Valentine's Day!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all my cake enthusiasts!

Though this blog post will be going up at the very last minute on Valentine's Day, I certainly can't let the day go by without wishing everyone all kinds of love, peace and happy-ness! (and yes, I did spell it that way deliberately ;o)

I thought I'd share with you all my "Heart Day" projects and sweets! Try not to drool on the keyboard!

Well, I'm nothing if not a hopeless romantic. Since Brian and I only got married a few months ago, we've been having a lot of fun with all our "married firsts..." You know... first married one-month-iversary, two-month-iversary, three-month-iversary...uhh, you get the point; not to mention, our first married trip to the mall, first married sushi date night, first married Christmas... which brings me to the point of this blog post: our first married Valentine's Day!

I didn't have much going on for Valentine's Day (in terms of orders for cake or other goodies), which was nice in a way, because I got to focus on my family and my new, adorable husband, who I'm obviously smitten with!

That being said, here are some chocolates I made several different people, family members and my hubbs...

I made some delicious solid White Chocolate cups with pink vanilla accents - My brother has always loved White Chocolate ANYTHING, so with him in mind, I sent a small package up to Rhode Island the other day... though it will arrive the day after Valentine's Day, I miss him since he moved up to his new school, so I figured I'd surprise him with some "Heart Day Hugs" from his big sis. Hopefully they arrive in one piece, so to speak

I also made some Caramel-filled Kissy Lips and Pink solid Kissy Lips, which I think are SO cute! and really quite yummy!

I then made some of my favorite flavor combinations! (And let's face it, I didn't invent this, but whoever did should be most proud!)

Peanut Butter and Chocolate ...and fresh, hand-chopped, organic peanuts... Any combination thereof is nothing short of edible bliss (and you can quote me on that!)

I made Chocolate cups with those chopped peanuts I mentioned earlier... you might also note the Chocolate Kissy Lips (filled with fresh organic peanut butter!)

And on top of that, layered Peanut Butter and Chocolate cups, with (you guessed it!) peanuts for the crunchy texture I favor so often!

Lastly, and this brings me back to my list of "firsts..."

Well, back when I first met my husband, our first Valentine's Day together was really a very special one for me, because I used to HATE Valentine's Day with a passion. But on this first one with him those few years ago I decided to make him a chocolate cake. Not just any chocolate cake, but a sinfully chocolatey Devil's Food layer cake made with chocolate pieces... that was filled with a homemade ganache and iced with chocolate fudge frosting. What made this cake so memorable was that this was the first thing that I ever made him. And he still remembers it because it weighed what he described as "9 pounds of chocolatey goodness"... I think it might have been what sold him on me way back when.

So, keeping that in mind, I decided to resurrect this old cake, and make it for our "first married Valentine's Day"... Though this time, I made it in the shape of a heart (cue the cheesy music now)... Anyway, I had him close his eyes this afternoon and sat the cake stand in front of him and asked him to open his eyes. They of course, flew open and immediately down to the cake in front of him and he exclaimed (with no prompting from me mind you) "Oh my God!!! The 9 Pound Chocolate Cake!! It's BACK!!!" and jumped up, ran to get a knife and plate (and brought over two cups for milk. I thought it was so sweet that he remembered to share!

But it brought me back to why I love cake (and him) in the first place...

Cake: because I love how people just get so darn excited over something I find particularly easy to do...something so simple...

&

Brian: because he is the love of my life and adds more to my life than I could have ever imagined possible...* swoon *

So with that thought, I leave you with my little homage to the cake I "invented" back when me and my sweetheart were celebrating our "first" of many firsts to come! It's short, time-lapsed and to the point! (PS- the song is thanks to the Plain White T's and is titled "1-2-3-4")

"The 9-pound Chocolate Cake" (and yes, ©) LOL

Enjoy!!

So I guess all that's left to say is...

xoxo

m

iCake makes its debut in a brand NEW YEAR!!

Well first of all, Happy New Year! I'm so excited to share this with everyone! The feedback is in on the iCake!

And I quote: "..I can not thank you enough for the beautiful cake you made for my brother... Everyone was blown away...we didn't want to put candles on the cake so I held them!... It was too funny and we didn't want to cut the cake but we did and it was delicious!..."

I have to admit, I was very excited to hear about how the surprise went! I'm so overjoyed to hear that the birthday boy was surprised and happy with his cake! Trust me, nothing makes me happier than being the person responsible for glowing happiness in the presence of one of my cakes... not to mention...elated cake-eating!!!- It doesn't get any better than that! and these pictures speak a thousand words for sure! How funny are they!! They didn't want to put candles in the cake, so they HELD THEM! Classic!

Thanks so much to the wonderful family for sharing these pictures with me! You are my first official feedback on my blog and I'm so proud and happy to share this with my fans! :o)

Most importantly, thank you for letting me be the one to make your cake! I love what I do and love that you loved it too!

xoxo

What a happy, exciting post for my first one of this brand new year!

