A cup of ice cream for dessert just won’t cut it anymore if you’re out to impress your guests. These days a dessert table does a lot to add to the ambiance of a party. Color code your desserts to match any theme, and pair them with specially made name cards informing guests of what they’re about to indulge in!

Offering guests desserts on a stick makes for a fun and easy to eat after dinner treat. Bite sized options are nice for those who may have over-indulged on their entrees!

The finishing touches go a long way when it comes to making a lasting impression. Creating a theme and keeping it consistent is key. Make sure your theme begins with your invites, and is apparent throughout. From your table wear, to your flowers, to your desserts.

We would like to thank Matchbook Magazine for bringing us together with all of these fabulous and talented vendors:

Event Production: Be Inspired PR

Photographer: Jessica Claire

Flowers & Decor: Dolce Designs

Planning: Sterling Social

Dessert Table: Cupcakes Couture of Manhattan Beach

Invitations & Stationery: Momental Designs

Scent Station: Kamilyin

Rental Furniture: Found Rentals

Lighting: Lighten Up Inc.

Plate: Paloma’s Nest

Champagne: Nicolas Feuillatte

Other Rentals: HD Buttercup

One of our most popular photos of the week, these Peony cupcakes were made of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, white chocolate petals dyed hot pink, adorned with silver sugar beads.

 This cake was designed to welcome baby Aubry into the world. The cake was first covered in pink fondant with polka dots. The babies head was made by molding Rice Krispie treats into a ball then covered it in buttercream and fondant. The tissue paper was made by rolling out extremely thin gumpaste.

These Parisian themed baby shower cupcakes were a lot of fun for Stephanie. The handmade poodle garnishes were her favorite to make! They were chocolate and vanilla cupcakes that were also adorned with peony flowers, pink eiffel towers, baby bottles, and the baby girls’ initial: “C.”

This Minnie Mouse cake was for little Lexxie’s 1st birthday. She also go Minni and Micky cupcakes!

Gender cakes are all the rage these days. Here is a good idea for one! Surprise your guests by having a party & revealing the sex. First, have your doctor write the sex of the baby onto a piece of paper, then take that paper to your favorite bakery (preferably Cupcakes Couture)! Have your baker bake the note with the sex of the baby on it into the cake, and use gender neutral designs. Reveal the sex of the baby to everyone by cutting the cake, then celebrate with a sweet treat!

]]> http://www.cupcakescouturemb.com/2012/01/24/memorable-mondays-last-weeks-elite-treats-5/feed/ 0 http://www.cupcakescouturemb.com/2012/01/17/memorable-monday-last-weeks-elite-treats/ http://www.cupcakescouturemb.com/2012/01/17/memorable-monday-last-weeks-elite-treats/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:33:35 +0000 admin http://www.cupcakescouturemb.com/?p=3243 It’s Monday and that means it’s time for another review of last week’s sweet treats! It was a busy weekend in the Cupcakes Couture kitchen as we prepared the perfect desserts for multiple weddings and parties around Los Angeles. Here are a few of our favorites from the weekend:

First, a gorgeous wedding in the courtyard of the luxury beach venue, Shade Hotel here in Manhattan Beach, CA. The couple chose to have five different flavors of petite cupcakes placed on a modern, simplistic cupcake tower: Chocolate Obsession, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Red Velvet, 24K Ginger, and Sea Salted Caramel. The top tier of the cupcake tower was a red velvet cake. The bride wanted the cupcakes to take center stage with beautiful all white flowers and candles on each side of the black, white, and silver display. Below, are some photos of Stephanie Franz setting up the magnificent dessert display.

The white wedding cake below has a special story to it…not only because it was someone’s wedding day, but because the guests didn’t know it! It was a surprise wedding held at a private Malibu residence. The guests thought they were going to a bridal shower and that the nuptials were to come later. Little did they know, they had shown up for the actual wedding! This chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and white cascading flowers was as last minute as the wedding, but we think it turned out beautifully.

The Tiffany blue cake with polka dots was for a baby shower (possibly the cutest baby shower of all time)!  Both tiers of the cake were red velvet with cream cheese. It was then covered in Tiffany blue butter cream and spattered with white sugar paste polka dots. The animals were designed to match the same animals on the crib!

The final cake was for one lucky six year old girl’s Alice in Wonderland themed party. The bottom tier was a devil’s food cake with vanilla frosting, the middle tiers was a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting, and the top tier was a chocolate cake with  Nutella frosting. We covered the whole thing in a light pink fondant and gum paste sugar flowers.

This Jack Daniels cake was made for Cupcakes Couture fan, John’s 30th birthday. Stephanie carved the Jack Daniel’s bottle shape out of Devil’s Food cake, filled with German chocolate frosting, and topped with coconut caramel frosting, which was then covered in sugar paste. Stephanie was able to print the specs for the Jack Daniel’s bottle with eatable ink and then trace over it for the customization. The cake then made the trek all the way to Big Bear for the party!

Our next cake was for a music lover. Take a look at what Stephanie was able to create for him!

