Whimsical Cake Studio Inc.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

I totally thought Mother's Day was on May 15th this year! OOOPS! This is why this post is so super late. My bad...

MOTHER'S DAY IS ON SUNDAY MAY 8th!

We've got some pretty cute sweets available for pre-order this year.

The mini Purse Cake will serve up to 6 and is $95;

mini Flower Pot cake will serve up to 5 and is $55.

Please call ahead to place an order.

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Our popular Hydrangea cupcakes will also be available in packs of 6 ($21) or 12 ($42). These will be available in various cake flavours and decorated with our signature vanilla buttercream. Though we will have some packs available on Saturday, advance orders are recommended to avoid disappointment.

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Back this year are our MOM Tattoo Sugar Cookies! These were a hit last year and definitely a sweet treat for the "bad to the bone" Mama in your life! Cookies will be available in the store front starting Tuesday May 3th until we sell out. Advance orders are also suggested. $4 each.

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As always, we are pleased to create a customized cake for your Mum! Kindly give us a call and we'd be happy to help you with a personalized cake or cupcake order.

Whimsical Cake Studio Inc.
8716-109 Street, Edmonton AB
780.988.CAKE (2253)
www.whimsicalcakestudio.com

Whimsical's Seussical Cakes

2011-05-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence of cake blogs...2011 has been a whirl wind so far. I do promise to blog more of our cakes, especially since our wedding season will be in full swing in a few weeks....buuuuut, before that, I am heading out on holidays to spend time with my family and just to GET AWAY from cakes before this summer.

In the meantime, here are a couple of recent cakes we've created.

First up is Dr. Seuss. Can you believe that I will have been making cakes for 6 years this summer and this is the FIRST time someone has ordered a full on Dr. Seuss "Cat in the Hat" cake from us. It's crazy!
...and both these cakes went to the same lucky girl who was celebrating her big 1st Birthday!

The 3 tier has 1 Fish, 2 Fish on the back as well. We will upload video of both these cakes when we return from holidays!

Here's something cute...sorta. A cake of a baby's bottom!

Classic Hello Kitty. I am trying to find a way to make her head giantic and her body smaller...without her head rolling off. That would be a nightmare if it rolled off onto some kid's lap!

And finally, the most challenging cake of all...castle cakes. This super nice client actually called us after she picked up the cake to say the towers fell off. Quickly I got the biggest badest migrane ever. Ken picked the cake up so I could "repair" it. I suddenly had to become super human resourceful to come up with a way so the towers would not topple over on her 2+ hour drive out of the city! Eek!

I have learned my lesson...BIG TIME! Never take castle cakes again...kidding. Supports, supports and more supports!
The Birthday girl came to pickup her cake that night and she was so cute I just had to make this cake work for her!

...and sometimes it feels like we're more like a vehicle detail shop rather than a cake shop. Aislinn has fast become our car sculptor and detailer. It feels like she's working on cars or even a couple of cars every other week. Crazy...but look how awesome her skills have gotten!

So, until next time..."keep fit and have fun"!

Cupcake Anatomy!

2011-03-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging this month...it has been a CRAZY whirlwind this month for us. I do have some fun cakes to update you with, but will need to pull those out of the memory card, so hold tight for that.

For now, here is a fun post I wanted to share with you! My cousin Franny (who is my cover model for the website) sent me this fun link!

There's even a fun video of how they came up with this print!

Anatomy of a Cupcake created by Allen Hemberger and Sarah Wilson

It has inspired me to put one together for a cake! Yes....I think I will start sketching some ideas for the Anatomy of a Whimsical Cake!

Be our Valentine!

2011-02-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

Whether you are celebrating Valentine's Day or not...YOU DESERVE A SWEET TREAT!

On Valentine's Monday the studio will be open from 10am to 6pm. But....to make sure you get your sweets, be sure to PRE-ORDER and we'll have them all boxed and ready for you to pick up. Below are just some of the goodies we'll have available for preorder and in store in Monday February 14th.

A little bite of Heaven
Red Velvet Pillow cakes filled with dreamy goodness

(aka our creamcheese buttercream)
Cute gift boxes of 4 for $8

(or order as many as you want...these are heavenly)

A little bite of something Sinfully Sweet
Chocolate brownies Hearts dipped in chocolate ganache 6 for $10.50

Kisses and more Kisses...give and you shall receive!
Our signature chocolate cake truffle shaped like Chocolate Kisses 6 for $10

For the chic vintage Valentine
Old school edible Valentine's on our almost famous vanilla sugar cookies $4each

Talking Hearts
We love those cute conversation heart candies and sugar cookies...put them together and you get

Talking Lollis! $3.50 each
*We've also got an assortment of Valentine Themed sugar cookies in the studio.

Nothing says I love Cupcakes, I mean YOU, like a JUMBO Cupcake!
Available in Red Velvet, Chocolate or Strawberry frosted with our chocolate ganache and the word

LOVE in GOLD.
$7 each packed in a nice little box for gifting.

Custom cupcakes for your sweetheart
comes in a box of 6 ready to give with 2 sugar cookies and fondant decorations $25; or a box of 12 for $45.*Our regular cupcake flavours in the store front will also be decorate with Valentine themed candies on them as well and will be $2.75 each $33/dozen)

For a bigger CrowdOur little gift boxes are always a hit! They'll serve 10 easily (18 if I'm cutting the slices!) $45

All orders will be packaged in our pink and brown reusable bag.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Advanced orders are accepted in the studio at 8716-109 Street or by phone 780-988-CAKE (2253)

Whimsical Cakes brought to you by the Letter P!

2011-01-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

We often find funny things happen with orders at the studio. Some weekends our cooler is full of transportation themes: trains, cars, trucks, motorbikes, airplanes.

This Friday, the cooler was full of characters: Elmo, Barney, Cinderella, Hello Kitty, etc. Here are a couple of cakes from last week.

Aislinn did a BANG up job on this NEMO themed cake.

Dude!

Barney on the other hand gave us some headaches...but turned out great.

McQueen was pretty sweet too!

Saturday's theme was cakes that started with the Letter P!

First we made this cute little PUG!

Then we made this PIANO!

And we made this PURSE!

And finally a cute bottle of nail POLISH!

Oh the fun! Thanks for looking!

Sweet Deals for 2011 Weddings!

2011-01-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

I am excited for 2011 weddings! Already, with the couples I have met with, we are looking at creating some unique cakes...I can't wait to share them with you. I just wanted to post real quick about our Wedding Specials for 2011. If you are getting married this year or know someone who is, feel free to share this information with them. The deal is only for weddings booked by February 10th, so call us for a consultation or come by the studio to check us out!

If you are looking to have a Cupcake Tower, book your wedding Cupcakes by February 10th and the stand rental is FREE ($60-$80 value).
Conditions are: Wedding has to be in Edmonton; One stand per wedding as we have limited stands per weekend; Must be returned the Monday following the event; Minimum of 8 dozen with a 6" cake on the top (as that is what the stands will hold).

If you are looking to have a Wedding cake designed, we will give you a credit for a FREE 6" round or square cake to celebrate your 1st Wedding Anniversary ($60-$80 value). This way, you don't have to eat a cake that has been frozen for a year! You get a nice fresh cake for your anniversary.

Condition: credit given to 3 tier wedding cake orders; client must order Anniversary cake 2 weeks in advance.

Sweet tables or dessert bars are always a sweet addition to your wedding cake or cupcake tower. We are offering 15% off our Dessert Bar orders. Sweets that are available: custom sugar cookies, assorted cookies, macarons, coconut macaroons, filled meringue kisses, cake truffles, chocolate/caramel dipped pretzels, mini cupcakes, marshmallows, chocolates, chocolate dipped oreos, cake shots, mini or heart shaped brownies, and more.

Conditions: Wedding has to be in Edmonton; Stands must be returned the Monday following the event; Minimum product order of $250.

For samples of our dessert bars, please visit our Styling page.

I would love to discuss your wedding with you in more detail. Please don't hesitate to call or visit us in the studio. I look forward to adding a little sweetness to your special day!

