Dessert Meets Design: Lady Gaga Cupcakes

Last night, Lady Gaga performed at the Xcel Center. To commemorate her visit, Sweets Bakeshop created these Gaga-riffic cupcakes.

The eye cupcakes are great, but I really like the ones inspired by these Gaga outfits.

Who knew that such wonky costumes could be transformed into something edible?

Tasting Tour: The Great MN Get Together!

Last week, I told you showed you a butter bust and these great MN State Fair posters for this year's event. This weekend, we went to the fair for a free outdoor concert and we made a second trip to check out all of the great desserts. I acted as event photographer, so I'm behind the lens. Maddy of Inspired Bride and her husband also joined us for the food fest.

Our first stop was the dairy barn to get fresh ice cream made by Minnesota's dairy farmers. We also met one of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way finalists and watched the sculptor carve her butter bust. The other blocks of butter will soon be carved with the other finalists' faces, and Princess Kay's bust will be in the middle on a higher pedestal. Each finalist spends 8 hours in the cooler!  

Next, we bought some huge cups of fresh-squeezed lemonade and went down the giant slide. Our next dessert stop was at the chocolate covered strawberry booth. Maddy thought she would get one strawberry (like at most chocolate shops) but she got five berries, and of course they were on a stick!

While her husband enjoyed his fried cheesecake, we nibbled on funnel cake. It's just not a proper fair without funnel cake.

We went to the baby barn to see the new baby chicks, ducks, pigs, and goats. Then, we decided to get some cookies from Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar. These cookies are a Minneapolis staple, and you'll often see people walking around with an entire bucket overflowing with warm, soft chocolate chip cookies. We opted for the smaller, but still heaping helping of cookies in a cone before walking to the All You Can Drink for $1 milk stand.

Our final food stop was to a little candy shop where Maddy found gummy bears-on-a-stick. A few of those bundled together would be a great thank you bouquet for a flower girl.

I checked out the woodland creature gummies on a stick. These would be fun favors for a kid's party with an animal or wood theme. Simply tie a thick strand of twine around the stick to complete the natural vibe.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the sugary, deep-fried goodness of the MN State Fair. What fair foods do you love?

The Great MN Get Together!

The Minnesota State Fair started yesterday, and we've already crowned a new Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Here's a previous Princess Kay and her butter bust.

These are the great posters for this year's event. Our fair features every sort of food on-a-stick and these posters by Allan Peters illustrate that perfectly. This year's new addition to the category is camel meat on-a-stick, but I don't think I'll be trying that.

Anyway, I'm headed to the Fair tonight for a concert under the stars, and I'll be back at the fair again tomorrow to nibble all of the great fair food. Sweet Martha's Cookies, Pronto Pups, and cheese curds will be on the menu, and I'll be back on Monday with some pictures of each sugary, deep-fried goody.

*If you had trouble viewing yesterday's post, be sure to check it out today. I think the glitch has been fixed.*

Have a great weekend!

Sweet Branding

As most of you know, I recently redesigned and relaunched my website and this blog. It was a long process that involved lots of tweaks and revisions, but it was worth all of work. That experience helps me to appreciate the work others put into designing logos and business cards.

Kimberly of Inspired Goodness designed a logo and business card for NYC bakery, Think Sweet. Here are some of the revisions that helped her and the client hit upon the winning design.

The cupcake's thought bubble is cute, especially given the business's name. All of these are good, but the final logo brings together the best elements of them. Here is the logo (top) and the business card.

The designer kept the "thought bubble" imagery, but refined it by swapping out the cutesy cupcake for a more refined, but still fun, tiered cake design.

Pass the Batter and Smile!

Lately, I've noticed that more people are capturing their baking escapades in casual, candid photo shoots.

Although I've seen these crop up mostly in engagement photo sessions, a kitchen or bakery setting is perfect for family photos, too.

Even Snoop and Martha (a truly odd pairing) look great in their baking photos.

When my husband took these pictures of my faux bois chocolate tutorial last week, I pretended to host a cooking show while I performed each step. It was pretty funny.

The best part of a baking photo session? You can nibble on the goodies throughout the shoot.

(Caroline Tran), (Brooklyn Bride), (100 Layer Cake), (The Daily Green), (iVillage)

They Draw and Cook

I came across They Draw and Cook on Twig & Thistle last week and just had to share. The site showcases the work of bakers who illustrate or perhaps they're illustrators who bake. Either way, each yummy recipe includes a drawing of the recipe. Check out of few of the dessert recipes and drawings I found.

Some have step-by-step instructions like these Candy Apples by Aneu Martinez.

While others are a little more vague, like these Brain Cupcakes by Ariel Duncan.

Here are some other great illustrations:
Secret Mexican Flourless Chocolate Cake by Amy Ventura

Vegan Almond Cookies by Julissa Mora

Raspberry Bars by Salli Swindell

Swing by They Draw and Cook, then come back here and tell me your favorite drawing/recipe!

Dessert Table Trend: Hutches/Bureaus/Dressers

Call them what you will. Whether you call it a hutch, bureau, or dresser, they are the new trend in dessert tables. Party planners are taking the candy display vertical for a new twist on the traditional horizontal display.

The trend can fit any theme or vibe. Check out this calligraphy-labeled, feminine spread.