For music lover, Marcus’ 40th birthday party, his friends thought this cake would be most fitting! Stephanie helped make their dream a reality by building this record player cake out of vanilla cake with lemon frosting. She used black-dyed sugar paste to cover the cake and create the attached pieces, and then painted on silver luster dust to create the amazingly realistic metal look on the tone arm. In addition to the cake, Marcus was surprised with red velvet and tuxedo, and black and white cupcakes topped with musical  notes and guitars, as well as salted caramel popcorn.The soiree was held at the Redbury hotel in Hollywood and was surly a night to remember!

When this LA county firefighter’s wife called in for his 40th birthday cake, she told us that she wanted flames and lots of them! Armed with an airbrush and orange eatable paint, Natalie was able to create these bright flames made of sugar paste and attached them to the lemon cake with strawberry frosting. Next, we molded a fire hat out of rice crispies and painted the number 1305–his firefighters number–onto it before applying the finishing touches. Happiest birthday to you, David. Thank you for all that you do keeping us safe here in LA!

Assistant pastry chef, Natalie, is hard at work creating the flowers for a three tier wedding cake.

She carefully uses the airbrush to create the bright orange hue on the cake’s sugar paste flowers

Our sweet pastry cook, Betty meticulously cuts, shapes, and bouquets the flowers to prepare them for the top of the cake.

Executive Pastry Chef, Stephanie, begins attaching the flowers on the first layer of this three layered cake.

The finished product: a perfect country themed accent to someone’s perfect, special day.

If you don’t have one of our scrumptious cupcakes on hand (shame on you), hopefully these fun cakes will do! With all the many reasons to celebrate this week, these people had even more reasons! It was birthday overload here at Cupcakes Couture. Here are a few of our favorites!

This adorable ducky cake was made for a baby boy’s baby shower. It was red velvet, and Chocolate/Vanilla cake covered in sugar paste, decorated with polka dots in blue hues, and topped with a “rubber ducky.” Luckily this rubber ducky was eatible…it was made from rice crispy treats, and covered in fondant!

It seems our name proceeds us and has made it all the way across the pond! We were pleasantly surprised to hear a UK resident on the other end of the phone when this order was made! It seems his twin nephews had a birthday coming up and he wanted to send his love in an extra thoughtful way. We were happy to help!

This gorgeous cake was made for a woman’s Gluten-Free, Soy-free grandmother. The flower represented her favorite colors and each one took over 45 minutes to craft before placing them on top. The cake is our gluten-free vanilla, with raspberry jam and chocolate frosting, covered in buttercream and topped with white chocolate embellishments and gold dragees. Happy birthday, Gaga!

With Tiffany turning the big 3-0, her loved ones knew she needed a special cake, so a special cake we did make! Inspired by our famous Love Spell couture cupcake, this was a raspberry jam filled blackout cake, covered in delectable white chocolate frosting, and topped with gold gilded raspberries, mini chocolate cigarettes, and gold dragees.

For Shade Hotel guest, Heike, they special ordered a red velvet cake covered in buttercream and white chocolate shavings. The cake was topped with gold leaf, and a pink and white chocolate cigarette.

Glitz & Glamour: Roasted vanilla bean cake topped with Tahitian vanilla bean frosting.

Availability: Everyday

Chocolate Obsession: Chocolate blackout cake with velvety chocolate frosting.

Availability: Everyday

Cinnamon Roll: Cinnamon cake filled with caramel pecan center, topped with cream cheese frosting.

Availability: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Pumpkin Spice Latte: Pumpkin spiced cake topped with creamy latte frosting and pepitas

Availability: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Hot Chocolate: Blackout cake filled with liquid chocolate center topped with toasted marshmallow.

Availability: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Lady in Red: A holiday twist the the traditional

Red velvet cake topped with fluffy cream cheese frosting. Availability: Everyday

Winter Mint: Flourless fudge cake filled with mint fudge and peppermint buttercream frosting (gluten free).

Availability: Everyday

Milk & Cookies: Vanilla tres leches cake with chocolate frosting and a chocolate chip cookie.

Availability: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Cookies & Cream: Chocolate cake, crushed Oreo mousse, cookies & cream frosting and house-made Oreo.

Availability: Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Apple Cobbler: Vanilla cake filled with caramel apples, topped with vanilla bean frosting and dipped in cinnamon streusel.

Availability: Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Gingerbread: Ginger molasses cake topped with vanilla frosting and a house-made gingerbreadman

Availability: Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Couture:

Bailey’s Blackout Crunch: Bailey’s soaked blackout cake, praline crunch center, topped with Bailey’s caramel frosting.

Availablity: Wednesday, and Friday

Peitite

Eggnog:  Eggnog infused cake topped with creamy vanilla frosting and spiced streusel.

Available: Everyday

Snowball: Blackout cake topped with coconut frosting and rolled in shredded coconut.

Availability: Everyday

We hope you enjoy our winter menu as much as we do!! Come try one of our new flavors this week!!