Happy Planning!

Ailynn

Slap Silly in the Studio

2010-12-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

We take our work seriously.

Okay, so we're BARELY EVER serious, actually...but, there are just some days that we've worked so hard that we need to unwind and laugh at ourselves.

Take this past week for instance. I worked on a cake for 3 days!!! It was ridiculous. Just one cake. This bad boy looked pretty awesome though.

Before Ken went to go deliver the cake, he was taking some photos in the studio and I was just exhausted and happy to see this cake go...

BUT not before I enjoyed a good cup of tea with him...the cake that is!

Shared a Red Velvet cucpake!

Introduced him to Aislinn

Good Times!

The last two Saturdays we've been decorating sugar cookies like mad. We finally finished this Saturday and my staff has estimated that we hand decorated over well 200 DOZEN sugar cookies and gingerbread men. To end our cookie decorating for the year, I had Aislinn create the 5 of us who were working on Saturday in Gingerbread...Viewer Discretion is Advised!!!

Naughty Gingerbread School Girl, Heather!

Dominatrix Gingerbread girl, Aislinn!

Ken's Gingerbread man wearing not so sexy blue long johns and Ambet wearing his work apron and ball cap.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE NAUGHTY AND NICE Ginger-gals from Whimsical Cake Studio!

What would your Gingerbread Person look like?

Gingersnap Bundt Cake

2010-12-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just around the corner, but you still have time to get baking! Lianne Faulder from the Edmonton Journal asked me a couple of weeks ago if I could submit a recipe that folks at home could make a not be intimidated to create on their own. I've got a great recipe to share with you for a simple & delicious cake to serve at your Holiday party!

This cake will fill your kitchen with the cozy scent of cinnamon and ginger and the richness of molasses and everything Christmas! It's also so simple to decorate...nothing frilly or time consuming and the end result is this beauty...

So, roll up your sleeves, put on the Santa hat and get cracking.

Gingersnap Bundt Cake

Using a stand mixer, cream together until light and fluffy:

1-1/2 cups butter, softened

1, 8 ounce grams package cream cheese

2-1/2 cups sugar

Slowly Add:

5 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 to 4 tablespoons molasses

In a separate bowl, sift together then combine with the wet ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon allspice

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cloves

2 teaspoons ginger

1 cup crushed gingerbread cookies (I like President's Choice English Style Gingersnaps)

Butter and lightly flour a 10-cup Bundt pan** and fill with batter. Bake at 325F/160C for approximately one hour and 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack and dust with powdered sugar or frost with creamcheese icing (recipe below)! Store in airtight container or refrigerate.

**for the cake in the photograph, I filled it only 2/3 and then used a mini bundt pan for the remaining batter so I could stack the two.

Cream Cheese Icing (optional)

With a mixer on medium speed, beat together until smooth:

1, 4 ouncepackage cream cheese, softened

1-1/2 tablespoon butter, softened

Gradually add and mix on low until smooth:

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The best part is, this cake makes an AWESOME "french toast" if you have any left over the next day! Just slice up the cake, dip in a mixture of eggs and buttermilk, sprinkle with cinnamon and bake or put it on the griddle...YUMMO!

HOLIDAY SWEET LIST!

2010-11-18T17:44:00.000-08:00

We have so many goodies we want to share with you, I don't know even know where to start! We've put together some great ideas for gifting and for sharing at your holiday parties...here's what we have so far!

BAUBLE CAKE

Th perfect center piece cake for Christmas. Serves ~10+

$125

BAUBLE CUPCAKES

Comes in any of our Whimsical Flavours

$21 for 6

SUGAR COOKIES

Trust us, we make awesome sugar cookies! They come in assorted shapes and colours

(colours may vary from photograph). We'll even package them up for you in 6's and 12's for Gifting!

$3.25 each

HOLIDAY CUPCAKE FLAVOURS

These will be available in the studio from December 1st to December 24th or by special order

~OH SNAP!~

Gingersnap cupcake topped with cream cheese buttercream drizzled with chocolate and a mini gingerbread man cookie.

~CHOCOLATE CHEER~

Chocolate cupcake with a cherry pie filling topped with our vanilla meringue buttercream.

~SNICKERDOODLE~

Vanilla cupcake baked with apple pie filling, topped with our vanilla buttercream and a snickerdoodle cookie.

CHOCOLATE CAKE TRUFFLES

The perfect sweet bite everytime! Chocolate truffles come in assorted flavours (in a bon bon cup or on a stick): chocolate raspberry, pecan rum, peppermint & white chocolate coconut.

$18 per dozen

SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Melt in your mouth shortbread cookies! Cookies are available in boxes for gifting or on platters for easy serving and come in assorted flavours: strawberry pecan, lemon, craisin and milk chocolate.

$15 per dozen

WHITE CHOCOLATE COCONUT MACAROONS

Moist, chewy and sweet! Delicious down to the last bite. Our macaroons are made with condensed milk, sourcream and whipping cream...completely guilt free! HA

$1.50 each

or Package them up for Gift Giving $10 for 6

SUGAR COOKIE DECORATING KIT

Decorate your own sugar cookies! Makes for a great activity with kids of all ages! Boxes include: sugar cookies, royal icing, piping bags and sprinkles!

Box with 6 sugar cookies: $20

Box with 12 sugar cookies: $30

DRESS UP GINGERBREAD MAN DECORATING KIT

Have you ever eaten gingerbread men cookies come with accessories? You can now! Try our yummy cookies and decorate them yourself!

Boxes include: baked gingerbread men cookies with gingerbread cookie accessories (hair, hats, skirt, shirts, shorts, mittens), royal icing, piping bags and sprinkles!

Box with 4 Gingerbread people to accessorize: $25

Box with 6 Gingerbread people to accessorize: $35

HAVE WE PUT YOU IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT OF SHARING, EATING & GIVING?

Please call us 780.988.2253 to inquire about any of the above sweets.

We'd be happy to take your order.

Please note that advance orders are requested for any of the above sweets.

Christmas Decor Ideas!

2010-11-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

We're busy working on samples of all our Christmas Sweets! I will have a new post in a day or two on all the tasty and colouful goodness that will be available for pre-ordering for your Holiday Parties or Gifts! I am soooooo EXCITED to share this Season's Sweets with you. You're gonna LOVE IT!

In the meantime, here's some great decor ideas for your home!

I have been really into shabby chic style decor, but I also love textures & patterns...Here are some fun ideas I found online for you crafty folks!

Click on the photos and it will bring you to the pages where the ideas have originally come from with instructions!

Buttons and scraps of paper! I love it!

Peppermint Trees...sweet!

Love this! I never know what to do with my cards.

I am Definitely going to do this with Kenna's socks!

I think I might wait a couple more weeks to start decorating.

When do you decorate your home?

Below are some BEAUTIFUL decor ideas for your parties. The following tables were designed by Elegant Touches and were a big display at Christmas in November in Jasper. You can find all your holiday decor for your parties there so be sure to check out their website (they are based in Edmonton). We are lucky to work with Katherine and her team over at ET on many events and have seen their work up close and it's always breathtaking.

Here are some FUN ways to decorate your home as well! These photos are of POINT CABIN at the JPL. It was all too cute. IF only I had the time to decorate each of the rooms in my home....actually, I probably could, but I hate the clean up part of it all! haha.

Interested in making your own garland...great for all you DIYers. All you need: garland, ribbon, fun inserts like twigs, indoor lights, berries, flowers, etc. and VOILA! A nice mantle piece or center piece for your dining table.

Chris Standring, Retired Life Editor for The Edmonton Journal, hosted and taught how to make them at Christmas in November.

HAPPY DECORATING, EVERYONE!

Mega Cake Update

2010-11-14T23:38:00.000-08:00

I work with some wonderfully talented people! I have to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to my peeps for all the hard work they do to make RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME cakes that continuously EXCEED my expectations....and of our clients of course!

