Life's better at the beach

It's that time of year. Time for Cake, Hope, and Love to close down shop for just a bit. I'm heading to the surf and relaxation. So, this gal will not be caking or cupcakin' until August 10th. If you send an email between now and August 9th, it may not be responded to until the 10th.

So, see you Cakers on the flip side. And remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder ... of buttercream.

Classy Cuppies

Cake, Hope, and Love is all about the sweet. And, not just in cakes. We have decided to launch a line of decadent cuppies. These Classy Cuppies will tempt and delight your taste buds. Here's a list of some of the new and decadent flavors:

Rootbeer Float - (idea courtesy of Kt of Bombshell Bake Shop) A Rootbeer infused Chocolate cake filled with a shot of chocolate and topped with a frothy Vanilla Buttercream.

Pink Lemonade - a delicious Strawberry Cake topped with a zippy Lemon Meringue Buttercream adorned with pink sugar.

The Walker Mojito - a rum soaked Vanilla Bean cake filled with a shot Raspberry and topped with lucious Vanilla and lime Buttercream adorned with a fresh mint sprig.

Gary's Banana Moonpie - a rich Banana cake filled with marshmallow fluff and topped with a Creamy Vanilla Buttercream rolled in a fine graham cracker crumb.

Neapolitan - Rich Chocolate cake filled with sweet Strawberry preserves and topped with a Creamy Vanilla Buttercream and a cherry.

S'mores - A decadent Chocolate cake filled with sweet marshmallow fluff topped with Creamy Vanilla Buttercream and rolled in crushed graham cracker goodness completed with drizzled chocolate sauce.

Snickerdoodle - A scrumptious Snickerdoodle flavored cake topped with Cinnamon Maple buttercream and sprinkled with soft brown sugar and cinnamon.

The Elvis - A rich Banana Cake with a shot of chocolate ganache topped with rich and creamy Peanutbutter Buttercream sprinkled with chocolate morsels.

Pina Colda - scrumptious Pineapple infused Vanilla cake with Vanilla Rum Buttercream sprinkled with toasted coconut flakes.

The Buckeye - Rich chocolate fudge cake filled with a shot of Chocolate Ganache and topped with a creamy Peanutbutter Buttercream drizzled with melted chocolate.

Matt's Tiki Cuppie - Cola infused chocolate cake topped with a rich Coconut Rum buttercream and rolled in toasted coconut sprinkles and finished off with a tiny umbrella.

Granny's Banana Pudding - A sweet Banana Cake filled with a whipped Marshmallow Creme and topped with rich Bananan and Vanilla Buttercream and a Vanilla Wafer.

Vanilla Cream Soda - a Vanilla Bean cake infused with vanilla cream soda filled and topped with creamy French Vanilla Buttercream and sprinkled with coarse sugar.

Cullen Cuppie - An ultra rich Chocolate cake filled with a shot of dark chocolate ganache and topped with White Chocolate Buttercream and sparkles.

Saturday Morning - Creamy Vanilla cake filled with a shot of Mocha Java Buttercream and topped with Hazlenut Buttercream and chocolate covered expresso bean.

Classy Cuppies $15 per half dozen or $25 per dozen
Traditional Cuppies start at $12 a dozen

Dr Seuss Cake

Cakers, who doesn't like Dr.Seuss? I mean, the man is gifted with nonsensical words. So, when Keri suggested this for her theme for the ALL BAKED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO cake contest, I knew I had to choose this one for the pure delightful design aspect.

The top tier represents Horton Hears a Who. The pink "fluff" is spun sugar. The bottom tier represents The Cat in the Hat. All the pictures are hand drawn replicas from the original book. Over all, I had a marvelous time making this cake - from bake to box

Enjoy!

Frog Prince and Pillow Cake

This was one of those cakes that you are rushing to just get finished. I didn't get the chance to take a good picture of it before it arrived at the party. This cake was a 12" square rich Chocolate cake carved down to a pillow shape. The frog is made of fondant and the crown adn tassles are made of gumpaste. The entire thing is covered in fondant.

