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I know it's been a while since my last post, but as you'll soon see, I've been just a little busy - but in a good way. : )

One of my dearest girlfriends got married last weekend in a beautiful outdoor ceremony on the Potomac River.  Everything was beautiful - the paper lanterns, mason jar centerpieces, and of course the stunning bride.  When she asked me to make her cake, not only was I excited, but I was honored to share part of her special day... because she is such a special friend.

I must say, this is probably my personal favorite wedding cake I've made so far.  I just thought it fit in perfectly with her casual, chic, wildflower theme.  And it was one of my favorite flavors - red velvet!  It was so great to see everything come together, and the whole cake table was beautiful.  It was also really exciting to see all the servers come out to cut it and give it out to all the guests - they definitely had it down to a science and got it all passed out so quick!

I also made cake pops for the cocktail hour, but those are yet to come.  For now, here's the cake - congratulations friends!

 The wash basin "cake stand" was my idea - and it was perfect!

 The textured icing was so rustic - love.

There it goes!

Blessings-
LC

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So I'm really excited and honored to be part of 4 special days this summer - weddings!  It's that time of year when love is in the air, or at least when most people choose to make it legal. : )

My first wedding of the summer was a few weeks ago, and I was so blessed to have my mom come out to visit me and help me get everything ready and setup - thanks mom!!!  The bride and groom chose to just have a small cake for themselves to cut, and then the guests ate the cupcakes.  I really like that idea, and thought everything turned out super cute.

The cake was a chocolate cake with chocolate-hazelnut filling, and the cupcakes were an assortment of carrot, lemon, and key lime.  What a great combo for a spring wedding!  It went fantastically and I'm excited for the next wedding coming up soon!

Blessings-
LC

Salty and Sweet

I am a sucker for anything salty and sweet.  It is the BEST combo ever.  So when I found this recipe for browned butter and sea salt cookies, I was immediately hooked.  The little sprinkling of sea salt on top makes such a difference.  The browned butter gives the cookies a caramel-like taste, and the salt just compliments it so well.  Usually chocolate chip cookies aren't my favorite, but these cookies could be topping the list quickly.  I think next time I make them I would play with the recipe a little bit, but they're still awesome just as-is.

Blessings-
LC

Baby Brooks

One of my coworkers just had her first baby!  We were all so excited for her, and I know she's gonna be a fabulous mom.  Little Baby Brooks Robert was born a little over a week ago, but before he was born, our office threw her a little baby shower.

No one knew the baby's name until he was born, but we all knew that she was having a boy.  She loves zoo animals and had gone with that theme for all his baby things.  So when I found out that she especially loved monkeys, I knew I needed to do something extra special for her baby shower - in theme of course!

So these are the chocolate cupcakes I made for her - they were super cute!  I used peanut butter frosting for some of the decorations, so they had a nice little flavor combo going on in the frosting.  And how could you resist their cute little faces!

Congratulations Mama!

Blessings-
LC

Hanukkah Mother's Day!

Although it's too late for Mother's Day, here is another treat I think would be perfect for a special brunch with mom.  These are my go-to sugar cookies that are a hit - every time!  I also made these for the recent bridal shower I hosted, in keeping with the floral theme.  The bride-to-be's favorite flowers are sunflowers, so that was my inspiration for these beautiful cookies.  I just wish that I had saved a few to send to my own mom for mother's day!

Blessings-
LC

Moms are Awesome

With Mothers Day right around the corner, I thought this was the perfect treat to share.  I must admit that I made this for a bridal shower recently, and not for my mom, but I just think it is gorgeous and would be the perfect thing for a special mom this Sunday.

I made this cake taller than usual (4-layers) because there were lots of ladies at the bridal shower, and I wanted to make sure there was enough to go around.  And boy... what a treat!  The bride-to-be is lactose intolerant, so it was my first time making a dairy-free cake.  It was a success!  I wouldn't choose to bake dairy-free (a girl's gotta have her butter!), but my girl friend loved it, and that's all that mattered.  It's a lemon cake with lemon buttercream, not only a great flavor for spring, but one of the bride's favorites.

I don't know if you can really tell from the photos, but the cake kinda looked like a big hydrangea with swirls of green and blue icing - and a little edible glitter thrown on for good measure.  Next time I think I'd make the colors a little less-vivid, but it looked great with the other floral decorations we had for the bridal shower (that were actually real flowers).  All in all, I thought it was a beautiful cake and definitely something different that the guests weren't expecting!

Blessings-
LC

Chock Full 'O Chunks

With the temperatures getting warmer, I've been really excited about baking (and eating!) all kinds of fun summer-time flavors that you don't see as often during the cold and dreary winter.  One of my new favorites is white chocolate and cranberry.

So I made these white chocolate brownies and then stirred in lots and lots of white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  It's deliciously sweet, but kinda tart from the cranberries.  They were a hit with my coworkers!

Blessings-
LC