If you have ever made a cake before baked from scratch and hand decorated every detail, then you have an appreciation for the time we put into creating our cakes. They are NOT just cakes to us...although we often say, "relax, it's just cake"...because really it is. But, each cake you take home with you means a little bit to us.

GRATITUDE and RESPECT to my team for your CREATIVITY, PATIENCE, HARD WORK, TIME...and did I mention patience? (harharhar)...Staff Yoga 2011 to de-stress! We're just a small family run business and its because of the help we receive from family and friends that we are able to do our "jobs" the best that we can.

Our bakers: Albert, Eddie & MP

Our cake designers and assistants: Ais, MP, Brenna & Heather

Our Jack of ALL traits: Ken (manager, stand maker, 3D cake carver, email and phone answerer, grocery shopper, delivery man, accountant, web guy, photographer, cupcake NINJA...you name it!)...and yes, although he sometimes gets bogged down with answering emails, it's only because we get about 100+ per week, plus the loads of voice mails daily that he honestly tries to get back to each and every day!

MY OVER-time supporters, farmers market reps, cleaning crew, babysitters, front-end customer service : MOM & DAD Santos

Here is just a TEENY TINY peek at some of the cakes we've created over the last few months...ENJOY!

This is one hilarious Lego man!

Wedding cake inspired from our Bride's Dress.

Replica of the actual bags!

These were HUGE cakes!

My first standing Elephant! Thanks for keeping me challenged, Florence!

If I could show you his actual collection of 8-tracks, you would FLIP out! An entire garage full...too awesome!

Best baby shower cake design yet!

Beheaded, but still cute and delicious!

This might be the strangest request we've had...maybe.

Sassy Sheep

Too cool for school!

Rare buttercream covered cake in our midst, perfectly piped by Heather.

YAY for LUIGI! Everyone of us has now decorated a Mario Cake. We can't tell you how refreshing it was to create a Luigi!

This was a 2 day process and took about 5 of us to complete. We video taped us making this cake and it was insane!!!

Bride brought original inspiration for this cake from Papillon Cakes.

The bride brought in a similar photo for inspiration and we changed it a bit to make it more personal. If I can find the original inspiration, I will definitely share it here.

This cake had a good and evil side! Evil was too cool.

This cake was for a SUPER TROOPER special girl! In our prayers.

And we could not update our cakes without sharing a couple of our PURSES.

You might wonder what kind of cake I would have for my own birthday! No, it wasn't a 3D replica of myself, haha. I turned 31 at the end of September and this was my cake...small and simple! Sorry to let you down, but when you're making cakes all the time, sometimes "simple" is all you need.
But don't call me asking for a simple cake...we don't do simple here! HAHA

xoxo,
A.

Christmas in November PART III

2010-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

I definitely feel the Christmas Spirit after spending the week at the Jasper Park Lodge! It was beautiful, festive, refreshing (and exhausting at the same time, if that's possible) and definitely inspiring. Am feeling really grateful for this opportunity.

Kenna & Daddy

As promised in PART II of Christmas in November, here are some photos of the SWEETS from my sessions.

SnickerDoodle Cupcakes: vanilla cupcake baked with apple pie filling, topped with vanilla buttercream and a snickerdoodle cookie!

Coconut Macaroons: sweetened coconut baked with a little flour, condensed milk, whipping cream and sour cream...TOTALLY FAT FREE!

Chocolate cake Truffle Lollipops: crumbled up chocolate cake with a touch of cream cheese frosting, dipped in chocolate and coconut. These were quite popular at the lodge, people were sneaking into my sessions just to grab one or two...or three!

Finally, my demos were on how to decorate your own

Personalized Mini Cakes & Cupcake Ornaments

Here I am with my assistant for the week, Valerie! She was so much help and I can't believe I had an assistant...definitely need to find someone for back home!! (excuse my bad hair this morning, haha!)

The ever awesome Chefs who prepared all my cakes, icings and samples! Man, I love having stuff ready to go!

Chef Martin


Chef Dimuth...so sweet!

Finally, a couple more of my favourite moments of the experience.

Family photo with Santa :)...sorry for the quality...it's a picture of a picture!

Watching Bal teach Michael Smith to belly dance! Funny!

The awesome friends we made!

Thanks to the Edmonton Journal and Liane Faulder, in particular, for recommending me for this wonderful event...and thanks to the fabulous folks at the JPL for an unforgettable experience!

Last shot of the mountains as we bid Jasper adieux.
(I did have some time to practice my photography)!

Christmas in November PART II

2010-11-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

We've been in Jasper since last Friday and yesterday was the end of the mid-week package for Christmas in November at the Jasper Park Lodge. One more weekend package to go and our stay at JPL will be over.

We feel so blessed to part of this event. The presenters (you can see all of them by clicking here) that we've had a chance to meet and get to know in the past few days have been awesome (to say the least). We've been having a lot of fun with these folks.

With Michael and Anna Olson.

Micah Dew...I'm waiting to take a photo of him showing off his Flair Bartending skills!

Joanne Blake: Style for Success!

Sushi Chef Brett Yasukawa teaches a hands on class on making sushi!

Chef at Home, Michael Smith: Caramelizer!

Wolfgang Stamp: Wine and Cheese sessions

Dennis Yurkiwsky from Chocolate Exquistite samples 12 different single origin chocolates


Food Network Star Anna Olson with husband Michael Olson talk cheese!

My sessions have been so much fun. In 75 minutes, I teach some basic fondant techniques and make a personalized mini cake (oops, photo to come!), a couple of cute cupcake ornaments and how to make the most delicious chocolate cake truffle lollipops. Since Friday, I've had 8 sessions and I have 4 more to go for the last package this coming weekend.

Showing everyone how to create our DELICIOUS cake truffles. Mmmmm....

I've had wonderful reviews and some kind words from the guests over the week and the best one so far?
"You should have your own show! You have great charisma and are super cute!" Thanks, Marilyn.

And the funniest comment so far?
"Oh! You're the cake lady. I would rather see you than Michael Smith!" I kid you not...and no offense to the Chef because I snuck into one of his sessions and it was great! This lovely lady had already met Michael Smith and joined one of his sessions last year, so that is why she said that...but it was too cute.

Here's some fun from the mid-week package.

12 days of Christmas has the entire Ballroom having fun!

The Spice Goddess, Bal Arneson teaches us some Bollywood style moves!

Kenna dances with a new friend!

Ken partying it up with Brett.

Great capture of Terry and Joanne!

There's Dawn from Bikini Boot Camp pulling everyone to the dance floor!

...And of course, some food we got to enjoy!

Breakfast at Cavell's...I could only eat 1/4 if the waffles!

...but I could take down MANY of these. Candy Cane Martinis (recipe below)!

Herb crusted Mahi Mahi with coconut couscous and a mango pineapple salsa.

Fresh Berries 3 Ways: berry gelee, berry mousse and berry compote.

As I mentioned in my PART I blog, Kenna has become the most famous guest here! She's been nearly kidnapped by the lovely ladies staying at the Lodge for being so stinkin' cute! Everyone has been giving her so much attention that her confidence levels have gone sky high! Before we came to Jasper, Kenna was just learning to walk, now she has been walking around all by herself, socializing with guests and dancing the night away at the Galas.It's been amazing to see her confidence grow!

Trying to steal the stage from the Host.

She walks to greet the bears in the main lodge everyday!

Enjoying some fresh mountain air with mama!

Last (but certainly not least), I have to mention that the ladies have loving my hubby Ken. He's been helping guests with their cameras and showing them how to use their cameras to take some wonderful scenery shots. Here are a couple of Ken's shots from this week that I just LOVE!

View of the Main Lodge at dusk.

Canadian Geese are abundant here! Here one is posing for Ken.


Rams playing on the side of Highway 16.

Elk are everywhere on the property. Usually out in groups early a.m. to greet me as I walk to the main lodge.

Ken had an afternoon photo session with Dawn and Lindsay. So many great shots to choose from. This is only one of many fabulous photos! Good job Kenny!

3 more days of fun fun fun, then it's back to REALITY! Oh boy...