Twilight Saga: Eclipse Cake

Cakers, if you've been keeping up, you know I am a Twilight fan. I know. I know. So, I jumped at the chance to make an Eclipse cake for the movie premiere. (And yes, I did wait in line for 3 hours to go see it at midnight Tuesday night thank you very much). So here's the design that was born. It's from the beginning of the book - a quote from a Frost poem.

The cake is a 9" rich Chocolate and Vanilla cake. The 6" is Devil's Food cake covered in vanilla fondant. The ice is blue poured sugar. The flames are also poured sugar that has been hand detailed in red. The topper is a hand painted replica of the Cullen family crest.

Go Team Edward. (ducking head and running)

All Baked Up and Nowhere to Go Contest

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Back by popular demand is the second ever ALL BAKED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO cake contest. It opens for ideas today, June 25th and runs through 5pm on June30th. This contest will be a two tiered scrumptious chocolate cake with a fun cookies and cream filling.

All you have to do to enter is leave an idea for a rocking good cake design. I will announce the winner by unveiling the cake sometime Friday night, July 2nd. The cake will be available for pick up only Saturday, July 3rd.

So Cakers, get brainstorming and a few of you I'm sure will get googling. I look forward to reading your cake ideas and ultimately making one of them come to life!

Shannon

The winner of our second ever ALL BAKED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO CONTEST was Keri Sauer and her theme of Dr.Seuss. Without further ado ... here's the winning cake.

Wizard of Oz Cake

Cakers, this cake was a blast to make. I am addicted to lots of color. This cake has that in spades. Plus, we got to dabble in some more poured sugar and play around with an LED light for the Emerald City. It doesn't get more fun in the kitchen than lots of colors, lights, and a castle. Just sayin'. Oh, and did I mention red edible glitter for her shoes? Yeah, and the MOUNDS of silver luster dust for the tin man. Pure sugary fun.

The specs: This cake was a 10" and 6" Buttery Gold Cake filled with rich Vanilla Buttercream. The castle is poured sugar and all decorations are edible. Woot! Well, minus the LED light built into the cake under the castle.

Happy Birthday, Angie!

Red Rose Wedding Cake

Cakers, this cake was a vision in person. It was all shimmery and just covered in lush red roses. The topper is made of poured sugar and has a LED light built into cake underneath it. At the reception, the light shined up through the poured sugar topper so it was illuminated softly among the flowers. All of the roses are hand made from gumpaste and then individually shaded with a shimmery luster dust. I fell in love with this romantic cake when it was finished.

This cake was a 10", 8", and 6" Buttery Gold Cake with Strawberry Fluff filling. Congrats to the lovely bride and her lucky groom.

Air Force Retirement Cake

This cake was a privilege to make. My Dad also retired from the service, so it was sort of a throw back of memories from growing up. Cakers, this fellow was an over achiever. See all those ribbons? Yeah, his over achieving ways were thorns in my side when making all those little bronze and silver leaves to go on his plethora of ribbons. (I kid ... I kid)

The specs on this cake: it is a 10", 8", and 6" White Cake filled with Whipped Lemon Curd. All decorations are made of either fondant or gumpaste.

Thanks for your service, Matt!

Cakers, could there be sweeter words? I think not. Place an order now through June 25th for anytime the month of September or October and receive 15% off the final order price.





Orders for available dates only. A 50% non-refundable/non-transferable deposit is required to hold a date. Remaining balance is due one week before delivery/pick up. Wedding cake tastings excluded.

Iron Man Cake

Iron Man in cake form. This cake was a lot of fun to make. The cake itself is a 9" carved chocolate cake filled with strawberry fluff covered in buttercream and then finalized in fondant. The eyes are poured sugar glass pieces with LED lights behind them.

