A Special Way to Say Good Bye

New York Eats reports that a new father, Chris Holmes from the U.K., who works as an immigration officer for Border Force at Stansted Airport has turned in a very unquie "resignation letter" to his boss, aka a "cake letter".  The father of a new born son said, "Having recently become a father I now realise how precious life is and how important it is to spend my time doing something that makes me and other people happy,"

So are you curious what the flavor of the "resignation letter" is?  A carrot cake made with coconut, pecans and grapes and frosted in orange buttercream, what a great way to say good bye!

Travel Themed Wedding Cupcake Tower

Congratulations to my lovely client, Tim and Dana, who just got wedded last Saturday!  They had their vintage travel themed wedding at Green River Golf Club in City of Corona last Saturday. the venue was great and at a convenient location (not too far away from the guests, who travel from Orange County, Los Angeles County and Riverside County). 

They were such an easy to get along couple, and gave me a lot of freedom to do my designs for them and showed them my creative ideas.  I could not ask for a better client!  Also, thanks for Debbi, Dana's mom for being such a great coordinator between me and the couple.  Since the couple was studying in Egypt and also travelling in Europe before heading back to the U.S., it's not easy to communicate with each other due to the time difference and the availability of internet access.  Debbi was such a big helper for me to help the couple to create the wedding cupcakes for the wedding. 

Here are some cupcake pictures from their wedding:

Luggage tag with Tim and Dana's name on it.  Yellow flower to match their invitation and flowers at the wedding.

This couple travelled many places together.  A little airplane was the perfect guest to be part of their witness at the wedding.

21 dozens cupcakes (favors from the top - Lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, French vanilla cupcakes with strawberry butterncream). 
Cutting Cake on top (vanilla cake with rasberry filling with vanilla buttercream)

Love cruise

Doesn't matter how far they go, their love always goes with them.

I start accepting orders for September and October.  Please contact me to scehdule your events.

laters, baby<3

A Cup Cake

I did not miss spell one of my favorite vocabulary on the title.  I found this beautiful Cup Cake's picture on the internet and would love to share with you today.

Eat Cake Cafe, Rowland Heights, CA

I had a wonderful weekend of meeting up with family and friends.  Over the weekend, my sister bought me some very "fancy" and good looking petite cakes from a new bakery, called Eat Cake Cafe in Rowland Heights, Ca.  The cakes are all so cute and hard for me to destroy them and put them in my mouth. 

Bottom left - Mango Mousse Cake
Top left - Italian Tiramisu Cake
Bottom right - Red Bean Cake
Top right - Green Tea Chiffon Cake

Just like its fellow bakeries, 85 degree (Taiwanese mixed with Western) and Cream Pan (Japanese mixed with Western), this is a Korean fusion bakery.  A lot of their creations are inspired by Asian or tropical ingredients (green tea, passion fruit, red beans, mango...), but also they have a lot of Western inspired cakes, cookies and pastries, such as well decorated sugar cookies, strawberry short cakes, tiramisu... 

Green Tea Chiffon Cake

Tiramisu

Inside of the cake

My sister got me a total of four cakes to try out - Mango Mousse cake, Italian Tiramisu, Red Bean Cake and Green Tea Chiffon Cake. The Mango Mousse Cake was heavenly good - very refreshing, light and moist cake.  The Tiramisu Cake with chocolate wrapped around and inside of the cake was a creamy body with a hint of alcohol in it (so sexy).  The Green Tea Chiffon Cake was light, flavorful and fluffy. And last but not the least, the Red Bean Cake was absolutely delightful.  I got lucky to have my sister delivered the cakes for me this time.  I will definitely check them out in person the next time when I am around the area. Based one what my sister and my foodies friends told me about this place and also all the reviews on yelp (4 and a half stars rating), I don't think I am going to be disappointed.  Even better, most of their pastries are gluten free and organic.  I didn't even notice I was eatting some amazing pastries without gluten.