RECIPE FOR CANDY CANE MARTINI

1.5 oz. Russian Standard Vodka

0.5 oz. BOLS Peppermint

2 oz. White Cranberry Juice

shaken over ice, served in a grenadine-rimmed martini glass.

Bridal Inspirations

2010-11-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

This summer, Jenelle of Pink Polka Design married Terence! I was so excited when she allowed me to create something different for her wedding. She wanted something chic and sweet. So I decided to create Jenelle and Terence these fun mini brownie cakes. Jenelle created all the stationary, place cards, menus and banners for her wedding including the little flags for the cakes...for her wedding favours she designed personal note cards! So cute I can barely take it!

J & T also asked if they could take some wedding photos in our cake studio...here's one of my favourites! You can find more modern photos by JDS Photography here.

Here are the creative people behind this super chic wedding: James Design Studios (JDS) Photography, Pink Polka Wedding Design, Nuance Occasions, Elegant Touches and Whimsical Cake Studio.

Their wedding was featured on the FABULOUS Style Me Pretty website. Read about the wedding and see more details by clicking here!

Mocupcakes! Mocupcakes!

2010-11-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

Movember has begun! Did you know that in 2010 tragically more than 4,400 men will die as a direct result of prostate cancer? Prostate Cancer occurs in every 1 in 6 men in Canada, but receives less than half the research funds or awareness such as Breast Cancer. Though the majority of my staff are ladies, we do have some men on our team that we'd like to support. If there is a man in your life that you'd like to show your support to, help us raise a little more awareness about Movember.

Now, we ladies can't grow a moustache for Movember, but we can make a mean cupcake! So, we have decided to join in the quest for a "MANLY" cupcake...MOCUPCAKE. We call our mocupcake, BIG POPPA!

You can help us raise funds for Movember by joining OUR TEAM, or by coming into the studio to buy our Mocupcake.

$1 from every Mocupcake we sell will be donated to Movember Canada. At some point, I think you might even be able to vote for your favourite Mocucpake (but I'm not sure how that all works yet, so I'll keep you posted if I get any updates).


"BIG POPPA" is a spice cupcake topped with a ROOTBEER frosting and a chocolate moustache.

Please TWEET, FACEBOOK or Forward this blog to your friends and family if you want to help support a Good Cause...and definitely come in for a MOCUPCAKE!

Christmas in November PART I

2010-11-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

The Gorgeous view from our room! Photo taken by Ken and he's pretty damn proud of this shot!

Where to begin! Ken and I got invited over the summer to participate in Christmas in November at the Jasper Park Lodge. The Edmonton Journal and the lodge host packages where guests can join seminars to watch and learn from folks like Chef Michael Smith, Anna and Michael Oslon and Bal Arneson.

2010 Christmas in November Presenters. Yes, that is Kenna...she has become quite popular here!

Could it be? Could I be the next food network star! HAHA. Yah right...but so far it has been a blast teaching guests cake decorating. Next week, I will have a a couple minutes to sneak some time in with some of the wonderful presenters here. Ken and I will be posting photos of the presentations we get to see. It's so difficult to decide which presenters I can sneak into my schedule as we have heard rave reviews from many guests!

Mama and Kenna with Bal Arneson. She's a beautiful lady and guests are loving her Indian Food sessions.

These ladies have been attending Christmas in November for 5 years now! What a great tradition.

Christmas Carolling with Chef Michael Smith as the choir director!

First on my list to attend will be Bikini Boot Camp inc. with Lindsay and Dawn. SERIOUSLY! With all the food we have been spoiled with so far, it's the LEAST I can do for myself. The chef's at JPL are simply amazing. In fact, everyone here has been so kind and helpful.

...and because Christmas in November involves so much delicious and delectable food...here is some FOOD for THOUGHT! Don't worry, we're hitting the gym for sure. HAHA

mini chocolate cheesecakes

Bison Meat

Ham from Sunday Brunch

Kenna loved the mango smoothie for brunch.

The Main from the Gala Dinner: BC Sable fish and Spring Creek organic Beef Tenderloin. The fish was absolutely DIVINE!


Sour Cherry chocolate mousse with shaved ice mint (REFESHED)!

Gaga Ooh-la-la!

2010-11-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

We took our staff out on Tuesday night to enjoy the show at Cake Walk this year! The stage performance was by Guys in Disguise and WOW are they hilariously TALENTED! You had to be there to see them do their thing. Here's a clip from some of our favorites of the night (if you hear boys cheering in the background, that would be Ken and Albert)!

This year, our Diva was lady Gaga. Ais and I, along with our talented team, created a wild lady gaga set. Check out the awesomeness...

Bubble Dress!

Scary Hat!

Controversial MEAT dress (made from fondant, not real meat, you're welcome)!

All cake, sugar, icing and fondant! You could eat every piece on these cakes.

Here we are having a good time! Poor Eddie missed it because he had classes in the a.m. and Heather was wandering around all night, she missed our photo.

...Before the wine!

...winning our cake! Don't worry, we donated back to the Center for the artists to enjoy!

With Gaga (Justyne Time) and our Team Sponsor, Orville (owner of Avenue Magazine).

OMG! Lady GAGA up close!

Baby Googoo-Gaga (Kenna) with her Uncle Ambet!

My AWESOME team: Kenny, Albert, MP, Brenna & Ais. Eddie and Heather were M.I.A.

We love being able to create fun cakes like this for A GOOD CAUSE! Makes our jobs Fun fun fun!

Spooktacular!

2010-10-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Halloween is so much fun for the kids! Now that we have one, it's a great excuse to have a Halloween party!

My little wicked witch!

Busted! Sneaking candy from her cousin's pile!

Ken and I played hooky from work this Saturday and decorated the backyard with a mini-spooky scene for a Halloween party! The weather so nice, the kids actually got to play outside...so Thankful for nice weather!!!

Super Sweet Brenna!

Super-Ghyan with mama!

Silas and Dilly...chubby bums!

Mr. Shandro the monkey

Ken and his magic with flashes to make it look creepy...it was actually bright blue sky when he took this photo!

Santos Characters

Queen Rian and Princess Izzaboo

And inside....SWEETS and TREATS galore!

The shop was also bustling with Halloween themed cake and cupcake orders. In the past 3+ years, we don't remember getting so many Halloween requests, but we loved it! Here are just a few we did up for the weekend.

Cool Graveyard scene put together by Brenna, Heather and Aislinn.

Add caption

we added cute little angel wings to this giant cupake before it got picked up.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Cake Walk

2010-10-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2010

Oh, how we look forward to this event each year. It puts the FUN in fundraising!!! So go get your ticket to support the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts...eat some cake...drink some wine...watch some hilarious performances...and cheer on our cake, darn it!

Two years ago, we got third place...last year we got second place...this year? Well, let me just say that Ais, is coveting the top spot pretty badly! Ha ha.

This was the cake that gave our sponsor, Avenue Magazine a second place win from last year's event...you see Ringo in the back there? Ken was able to make him SPIN around while playing that drum...COME ON people!!!

Background story: Beatles song that was given to us was "I saw her standing there"; our stage team members were Orville (Avenue Magazine); Jesse Lipscome; and Ken...with the ever so funny talented Sheri Sommerville singing our song. If you haven't caught on yet, our cake represented each of our team members...hence, the Archetypal Beatles...because Aislinn and I are soooo funny and creative!

I can't tell you what song we got this year...not until the event is over, but I can tell you that it's going to kick serious A**!

...now, if I can only find the video footage from last year's stage performance. IT was too funny!

PS. watch us bright and early on City TV's Breakfast television this Monday October 25th to promote cake walk!

Mini Dessert Tables

2010-10-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ken and I had a great time at Bridal Expo this year! Cheers to Katherine (from Elegant Touches and her Bridal Expo Edmonton team) for a wonderful show!

We decided it was high time to showcase more than just our cakes. We created 3 mini dessert tables for future brides to drool over! Sorry for the bad quality photos...Ken didn't have his super awesome lighting gear with him (surprisingly)...but the sweets are still eye candy...