Cakers, we are finally using poured sugar. I told my husband I think I just want to shellac every cake with a coat of poured sugar. He assures me this is not as good an idea as I make it out to be in my head.

Have a great Memorial Day and thanks to all who have served!

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Cute as a lamb ....

Cakers, have I mentioned that I love cupcakes? No, well, I do. I think they are bite sized adorable-ness. Is that even a word?

This is a baby shower order and here are the specs: The cupcakes are an assortment of strawberry cake with chocolate buttercream, mocha cake with pink hazelnut buttercream, and double chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream. The 4" cake topper is double chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream.

(The lamb inspo was from pinkcakebox.com)

Congrats, Tierney!

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Butterfly Cake

Cakers, I love this cake. I know I say that about all the cakes, and the moment I finish one, it is my favorite. This cake just looks sweet. The bottom and top tiers are both delicious Strawberry Cake filled with Strawberry Fluff and sliced fresh strawberries.

Think Summer ... think the Butterfly Cake.

Piece of Cake

Cakers, this cake was a pure pleasure to make. Well, except for getting the yellow pieces of fondant to stick inside the cut out piece. And then those white strips, those were a pain too. But, look how cute it all came out. So, really, it was a pleasure.

This cake is a 9" round 2 layer chocolate fudge cake filled with vanilla buttercream and covered in vanilla fondant. Green piping is buttercream and the dots are little candies. This cake is made even sweeter because of the recipient. Mrs. Wesbecher, my sons second grade teacher. She is retiring this year after 30 plus years of guiding kids on to being better people. She made a huge difference to my son and I am so thankful.

Thanks, Mrs. Wesbecher!

This cake may be one of my favorite designs to date. I love the classic and elegant look of this order. The specs are as follows: 14" is marble cake, the 12" is white almond cake, the 8" is chocolate fudge, and the 6" is snickerdoodle cake. All are filled with vanilla buttercream.

The entire cake is iced with vanilla buttercream. The flower cascade is a mix of silk orchids and sugar orchids.

Cakers, behold the Orchid Wedding Cake.

Silver 25th Wedding Anniversary Cake

This cake order was the epitome of clean and classic elegance. The cake was a 12" and an 8" layer of Red Velvet cake. The entire thing was iced in vanilla buttercream and the covered in white fondant. The dogwood flowers are hand crafted from gum paste.

Bouquet of Daffodils and Lily of the Valley

Cakers, this cake was a dream. This was one of those designs I had in a folder marked "favorites - want to make". Can I just tell you that I was beyond excited to know this was a design she wanted for a 50th birthday cake. Sigh. I love when cake dreams come true.

This cake was 3 layers of 6" Chocolate Fudge cake filled with Almond Buttercream. The stems are rolled fondant and the flowers are made from gumpaste.

Happy Birthday, Wendela!

Road of Life- 40th

This cake was a blast to make. Mostly because I love making little shrubs. Odd, I know, but the truth. This cake was for a fella that was a semi driver who also happened to be hitting the big

40. All decorations are made of fondant and are edible. Yes, even those street sign posts.

Cakers, here are the specs ... this cake was 10" round of Snickerdoodle cake on the bottom and 6" of Carrot cake on the top. The entire thing was filled and iced with vanilla buttercream.

Happy Birthday, Shannon!

Brown Poka Dots Cake

Cakers, this cake was all about the "cute". Desiree (the MaMa) ordered this cake for her daughter's first birthday. The only thing in the way of ideas she gave me was a brown napkin with polka dots. You all know how I love to dream. Well, here's what I came up with.

The specs: The bottom layer is a 10" round White cake with Strawberry Fluff filling. The top layer is a 6" round of the same. Both are covered in chocolate fondant with vanilla fondant accents.

Happy birthday, Charlize!

Klimts, The Kiss in cake

This cake was an absolute pleasure to make. I was asked to submit a cake for a live dessert auction supporting a local Academy. The core theme was Italian Fine Art. Well, my husband and I are huge fans of art period. A lot of couples have a song that they claim as theirs, Mike and I have a painting. It Gustav Klimt's The Kiss.

