Total Splash: Sweet Mermaid Buttercream Cake + Cupcakes

 


How obsessed was I with:

1. The movie Splash starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah as the giant floppy tailed dolphin-barking mermaid. Um, also John Candy is in it. GOLD. Need to watch this again asap.

2. The original Hans Christian Andersen story The Little Mermaid where the sweet beautiful mermaid loves her prince so much she cannot kill him and throws herself into the ocean and disintegrates into a thousand bubbles into the ocean waves (SAD!)

3. The friendly-fied Disney version of The Little Mermaid where the little merm is a bright red haired firecracker mermaid and marries the prince (although there is still a horrible death scene of "crazy old Ursula" the mole-faced octopus scary lady).

4. The movie Mermaids starring Cher and Winona Ryder and a young Christina Ricci. Set in the 1960s with amazing hair and wardrobe and a coming-of-age story that any young lady would glomp onto. Yeah. That's a good one.

MERMAIDS! I still love them! And I will love anyone who requests a cake as pretty and buttercreamy beautiful as this one I made for the adorable Rhys. I even drew a custom cake topper in her liking. As a mermaid of course...

Thank you Genieve for the fun order - and happy birthday Rhys!

Cotton Candy Cake

Does anyone else love thin as air, wisps of nothing spun sugar cotton candy? Pale pink sugar threads fluffing and puffing up like a beehive wig, melting into your tongue like magic.

We took Teddy to our city's annual fair this past summer and I felt inspired by the cotton candy sticks in pale bubblegum pink and light turquoise.

My plan was to make cotton candy topped cake - but I didn't realize that cotton candy deflates like a tired balloon. I had purchased a take home bag of pink and blue cotton candy to bring home for my cake project, but when I went to get it from my cake cupboard, it had hardened down to flat dehydrated blocks! Rats - I had missed my chance!

Still, I felt inspired by those beautiful colours and made this adorable pastel cotton candy coloured cake instead.

COTTON CANDY CAKE MINI TUTORIAL 

1. Using your favourite vanilla cake mix, divide batter into two medium bowls. I love Rosie at Sweetapolita's fantastic recipes for both cake and buttercream.

2. Use a tiny dab of pink gel colour for the cotton candy pink and a tiny dab of sky blue colour for the cotton candy blue. Mix batter gently until coloured.

3. Pour batter into four greased and parchment paper lined cake pans - I used 7 inch round cake pans.

4. Bake according to recipe's instructions.

5. Let cool, then frost with your favourite vanilla buttercream. I used a basketweave tip to create the fine-line ribbon look. Top with a fresh single raspberry. So cute!



Come on, take a bite! Who could resist such cute pastel cake layers?

PS - you can also find me elsewhere here: 

Craftsy! Check out my post on drool-worthy simple and pretty cakes by some of my favourite cake designers.

Handmade Charlotte! So stoked to be a new contributor to one of my favourite children's design blogs. So many beautiful ideas, delivered daily! Please visit my Fluffy Lamb Cake DIY I made for them! xo

Have an awesome weekend, cake pals! 

 xo Lyndsay

Cake, photos and styling by Lyndsay Sung // Coco Cake Land

Raspberry Buttercream Cake

My grandma celebrated her 91st birthday on September 14th. Ninety one years old, guys. Can you imagine living that long? My grandma, who we call Poh-poh, was born and raised here in Vancouver, BC - born in a house just a few blocks from where I live now. Poh-poh was the one who gave me my pink Kitchen Aid stand mixer for a wedding present. With that stand mixer I started my baking career, and with that stand mixer 6 years later I made her this frilly ruffly raspberry buttercream cake. 

When you get to be in your 90s, you've seen so much of the world. Your dear friends, your family members, your husband or wife, people pass on and the world changes rapidly around you and you are still going. I think about my Poh-poh and how her bones, her heart, her kidney, lungs, everything is 91! Even though she looks frail and walks slow as molasses and can be scarily forgetful, to me she is still made of steel. When you get to 91 you've seen a lot of things in your life.

