Kiddie Buffets

         We are now gearing on adding a budget friendly pastry package to cater your most loved little one's birthday needs and it all started by acquiring a Ferris wheel cupcake stand.

         When I turned 18, I planned my own debutante's party, from the roses, the giveaways and the cake design and eventually, my cousin asked me to plan her debutante's party as well the month after.  I guess, I have always been a hands on kind of girl ever since then. So when I had my first baby girl Athena, birthdays was like heaven to me. On her first birthday, even though we celebrated it in McDonald's I still got to insert my stuff. Then on her second birthday, I decided to have it on our home.  I selected a theme for her in accordance to her favorite cartoon character strawberry shortcake.

          But back then, themed birthday parties are not common, so it was not really like a big deal.   People were just happy to see her strawberry shortcake cake, her strawberry shortcake giveaways, the house decorations and even my daughter's dress is strawberry shortcake themed.  the most rewarding part though is the twinkle in my daughter's eyes signaling how happy she is with her birthday.

So when my other daughter also had her second birthday, I also did a Hello Kitty themed party.  By this time, themed birthday parties are slowly catching the vibe.  I opted on utilizing cupcakes instead of cake to be the center of attraction in her kiddie buffet table and I utilized some of her Hello Kitty collections and my cousin made balloon sculptures as gifts.




My other cousins saw what I did with my daughter's birthday party that they too wanted themed parties for their children. The beauty of having a big family is that you have a lot of cousins who would be willing to help out with the set up and perhaps, also because I came from a family of artists, I was lucky to have a cousin who is a balloon artist as well.  Here are the results:

 

I then began a pure pastry buffet, not all of them are themed since I do accept small orders if the client wants to include balloon sculpture, they'd have to talk to my cousin so she can offer her own packages for it as well.  I also accept buffet consignment from other event coordinators but I do keep a collection of stands and jars as well as a chocolate fountain.

Here are some samples of my Kiddie Buffet:

 

For more information about the Kiddie Buffet packages please visit our facebook page:

SO! ZOE.. Cupcakes

White Chocolate on Frosting

I have always known myself to be curious with a lot of things especially when it comes to art.  I think everyone wants to make a signature to their craft so, in my own way, I keep to trying different ingredients to see if I can feature it as one of my salable products.

I have always wanted to make something with white chocolates simply because I prefer white chocolates over the regular milk chocolates.

The opportunity came when the sister of my cousin's girlfriend contacted me for an order of red velvet heart cake.

Because it was short notice, I was not really able to prepare for the ingredients that I only have a bottle of red McCormick left, I have been having some challenges finding the red food coloring for months since Christmas, if ever I get to find one it would not be enough to stock on, sometimes there's be only one bottle left or two.  Anyways, I was hoping to make a red velvet heart with red cream cheese frosting covered with white chocolate shavings, I ended up making a purple heart and I was not able to take a picture of it because the person who ordered it, already came to my house and I was not finished making the greetings she requested to be included in the cake. Although the cake looks nice, because if the purple color, it somehow lacks the kind of class and strong presence of the red velvet.  The cake however did gave me an idea to try adding the white chocolate shavings even if there is no red food coloring available.  So when my mother asked for me to bake a cake as gift for her friend's daughter who will graduate, I was determined to try the white chocolate shavings again. 

I also tried white chocolates on my cupcakes as well.  I mixed some white chocolate shavings on the frosting, whip it up and frost it on the red velvet cupcakes, I then add some more white chocolate shavings, some jelly beans and topped it with gummy candies.

I am so loving the white chocolate shavings idea so I will always consider this as one of priority frosting ideas but of course if we limit ourselves with what is just there, there will be no room fro growth that is why I keep on trying our different frosting ideas to satisfy customers.

Them Carrot Cakes

Back in Ireland, everytime there is a gathering or a celebration may it be a co-worker's or the resident's birthday or anything that is worth celebrating, every house would prepare some food to bring to one house where the occasion is to be held.  And if it calls for a cake and if it is carrot season then sure enough there would be a carrot cake. Also, when there is an open day where the community can sell arts and baked products carrot cake is a popular cake to sell.  This is not only happening with our community but also the neighboring communities as well. One Japanese co-worker is an expert with this along with her famous japanese delicacies like sushi.