Cakers, this was a dream to make. There is almost an entire container of Gold Shimmer dust on this cake that unfortunately does not show up in film. It was a beauty. I am pleased to say this cake raised $300 in the auction for Dominion Academy.

So, here are the specs .. the bottom tier is two 3" layers of 10" round Cinnamon Cake filled with Hazelnut Buttercream. The top layer is two 3" layers of 6" round Cinnamon Cake filled with Hazelnut Buttercream. The entire thing is covered in rolled fondant and gold luster dust. The softer side of the cake is hand painted in colored gels.

Enjoy!

Twilight Cake

Cakers, can I trust you to not make fun of me? Well, I'm going to be honest and say I am a Twilight Saga fan. Oh yes. I am one of those women. In my 30s and still perusing the Young Adult section looking for Twilight related things. Covertly, of course.

Without further embarrassment, here are the specs. This is a fairly tall cake. As it seems they all are. The bottom tier is a 10" round 5" high rich Vanilla Cake speckled with smooth chocolate morsels. The top tier is a 6" round and 5" high tower of the same yumminess. Both tiers are filled with creamy vanilla buttercream and chocolate morsels.

Go Team Edward and Happy Birthday, Abby!

Frog in a barrel cake

This cake was a barrel of fun to make. *Knee slapping* Ok - enough. Really, this cake let my imagination stretch. The only idea I had starting this cake was that the person getting this cake loved frogs and was a retired officer. That my caking friends, left the door wide open to some cake fun.

This was a lot of cake, per usual. It was 3 layers of 9" round chocolate cake on bottom and 3 layers of 6" round chocolate cake on top as well. All decoratins are made of fondant or something edible except the white flag pole. Cakers, enjoy the splendor of the Frog in a Barrel Cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDADDY!

Pink and Yellow Elephant Cake

This cake was so much fun. These last few cakes have been a blast. All girly and cute. And cakers, you know I like my luster dust. Girly cakes are loaded with sparkle.

This cake is really tall. The bottom is10" round of three 2" layers of my decadent 24 Carrot Cake and filled with rich Cream Cheese Buttercream. The top layer is 6" round of two 3" layers of the ever popular Marble Cake filled with yummy Chocolate Buttercream.

The entire cake is covered and decorated in fondant. The elephant and cupcake are hand sculpted from gumpaste. Over, what a cutie, eh?

Entire Order: 2 tiered cake, smash cake, and a dozen cuppies.

Random acts of kindness are oh so sweet!

I know we've all heard about Random Acts of Kindness. We've maybe even see one in action. They are some of the greatest things to witness. Here's the question - have YOU ever committed a Random Act of Kindness? Cakers, now is the time.

This FREE cake give away is really all about giving. You giving away kindness and Cake, Hope, and Love giving YOU a free cake. That's right! What could be sweeter?

Here's the deal. Submit photgraphic evidence of yourself showing a Random Act of Kindness before midnight e.s.t March 31st. The winner will win a FREE cake that serves up to 45 people. That's right. Give back and we give to you.

It's that simple. It's that sweet.





*Orders are subject to calendar availability and are available for pick up only. Cake value limited to $125.

Monkey Business - girl style

This cake was a birthday present for our good friends daughter, Bri. When they ordered, here's what I heard. Here's a picture of a plate we bought her, so, it's something to go on. The plate was ultra girly with lots of bright colors and butterflies. Then, Bri says, and I want a monkey on top. Well, what could give more of a chance to be creative than that?!

So cakers, here's what I came up with. It's a 10" round three layer cake on bottom and a 6" two layer cake on top. The whole cake is vanilla with vanilla buttercream.

Happy 10th birthday, Bri!