Shippable Sweets Collection

“A taste of luxury delivered to your doorstep.”

Unfortunately, we are unable to ship 0ur famous cupcakes due to the elaborate design and craft. We would hate for our beautiful cupcakes to travel all that way just to become a messy box full of frosting and what used to look like a cupcake. The good news is, we have plenty of specialty treats that can be baked to fit most dietary restrictions including GLUTEN FREE that we are happy to package up and ship off wrapped with a pretty little bow.  Take a look at all we have to offer below:

Even though our cupcakes can’t be shipped, you can still send cupcakes in a jar! Available in red velvet and chocolate mint, these 8oz mason jars are filled with couture deliciousness. Other flavor combinations, and alterations based on dietary needs (such as gluten free) are available for special order. Each cupcake in a jar come complete with gift tags, a spoon, festive ribbon, and cost $8 each.

These cake pushpops are perfect for children or adults who love to reminisce! Available in red velvet and chocolate mint, these pushpops are adorable and perfect as a treat on the go. Plus they’re just plain FUN! Our cake pushpops are $4.75 each and also available in gluten free with special order!

Cake pops became an instant hit the moment they came into fruition. We offer them in a variety of flavors, including chocolate and red velvet for only $2.75 each. Our cakepops are also available in gluten free daily!

An old classic, our house-made peppermint bark is available in both white and dark chocolate.

They are naturally gluten free and cost $3.50 per package.

While not always in the shape of a snowflake, our sugar cookies are available year round and cost $3.00 each

Housemade brownie bites are fudgey, delicious, and only $3.50. As with all of our desserts, we are able to bake according to most food alergies. Please call us for more details.

You haven’t had a marshmallow until you’ve had a peppermint flavored marshmallow. Perfect for hot chocolate on a cold, cozy day and naturally gluten free, these delicious marshamallow bites sell for $2.50 for a package of 6.

We also do corporate gifts!! These cupcakes with company logos were a HUGE hit this holiday season. Not only did we send dozens and dozens of cupcakes to be delivered throughout Los Angeles, we also got calls from many of the recipients who wished to do the same! We were hard at work, but it was all worth it. Check out these corporate treats:

With the holidays closing in quicker than we can believe, there isn’t much time to place your order! Call us today to put together your package of Shippable Sweets from Cupcakes Couture!!

Working with Mackenzie was such a pleasure. She was always extremely willing to help out where ever help was needed. Whether it were running out for new props for a photo shoot, or helping set up for events. As rush chair of her sorority last year, Mackenzie was well seasoned in what was needed to put finishing touches on every event.

Her positive attitude and ability to take on any task without hesitation is what made Mackenzie such a great asset to us here at Cupcakes Couture. She will truly be missed as she continues on to finish her time at USC and ventures out into her career. To show our appreciation we threw her a pizza party where everyone came together to say goodbye and give her a card and gift. Here are some photos from Mackenzie’s last day:

Natalie, Stephanie, Betty, and Mackenzie getting ready to chow down on some pizza!

Brent and Aubry taking a break to say goodbye!

Mackenzie reading her card

Now that Mackenzie is only one semester away from graduating from USC and has had four months of marketing and business operations experience, we thought it would be a good idea to share her wisdom with the masses. We asked her a few questions about her time here at Cupcakes Couture and what her hopes for the future were. Here’s what she told us:

Why did you want an internship at Cupcakes Couture?

There were three main reasons: I loved the concept behind the company, it was in an industry I’ve been interested in since I was rush chair for my sorority and first got exposed to it, and I’ve had a borderline obsession with weddings since I was about three, so I loved the idea of seeing this side of them.

What was your favorite part of working at Cupcakes Couture?

Definitely getting to work with all of the amazing people there. Even when we were doing something really simple, the people around made it fun.

What will you miss the most?

Probably how much fun just working at ccmb everyday was. We were doing different things every week but it was always fun! Also getting to see some of the amazing cakes as they are being made.

What was your favorite project to work on?

There were so many, but probably whenever we would brainstorm new flavors or ideas for a photo shoot or event.

What are your hopes for future Cupcakes Couture projects?

There are so many new things that are in the planning stages, I just can’t wait to see everything come together and the company continue to grow!

Any words of wisdom for future interns?

Pay attention to everything you are working on because you can often learn a lot from something when you aren’t expecting to and work in several different areas-it gives you the context for what you’re working on and you will gain a better understanding of your main area of work by knowing about all the little things that go into it.

Stephanie Franz getting getting hooked up to the mic!

Going over the topics for the shoot

And…ACTION!

Stephanie showing how to texture a special occasion cake

Explaining how to make flowers out of sugar paste

Decorating the cake with sugar paste flowers

Stephanie showing everyone how to make our special Sunday Mimosa cupcake

Adding the white chocolate petals

The beautiful finished product of our Sunday Mimosa Couture Cupcake

Showing some of our past creations

Stephanie signing autographs for the next generation of cupcake lovers

We had so much fun filming this video with GeoBeats and can’t wait to show you the final product!