I made these cuties for a mini strawberry themed desserts table I styled recently. And since it's strawberry season (even if the sun refuses to come out...), I'll be sharing my strawberry themed party recipes with you all this week in the hope to kick start the summer good and proper!! Anyways, it all turned out pretty yummy and cute too, don't you think? So it's good to know that if I can, you most certainly can too! ;)

  As promised in my last post,    I'm sharing the step-by-step tutorial on How To Make a Toadstool Cake today! I've always wanted to bake a toadstool cake, and styling our Pixie Fairy Party gave the perfect opportunity to head to the kitchen and get a little creative and adventurous. Now, I feel I need to add a little disclaimer here, to let you know I'm no professional baker and this was my total invention and first time making a toadstool cake. But hopefully it also shows that if I can do it (and super easily, I may add), then anyone can too! ;)

Hello fellow cake makers!! I am excited to share some quick tips to take your plain, buttercream cakes to the next level. Although I highly encourage learning how to create a smooth buttercream finish, adding textures is an easy way to change up the appearance of an ordinary cake.

So we've gathered all our tools, baked our cakes with delicious, fresh ingredients, and a bowl of mouth-watering frosting awaits us. Now what? Let's ice!!! Along our journey, I (Tess) will teach how to create beautifully decorated and iced cakes. We will experiment with rolled fondant, textured buttercream, and piped details. But for today, let's start with basics of H ow To Ice a Cake.

Hi there! I (Tess) hope you all enjoyed the last segment of the series, Baking Basics , and have been whipping up yummy, moist cakes left and right! Now, before we get into some decorating and assembly tips and tricks, I would like to set you up with some classic or  Classic Cake and Icing Recipes from my own kitchen - Believe me, if you start with a stable icing and a crumb with good structure, the sometimes-daunting decorating process will be much easier!

I'm an advocate for hand-made, and don't care who knows it. BUT I also don't have a lot of time and like any working mom, budget is always at the forefront of my party planning. And last year for my kid's joint Barnyard Birthday it was no different. I baked, crafted and handmade a lot of the details, including these Apple Cake Pops and mini " Farm Orchard" Centerpiece display for the pops...

Welcome back, friends! Continuing on our journey towards master cake maker and decorating genius - Today is Class 2 and we will go over some Baking Basics . Now that we know what tools to use, let's use them to mix up some quality ingredients to make something delicious.

I have been trying to get these ' Cake it Pretty ' cake decorating series up and running for ages, and so am beyond excited to have come across a mega talented professional to guide us through the world of cakes - Step-by-Step!

I am currently inundated with Holiday photos and articles for Bird's Party Magazine upcoming Holiday Issue, so today's post makes a nice change from all that! ;) If you haven't yet seen the joint  Barnyard Birthday Party I styled for my babies this year, then click here for all the details. Today I'll be showing how I made the cute Barnyard Cupcake Pails for that party. 

Ready for a Halloween Blog Fest ?! From now until the end of the month, we'll be bringing you lots of spooktacular posts with super fun, incredibly easy and BOO-tifully inspired  Halloween Party ideas ! ;) Today's Haunted Halloween Cupcakes recipe is courtesy of Haniela's !

My kid's Barnyard Birthday Party was posted a couple of days ago, but already have a few emails asking me about the cake pop chicks, so I think you're gonna like this post! ;) I was inspired by a fabulously talented friend from Lynlee's Petite Cakes when I made these "Hatching Chick" cake pops - I remembered seeing Lynlee's similar idea using fondant sugar paste and  push-up pops on Bird's Party Magazine Issue 5 , and thought I could make a similar chick but with cake pops instead!

Following on from yesterday's Barnyard Birthday post , this is the recipe for the " Farmhouse Apple and Berry Pie " I made instead of a birthday cake! I always like to incorporate a lot of handmade details in my styled parties, but this time around I was also in full prep for  Bird's Party Magazine Fall Issue , and hence my shortcuts - Instead of a fancy decorated cake, I opted for a farmhouse-style, rustic fruit pie for my kid's Barnyard Birthday this year . I'm no Nigella, so "rustic" is the operative word here! ;)