Love + Cake + Buttons = super cool!

The cake shots were SUPER popular...so glad we decided to bring those this year.

Vintage Bollywood
A new favourite. I love stenciling in gold...so romantic!
Mini desserts: matching sugar cookies; petit fours; and mac pops.

Cupcakes + brown + pink...still HOT!
This fun little two tiered cake is the perfect topper for a cupcake tower.
My new favourite dessert table item: chocolate covered Oreos (also great as favours)

Cake Impersonation

2010-10-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, a couple will come into our shop wanting a non-traditional wedding cake. Caroline and Cameron are such a fun couple! They brought me a photo of a cake made by one of my favourite cake designers, Elisa Strauss, and asked if I could do something similar for their wedding. Typically, my answer would be no to recreating some one else's work of art, but these two were too cute to say no to...and I love nothing more than a totally wonky wedding cake. They called it their "cake impersonating a cake".

Here it is in all it's yummy glory!

And as a surprise, Caroline had us create a groom's cake for Cameron.

Congratulations to the lovely couple!

Amanda & Chris - Hastings Lake Gardens

2010-09-11T22:33:00.001-07:00

I LoVe the awesome couples that come into our shop and allow us to design a totally unique wedding cake just for them! When Amanda and Chris came in and showed me their cute invitations, I knew right away the cake had to be themed after it. It just made the cake more personal and tied in with the decor of the hall beautifully. Below are some photos from Rhiannon of Don't Say Cheese. Definitely check out her post of the wedding for more awesome photos from that day.

From invitation...

...to cake!

I just love this next photo...we rarely ever get to see our cakes sliced and eaten up. People always ask us if it "hurts" to see the cakes get cut into after we spend hours (sometimes days) on a cake. Honestly, I think it's the best part!

Congratulations Amanda and Chris!

Mini Cakes

2010-09-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Mini cakes have a double purpose...they make the perfect unique wedding dessert and can also serve as a sweet wedding favour. When displayed, these little cakes always make a huge impact. Clients are always shocked to learn that mini cakes can cost so much more than one large wedding cake. It's simply because they do take a lot of time...it's like decorating one cake over and over! So, when you ask cake designers "if we buy more does it cost less?" The answer you will more than likely get is, "not in the case of the mini cakes." However, if you consider using the little sweets as thank you favours for your guests as well, then they are truly worth the cost.

Here are 60 (plus a couple extra) little box cakes we did this weekend for Lance and Shannon.
Congratulations you two! It's been a pleasure working with you.

And for something more unique and oh so chic...

80 Mini brownie cakes we created for Jenelle of Pink Polka Design!
Congratulations J&T! Can't wait to share your wedding photos from the our studio!
(Our brownies photographed from Nuance Occasions)

Mini cakes....it's a LOVE and HATE relationship sometimes...but mostly LOVE!

Sweets and Treats and Lots of Fun

2010-09-01T23:04:00.001-07:00

As promised...photos of Kenna's first Birthday! I'm just gonna let the photos do most of the talking.

The fun invitations made by Pink Polka Design (photo from Jenelle's Blog). Jenelle also made all the signs for the games, the big poster for the entry way and the dessert table tags!

The Dessert Table (we had mini donuts, peanuts, cotton candy, chocolate mustaches, cupcakes, elephant sugar cookies, salt water taffy) On a side table we had a popcorn machine, cotton candy machine & old fashioned sodas.
(photography by Buffy Goodman)

Party Favours (Dumbo books for Kenna's friends and photo cards of Kenna with a mustach for all)!

Pick-a-Duck
Kenna's 2 year old cutie-pie cousin Izzy was later on found swimming in the pick-a-duck!

Kissing Booth guessing game

Petting Zoo...I didn't get my baby elephants or miniature ponies, but we got all sorts of fun little creatures!

Fat Franks...the bill was something like 59 smokies, 61 hotdogs, 30 hamburgers, 20 cheeseburgers, 5 bacon cheeseburgers and a partidge and pear flippin tree consumed by our guests...who also ate BBQ and Filipino food served up by Ken's parents! CRAZY!!!

It's not a party until the bouncy deflates on the children attending the party...so many kids that day...waaay too many and only 1 cried...

Face painting and balloon animals by Mike and Auntie Frani

Kenna-Lu with her grandma and grandpa (earlier that week both of my brother's...well their wives, had baby boys making my parents the grandparents of 8)!

Birthday Cake (she doesn't eat cake or icing, can you believe it?)

Lots of hugs and kisses from family and friends
(this is cousin Mya)

Bestie Cousin (Rian)

Cousin Izzy

Photo booth Silliness with Mama and Daddy

She partied all afternoon...

...and got all tuckered out.

How do we top this for next year? WE JUST DON'T. Kenna gets a little birthday party at home with pancit, pizza and cake (if she will actually eat it)! Thanks for reading!

Something old, something new! Giant cupcakes for you two!

2010-08-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

This wedding season has introduced me to some truly fun and lovely couples. Marcel and Jennifer are no exception...if not the nicest and funnest! I met them a year ago in our Riverbend location and when we talked about their wedding cake they were looking for something totally unique to them. I think we started out by designing vintage suitcases for them because of their love for travel. What they ended up with was 4 giant themed cupcakes! How? Because they're that fun!

Their memorable day was captured by Candice from Popik Photography. You should totally check out her website! Beautiful photography. Ken and I were out and about doing deliveries all day that Saturday, but managed to catch the couple in the studio taking some fun photos. You can see more of their photos on the Popik Photography Blog!

Congratulations again, you two! Thanks for sharing your wedding day with us.

New Fondant Class!

2010-08-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

It's a great Sunday when you get to see
cakes go from these ........................

.................................to these beauties!

It was a chilly Sunday morning today, but I got to spend the afternoon with some very fun and talented ladies. I typically only take 6 students max, but I got a last minute request to squeeze in two more students. My baker twisted my arm and said that I could do it. So I said yes! For some students, it was their very first time decorating cakes and for most it was their first time using fondant. Some ladies got covered in buttercream, some went home with multicolored hands but everyone, including myself, had a good afternoon sharing and learning.

Teaching classes always reminds me how much I loved being a teacher...and how much I love cake decorating. I went into this business because I enjoyed designing cakes and wanted to share my designs with people and also share "how" to make cakes! These ladies didn't know this coming in to my class today, but they revived me in a sense! So, thank you for seeing the hard work that goes into the cakes we make and for having fun creating them!

Hard at work designing their first fondant cake!

A couple hours spent on trial and error and details....it's all in the details.

Oops...I forgot to give the warning about food coloring!
I mentioned it AFTER they started coloring fondant.
So they went home with hot pink hands! Sorry!

Proud of their UNIQUE cakes! I was proud too!

I love seeing people's creativity come out when they start playing with fondant. Cake decorating is not always easy, but when you allow us to use our imaginations, you sure help us make the job more fun! You should really try it sometime...fall and winter classes will be posted on our site this week!

Angela + Danny - Oasis Banquet Centre

2010-08-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind (okay a lot) on blogging about wedding creations from this summer, so be prepared to be bombarded in the next few weeks with photos of summer weddings. I've been lucky to be able to create some serious one of a kind wedding cakes for wonderful clients. It's always the best when clients come to me because they like my style and allow me to design a truly one-of-a-kind cake for their special day.

Angela is the co-owner of Jilly's in Edmonton and when she called me to say she was getting married, I knew right away the cake had to be super unique, sophisticated and high style...needless to say, I was thrilled when she called. She requested the cake have a little bit of lace texture, large peonies, gold scrolling and pearls...I happily did a couple of sketches for the couple and voila!

Their wedding was photographed by the awesome and talented Kenneth and Elaine from Just Married Photography...I swiped these photos from their fantastic Blog where more of their gorgeous images can be seen.

Congratulations, Angela and Danny!

Cute Cupcake Stands

2010-08-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

Not only is the Whimsical blog to share what we've been up to! I'd also like to share some fun stuff that I find along the way! Although our main focus has always been on custom designer cakes, cupcakes have always been a big part of our business! I like to keep on top of what's new in the cupcake world and just had to share these cute stands with y'all.

