Thursday, January 17, 2013

Valentine's Day Loveliness


Ahh Valentine's Day the mere mention of those two words conjures up images of doves with floating red hearts on a string, chocolate candies, sappy cards and doilies.  Doilies? Yes, it's not a typo.  I said doilies and here is why!  I am all about the crafty, pretty, and frilly things.  But, I am also all about easy things because I am no Martha Stewart.  In my quest to find inexpensive loveliness for my Valentine's Day sweets table, I came across this super simple and exquisitely lovely paper doily wreath tutorial by The Red Thread.   I plan on making some of these this weekend to complement my sweets table and I encourage you to try to make one and send me pictures!  I will be using it as part of my Valentine's sweets table and will be sharing these pictures soon enough.  In the meantime, get crafty!  Now I don't know what mine will look like so let's go with The Red Thread's finished picture.  I think its lovely!


Thursday, January 10, 2013

Giveaway Time!!! Win 4 huge deliciously rich chocolate covered apples!


Enter to win below and follow the super simple directions for your chance to win these sinfully delicious treats, shipped right to you!  No purchase necessary to enter, so we are talkin' FREE!  The only thing better than FREE is the flavors in these apples!  Good luck to all.
Click on the link below to get started!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Deliciously Rich

For a dear friend's birthday I wanted to make a special cake that was both rich and out of the ordinary.  Since my friend is Italian, I wanted to make a dessert that would be symbolic as well.  I came across this recipe by Ree Drummond (my hero) aka The Pioneer Woman.  The best part of this cake, and there are many, is the texture added by the chopped pecans in the frosting.  The pecans add a special touch of savory to the otherwise sweet cream cheese frosting base.  Delicious!  I definitely recommend this recipe if you want to impress your holiday guests without driving yourself crazy! I tweaked this a bit because I prefer a lot of vanilla in my cakes.

For the Cake:
5 Large eggs (separated)
1 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1/2 cup (1 stick of butter)
1 cup of sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup of buttermilk
2 cups flour
1t baking powder
1t baking soda
2t cinnamon
2T Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk together the egg whites until still peaks form. 




Remove the egg whites to another bowl and wash and the whisk attachment and bowl.  Next, whisk together butter, sugar and oil until creamy (about 4 minutes) .  Add the egg yolks one at a time until fully incorporated into the mixture.  



In a large measuring cup mix the buttermilk and vanilla.  If you do not have buttermilk on hand, mix together 1T vinegar and 1 cup milk and let it sit for a few minutes.  In another large measuring cup blend the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients to the sugar mixture alternating and finishing with the wet ingredients.  Mix gently to incorporate the flour but do not over mix.


 Fold in the coconut flakes.  Finally, fold in the egg whites just enough to incorporate them into the batter. 



Add the batter to 2  9" round baking pans and bake for 25-35 minutes.  Check oven periodically to ensure that your cakes do not over bake.





For the frosting
16 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
1 stick of butter (room temperature)
2-3 cups of powdered sugar
3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes
3/4 cup of chopped pecans
2 T Vanilla extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer with either a whisk or paddle attachment, mix together the cream cheese and butter until soft and creamy (about 4-5 minutes). 


 
Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time mixing well in between each cup and taste to desired sweetness.  Add coconut flakes and vanilla extract.  Once nicely mixed, fold in pecans. 



This frosting makes a delicious frosting and filling to any cake!

Once your cakes are cooled and torted, fill and frost.  You may add additional pecans or coconut flakes to further adorn your cake.




Buon apetito!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Fall Weddings

 It must be said that Fall is my favorite season.  Growing up in Miami I was deprived of the 4 seasons experience.  Basically it was summer all year round.  When we moved north I was marveled at the beauty of nature! Still, after 4 years living in North Georgia, I am still mesmerized by the amazing show nature puts on for a few weeks in the year.  So of course when I am asked to make wedding cakes and cupcake displays for Autumn and Fall weddings, I get inspiration from what's going on outside.  Here are just a few cakes of mine that pay tribute to Mother Nature and her spectacular show of colors.  Enjoy!




