DIY Geometric Gender Reveal Truffles

I'm in a gender reveal state of mind. My friend (and Confetti Pop assistant) recently had a GR party, and I was the only attendee that knew the sex of the baby pre-party. So. Much. Pressure! The other guests kept trying to sneakily get me to spill the beans. Now that her party is behind us, I'm still in a boy or girl mystery mood. I designed these DIY Geometric Gender Reveal Truffles exclusively for Momtastic. Click on over there to get the how-to.

Dessert Table: Gorgeous Gems

Ever wonder what a geometric bride and groom look like? Well, wonder no more. This modern dessert table on 100 Layer Cake is full of faceted details, including geometric cake toppers. Gem-like truffles, cookies, and candy vessels make this table amazing. Talk about working a theme, the Indie Wed crew left nothing un-gem-ified. That's a word, right? Right? Ok, probably not, but I know you get me.

Don't you just love this whole design?

images by Amanda Megan Miller Photography via 100 Layer Cake

Dessert Meets Design: Sequins & Champagne Dessert Table

A couple of months ago, Jen, Sarah, and Tara invited me to join them and some other talented ladies for a fun, graphic bridal shoot. I brought the sweets, of course, and we got to work. Today, Ruffled featured our shoot so I can finally share it with you.

Bold black and white was accented with gold ribbon and a tissue tassel garland. I used the Armato stationery's champagne bubble motif to inspire the custom popcorn boxes and chocolate wrappers I designed. Here's are the paper goods. 

I also created a cake topper of gold, glitter that was reminiscent of the invite's champagne bubbles. White chocolate truffles were customized with gold sanding sugar, while gold gum balls added youthful fun to the table.

I worked with such a fab group of ladies. Please be sure to give them some love in the comments and visit their sites as well. Want to see even more? Check out the full gallery on Ruffled.

Thank you for inviting me to join in the shoot, Jen, Sarah, and Tara! It was great to meet everyone.

shoot concept: Jen Meneghin, Sarah Tillges, Tara Bailie
images: Jen Meneghin
jewelry: Sarah Vonne
florals: A Day in Provence
makeup: Romeny Chan & Alice Bernman of Castor & Pollux
hair: Ashley Haley of Bang Bang Salon
dress: Sixpence Boutique
desserts: Shauna Younge Dessert Tables
stationery: Armato Design
model: Anne Murphey

Dessert Meets Design: Modern Man

Just check out these truffles! Last Fall, I designed this modern yellow, grey, and white dessert table for Zoe and Josh. It was my first experience working with a really involved groom, and Josh was great. In fact, he made every selection, and the dessert table was really a surprise for his bride. He knew what he wanted, and I think the table's overall design reflects a more masculine, modern vibe than some of my other work. My girl Kirsten of Fab Events designed the rest of the event and photog Emma Freeman took these lovely pics.

The design included graphic truffles, macarons, S'mores cupcakes, cake pops, and a custom cupcake tower that I designed to house the mini varieties.

I love when a guy backs stereotype and actually cares about the wedding details. So sweet!

pics by Emma Freeman

Dessert Table: Let Them Eat Cake!

This Marie Antoinette-inspired photo shoot by photog Judy Pak is just about perfect. Style Me Pretty featured this shoot, which has lots of desserts, lots of soft, beautiful light, and lots of pretty petals. There's even a few sweets on a seat. What more could you ask for? If macaron towers, pastel meringues, and a chocolate truffle cake don't do it for you, then you've come to the wrong place.

By the way, I would totally pick those macs up off the floor and chow down after the shoot was over. I have no shame when it comes to a quality mac.

Dessert Table: Peppermint Party

'Tis the season for red and white stripes (and touches of light blue). Such a simple, but bold palette. I love this dessert table by A Little Polkadot via Design Dazzle. It's fun and none of the sweets are cute and uncompliated. The North Pole cupcakes are one of my favorite elements. No, no. It has to be the meringue snowmen. Yeah, for sure the snowmen. Or the white chocolate truffle tower...

Want to try some of these goodies yourself? Breeze on by Design Dazzle for the recipes and how-tos.

Candy Shop Tour: Sugar Sugar

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you already know I spent last Saturday meeting with Maddy of Inspired Bride and Amy Hardy of Design 8 Days to discuss an upcoming project. After that, I visited Sugar Sugar to meet Joni and discuss candy options for a dessert table I'm designing. Next, I met with Kirsten of Fab.you.lous Event Design and her client to discuss the tropical dessert table I'm designing for her wedding.

