There's a Shark in the Water!

Last weekend, I was asked to make a shark cake for a sweet little boy's 4th birthday party - so fun!  The result was this GIANT shark cake that I could barely fit in the fridge! :)  Good thing I measured!!

I love that he's smiling - haha! The cake was chocolate with cannoli filling and chocolate buttercream frosting - yum!!

The cake was delivered to a beautiful apartment overlooking the Flatiron District in NYC.  I got to meet the birthday boy who was all set for his party - such a cutie!!

Happy Birthday Cristian!!

Pink Elephant Cookies

Ooof! What a neglectful blogger I've been the past few weeks! My sincere apologies to my wonderful readers - hope you haven't forgotten me! I certainly haven't forgotten you all - it's just been a crazy 2 weeks full of exciting cake adventures, new orders coming in, a major delivery schedule, plus some sick kiddos in the mix (poor little munchkins!). I'll do a quick blog post tonight about these adorable pink elephant cookies and will do some more blogging tomorrow to tell you more about what's been happening and what's to come! :)

These cookies were made as favors for a baby shower on Staten Island this past weekend.  The mom-to-be is a friend of mine from grade school - her sister reached out to me for these cookie favors which she wanted to be made to match the ADORABLE invitations she got from shutterfly.com!

I was super-psyched when I saw them and couldn't wait to get started!  Here they are!

The toughest ones to do was the hot pink elephant. The design was handpainted on there and took about 4 hours for 20 cookies! It was so worth it though - I love how they looked!  Here is a bunch of my faves all together:

Don't get me wrong, I loved these little guys too though! :)

Delivering the cookies was the best because I got to see my friend's mom and sister who I hadn't seen in years - their delight over the cookies was so rewarding and I was so psyched to hear that everyone, including the mom-to-be, liked them! :)

"they were absolutely ADORABLE! and delicious too! thanks so much for making them!! xo"
"they were great Tara!!! everyone loved them:)))"

Holiday Cookie Collection

My sister Kate, from Pretty it Up is freelancing with an amazing company that puts up all the Christmas decorations in the department stores around NYC (so far she's done Barney's, Saks 5th Ave and Macys)! They work overnight, like Buddy did in the movie "Elf" and have created some gorgeous displays in the last few days!!  If you're in NYC during the holiday season, be sure to stop by and visit all the stores to see it all - it will put you in a festive holiday mood for sure!!

Seeing all the pics my sister has texted us in the wee hours of the morning of her handiwork has put ME in the holiday mood earlier than usual this year! So last night, I created Heavenly Bites first holiday cookie collection! I hope you like!

This is just a sampling of the cookies I can provide - if you want to order some for your holiday party or as a hostess gift for a party you may be attending, let me know!  I'm happy to bake up and decorate anything you might need!

Some fun ideas for holiday cookie collections:

1) Santa in his sleigh & 8 reindeer - picture them all lined up on the dessert table at your Christmas party!

2) Decorated Ball Ornaments - think sets of stripes, argyle, polka dots, etc.

3) Hanukkah Cookie Set - dreidels, stars, menorahs

4) Mittens Set

5) Gingerbread Men Set

Ok, I'm stopping myself now :) Hope to hear from your for your holiday cookie orders - can be shipped anywhere in the USA! Please order at least 2 weeks in advance of when you need them so I can get them to you in time!

Please contact me at heavenlybitescakes@gmail.com for pricing and to place your orders!

Giveaway!!

I am truly excited to share with you that Heavenly Bites is taking part in our first product giveaway through an awesome blog called A Few of My Favorite Things. Become a "follower" of my blog and head on over to AFOMFT to enter to win your choice of 24 custom decorated cookies, fondant cupcake toppers, cake bites or cake lollipops...just in time for the holidays!