Eat Cake Cafe

19705 E Colima Rd
Ste 6
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

(909) 468-2253
Hours: 

Hours:  Mon-Thu 7:30 am - 7:30 pm

  Fri 7:30 am - 9 pm

            Sat 9 am - 9 pm

(check out their website for more inforamtion and menu) 

P.S. More pictures will be uploaded soon, stay tuned!

DIY Picture Flower Pot

We had a great Mother's Day celebration with my husband's family the past weekend.  Besides my own mother and my grand mother (too bad these two very important women are not with me in the States this year), another very special woman I appreciate the most is my husband's mother.  My husband and I concluded - the best mother and mother-in-law we could ever ask for!  And how funny is that my husband was telling me when he was looking for a serious relationship; he always wanted to look for someone just like his mom.  And not for long he found me and my personality is just like his mom.

I always love to hand make something speical for the people I love and treasure the most for their special day.  Sure, we could always spent some money to buy a nice gift and a beautiful bouquet from the mall or at the store.  But in my stubborn mind, I truely want these people to know how important and special they are and how much I love them by making them something they won't see it at the store; and hopefully, they will remember the gift forever.

Last year, my mother-in-law left an old picture album on their dining table.  I causally flipped through it and found a lot of great and valuable pictures of my husband.  I snapped some pictures by using my iPhone and I knew that right away one of these days, these lovely pictures will become handy for me to make some great art works or crafts.  When Mother's Day was approaching, I was thinking to make my mother-in-law something nice to appreciate her love, care and support to my husband and I the entire time; what better than something she could eat, something she could laugh about and something she could add to her office desk?  So here the idea was arised - a pot full of memories and "Cupcake in a Tube"!

I editted the pictures to make them looked brigher and sharper before printing them out from a color printer.  Then I stick the paper on a thicker paper and cut them out.  Next, if you have some left over gift tags from Christmas, you could add them behind the pictures to make a little talking bubbles.  If not, you could always buy a paper puncher from any craft store and make your own talking bubbles.  If you don't like the talking bubbles idea, just simply leave the picture alone.  I added the bubbles because I wanted to add some humors (my husband and I are both very goofy and funny persons, and that is totally our style *laugh*).  Now they are ready to put on a lollipop stick (could be purchased from your local craft store).

Then, I went to the craft store to get a flower pot and some ribbons for decorating.  As soon as I saw this turquoise colored pot; I knew that I didn't need to look any further=p.  The turquoise color reminded me of my husband and my wedding ceremony (deep brown and turquoise were our themed colors).  I wanted to make my pot chic and still girly.  So I picked up a roll of skinny black with white polka dot ribbon and a turquoise colored ribbon to make my pot modern and chic=)  I also designed the "We L<3ve You" label by using a design program; and cut it with my cutting machine.  Now,  everything is ready, and I could use my glue gun to glue everything on the pot. 

There are multi different ways to put in the pot for securing your "photo" flowers.  I have a great and inexpensive way to put your "photo" flowers/cake pops/cake in a tube, pretty much anything on a stick format - go to your local 99 cent store to get a pack of elbow macaroni and filled in the pot (cheap and easy!).  Of course, you could always buy a styrofoam and cut it to fit in the pot; however, I found my way to be faster, cheaper and easier=)

The day before heading to my in-laws' house, I made our new product - cake in a tube to put in the pot (cake is pound cake with strawberry and whipped cream in between)!  I decorated the plastic container with the ribbons I bought from the store to tight the pot and everything else together.  And I wanted to give my mother-in-law a little surprise when she eats the cake. I cut the strawberry into a heart shape and put on top of each "cake tube"<3.  This gift idea is not only good for mother's day.  You could use it for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, or any other special occassions you could think of.

I am a TOMS girl!

Beside cupcakes, I am also a TOMS-holic.  From buying my very first pair of them  to losing count of how many pairs I own; from being the only girl wore them to work to my boss ordered herself couple pairs of TOMS ballets online. 

