Orange Cream...oh so fun!

It's funny how a certain flavor can bring back so many memories of our childhood.  The orange push-up pop was something that mom only bought if she had a triple coupon and it was a holiday of some sort.  We didn't have them around all the time, but when we did it was a TREAT!  I grew up with four siblings, so being the smart shopper that my mom is, she normally went for the family size jumbo pack of Jello Pudding Pops.  I did *love* those too.  My friend Becky and I would sneak the key to the big laundry room freezer and tip-toe out of the house double fisted with pure joy in our hands.  YUM!  And when we saw the push ups come out of the brown bag, they were history in about 30 seconds.  The taste of the original push up pop was pretty amazing, so many great memories of summer fun surrounding this flavor, we just had to make it a cupcake!

I encourage you to stop in Book Bums and try out the nostalgic orange cream cupcakes!  You may want to call first and check on supply and flavor available!  Book Bums also serves super delicious coffee, lunch and dinner!  Cozy up with your kindle and enjoy!

Tie Dye Cake

 When Diana asked me to do a tie dye cake for her daughter's 8th birthday, I knew exactly how I was going to do it, thanks to Bird on a Cake!  If you haven't been to Robin's blog, you will have to check her out.  She's amazing!!  I love her blog and her work!!  I pretty much followed her lead on this cake, except I did a white cake inside with rainbow layers of red, orange, green and blue.  

My piping gel is in plastic zip lock bags because it was easier for me to just make the gel because I already had all the ingredients handy.  The gel is what you make the circles with on top of the cake.  It spreads super easy!  If you prefer, you can simply  purchase Betty Crocker decorating gel at the grocery.

After adding the gel to the plastic bags, I cut the one corner off the bags and squeezed out circles around the cake.  Then I used a food safe paint brush and dragged the colors from the center to the edge of the cake.  Like Robin suggested on her blog, I cleaned off my brush on a paper towel after each complete stroke through all the colors to avoid the darker colors overpowering the lighter colors at the center of the cake.

Thank you so much Diana!  I was so happy to hear that the cake was a hit!  Thanks so much for sending over pictures! The cut cake looks AwEsOmE!!  You did an amazing job on the table theme and your daughter is gorgeous!  So nice to meet you!

Sarah's party was held at Paint by Glass here in West Chester!  I heard only wonderful things about this place.  You should check it out!

Julie's HAPPY cake...

Simple cake topper!  Using a hot glue gun simply glue ribbon pieces folded over onto a cardboard circle. 

Then attach another cardboard circle over it, with a glue gun to cover up the mess!

 

Using regular printer paper I typed up a message on word and printed it off.  I used a glue stick to attach the final message to the cardboard round.

 

 

Happy Birthday Julie! Hope you had a wonderful birthday, we had a great time celebrating with you.  The cake is orange cream with orange cream cheese frosting, topped with a million mini-flower confetti sprinkles!  The sides of the cake are ruffled.

 

I met Julie through our swim club, it's been so much fun getting to know her and her boys! If you're familiar with swim team, you know how many hours you spend with team members and their families! It's been such a wonderful experience getting to know the families!

When thinking about Julie's cake, I just wanted something bright, cheery and fun, that's how I would describe her. She's sunshine all the way around! This year she needed a happy cake more than ever. 

 

We've had a rough past couple months, feeling heartbroken when we learned that our friend Krista was losing her battle to cancer.  Julie was a close friend to Krista, so I just felt like making her cake that much happier.

I often get asked, "What is it that you love about baking?" The thing I love the most is being able to bring joy to others with something homemade and heartfelt. I love being able to make people feel special and worth celebrating. When I feel helpless, like I can't do anything to help cheer someone up, I always turn to baking. I feel so grateful for living in such a awesome community with so many supportive friends, I'm glad I'm able to create smiles with my baking.