Happy 2010!

Mandy

♥ your iPhone? There's a cake for that! ©

I'm SO excited to post about this cake! You'd never know I'm writing (and publishing) on 5 hours sleep! Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

SO allow me to intro this newest cake from Cheeky:

:::The iCake:::©

So I was asked to help out a family member who's brother's birthday is coming up! He's addicted to his iPhone, and she told me how much she'd love to surprise him with an iPhone cake.

I was SO excited to do this one, because I ♥ my iPod Touch (it's next to the cake in the above picture to show scale!), which for those that don't know, is very similar to the iPhone (without the phone part that is...)

The birthday boy's birthday date is actually January 6th, but the family is celebrating early! However, I added personal touches like the calendar says "Jan 6" and if you look really carefully, it's even "1:06PM"... and my favorite part? "iSal" in the top left corner...because it's the only time you get to see your name in cake! (The birthday boy's name is ....drumroll...Sal!) :o) **EDITED TO ADD: Actually, the date was Jan 5. And easy fix! :o)**

Anyway, so the biggest challenge was determining scale for this one because it's a small party, they didn't want a HUGE cake (we all know how much I LOVE to make big cakes :o) So how do make the cake 9x13 but also make it look a little cartoonish, and colorful...The answer: we enlarged some of the favorite apps (and typical ones) and made the iPhone have 3 rows of apps instead of 4. (So for all you detailed oriented cake-fans, yes, I'm well aware of the scale, and it was completely intentional)... the best part? The size, shape and color of the apps on the cake...totally works for the cake itself! I just want to pick it up and call someone (or at least play some Scrabble).

BIG props go to my sous chef, Brian,...my loving and wonderfully helpful and supportive husband who helped me mix and knead all the fondant colors by hand! Plus stayed up with me...lets just say VERY late to finish this! :o) I'm a lucky girl for sure!

The birthday boy hasn't seen it yet! I can't wait for reactions to this one! I'll update you when I know! :o) Cheers and Happy Happy New Year!

"♥ ur iPhone?

There's a CAKE for that!"©

The Holidays are coming! The Ovens are warming!

I'm so excited about the holidays!
They are coming and I've created my Holiday Price List for Thanksgiving!


Are you interested?
If so, contact Mandy at
cheekycakery@gmail.com or call 631.289.5893!

Price List for Thanksgiving and Holiday Treats!

French Apple Tart……….. $20

9” Round

French Apple Tart (Sugar-Free)……………. $22

9” Round

Pumpkin Cheesecake ………………………$25

9” Round, Graham Cracker Crust

The World’s BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies……………. $18

2 Dozen

Down Under Delicious! Australian for CAKE!

Well my husband (Brian) took me to Australia for our honeymoon! It was amazing, but that's a whole other blog! His birthday was only a week or so after we returned to the States! I thought it was only appropriate that I make him a cake to commemorate the best vacation we've ever been on...EVER!


This was a cake shaped like the continent of Australia - two layers thick of the best chocolate chip vanilla cake ...tinted to match the red sands of the Outback! I filled it with some homemade cannoli cream too!


It was iced in a red sand-tinted vanilla cream and highlighted by some white ocean waves. The cake rested upon oceans of blue fondant with a few edible white-tipped reef sharks, to add an element of DANGER! Everything was edible by the way... I like the challenge!


Sitting atop the cake was my edible husband complete with snorkel gear and a little koala to keep him company...her name was Chelsea (so named after the koala we met and HUGGED whilst in Oz!)



Obviously, he loved it!


I don't know what he wished for though...he did already marry me! ;o)

Scrabble-tastic Cuppycakes

My aunt loves Scrabble so when it was time to make her birthday cake, I decided that this called for Scrabble cupcakes.


The cupcakes were an organic chocolate cake, topped with a blue-tinted vanilla buttercream and decorated with fondant wood grain Scrabble tiles - which, of course, spelled out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNI"




I believe it's VERY important to play with your food! And the birthday girl loved them!

Spidercake, Spidercake...Does whatever a Spidercake can!

Okay, so Nick (my nephew...see his 1st!) was turning THREE and was at the time a BIG Spiderman fan! When it was time to make his cake, it was a no-brainer!


This one explains itself BUT... it was a vanilla layer cake with chocolate pudding filling, iced with vibrant, comic book-colored icing. Towering atop the cake, stood a 10-inch delectable skyscraper made of purple-tinted, chocolate chip, vanilla cake! (Because if you were three, wouldn't you want to eat a skyscraper made of purple cake??) On top of that, stood Spiderman himself, who took the liberty of writing Nick his own birthday message in a frosting web!


The birthday boy loved his cake. So did his friends... As I recall, they were particularly fond of the purple cake part! But like I said, wouldn't you be? By the way, Spidey wasn't edible - he doubled as a toy for the birthday boy!