Why not to love?  They are fun, comfy and totally suit my style and personality.  More important, I love their "One for One" concept - you bought one pair of TOMS, and they donate one pair to people, who needs a pair of shoes.  You will be surprised that shoes are such a luxury item in some undeveloped countries.

For people, who live outside of Southern California might not know about this brand YET!  They are getting more popular now throughout the states and in some European countries.  Here is a little background about this brand:

TOMS Shoes is a for-profit company based in Santa Monica, California^, that also operates a non-profit subsidiary, Friends of TOMS. The company was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, an entrepreneur from Arlington, Texas.^] The company designs and sells lightweight shoes based on the Argentine alpargata design. With every product sold, TOMS will donate a pair to a person in need.

 Source from Wikipedia

Found these pictures online and I want to share with everyone, who love TOMS and cupcakes (am I talking to myself?!)  Anyway, I am glad that I was able to help kids in need and at the meantime I got to own these cute little shoes, which went to everywhere with me. 

(If you live in California and wonder here you can get your first pair of TOMS, here are some sources or places I usually got mine:  They are OF COURSE available on their official TOMS website, Nordstorms, Active store, Jack store and some local shoe stores might carry them too.)

Cupcake love on TOMS

OMG!  These cupcakes are so dang cute.

More cupcakes on TOMS

What a cool TOMS!

TOMS cake with the classic TOMS shoe, the shoes box and TOMS signature flag on it

TOMS cupcakes with TOMS big cake

a stand up TOMS flag

Cake pops for my love

Mr. G is not a big fans of sweet (so as many other guys), but he would ask me to make him something sweet specifically now and then (from cream puff to cupcakes to you got it, cake pops this time).  Recently, he is addicted to the cake pops from Starbucks (see the pink one above).    He knew that I made these cute little treats before, so he put in his request and asked me to make the birthday cake pops similar to the one from Starbucks for him.

Last night, I made him some beautiful cakepops (white cake with buttercream frosting inside).  When I was making these little cute things, I recalled how messy it was the last time I made them.  This time, I got it, I got it RIGHT!  They look and taste much better than the last time.  Practice makes perfect=D

They turned out just as delicious as the ones we got from Starbucks (to enhance their sweetness, try to pair up with a cup of hot coffee, a glass of fresh milk or a cup of hot tea)=) 

Just a side note, I think Starbucks really step up their game with adding some trendy petite fun items on their pastry menu - cake pops, mini whoopie pies and OF COURSE mini cupcakes.  I tried few of them, and they were surprisingly good; however, they were a little overpriced in my opinion (If I remember correctly, a cake pop is around $2.50USD).

Say Yes to the Dress!

Spring season is coming very soon; which means that wedding season is getting closer too. Finding a wonderful man is hard, but sometimes searching for the perfect wedding dress for the big day is even harder.  Are you or any of your friends are searching for "the perfect one"?  Would you consider these stunning wedding dresses I found from the Internet? 

What style of bride you are?
 A. a wild and romantic style?  (or should I say it in French, romantique)

Or B. a dreamy and classy style?

Or C. a laid back and modern bride?

The last but not the least, or
D. Sexy and like to show off the body you have been working on so hard for the past year?

No matter what type of bride you are.  Please remember to relax, have fun and enjoy the whole process of finding your perfect dress.

Waffle + Pizza = Waffza at Love to Go (San Gabriel, CA)

Hours:

Mon-Thu 11 am - 10 pm Fri-Sat 2 pm - 12 am

307 S Mission Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

I always admire entrepreneurs (just like myself); these people are fearless, innovative, passionate, driven, open mind and they always have that JUST DO IT positive attitude and a strong work ethic. The market has not been going to anywhere these few years, it's extremely challenging to become an entrepreneur.  I hope all of us could just hang in there during this tough economy.  Believing in yourself and your companies because your confidence will show to your customers, your employees, your stakeholders and your suppliers.    Eventually, our passions and services will touch people's hearts.