Since so many of you liked the photo tour of Minnesota's Largest Candy Store that I shared with you over the summer, I figured I'd give you a little peek inside of Sugar Sugar. It's a small shop, but the curated collection of unusual, hard-to-find candies makes it great. A wall of sweets greets customers, while chocolate rings sit under a glass dome on the front counter.

A variety of candy bars with fabulously designed labels line the shelves of the counter. Check out some of the Komforte Chocolate bars. Ramen noodles? Who knew?

 Hand-painted truffles are on display under the glass counter top.

 Of course, there are lots of traditional Valentine's candies on display as well.

If you're in the Twin Cities, you should definitely visit Sugar Sugar's Minneapolis shop. When I was there, a lot of regular customers came, talked to the shop owner, and even brought in their dogs. It's a great little community candy store that has big city sweets.

For other real-time updates on what I'm baking and designing, to ask questions, or share links, follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

SYDT in Mpls St. Paul Magazine!

Yesterday, I shared the cover of the current Mpls St. Paul Magazine with you. Today, I'm back with the feature. Editor Melissa Colgan's only requirement was that the table have a Fall theme. I chose to go with an unconventional color palette instead of the more expected red, orange, and yellow hues that are synonymous with Autumn. Thankfully, Melissa was on board with my concept. I hope you like it, too!

To further turn convention on its head, I made an all-white abstract leaf cake with a flowery brown topper. Custom bird cookies, these faux bois cupcake toppers, caramel chocolate apples, and pheasant feathers share the spotlight with whiskey-infused chocolate figs, white chocolate cocoa, and cinnamon truffles. I designed corduroy, burlap, and wool favor bags to bring some typical Fall fabrics to the design. I also chose chocolate brown velvet ribbon to add another cozy element.

Along with this full-page spread, the magazine also featured another page with some info about me and the firm.

I'm really thrilled to be featured in Mpls St. Paul Magazine, and I'd like to thank the awesome local bakers and artisans who helped bring my vision to life. Check out the article for more info about each vendor.

So tell me, do you prefer unconventional color palettes or traditional ones when you decorate for the seasons/holidays?

Dessert Table: Palest Pink Perfection

This couple's soft pink dessert table looks as delicious as any other, but I especially love the soft pink palette. The dark chocolate treats are really offset by the pale background.

This 100 Layer Cake feast showcases some of the most subtly hued macarons I've ever seen. Look at the blush pink shade of the middle rows of macarons. They are the perfect half-tone between the white macs and the pale pink macs.

I really like to add ribbon for a finishing touch to my dessert table designs, and this couple obviously feels the same way. But they opted for loosely-draped red and white ribbon placed on top of the desserts rather than bows tied around cake stands. Which do you prefer? Traditional bows or unconventional ribbon strands?

Eureka! Fried Truffles

Last night, I met with Bethany of Emmy Lu Design Studio and B*spoke and Maddy of Inspired Bride and Nonpareil Magazine for a working dinner. I was about to pass on dessert (I'd sampled several sweets during the workday, and was nearly in a sugar coma), but the girls convinced me. I admit, they didn't have to try too hard. Low and behold...fried chocolate truffles! Who knew there was such a thing?

They look like little hush puppies, but ours was drizzled with chocolate and served on top of a fried tortilla a la mode. Breaking into the fried shell results in a pool of warm chocolate that runs onto the plate.

It was only after we'd partially devoured it, that I thought to take a picture. Needless to say, I thought this image would be a better illustration.

Image (Interchangable Parts)

Dessert Table: Bridal Accents Couture "Love" Trunkshow

Last week, I featured a sneak peek of the sketch that I drew to help "map out" and design this table. Here are the pictures of the table, which are also on The Inspired Bride today. Be sure to check out that post as well, because Maddy is sharing the printable I created for the chocolate bar wrappers. Swing by and print some for yourself!

Photography by Tricia Little of Sweet Shibui Photography.

 

This table featured hand-cut bride and groom silhouettes along with a picture frame collage. I designed custom chocolate bar wrappers, popcorn bags and labels, jelly bean favor labels, and cookies. Enjoy!

 

  

The popcorn bag labels identified the flavors inside: Chicago Mix, Caramel, or Crunch. The event date, Feb 6th helped further customize the goodies.

  

  

  

I designed the cupcake towers to resemble traditional tiered wedding cakes. The shimmery pink-on-white swirls on the towers echo some of the flowers in the bridal bouquet.

  

 

  

I really feel that this table embodies the preppy-pretty vibe that I was hoping to achieve. Karen of Sugar and Flour, Alicia of Cupcake, and Beth of Have It Sweet helped bring this casually-elegant design to life.