The Police Academy

My little sister was one of TWO girls to graduate from the Wharton County Police Academy yesterday. We all are so proud of her for completing such a challenging program. After all, did you get pepper sprayed, tazed or have to clear buildings when you went to school?

Here are some shots from the big event.

                                                

However, no celebration would be complete without cupcakes right? Right. I knew I couldn't whip up standard 2012 graduation cupcakes, police don't wear graduation hats. I Googled police cupcakes and didn't find much. Then I decided to make chocolate shields. It also just so happened that "Congrats Anna" was twelve letters, and I had twelve cupcakes.

After dinner everyone dug into the cupcakes. My sister's best friend asked for a second, not an abnormal request. Then she did something none of us were expecting...

It is all fun and games until someone gets cupcake on their face!

Happy Baking,
AJ

To Mom, with love...

Mother's Day, that special day when Mom gets acknowledged for all of the hard work and sacrifices she makes for her children/family. Before I was a mom I never really understood the holiday, but now that I am a mom I think this should be a monthly event. :)

A client asked me if I could whip up some cupcakes for her to give to her mother this Sunday. I agreed and told her that I had the perfect design in mind. These cupcakes give the gift of flowers, chocolate and something handmade all in one package! Perfect.

You can't let these cupcakes go into any old boring box. So I shopped around and found this adorable cupcake box at my local Hobby Lobby. I added curly ribbon to fancy it up, and to keep little fingers from stealing mom's cupcakes!

The client was delighted when I delivered the cupcakes to her. I hope that her Mom enjoys them. If you are interested in making these cupcakes for your mom, here are the instructions:

1. Prepare a batch of your favorite cupcakes. I used vanilla.
2. Top them with a blob of butter cream frosting. I used a tip that had a large round opening at the bottom. You could also just snip the end of a piping bag for same look.
3. Purchase melting chocolates for the daisies. I recommend sticking with white and yellow for the center and outline. It is up to you what color daisy you want. A mix of pink and purple would be pretty too.
4. To make the daisies checkout this posting from Bakerella.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's out there. Being a mom is a tough job. I think this cartoon sums it up pretty well:

Happy Baking,
AJ

Shark Party

My friend's son celebrated his 6th birthday today with a swim party. Not just any swim party, a shark themed swim party! Pretty cool huh?!? When she asked me to make his cupcakes I knew they were going to be fun. After all you don't see many shark cupcakes swimming around...

I whipped up my go to vanilla cake and topped it with aqua buttercream. I used a 1M tip to give it the wave look. To make the shark fins I traced a fin shape onto grey-blue card stock. After cutting each fin out I attached it to a toothpick with tape.

The cupcakes were just about the only thing that could get the kids out of the pool. After the cupcakes were handed out I saw one kid swimming with his! However, I was able to snap a quick shot of the birthday boy enjoying his cupcake before he dove back in. Yes, he is wearing shark swimmies! :)

Between swimming in the pool and taking a turn on the inflatable shark slide, these kids had a ton of fun. If you are interested in spicing your next swim party up, consider making it a shark theme. They even have cute invitations.

Available at polygraphics.com

Thanks Kristin for letting me be a part of the celebration, and happy birthday Ian. I hope you enjoyed your party, and your cupcakes.

Happy Baking,
AJ