Danielle, the blogger behind A Few of My Favorite Things is a mom of twin girls, a television producer and in her "spare" time, she writes this amazing blog helping tons of moms out there find amazing products for children, posting fabulous party ideas, keeping her readers apprised of great sales going on that we shouldn't miss out on (these are just a few of the helpful things you'll find on her blog) - truly amazing her readers with how she does it all! Her blog is a daily must-read for me and I highly recommend!





 
Meanwhile, to whet your appetite for holiday cookies, I've been baking up a storm tonight and decorating Heavenly Bites first holiday sugar cookie collection...I'll be posting pictures this week so you'll have plenty of time to decide if you'd like to put in an order for your holiday party!
 
Thanks for stopping by everyone! In this month of thanksgiving, I'm thankful for all of you who take the time to stop by and read my posts and check out my pictures...when I first started posting, I really thought it would be just family and some friends reading the blog, but it turns out there's a whole world of wonderful, interested people out there - its truly amazing and I thank you so much!!!!

Ruff, Ruff!!!

One of my most favorite cakes to date is this 3D version of Maury, the King Charles Cavalier puppy, who was ordered by one of my colleagues at work for his fiance who recently got promoted! Such a sweet thought!

Arty came up with this awesome idea for a cake for Courtney's promotion and provided me with tons of pictures of Maury (which my kids LOVED seeing hung up all over the kitchen the morning after I finished decorating the cake!) He provided specifics about white spots on Maury's fur, as well as his length and height sitting up measurements - he was really excited about doing this for his fiance!

Here is the cake!

The cake was vanilla with chocolate buttercream filling. Maury the cake was such a cutie, I had a tough time handing him over! :)

This week, I was so thrilled to receive a sweet thank you note from Courtney AND pictures of the real Maury meeting his cake self!

"Hi Tara, I just wanted to thank you again for the cake!  Not only was is unbelievable to look at, it was delicious....Thank you for taking time out of your hectic schedule to make Maury, the cake - I truly appreciate it. Here are some pictures of Maury meeting the cake - I had to pass them along.  Have a great day!"

Maury meeting Maury!



So sweet!



Congrats on your promotion Courtney! And best wishes for all the amazing things to come in the future!

Yankee Hat Cake - 75th Birthday

I'm sad that this might be my last Yankee hat cake this year since their season is over! :( But it was a lot of fun to make this cake - my client requested it for her mom's 75th birthday!! Such an amazing milestone! What an honor to make the cake for such a special occasion!

The cake was layers of vanilla and chocolate cake, with chocolate buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. My client requested a few flowers be added to the cake to give it a little more of a girly feel...I love how the red pops! :)

Happy 75th Birthday Marilyn!!

Beachy Birthday

Recently, I was asked to make a shell shaped birthday cake by one of my work colleague's for her grandmother's 75th birthday...such an awesome idea for someone who loves the beach! I was so excited to make the cake for the awesome birthday weekend she and her family had planned for her grandma!

Here is the cake!

From the top!

The cake was lemon with lemon custard filling and vanilla frosting. So light and delicious, and totally reminiscent of summer! Happy Birthday! :)

Wedding Cupcake Skewers

After entering the cupcake skewer contest at Pizzazerie I felt totally bitten by the mini cupcake skewer bug, so I was super excited when a few girls at my office requested some for a bridal shower they were throwing! These sweet little bite-size treats are so perfect for parties - literally pop them in your mouth and you're in heaven! No forks needed!

The bride-to-be's wedding colors are dark purple and silver, so I used those colors for the sprinkles and mini fondant flower on top, along with white buttercream frosting to make two-tiered mini wedding cakes.  Each mini-cake was perched on top of skewers, tied with mini purple & gray ribbon. I LOVE how they came out!

The bases holding the cupcake skewers were homemade by me and really easy to make.  They are little floral foam squares, wrapped up in silvery gray posterboard, each adorned with a gorgeous purple scrapbooking flower (all purchased at AC Moore).

Honestly, the toughest part of cupcake skewers is transporting them!! I ended up putting all the ribbons on the skewers two nights ago, decorating the cupcakes last night and carried them (on NYC transit - SCARY!) into work in tupperware - I didn't put those little guys on the skewers until it was time to set up the party! :) I definitely think it was a wise choice!