Like these cute little paper stands from Hello Hanna:

And these beauties from Rosanna Inc. They also have several lovely cake stands that I just have to have:

And these lovely hand crafted stands I found on Etsy...I wish I took up pottery!

I feel a random draw for mini cupcake stands coming on...to be entered to win a package of stands by Hello Hanna, just leave a comment on our blog about how you'd use the stands and we'll randomly select a winner after September long weekend!

***********
WINNER OF OUR HELLOHANNA STANDS IS....Sandi S.
Send us an email and we can get you your stands!

Giant Cupcake-Cake

2010-08-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

Q: Do you make cupcake cakes?

A: uh...NO! I most definitely do not...and will not put cupcakes together on a cake board to look like a cake. YUCK! We happily leave that to your local grocery store. We totally agree with Jen from Cakewrecks when she blogged, "Cupcake cakes: Always Wrecktastic. Always".

So, our cooler alternative is to make a GIANT Cupcake! These bad boys are cut like a cake and will serve about 15 peole...or 20+ at our family events...and up to 30 (so we heard from one client)!

See what we've created out of a gigantic cupcake.

Some 3D giant cupcakes we created that are no longer recognizable as cupcakes:

Did I mention that we much prefer these to individual themed cupcakes.

Kenna's Carnival Sneak Peek

2010-08-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

Phew! I am still recovering from the World's Best 1st Birthday party EVER...and now heading into the next 3 busiest weekends for weddings this summer. I don't have much time to blog about the carnival, but rest assured, I will blog EXTENSIVELY about it in the next few weeks. For now, here's a little taste.

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and everything was amazing! We had carnival games, a petting zoo, face painting, balloon animal making, a photo booth,cotton candy and popcorn machine a giant bouncy castle, a hot dog vendor (Fat Franks no less) and the wonderfully talented Buffy Goodman to capture the memories...I can't wait to see her photos! YAY! The only thing missing? Baby elephants stomping around the yard...oh and the ferris wheel I searched high and low for to rent...yes, the backyard was big enough for such fun! Oh well, next time!

Poster design, invitations (which I'll post in greater detail when I blog about it again), and dessert table stationary-created by my very favourite designer, Jenelle from Pink Polka.

It's definitely not a Whimsical Party without a sweet table...
here's just a teeny tiny peek for you!

Bet you're dying to see more! It'll be all worth the wait....

Christmas in November...in Jasper!

2010-08-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

This summer, I received an exciting invitation to Christmas in November held at the beautiful Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. It was an invitation to teach cake decorating sessions to guests who book weekend or mid-week trips for this special event.

Before I did my research on the event, my first thought was, uh-oh...how could I leave Kenna for 9 days!? I would miss her terribly. Then I thought, well perhaps she could come along and Ken and her could play around Jasper while I taught. Yes! The perfect solution.

Very cool. But wait!!!! Who else holds sessions during the event? I was nervous and even more excited to find out that Food Network Canada's stars, Michael Smith from the "Chef at Home" and Anna Olson, host of "Sugar" were also presenters. Yikes! I'd have to come up with something spectacular to present just so people would sign up for my sessions! haha.

It was decided that I could put together a fresh winter themed dessert table and demonstrate how to make mini cakes, our delicious cake truffles and my new favourite treat...coconut macaroons....although there may not be time to demo it, I will also have on display a new cupcake flavour (that we'll share in the studio this fall)!!!

If attending something like this is your cupcake and tea (lol), you should definitely check out their FABULOUS website here. The entire event looks like it would be fabulous. I can't wait to report back this fall about how it all goes. Stay tuned!!!

Smash the Cake!

2010-07-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Ken and I met Shannon Ferdinand while we were going through our baby course at the Royal Alex two Springs ago...turns out I went to highschool with her hubby Brian...small world!

Shannon is another of our wonderful new photographer friends..she is the principal photographer of SMF Refelctions! She will soon be offering SMASH the CAKE sessions to her clients and we are so pleased to partner up with her for such a fun deal. Her test subjects were none other of course then her little boy, who turned one at the end of July, and our little Kenna who is turning 1 next weekend! They were both preterm babies and look at 'em now...stepping all over cakes!

Kenna preferred to smash her cake by stepping on it rather than using her hands...after all, if you're going to play with your food....

Can't believe our little cupcake is turning 1!

Please check out Shannon's website; blog and join her facebook group as she is going to be giving away a photoshoot to the person who sends the most referrals her way once she reaches 500 fans! She recently asked people to describe her style...I would say some of her photos are shabby chic vintage (which I lo-lo-love) but at the same time timeless. She captures great moments that make you feel like you were part of that moment in time.

This is one of my favourite photos from Shannon's site.

Tangible Moments

2010-07-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we got a visit from Maureen of Tangible Moments Photography. She's a lovely local Photographer and came in to photograph the shop and some of our cakes. Her photos speak for themselves. Ken was super impressed by the fact that she didn't bring any fancy gadgets to light up the space for her photos...if you knew Ken, you'd know that he brings light stands EVERYWHERE!!! Please have a look at the rest of her beautiful photos on her website and give her a shout if you are looking to have family photos done! Maureen has an organic style and prefers to catch "tangible moments".

Honestly...I should really be more prepared when photographers come into the studio...this is what I look like after decorating 3 wedding cakes! Exhausted...and probably laughing at the fact that I couldn't afford to take this break, but did anyways.

Below are some of the photos she took of our work. Thanks again, Mau...we look forward to working with you again!

It's never a complete weekend without designing some sort of purse cake.

Lime...loving it this summer!

Style Me Pretty

2010-07-16T21:58:00.001-07:00

We're super excited to annouce that we are now part of the Little Black Book on Style Me Pretty. After telling Ken one night how awesome this website is, I got an exclusive invitation to join their site the very next morning! If you have never visited the Style Me Pretty (SMP) blog, you simply MUST! The ideas that Abby and her team come up with and the inspiration that flows through from that entire website is always stunning! You can check out our link here...Ken will be updating our portfolio on their site with our newest and most unique wedding cakes!

Zoo Fest 2010

2010-07-15T22:24:00.001-07:00

Ken and I attended Zoo Fest last Saturday, not really knowing what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised and it was a great night! Zoo Fest is fundraiser held at the Edmonton Valley Zoo...for the Zoo of course. Basically, it's a night where the guests get to walk around the park, meet some of the animals up close and eat some good food donated by vendors across the city. We were invited to be a vendor and we're so glad we said yes. We met a lot of great people that night and it was also great to see some familiar faces supporting such a great cause.

While I was walking around (looking for the gumbo and Beer with raspberries in it, yum!) I bumped into a volunteer holding an owl. A huge owl...it was beautiful! I have never seen one so close...of course, Ken had the camera...so no photo of the lovely creature.

But here is the massive Tortoise that was being rolled around!

Lucy the talented painting Elephant...I think her paintings sell more than our cakes...Uh...seriously? She should try decorating a cake! LOL

We offered almost all of our cupcake flavours and our super popular chocolate cake truffles.

The Siberian Tiger was eying Kenna from a far and when we got near it was jumping up and down. I looked this beat straight in the eyes...mesmerizing! Here he is staring down my mom...as you can see, she looks so scared! haha!

Delicious coconut bubble tea with mango stars from the TEA PLACE...mmm...

And...no one told me there was a restaurant just for fondue in the city. Crazy!

My parents brought Kenna near the end of the event and we got to walk around the zoo with her...she loved schmoozing with people as if she was hosting the event...here we are walking out of the park all tuckered out from a long day.

I would suggest attending next year's Zoo fest. It would make a great date night with your sweetie.

Loving the Lime!

2010-06-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

Back in April when we had our grand opening, the biggest prize was for a dessert buffet! The winner gave her prize as a gift to her friend as a bridal shower gift! What an awesome friend you are Elizabeth. Hope you and the girls had a great evening...along with a sugar buzz, I'm sure!