These cakes were created for a bride a groom that chose  Coosawatee River Resort in Ellijay, Georgia to celebrate their nuptials.  The ruffled cake was made to pay tribute to the bride's gown.  The whimsical groom's cake resembled a brie wheel, complete with a gumpaste "knife" and fondant crackers!



 
 
Big Canoe, Jasper, Georgia was the venue of this lovely fall wedding.  This cupcake tower was adorned with fall colored maple leaves, acorns and mini fondant pumpkins. 
 

 
 
Here's the groom's cake for another Big Canoe wedding.  This time, the bride and groom's cakes were identical.  The bride's cake was ivory covered in natural flowers (not pictured).  The groom's cake was frosted in whipped chocolate ganache.
 
 
 
This rustic cupcake display was created for an outdoor wedding at East Cobb Park in Marietta, Georgia.  The variety of cupcakes were adorned with red, orange, amber and brown maple leaves.  Nature was a beautiful complement to this lovely fall cupcake display.
 

 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A Not So Scary Monster!

Last weekend I connected with my inner child to create a fun and not so scary Monster High inspired cake for a beautiful little girl, Emily, as she celebrated her 7th birthday.





Emily loves Monster High so of course her 7th birthday party would reflect that fact!  Take a look at Emily's cake that she specifically requested have Monster High's "skull" logo right on top.  Included on her cake were some of her favorite Monster High dolls too.  Needless to say this was one happy little girl! 



Besides having her favorite dolls, there were tons of friends there to help this birthday girl celebrate her special day.  Happy 7th Birthday, Emily!







Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Cupcake Give Away!!!

Who doesn't love a cupcake?  Before you answer that, enter to win our free cupcakes in a jar giveaway!  These cupcakes are shipped in super cute mason jars right to your door in yummy flavors, fillings, frostings and sprinkles!  Don't miss out on this give away! Entering is as easy as eating a cupcake! 

How to enter: 

1. Just join our blog www.sweetlystyledbysugarsugar.blogspot.com;

2. Like us on Facebook @  Sugar Sugar Facebook Page  and leave a comment on what your favorite cupcake flavor is.  Who knows maybe you'll win!

3. Follow us on Twitter @CantonGaCupcake and don't forget to give us a shout out Tweet! 

4. Finally, come back here and leave a comment below with your name, Twitter and Facebook handles telling me you've done all three!  Each step earns you a chance to win 4 deliciously, sinful cupcakes, shipped and ready to eat. 

Entries must be received by 11:59, Friday, July 27, 2012. Winner will be notified by email and will be posted on Facebook and Twitter. 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

1st Birthday Beach Bash for Baby RJ



There really is nothing better than fun in the sun!   A few weeks ago I had an awesome opportunity to help make a very special little boy's 1st birthday party a little extra special!  Let me know what you think about these sweet treats created especially for little RJ Cabrera's 1st Birthday Beach Bash!


The cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla frosted with a swiss meringue buttercream and topped with beach balls, flip flops and happy birthday messages for the cutest birthday boy ever!




The theme of the party was beach balls and they were everywhere - right down to the pinata! Why should the cake be any exception?  In keeping with the theme, the vanilla rum cake cake was featured with colorful fondant beach balls all around the cake, topped with a large cake beach ball and a big #1 on top. 




RJ's  guests were treated to mini beach buckets filled with fun beach favorites including sunglasses, books, and water guns.  Of course, the large beach buckets on the sweets table were filled to the brim with yummy candy were a hit as well!





Happy Birthday RJ!




Credits:
Cupcakes, Cake and lables by:  www.Sugar-SugarCakes.Com
Venue:  Crandon Park South Beach in Key Biscayne, Florida
Photography:  Gina Gonzalez Photos http://facebook.com/ginagonzalezphotos and