I designed macaron stands and styled desserts for this Marie Antoinette-inspired spread. It's full of bright colors, and the hutch has a great damask background.

This light, bright yellow display is full of cakes and flowers. The white bookcase is nearly invisible against the wall of windows in the background.

I even came across a candy-stuffed dresser when I stopped by Minnesota's Largest Candy Store last month. The mirrored top clevery reflects the store's other goodies.

Image 1 & 2 (Style Me Pretty), Image 3 & 4 (Nonpareil Magazine), Image 5 (Elizabeth Anne Designs)Image 6 (Shauna Younge)

Minnesota Bride Magazine Feature

Yesterday, I showed you the beautiful cover of the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of MN Bride. When I received my copy of the issue at the gala, I was thrilled to see that Shauna Younge Dessert Tables was featured!

If you haven't already, be sure to pick up a copy of MN Bride on newsstands now!

Have a great weekend. I'll be back next week to share a new dessert table trend. Need a little more sweetness in the meantime? Follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook.

Dessert Table: MN Bride's Best of 2010 Gala & Printables

I'm excited to finally share this dessert table with you! I'm doubly excited because The Inspired Bride is also kindly featuring the design today here and I've created printables from this design to share with you. You may remember that I designed a dessert table for Minnesota Bride magazine's annual award gala, which is called The Best of 2010.

MN Bride planner, Amanda Peterson chose a beautiful purple, white, and silver palette, which you see reflected in the dessert table. Amanda also chose semi-round tables to mimic the Carlson Towers Rotunda's round ballroom. Remember this gorgeous fountain I showed you?

Photographer Tricia Little of Sweet Shibui captured all of the desserts beautifully.
I designed the logo to subtly represent an award, since that was the occasion at-hand. So, I designed it to include the notched ribbon part of a 1st Place Prize ribbon. I designed a striped macaron tower to display the lemon raspberry French cookies.

Guests enjoyed custom white chocolate truffles, lemon lavender gourmet marshmallows, pear ginger cupcakes, white chocolate lavender cupcakes, and whoopie pies. I also designed custom candy bars, popcorn boxes, cupcake wrappers, and favor bags, which I gave you a sneak peek of here.

At the end of the night, we were all treated to a complimentary copy of the newest issue of MN Bride, which is on newsstands now!

Check out more great pics of the decor and winners from the event here. I especially love this little boy, who was enjoying a cupcake.

I'd also like to thank the fabulous vendors who helped me bring my design to life. Minnesota is full of sweet talent like, Cake Eater Bakery, Laura's Candy, and Sweets Bakeshop. I'd also like to thank the ladies at Sugar & Flour and WannaHavaCookie.

Don't forget to grab the candy bar and favor label printables for yourself when you visit The Inspired Bride! I created them in three color choices.

Guest Blogging: The Bride's Cafe

I'm back to share my guest post at The Bride's Cafe with you. Janie Medley, talented florist and founder of the cafe, invited me to share a few tips about dessert table designing with her visitors. I call her loyal readers visitors, because Janie's gorgeous features are worthy of pulling up a cup of coffee, staying for awhile, and scrolling through each and every image.

Today, I'm sharing tips to help you find inspiration, get organized, and bring it all together. If you haven't visited The Bride's Cafe before, now's the perfect time. I hope you enjoy the post.

If you need a little extra sweetness, follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook. See you tomorrow!

Faux Bois Chocolate Tutorial

Yesterday, I showed you a few behind the scenes glimpses of Monday's magazine shoot. I also promised to show you how to make faux bois chocolate pieces that you can use to adorn cupcakes, the tops of cookies, or enjoy on their own. So, here's the tutorial.

You'll need a spoon, milk and white chocolate, cookie cutters of any shape, parchment paper, and a wood-graining tool. You can find the tool at paint stores. They're typically used to make wood grain patterns on walls.

Step 1: After melting both types of chocolate in the microwave (Follow package directions), pour a ribbon of the milk chocolate onto the parchment paper. Drag the wood grain tool vertically through the chocolate and down the parchment. Using different sides of the tool will create different wood grain patterns.

Step 2: Put the milk chocolate and parchment (use a cutting board to keep it steady) in the fridge for a few minutes until the chocolate has hardened. Once hardened remove from fridge.

Step 3: Pour ribbons of white chocolate across the milk chocolate grains. Using the back of the spoon, or offset spatula, or butter knife, gently spread the white chocolate across the milk chocolate to fill in the grooves made by the tool.

 Step 4: Put the parchment and chocolate back in the fridge to harden. Once hardened, remove and use your cookie cutters to make your shapes.

Step 5: Voila! You faux bois chocolate shapes are now ready to use. You can store them in the fridge or freezer for months, if need be. Get creative with the shapes and sizes you make. You can attach the chocolate to your favorite desserts using a little dab of frosting. Frost a cookie, then use the same cutter to make the faux bois topper. Or, use the unique shapes as cupcake stoppers protruding from your little cake.

Here, I've made some leaf-shaped chocolates as well as rounds and shards.

Aren't those Lil Fish Studios felt acorns cute? The leaf-shaped faux bois chocolates combined with the acorns would make a great cupcake topper.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. It's a very easy, fun project. I'd love to see what you guys use the faux bois chocolate for, so let me know!

Come back later today to see my guest post for another blogger. I'm sharing tips to help you create your own dessert tables. See you then!