The Bride-to-be allowed me to design whatever desserts I wanted. She just gave me the color of lime green to go with and the rest was up to me. Bless her for allowing me to have some fun for a unique table for her and her girl friends.

Enjoy the eye candy, but please excuse my photos...my official photographer (Ken) was doing my wedding setups so I had to borrow my mom's point and shoot! haha.

Custom sugar cookies "future Mrs"

Lime meringue cookies

Marshmallow chocolate cups

Chocolate cream cheese truffles

Vanilla skor cake & chocolate raspberry cake

Back from LA LA land

2010-06-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Our little Kenna on top of Beverly Hills

It feels like forever since we've been able to get away. With the new studio open and the mad rush of orders that have been coming our way, we are so grateful to have awesome people work with us so that we can take a breather...Our days get pretty hectic and sometimes we barely see the inside of our own house...but instead of taking a break at home, we decided to fly south and take our Kenna on her first airplane ride! We spent the week with our wonderful friends, relaxed on the beach, played in Disneyland and at the Aquarium of the Pacific and ate some good food!

Although, we tried to keep the trip all pleasure and no business, we love to see what other shops are doing and what their products are like so we took some time to visit some local favourites.

Our first find was right in Thousand Oaks, where we were staying. We got to meet and chat with the lovely mother and daughter owners of the Cupcakery. Their shop is super cute and their cupcakes are of the very classic American sweet sugary icing kind. They were almost sold out when we got there, so we grabbed what was left and shared them with our friends!

In Beverly Hills, we finally got to try the famous Sprinkles cupcakes. The space was small and super busy, we didn't get to take any pictures inside, but we tried 3 of their cupcakes. Ken has to try red velvet everywhere we go! He gave it a thumbs up.

Also in Beverly Hills we tried a place called Famous Cupcakes. There was the friendliest cashier there and he let us try free samples of their mocha latte. I liked it...so we bought a couple other flavours to try...though I only took one bite of the peanut butter and Ken took only one bite of his red velvet. That's my best friend Myra posing with the Kardashians (who have posters all over the store)!

Just down the street was Paulette Macarons. This shop was so fresh and the macarons...Swoon! I don't offer Macarons because I'm not a pastry chef, but I occasionally make them for our dessert tables. We joke in the studio that because they are not at all like the perfect Parisian Macaron (and I really mean not at all) that we would call them street macs. I blame my oven for me not being able to produce good macarons! LOL. Oh well, that's why there's places like Paulette's who can make them like they're supposed to. (More photos coming soon)

Finally, we went to a place suggested to us by our friends Haley and Michael Shandro. It's a franchise called Nothing Bundt Cakes. Since we were heading to a friends for supper later that day, we decided to buy an 8" cake. It said it would serve ~8. There was 6 of us and we didn't even eat half of it (true Whimsical fashion regarding serving sizes-I love it). We also LOVED this cake. We bought it at noon and dinner wasn't until 6pm...we were still heading to the beach so the cake was going to have to sit in the hot car all day, so I asked for a frozen one in hopes of being able to preserve it as best as possible until we went to dinner. OMG! Ridiculously good. I'll be dreaming of that cake until we get to another city that has this little shop. We do make bundt cakes in our studio now and then (well Eddie makes them) and this place has just pushed me to make ours even better now.

Just a side note for food...if you ever get to Manhattan beach (lovely by the way) head over to the North End Cafe. Food was out of this world. Guy Fieri had just done an episode on this place and our friends also recommended we eat there. So glad we did.

Fresh Carbonara Pasta & their famous Kahlua Pig Monte Cristo

Also, if you do go the Manhattan beach and find a pair of glasses washed up on the shore...they belong to my hubby Ken who got struck by a big wave and lost his glasses to the Pacific Ocean. haha! Sorry hun!

Dessert Bar and Stationary

2010-06-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

I get the chance to work with such fun and talented people in this industry! Recently, I got a fun opportunity to create a dessert bar for our friends from Shandro Photo. They celebrated the grand opening of their new studio which looked beautiful. The desserts were all themed from their logo. The fantastic Jenelle, of Pink Polka Wedding Design, created the cute place cards for our sweets (and in super short notice mind you)! If you are looking for custom invitations, Jenelle is your gal!

Please enjoy the photos from Haley and Michael Shandro and our very own whimsical photographers, Ken and myself.

I'm so super excited to offer dessert styling in addition to our cakes since dessert bars have been getting super popular for all occasions. Brides are now adding sweets and candies to their cake table making for some serious eye candy. I can't wait to share some fun tables coming up this summer.

Sex and the City 2

2010-05-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

We get to work with such fun people on fun events! And when we got the opportunity to promote SATC 2 and our cupcakes...we wouldn't say no! We love Carrie and the girls!

We are offering some fun cupcakes decorated with mulitcolored "Manolo" chocolates to celebrate the upcoming movie. When you purchase 6 regular sized cupcakes ($21) or 12 mini cupcakes ($24) you will get a SATC 2 Martini/Cosmo glass and a black tshirt that says, "get carried away...again" courtesy of Warner Bros. Canada. So fun! We have a limited number of giveaways, so place your order soon!

Also, there is a fun event happening this Saturday May 22 at Fluid Lounge. When you buy Carrie's Cosmopolitan drink you get a free cupcake (while quantities last). There will also be a fashion show and some great prizes including movie passes!!!

I can't wait for this movie!

Bon Appetit!

2010-05-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

"Is there anything better than butter? Think it over, any time you taste something that's delicious beyond imagining and you say 'what's in this?' the answer is always going to be butter. The day there is a meteorite rushing toward Earth and we have thirty days to live, I am going to spend it eating butter. Here is my final word on the subject, you can never have too much butter." Julie Powell.

We love creating cakes to your specific requests, but when we get to play and make cakes EXACTLY the way we want...it is even more fun :) This year's theme for the Edmonton Public Library's Books2Eat event was Books to Movies. It was a tricky choice between Julie and Julia and the Shopaholic series. In the end, we had decided that we have created waaaay too many purses, stilettos, Tiffany boxes etc that we wanted a change. So, Julie and Julia came to fruition.
I had never seen the movie so I needed to do some research. Both our other designers, Aislinn and Heater had seen and loved the movie so they were already dreaming up some ideas. Honestly, it took me 3 tries to watch the movie, but when I finally watched it, I thought it was quite cute.

Here are some great shots of our AWARD WINNING cake...it was the People's Choice! Let me brag just a teeny bit here...the girls did me proud. They worked on this cake only a few hours at a time making little things here and there during a super busy work week and only put it all together and detailed the cake hours before it was to be delivered...and it looked AMAZING! I'm seriously so lucky to work with fun and talented gals. Not to mention that who ever bid on that cake and got to take it home will have a super YUMMO cake baked by our baker, Albert!

Aislinn and Heather putting their wonderfully hand crafted cakes and fondant pieces together...
The details: 3 books, mushrooms, asparagus, poached egg, egg shells, Julia's pearls and of course bricks of BUTTER...

AND THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE GOES TO...

YAY TEAM WHIMSICAL!

2010-05-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day just means a little more to me this year as it's my first one as a mommy!

I'm so excited to share this day with my mom & my 9 month old baby girl, Kenna Adeline.Mother's Day is Sunday May 9, 2010.

Make your Mum/Mom's special day a little sweeter by showing her your sweet side!

We have a couple of extra special designs for Mother's Day this year.
Advance orders will be taken until 7pm on Thursday May 6th for Saturday pick up.

Cupcake flower bouquet $25
Hydrangea flower cake: small serves ~8 for $25; large serves ~15 for $50
*Mom Heart Tattoo Cookies $3.75 each

*(cookies will also be available in store Thursday onwards while quantities last)

Please call or visit the studio to place your order. Hope you all have an extra sweet Mother's Day!

xoxo,
Ailynn

Cookies make any rainy day sunny!