At first, I was not really into carrot cakes.  I just did not fathom the idea of putting an ingredient that is not usually added on desserts  but I do am curious as to how it is made.  I never made a carrot cake back in Ireland nor have I tasted one since everytime someone bakes it there is always another one baking the traditional chocolate cake so I often opted for chocolate cakes as opposed to the carrot cake but when a cousin of mine who works in a hotel mentioned about carrot cakes and how much their hotel is charging for it, I decided to make my own version.

I was so happy that my number one fans, my two lovely daughters found carrot cake delicious and my eldest wants this cake for her 7th birthday also even my number one critic, my mother requested that I make a carrot cake for her birthday and it was well accepted by her Zumba friends, in fact one of them even said that she would like to order one for our fiesta celebration this May after her stint in Australia, I just hope she remebers about her order.

Red Velvet Round Cake and Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cherries on top on the sides

After my mother sort-of bragged to one of our house tenants about my little business venture, the tenant's nephew came to me one night and asked how much my cakes cost and that he would like to order. I gave him some choices but he just said which one looks big? I said they are all in the same size, my most salable are heart cakes but I do have round cakes and square cakes as well. So he ordered a round Red Velvet Cake.  The cherries did not turn out as I expected it to be because apparently, they are not seedless but so far it is still good though.

Mini Cupcakes - A little goes a long long Way

Red Velvet

Making mini cupcakes is not as easy as it looks. From changing the quantity of ingredients to finding what topper would fit these bitesize pleasure.

In this picture: 

Mini Cupcake - Red Velvet 

Frosting - Pink Swirl Vanilla Buttercream

Topper - Sugar coated gummy bears

These mini cupcakes were enjoyed by my cousins and relatives during our grandmother's death anniversary.

Chocolate

I don't usually make chocolate cupcakes, that's my aunt's specialty but she does not make mini cupcakes so here we go.
In this picture:

Mini Cupcake - Vegan Chocolate
Frosting - Vanilla Buttercream
Sprinkles - Chocolate chips and Gold beads
Topper - Mini Chocolate Biscuits

Chocolate

I also made another variation as per request of the buyer.

In this picture:

Mini Cupcake - Vegan Chocolate
Frosting - Chocolate Hazelnut (Nutella) Buttercream
Sprinkles - White speckle beads (snow effect) and Silver beads
Topper - Mini Chocolate Biscuits


These cupcakes were perfect gifts for a dear husband's birthday...

For more pictures of our products please click on the pages of this site, I hope you'll find something you might like...

Blue Velvet Cupcakes with Blueberry Creamcheese Frosting

Cupcake: Blue Velvet
Frosting:Blueberry Creamcheese
Topper: Dewberry Blueberry Biscuit
Sprinkles: Blue Speckles and Gold Beads
Additions: Blueberry Syrup

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Strawberry Creamcheese Frosting

Cupcake: Red Velvet
Frosting: Strawberry Creamcheese
Topper: Dewberry Strawberry Biscuit
Sprinkles: Pink Hearts and Gold Beads

Plain Hello Kitty

Cupcake: Chocolate

Frosting: Butter Icing

Sprinkles: Small Silver Beads

Topper: Homemade Gumpaste

The Amazing Spider-Man

Cupcake: Chocolate

Frosting: Butter Icing

Topper: Pre-made Edible

Walt Disney Princess

Cupcake: Chocolate

Frosting: Butter Icing

Topper: Pre-made Edible

Sprinkles: small silver edible beads 

Fly Fly Fly Butterfly

Cupcake: Chocolate

Frosting: Royal Icing

Topper: Pre-made Edible

Sprinkles: Rainbow "rice"

Mickey and Minnie

Cupcake: Chocolate

Frosting: Butter Icing

Topper: Pre-made Edible

Sprinkles: small silver edible beads 

Here comes Hello Kitty

                          

Cupcake: Chocolate

Frosting: Butter Icing

Topper: Non Edible

Sprinkles: Mix

Are you a fan of Hello Kitty?  And you like cupcakes too?  If you're not into gumpaste or any other edible toppers.  Here is a good non-edible toppers that will also serve as a good hello kitty keepsake for you or your child's guests.