Wishing the bride-to-be all the best - what a fun send off from her co-workers to her wedding this coming weekend! :)

Luis Vuitton Diaper Bag Cake

I don't get it, one of my FAVORITE cakes ever, and I forgot to make a blog post about it?!? I definitely posted it on Facebook and Flickr, but it must've been one crazy summer to make me forget to blog about this cake!

This Luis Vuitton diaper bag cake was made for one of my work colleague's baby shower this past summer! Her sister was so sweet and contacted me asking for this awesome design! I was so psyched to be doing my first purse cake and was thrilled with the results!

The toughest part about making this cake was actually not the purse details, like the handles, pockets or the zippers...it was the mini LV's all over the purse! They did take a long time to draw on there, mainly because in the dead heat of summer, no matter how high the AC was, the fondant kept sweating! So the edible marker wouldn't work in certain spots. I think it took a total of 4 hours to finish all the little LV's...but honestly, it was so worth it! I love this cake!

If you read the post prior to this one, you know that the mama-to-be has already had her sweet little angel, David! I was so excited to be asked to do the cake for her baby shower and christening...truly, one of the best parts of cake decorating is playing a small part in the happiness of the special occasions of my clients. It's so awesome!!

Can't wait for the next special event!! :)

Buttercream Christening Cake

This past weekend I had the honor of making the cake for one of my colleagues son's christening! The cake was two tiers (bottom tier - yellow cake, top tier - devils food cake) with cannoli cream filling and vanilla frosting.

I was lucky enough to have made the baby shower cake for David's momma (Luis Vuitton Diaper Bag cake, which I JUST realized I never blogged about - am I crazy!?! Will post a blog about this cake soon!), so to be asked to come back and do this little angel's christening cake was truly awesome!

The cake was covered in buttercream, decorated with fondant flowers (in the shape of a cross), polka dots, ribbon and a scalloped circle with "God Bless David" adorning the top of the cake.

CNN Iphone Cookies

Awhile back, I was asked by an Account Executive in CNN Mobile Ad Sales to design a cookie to highlight the CNN iphone app to send to her clients to thank them for their business.  What better way to do this than by creating an iphone cookie!?!

The cookies were sugar cookies, decorated with fondant, each CNN logo hand-cut since there's no cookie cutter out there yet (I attempted to make my own, but there were WAY too many curves!).  Each cookie was wrapped in it's own cellophane bag and tied with a red ribbon.



Pretty little cookies, all dressed up and ready to go!

Boxed in delicious groups of 12, I packed them in sleek silver tins (from the Container Store) with red tissue paper. Then they were tied with a red bow and sent off to CNN mobile clients!

I also designed a sample of the CNN mobile app itself, but they decided they like the Iphone the best.

Thanks for using Heavenly Bites Cakes, CNN!! It was a pleasure working with you! :)

Monkeying Around!

For my nephew's 3rd birthday, he asked MONTHS ago for a Curious George cake - he whispered it to me at his brother's Star Wars birthday party! I LOVED that when we showed up at the party, he had decided he wanted a mix of characters for decoration, so there were Lightning McQueen plates and Toy Story balloons - I love a kid who thinks out of the box! :)

The cake is the famous yellow hat from the Curious George books...and George is peeking out from underneath! It was yellow cake, with chocolate buttercream frosting, Andrew's favorite!

Inspired by a picture I took of Andrew at my boys birthday party...


A little blurry - sorry about that!

It was a fun cake to make! Happy Birthday Andrew!! Love you!

Yankee's 90th Birthday Cake

This past weekend, one of my clients asked asked to make a Yankee's themed birthday cake for her grandmother's 90th birthday - how amazing is that?!?! 90?!?! And she's a Yankee's fan? I love it! 

The cake was a Yankees jersey and the hat was made of rice krispy treats...

The cake was devils food cake with chocolate expresso filling and frosting.