Pink, Green, and Buggy Delight Cake

Cakers, this may be one of my favorite cakes to date. I mean really, does it get much cuter than this? I think not. This cake was a creation for two little girls for their special day. Their mom, Jennifer, sent me the girliest invitation to go by. I was more than excited. After playing in pink fondant and shimmer dust for two days, this is what they got.

Here's the specs: The top two layers (6" and 4") are Double Vanilla cake filled with Strawberries and Cream filling. The bottom layer (9") is a Devil's Food Cake filled with a rich Chocolate Buttercream.

Thanks Jennifer for such a great order!

Groovy Record Player

This cake was a really fun cake to make. This was for a gal named Lisa who wanted to surprise her husband for his 50th birthday! She said he loved the sixties and was into vinyl. Well, this is what I came up with!

So cakers, here are the specs. This is a 10" chocolate cake filled with raspberry preserves. All decorations are made of fondant. Hope you have a groovy birthday, Mark!

Dallas Cowboy themed goodness

This was an easy and fun order to make. I love when I get the chance to make cuppies to match a cake. The customer, a friend of mine, wanted a cake for her husband's birthday. Obviously, he's a Dallas Cowboys fan.

So Cakers, here are the specs. This is a 2 layer 6" carrot cake filled with Almond Buttercream. The cake was then rolled in fondant. The cuppies are also carrot cake and are topped with Almond buttercream and a fondant star.

Overall, I love the clean look of this cake. So, Happy Birthday Thomas and thanks for the order Marrita!

Purple and Blue Whimsy

This cake was so much fun to make. With only having boys in the house, I jumped at the chance to make some "girly" as the customer stated. The only things she asked for were polka dots and the colors blue and purple. The rest was up to me.

So, I cut out butterflies and made sugar paste flowers. I bought out 3 tubs of luster dust and went to town. This is what came about of an afternoon of dreaming "girly".

Cakers, here are the specs. It is three tiers of red velvet cake filled with cream cheese frosting. The entire thing is dirty iced in rich vanilla buttercream and rolled in fondant. All decorations are hand made from sugar paste by me.

Cheers!

Cars Cake

This cake was an absolute dream to make. Things went smoothly and according to schedule. Plus, I got to make little mini cacti. That really tickled my fancy. I was extremely honored to be making another cake for this little guy. His mom, Michelle, was one the very first paid orders of mine. I made the monkey cake for his first birthday.

So, cakers,here are the specs. The entire cake is made of double chocolate cake filled with peanut butter buttercream (yes, it is as good as it sounds). The bottom tier is 3 layers of 9" cake and the top tier is 2 thick layers of 6" cake.

All decorations are edible and hand made by myself.

'Tis the Season

Order your cuupies today. You know, for the Christmas Party at the office you forgot about until just now? Yeah, that one. A dozen candycane cake cuppies will make you look like a superstar. Just email me and relax.

Holiday Flavors: $15 per dozen

Optimus Prime - Take Two

Ever had one of those days? Yeah, well, this cake embodies that for me. When I got the request for an Optimus Prime cake I was thrilled. How much fun was he going to be, right?? Such a cool guy ... er- robot thing. You get the idea. I was excited.

So, I am making the cake late into the night. Let's say, oh, I don't know ... 1:46 am. I am finished with the thing and pleased as punch with it. I am sliding it from the turn table to the cake board (I know ... I usually decorate on the board) and it doesn't stop sliding once it reaches the cake board. It goes all the way. To the dining room floor. Yeah.

After quite a few tears and an adult melt down, I remade the cake. Starting sometime around, let's say, 2:13 am. Just guessing here. (not really)

So cakers, after all the hoopla, here's Optimus Prime in a much more "primitive" and "rustic" form than a Cake, Hope, and Love cake usually is. But, the cake design was too cool to not post. Plus, Benji is too dang adorable not to give a shout out to. So, Happy Birthday, Benji F.!

I do! I like it, Sam I Am!