This is my dear Poh-poh and I, where I showed her the cake I made her. She still rocks her silk shirts and dress suits, still dyes her hair and gets perms. She's known to be ornery, kind-hearted and with a wicked sense of humour. She embodies an era of ladylike behaviour and manners. She is our connection to the past. I think of her mind like a vault with all the stories and memories tucked away of our family's history here in Vancouver, and of her own life and emotions and experience.

I joked with her that she only had nine more years to go before the big 100 - she scoffed at me and she said this would be her last birthday - which freaked me out a bit. Each birthday we celebrate with her, I know I must treasure the time I have left with my Poh-poh.

I know we can't live forever.

Pink Buttercream Rosette Wedding Cake

I received a lovely email a few months ago from Sandra, a follower and fan of Coco Cake Land since she saw these moustache cupcakes ... she had recently moved to Vancouver from Portugal by way of the U.K. She wanted to know if I could make her very special wedding cake, for a "pocket sized" wedding... ! She loved this pink rosette buttercream cake and wanted some special cake toppers based on a painting a friend had made her of a mama cat, baby monkey and papa bear. 

I was super jazzed on how the cake toppers turned out! It was fun sitting down to draw them and colour them in. Colouring is so satisfying and stress-reducing! I should really get some colouring books. ^__^

Thank you Sandra for the very sweet order! Very happy I was able to make a cake for you and your family. 

xo Lyndsay 

Instacakes: Snippets of Our Summer So Far

I've had such a fun summer so far... how about you? Fun cake orders, super fun styled shoots for Poppytalk and You Are My Fave,  freelance writing about cakes for Craftsy, and swimming and enjoying the sun with my little son Teddy as much as possible! Oooh Teddy turns 1 on August 20th... I can hardly believe it... and that is also, weirdly, the same date as my very first post on this here blog!

Celebration time! I've learned and grown so much as a blogger... and I continue to enjoy connecting with you all and sharing cakes and tutorials and party fun, too. 

Speaking of parties... I'm doing a dog themed 1st birthday for my pup-loving little guy... what did you do for your little one's first birthday? Leave me a link to your party photos in the comments! Would love to see!

Also, if you are also a blogger, please leave me a link to your blog in the comments. I'd love to connect.

Happy Summer,

xo Lyndsay

PS follow Coco Cake Land on INSTAGRAM!

DIY Wedding Cake + Monogram Cake Toppers

I had a lovely time creating this super cute Do It Yourself Wedding Cake for my awesome (and in real-life!) internet pal Jan Halverson of the amazing design blog Poppytalk! 

Hand cut monogram initial and heart cake toppers, raspberry preserves-filled dark chocolate cake with vanilla dotty-piped pale green buttercream, and all topped with ruffly pretty pink begonia flowers from my own garden. Make this for your best friend's wedding or for your very own nuptials! Making your own sweet and crafty wedding cake doesn't have to be scary, I tell ya! You can use many different types of blooms from your own garden, so long as you've grown them naturally and without chemical sprays - or request unsprayed flowers from your local florist.

Laser-blast on over to Poppytalk for the full tutorial! And check out more of my Coco Cake Land tutorials by clicking right here!

Yay Love!

xo Lyndsay

The Coolest Cake Stands, Like, Ever

Gosh, I am really pumped to share with you these cool photos I took of Imm Living's amazeballs cake stands in celebration of their five year anniversary. They are a Canadian design company from Toronto creating "modern cultural artifacts" and their work is pretty, pretty sweet. I am in love with these animal head cake stands - just look at them! What!

Congratulations, guys! Coolest cake stands ever! Check out the Imm Living product line and I dare you not to drool and want to covet like a million things. 

 xo Lyndsay

Cakes, styling and photos by Lyndsay Sung. Cake stands provided by Imm Living 

Dreamy Instagram Cake Roundup!

Some recent cakes from Coco Cake Land, all instagrammed out!