful!"

Thank you ladies!

Congratulations to Saidat and Habeeb! 

Nori's cute as a button birthday party

Last weekend we made cupcakes, cookies and cake pops for Nori's first birthday!

The theme for the day was 'Cute as a Button'!

How adorable!

Each cookie, cupcake and cake pop was decorated with colorful vanilla fondant button cutouts!

Cupcake and cake pop Flavors included strawberries and lemon with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream.

Happy Birthday baby Nori!

Kola Nut Themed Birthday Cake

We were asked by Ogechi to design and create a kola nut themed cake for her dad's birthday. If you're not familiar with the Kolanut, it's the fruit of the kola tree. It has a bitter flavor and contains caffeine. It is chewed in many West African countries- individually or in a group setting. It is often used ceremonially, presented to chiefs or presented to guests.

For more information on the kola nut, click here .

Everything on the cake is edible. The kolanuts were handcrafted out of fondant. Same for the basket.
 

The cake was vanilla pound cake with vanilla filling.

Feel free to browse this site for more traditional themed cakes.

Have a sweet week!

Sam's Katy Perry/Candyland Pool Party Cake

Natasha contacted us to create a cake for Sam's 5th birthday party. The pool party was Katy Perry/Candyland themed and Natasha sent us some pictures of the dress Katy Perry wore in the California Girls video for inspiration. We made the dress a longer version of the dress in the video to have more cake for everyone!

If you recall, we created this Sleeping beauty princess cake for Sam's 4th birthday last year (how time flies!) and received this wonderful review from Natasha on her blog!

We also received a great review here last week. Thank you Natasha!

The cake was all pink velvet with white chocolate frosting.

The details on the dress include an ice cream cone and several hand-crafted candies.  I want to use this opportunity to thank my sister for her assistance with the details! :)

 

We also made 2 dozen chocolate mini cupcakes! Natasha asked for colorful, sparkly toppings for the cupcakes.

Happy Birthday Sam!!

For more details on the party, visit Natasha's blog for alllll the fun details!

Harvard Grad Cake

It's graduation season!

My brother-in-law graduated from Harvard med school a few weeks ago. We are so proud of him and celebrated his achievement with a party with family and friends.

My sister asked me to make a cake and cupcakes commemorating the day.  The cake was topped with a version of the Harvard logo and a whimsical stethoscope.

He looooves carrot cake so.....the main cake was a carrot cake with vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream.

The cupcakes were vanilla and red velvet topped with fondant pills, an EKG 'lines', etc.

Fondant graduation hats, diplomas and a version of the Harvard logo also topped some of the cupcakes.

Congratulations Uche and all the 2013 graduates!!!!

Suitcase cake

I'm always amazed at how wedding celebrations vary across cultures. A few weeks ago we had the honor of designing and creating a traditional engagement suitcase cake for a Nigerian couple.

We started off by sketching a stack of 2 suitcases with a couple dressed in Nigerian traditional attire (made out of fondant and gumpaste) sitting on the top tier.

The colors of the day were lavender and champagne/ivory.

The flavors of the cake consisted of vanilla pound cake with vanilla buttercream filling and a traditional Nigerian fruit cake. This cake flavor is very unique because it is made with raisins and 'aged' in brandy over time to give it a distinct flavor.

As we learned here, sometimes your eyes play tricks on you and sketching and the real life turnout are 2 totally separate things (lesson learned- sketching is only used as a guide lol).

As you can see, the iniital sketch called for only 2 tiers. When we stacked the cakes, it didn't quite create the 'pizazz' effect we were going for- so we decided to add a 3rd tier/suitcase for a better effect!

We finished the cake with a gold-ish/tan-ish sheen to give the 'worn suitcase' look

Congratulations Kemi and Samson!