2010-05-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a little exhausted (...a little...) working 7 days a week now and then going home with only a few hours to play with Kenna...we need a HOLIDAY! But alas, wedding season is now upon us so a holiday will have to wait. Perhaps a mini-break soon? I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I am, however, happy to blog that teaching classes on Sundays is always refreshing and fun for me! I enjoy meeting people with similar interests and a passion for learning what we do here in the studio. I especially love the cookie class because of the yummy smell that sugar cookies infuse the air with (sooo yummy). Here are a few shots of the cookie bouquets we created today! Lovely job ladies!

Wonky Cake Class

2010-05-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

I love topsy turvy cakes because they are all unique. Even more so, I really enjoyed teaching this class! It was wonderful to see everyone leave with totally different designs.
Here are the talented ladies with their beautiful cakes...that really do look like they're going to tip over (but I promise they were safe and secure).

What a Girl Wants

2010-04-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

This was the 4th year of What a Girl Wants (a fabulous fundraiser for the Lois Hole Women's Hospital). This year's theme was your inner shopaholic, so we decided this year's dessert stage should be fashion inspired. It's always been fun creating the dessert tables for this event...this year was the best so far! Shout out to our friend Katherine (owner of Elegant Touches) for allowing me to use her wares to display our goodies on...the fabulous feather balls are also from ET.

Our Lady Gaga inspired cake table included chocolate mousse shooter cups, vanilla meringue kisses, chocolate and coconut mini cupcakes.

Purple is a big colour this year...my second table was inspired from the Red Carpet. A Givenchy creation worn by Zoe Saldana. On this table: vanilla bean macarons, lollipop black and white raspberry cake, mini chocolate chip brownies, Callebaut chocolate chunk cookies, chocolate cake truffle pops, white chocolate mousse cherry shots.

Here are few other randon sweets we created: purse and stiletto sugar cookies, petit fours (made by our creative intern MP, chocolate macrons, mini cupcakes and more chocolate cake truffle pops.

It was sweet sugar coma for all who attended!!!

Styling Sweets!

2010-04-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we get time to work on wonderfully sweet side projects...we get to play with desserts other than cakes and cupcakes (though they are never ignored) and get to put together cute little displays.
I decided that we should offer these to clients more...so, if you are hosting an occasion and want something fun, just ask and we'd love to theme something for you!

These were from our baby shower sweet table that I put together last August (just 4 days before our baby Kenna was born)! We knew we were having a girl, hence all the PINK!

The table included mini cupcakes, sugar cookie onsies, chocolate cake truffles, strawberries, cherries, assorted candies, cream puffs and pink coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate.

This table was created for Kenna's Christening in September. The lavender cake was our centerpiece. Guest Favour were ceramic baby carriages filled with yogurt raisins. Also on the table: mini vanilla sandwich cookies, coconut cupcakes, vanilla meringue cookies, white chocolate pretzels, white chocolate almonds, a Filipino rice and coconut dessert and cross shaped sugar cookies.

For her first Halloween, we invited some of our friends and family and they got to enjoy some creepy Halloween eats! (Yes, Kenna was only 2 1/2 months old and couldn't eat sweets..still can't...but her friends and cousins could!) Her costume was from a hand sewn costum of Max from Where the Wild Things Are.

We made candied apples, skeleton sugar cookies, red velvet sandwich cookies, creepy cupcakes, assorted cookies, candies and chocolates and a giant cupcake centerpiece cake.

Stay tuned for more! Just think, our little Kenna will be 1 year old in a few months...just image what that sweet table will look like!!!! I have so many ideas I don't even know how I will choose!

Grand Opening!

2010-04-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

Wow! I wish I took a photo of our sample table. On Saturday we gave out samples of our black and white skor cake; black and white raspberry cake; brookies and chocolate cake truffles (which were the hit of the party)! But, here are the boys handing out our cake lollipops on the sidewalk!
We can't thank you all enough for your support and excitement about the new space. It is always wonderful to see familiar faces and to be able to meet so many new people! The clientele at Garneau has been amazing. We are so pleasantly overwhelmed by the warm welcome from the neighbourhood. So far, we're loving Garneau.

Here we are with our staff (and our boss, baby Kenna)! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful family who help us out and help grow our business. This is a ridiculously fun group of people to be around on a daily basis and I thank them for putting up with my mini (and sometimes not so mini) dramas (which may or may not be cake related)!!! We always say that we're ready for our own daytime drama...more on that VERY SOON...

A big shout out to my mom (Ofelia) and dad (Arturo) who many of our market customers know. From the get go of Whimsical, they have helped in every aspect...whether it be icing cupcakes, washing dishes (oh so many dishes), mopping floors, greet customers, standing in the cold on some market days and being stellar grandparents to Kenna on a daily basis. Without them I would be a total mess!!!

Here is another picture of mom and dad that I sneaked from Sharon's blog: Only Here for the Food.

Alice in Whimsical-land

2010-04-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite stories. From the mad hatter to that crazy Queen...it's all so fantastical! We have created many different Alice in Wonderland themed cakes over the years and they just keep getting better and better! So, if anyone wants to challenge us with a 3D bust of the Mad Hatter, we're all for it!!!

Spectacular tiered Birthday cakes (this first one was inspired by another cake decorator whose name I will reference as soon as I found out who s/he is...our client brought us a photo they found online).

3D Story Book cakes

Inspired from the cartoon version...several cakes created for the Books 2 Eat fundraiser for the Edmonton Public Library

Tim Burton's Mad Hatter's Hat (I think we liked it better without the fondant figures)...and I probably could have made more hat pins, though there are some fondant feathers as well.

...and of cousre the Chesire cat in 3D created by 2 of our Whimsical Designers (Aislinn and Heather)...sometimes I swear some of our cakes look like they're about to talk!

If you haven't seen the movie yet, you must! Simply for Helena Bonham Carter portrayal of the Red Queen. "Where are my fat boys? You must meet them. Fat boooys!....I love my fat boys. Now get out."

Super Mario, take 5?

2010-04-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Seriously...I can't count the number of super mario cakes we've created. Mini versions, torso up versions, fondant figures....if we never see a Super Mario cake again, I think we'd be okay with that.

Just to make things more interesting, we gave this cake order to Ken. He's on this new kick of building custom stands. I think he found his niche in the studio. He's all game for more challenges, so bring it!!!

Here is Mario pre-fondant stage
Here is standing with all his mario-glory. Did we mention we totally undercharged for this 2 day project? Even though we totally gave Ken a hard time about over "tanning" Mario and giving him an oversized "snout"! haha.

Here is another custom cake that Ken made...with custom stand to boot. Eat that Ace of Cakes! Just kidding. We totally love Ace of Cakes.

Cake Decorating for YOU!

2010-04-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Our new space allows us to teach classes more proficiently! The response to our classes has been fantastic. So much so that we have waiting lists for a few of them. If you are interested in joining one of our classes be sure check out out website for the list of dates. We definitely look forward to offering more classes.

Here are some of the ladies with their purse cakes from a class held in our old Riverbend Studio. I enjoyed this class and look forward to teaching more purse sculpting! Although it is for beginners a knowledge or previous experience covering cakes would be helpful for you.

Over the past few weeks we've been able to host a few classes in the new space. Over spring break I taught a group of girls how to decorate cupcakes and cookies. This has been by far the most colourful class I've taught. I really enjoyed teaching this class and I got great feedback from the kids and their parents, so we'll definitely come up with more classes for them!

More recently is a photo of our basics to buttercream class. These ladies were very creative and many have a natural talent for decorating cakes. I always have my eyes open to new talent :)

Our basics to fondant class was also lots of fun. This was the first time I had a man in the class! Thanks, Brad! Hope your family enjoyed your cake!

Our New Studio

2010-04-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

So much to update...I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start with the move to the new location! We packed up our Riverbend Studio on a Saturday afternoon...the movers came on Sunday morning and we were ready to open by Tuesday! It was awesome!

The new studio is totally open. This has some pros and cons. Pros are that everything is more accessible to the bakers and the cake designers and clients have a great visual of the cakes we are working on. The only real con, I guess, is that you can see our mess! Cake making is a messy business...as you'll soon see in many upcoming photos.