Happy 90th Birthday Jean!!

Choo Choo, James & Patrick turned TWO!!!

Disclaimer: this is more of a whole party post, rather than just a cake post, so it's rather long...hope you enjoy! :)

My sweet baby boys (who are no longer babies!) turned TWO this past weekend! I cannot believe 2 years has past since they were born - time flies too quickly.  Here is a picture of our little munchkins on a Costco trip, taken by dad, shopping for birthday party beverages last Friday:


Patrick on the left, James on the right.

You guys make us proud with every new word you say and everything you do...we love you!

Their birthday party this year was a Thomas the Train theme. A little background on why...a few months ago, my Aunt Maureen and sweet cousins Jay and Caroline delivered a car-load of Thomas toys, including a handmade train table by Uncle Greg, while the boys were napping one day. When they woke up from their nap and came downstairs to the train table and all the trains, that was it - they fell in love with Thomas and Friends!

They've somehow managed to learn all of the trains names (meanwhile, a lot of them look alike, so my husband and I are still confused with some of them!), they sleep with the trains at night and take them to the doctors office and to daycare...they LOVE these guys! Hence, the birthday theme!

The Invitation


Invitation by my sister Kate at Pretty It Up

Originally, the party was to take place at a nearby farm, but had to be changed at the last minute, so it was relocated to Grandma Susan (of the Daily Suse) and Grandpa Patrick's house only a few minutes away. We were going to do hayrides and pumpkin picking at the farm, so as not to disappoint our littlest guests who may have been looking forward to those activities, we made a little pumpkin patch in the yard and a section for hayrides in a little red wagon on the driveway.

Decorations and Party Activities


Welcome sign on front walkway by Kate at Pretty it Up



Front Door fall decor by Susan of The Daily Suse, Balloons from Party City, Thomas "Choo choo, we're TWO!" sign made by me :)

The back deck, all ready for the party! Scarecrows from Home Depot!

Our hayride! Bales of hay from Michaels and the twins own Radio Flyer Wagon.

Gorgeously orange little pumpkins waiting for little guests to take them home!

Patrick pointing to the "punkin's" on the Pumpkin Patch sign by Kate at Pretty it Up!

Party Fun!
The party kicked off with snacks & juice boxes for the kiddos and some grown-up appetizers as well - then came the hayrides, pumpkin picking, playing house, drawing on the driveway in chalk...and a visit from Thomas the Train himself!
 

Snacks, Hayrides, Fun!

Thomas the Train comes for a visit - tent madness ensues!

The Cakes!
You know I had to make 2 cakes! When we brought the boys home from the hospital after they were born, we named a color for each of the boys so that everyone would have an easier time telling them apart until we were sure we could do without confusing them. Now we can definitely tell them apart, but the colors have stuck with them - from their clothes, down to their pacifiers (uh-oh have to get rid of those soon), their drinks cups, their backpacks! Patrick is green (for St. Patrick) and James is blue.  So I made a Percy train cake because he's green and of course a Thomas train cake for the blue!

Percy Train



Thomas Train

One of my favorite pics...James reaching out to touch his train cake to see if it was real! He and Patrick both kept trying to pick up the trains to play with them!!


James touching Thomas's nose!



We sang a LOUD chorus of Happy Birthday to the boys after which they clapped and cheered like crazy! Their cousins helped blow out their candles and then everyone chowed down on cake! Thomas was vanilla cake with chocolate frosting/filling and Percy was chocolate cake with vanilla frosting/filling. 

 

After cake, we handed out goodie bags filled with train related treats - each little guest got a conductor hat, a train whistle, a Thomas sticker, Thomas bubbles and a rice krispy treat shaped like a train! We also gave out Oreo cookie pops drizzled with green & blue chocolate.

It was such a fun party - Patrick and James had such a great time! We're so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends to celebrate with! Can't wait till next year!

Here are my two favorite pictures of the boys from the party.

Pure joy and pure sweetness...