A refreshing Kiwi yogurt Italian soda

I met this girl, Sundi from church when I was living in Pasadena back to year 2000.  I heard so many good things about her cookings, her sweet personality and her food from others at the church we both went to.  Few years ago, I found out that she finally opened her first cafe, Love to Go in City of San Gabriel, California.  I am so excited and happy for her when I first discovered this news.  Because turning your interests and hobbies into a career require a lot of efforts, time, money and a lot more...Her passion towards food have shown on her works.  She created this sweet treat called waffza (think about a combination of waffle and pizza).  This signature dessert is very popular at her cafe (so does their Italian soda).  I am so honor to share her journey and passions with everyone on my blog.

Enjoy these interview Q&A, and I truly wish that after reading this post, you could sit back and take a moment to think about what you are passionate about and GO FOR IT because life is too short to wake up with regrets.

Mrs. G = G
Sundi = S

G:  When did you open your own store, Love to Go?
S:  I opened my store on April 18, 2010

G:  When did you discover you have passion toward food?
S:  When I was studying in college, I started cooking dinner for my friends, brothers and sisters from church all the time.
One day, I saw a commercial on TV about Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena.  I immediately made a phone call and scheduled a visit at their campus.  After the visit, I finally made up my mind and decided to complete an associate degree in Culinary Arts.

Four different types of waffzas

Hong Kong style peanut butter waffle pocket

G:  What inspired you to create waffza?
S:  I found out that many people in the States like to eat waffles.   They also like  pizzas. I think people like these two food because you could put a lot of different toppings on these two food items.  I got inspired by pizzas and waffles and create waffza. At first, I made my waffza on a whole waffle and topped with ice-cream, whipped cream, strawberries and bananas, later I realized most of the people could not finish the whole waffza by themselves.  It made me wonder how I could alternate my creation with more varieties. At last, I came up with the idea of separating the whole waffle into smaller size (their original quarter size) and decorate them slice by slice...Waffza was created ^.^

G:  What is your favorite waffza?
S:  I like all of my waffza, but the most favorite waffza that I love is the banana & nut coated with dark chocolate.

A banana waffza cake

A strawberry and banana waffza cake

2011 Awesome! Magical! Sweet! Cake Contest presented by Cake Central





Picture from Cakespy.com

Picture from Cakespy.com

I can not count how many times I have mentioned on my blog about how much I love Cakespy.com and the artworks and recipes Jessie Oleson (the creator of Cakespy.com) created.  Everything on her website are totally AWESOME! MAGICAL! SWEET! 

Her book, "Sweet Treats for a Sugar-filled Life" has just released (find out more details here).  Recently, Cake Central, the world's largest online cake decorating community has organized this super Awesome!  Magical!  Sweet! Cake Contest last month.  And the winner went to this super Awesome!  Magical!  Sweet! Cake.  The cake was inspired by the artworks crated by Jessie Oleson.  The winner took home a signed copy of the newly released  "Sweet Treats for a Sugar-filled Life" by Jessie Oleson.  How awesome and sweet it is!  Here is the despiration from the winner: 

The cake is inspired by beautiful illustrations of Jessie Oleson. My daughter loved them so much that I had no choice but to make this cake. The first to be eaten was CCoggie (Cuppie Doggie), there are also Cuppie Boss, Cuppie Fairy, Player, Fitness Fanatic, Photographer, Pets and Sweets Lover, Decorator, Baseball Player and Awesome Cuppie Boss Worshhipper. The cake is vanilla, chocolate and strawberry cake, filling vanilla and cocconut IMBC, covered in fondant. Decorations fondant, gumpaste, marzipan, marshmallows and liquorice. Everything is edible (except wires and Rainbow Dust). 

The cake is 99% edible (I don't think I want to eat this AWESOME creation though).  To check out the rest of the cakes, which entered to the contest, go to here.