French Macaron Wedding Favors

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of creating wedding favors for Erin and Joe's beach wedding on the Jersey Shore. Erin had contacted me a little while ago with the idea of French macarons in mind, and together we came up with the flavors, design and packaging for these trendy little treats. Her wedding colors were pink and ivory which we definitely wanted to incorporate in the favors. She and Joe chose red velvet and milk chocolate almond as flavors after taste testing a few samples I sent their way.

Very up and coming in the American food scene today, French macarons are small sandwich cookies made from almond flour and egg whites. They can be colored, flavored, and decorated in just about any way that you can imagine, which only adds to their appeal. What's more...they're gluten free without even trying (although I should mention, they were made in a kitchen with other non-gluten free items).

The pink macaron was cocoa flavored and filled with cream cheese filling. The ivory was a regular almond macaron filled with milk chocolate ganache. The flavors went together really well, and as much as I love cream cheese in just about anything, I thought the chocolate one Erin chose stole the show. Erin provided me with the adorable tags attached to the bags and I packaged them all up ready to go. I loved how the final product came together, and I thought it especially went well with their beach theme. Sitting all together in the bags, the macarons resembled sand dollars, and I hope they were an excellent addition to their big day! 

 Congratulations Erin and Joe, and also all of their wedding guests who got to go home with one of these!

Green and White Garden Wedding Cake

Last weekend this pretty cake sat center stage at Kristina's Northern Virginia nuptials at Hidden Creek Country Club in Reston. It was a beautiful venue tucked away in a wooded area with very helpful staff and event support. The reception they were setting up when I delivered the cake looked gorgeous with touches of green and white and delicate cream colored hydrangeas. The cake fit right in! 

Kristina had a very specific idea of the cake she wanted- alternating tiers of green and white with a hydrangea sugar flower detail in the middle. The border on the first and third tier is done using fondant, and all of the details are completely handmade. 

Kristina and her husband found this cake topper online and left it for me to adorn the cake with after set up. I thought it really brought the whole design together and was a great addition.

The cake itself is vanilla bean pound cake filled with raspberry mousse on the first and third tiers, and vanilla Italian buttercream on the second. Each tier has four layers of cake and three layers of filling. As a special bonus, Kristina's mom Michelle also ordered a dozen blue moon cupcakes and a separate 10" vanilla cake filled with homemade raspberry preserves. I'm a firm believer that you can never have enough cake, and I'm glad Michelle understands this too!

 Congratulations Kristina! Thanks for letting me be a part of your wedding day.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

It doesn't get any better than chocolate and peanut butter in my book. Specifically, in cake form. This four layer beauty sat center stage at my sister's bachelorette party last weekend. She's probably the only person in this world who can appreciate the delicious combo even more than me, and although I know she'd usually prefer ice cream, there weren't any arguments when it came time for dessert.

This cake is made up of four layers of dark chocolate cake sandwiched between a creamy peanut butter frosting. It is then glazed with a bitter chocolate ganache, spilling dreamily down the sides and topped with chopped peanut butter cups to seal the deal. Sinful doesn't even begin to describe it.

With this cake I particularly love the way the the rich frosting is offset by the bitterness of the chocolate ganache. The chopped peanut butter cups add good texture as a garnish as well.

You'll need a tall glass of milk to wash down this one. We at the bachelorette party also found that wine works just as well ;-) For more bachelorette party cake ideas, check out another one here.