This cake order is for one of the cutest little tykes I know, Shep. Shep's Mom and Dad are pretty fantastic too in that they are throwing him a Green Eggs and Ham shin dig for his first birthday. I was thrilled to barter with his mama, Erinne. She's a fantastic photographer. Check out her site here One day she'll be famous. So, in return for the best family photos we've ever had, I give you .... The Green Eggs and Ham Cake order.

The Ham portion of the cake is White Almond with Vanilla buttercream. The Cuppies are Snickerdoodle with vanilla buttercream.

The ham cake is rolled in fondant and hand painted. Cuppie toppers are made of fondant and hand painted as well. And cakers, let me tell you - there isn't anything cuter than green eggs and ham cuppies.

I do believe in Faeries! I do believe in faeries!

This cake was maybe one of the more difficult I've ever made. Maybe because my 5 yr old son pulled Tinkerbell's head off and poked a hole through her midsection the night before the cake was to be sent out. Boys are great like that.

I loved browsing the internet for pictures of Tinkerbell. I also loved this cake because it allowed me to use my favorite decorating element .... luster dust. What's a Tinkerbell cake without tons of shimmer, right cakers?

So, the cake itself it a 6" strawberry cake filled with yummy vanilla buttercream. Tinkerbell and all of decorations (minus the 2 pink jewels) are handmade with fondant and/or gumpaste.

My take on Bumblebee the Transformer

This cake was for one cool little boy - David. Davis wanted a Bumblebee cake. I was more than a little nervous after looking at about a zillion images of him. I mean, have you guys looked at a close up picture of Bumblebee's face? It will strike terror in a cake maker's heart I tell you. After a night of drawing patterns and tracing them onto fondant, I am pleased with the results. I hope David was too. His Dad seemed pretty happy with it. So, hopefully, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

This order consists of a very tall 9" marble cake with vanilla buttercream filling. The dozen cuppies are chocolate with vanilla buttercream. The toppers are fondant and then to finish it off, it was dusted with silver glitter.

NEW Holiday Goodness

The holiday season is here and with it comes the new Holiday Flavors! So, without further delay (cue Bing Crosby) ....

Holiday Cake Flavors:

Candy Cane Cake
Butterscotch Rum Cake
Chocolate Ho Ho Cake
Gingerbread Cake


Holiday ButterCream Flavors:

Egg Nogg ButterCream
Chocolate Cinnamon ButterCream
Peppermint ButterCream


E-mail for quotes on cakes at thebestcake@gmail.com. Cuppies are $15 per dozen.

Limited time only.

Enchanted Castle Wedding Cake

Princess Castle Cake was an amazing cake to make. It was over 50 hours of labor and a giant mess while making! It was also the most fun I've had to date on cakes. I loved all the hand painted details and adding the built in lights to each tier! So here's the specs. The bottom tier is a 4 layer 16" double chocolate cake filled with a chocolate ganache. The next tier up was a 12" 4 layer of Snickerdoodle cake filled with a cinnamon maple butter cream. The next to the top tier was 4 layers of an 8" strawberry lemon swirl cake filled with strawberry fluff and a strawberry preserve. The very top tier was 3 thick layers of 4" cake. It was also a double chocolate filled with a vanilla buttercream with chocolate chips.

All in all, this cake was well over 165 pounds of magical yumminess!

Serves: 300 guests

Buttercream Shots now available!

Delight your taste buds by bringing home the newest trend in yummy greatness - Buttercream Shots. That's right. A personal portion of buttercream for your pleasure.

Buttercream Shots are available in:
6 pack - $3
12 pack - $6
24 case - $10

Minimum order of 6 per flavor. All flavors available! Grab a pack today!

Skateboarder Cake

This cake was ordered for a Trey who was turning the BIG 10. Double Digits! So, his mother ordered a two tiered skateboard cake. The cake was Red Velvet with a Vanilla Chocolate Chip Buttercream. What a great choice, Trey! The entire cake was covered in rolled fondant and then decorated with hand made decorations of fondant and gumpaste.