Totoro Anniversary Cake For Chibi!

Whee! Another cute Totoro cake by yours truly, Coco Cake sole proprietor L.K.S.

When I get asked to do work that I've done previously, I always try to make it a bit different, whether it's using different colored paper for the cake board and flags, or adding a slightly different touch... on this Totoro cake I made for William as a present for his wife Chibi on their 4th wedding anniversary, I tried a new leaf look as a cake border... I think it turned out really cute!

The cake is a dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache filling! Totoro and his buddies have a somewhat stunned expression on their face, no? :)

Get On The CatBus (Cake!)

My cute new little nephew Tanner turned 1 month old! We Chinese like to celebrate as much as we possibly can so we had a special "Tanner Is 1 Month Old" dinner for him! Menu items included Gai Jow (gin infused super ginger spicey chicken broth soup with fungus), which is meant to strengthen the mom with superpowers, and dyed red egg. Red is a thumbs-up ho-ho-lucky colour for Chinese folks. And for dessert... CATBUS CAKE! My sis Leanne is pretty much Totoro-crazy so it just seemed right to make her new little baby a Catbus cake, inspired by this awesome one!

To really Asian-it-up, I made it using a matcha green tea cake, vanilla creamcheese frosting and anko red bean filling! I am REALLY into this combo lately, as you can see!

I love my nephews and niece! They make me so happy.

Love, Auntie Lyndsay a.k.a Auntie Coco Cake

Insane Totoro Cupcakes!

Insane because I went a little insane making these crazy guys. They were a bit on the labour-intensive side but I just love love loved how they turned out!!! And the sweetest thing in the world happened... Tina, the awesome woman who ordered them for her sister's birthday, gave me a PRESENT... a vintage porcelain lamb and baby carriage... because she knows how much I love vintage stuff! Isn't that the NICEST? I thought that was so thoughtful and super cool.

Anyway back to Totoro-- hee hee! Two dozen fondant designed regular Totoro, blue Totoro, black dustball and pretty leaves. Lemon Love cupcakes with creamcheese frosting... a real favorite amongst Coco Cake customers! I worked hard on these little guys and I was happy with how they turned out. I kept thinking of my little nephew Brody going "Toto??" whenever he sees something that looks remotely like Totoro... KAWAII!

Heehee. I just love Totoro, and Miyazaki films!! They are always slightly tragic, with sad things happening to children but then wonderful things happening--these are the kinds of movies that always stayed with me when I was a kid. Like the original Little Mermaid which we used to watch at my Auntie Lorraine's house on VHS. It is the Japanese version, and it was so sad... and I remember it to this day, 23 odd years later! Marina, the little mermaid, gives up her entire life for the Prince... only to have him fall in love with the girl he thinks saved him (but no, it was Marina who saved him!!!). I need to get my hands on a copy of this film and watch it again... with lots of Kleenex...!

Totoro Birthday Cake and Totoro Party For Brody

Wahhh, how cute is my little nephew!? For his Totoro-themed very first birthday party, Coco Cake (also known as: L.K. Sung) worked super hard in preparing the 100 mini and regular sized cupcakes and very special fondant-covered, chocolate ganache and chocolate buttercream-filled cutting cake. Do you know Totoro? He is a very hilarious and majestic Japanese animated character who lives in a mythical forest. He flies around trees with his two other Totoro buddies and helps little children in distress. For the Totoro party, my sis requested chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream topped with bright green fondant leaves, and vanilla cupcakes with blue vanilla buttercream topped with little acorns. Plus, a Totoro special cupcake for little Brody. But instead of a cupcake... I made Brody a crazy Totoro cake starring Totoro, blue Totoro, white Totoro, leaves, acorn and that little dustball character!

"Team Totoro" also went crazy with decorations: my sis Shelley, my husband Rich and I spent hours making felt decorations, including the cute orange felt "Happy 1st Birthday Brody" sign, the huge felt trees, branches and leaves, and the mini felt Totoros! Oooh and the custom cake stand I made, as pictured at the very top. This birthday was certainly crazy but a very fun project... and anything for our sis Leanne and our beloved little guy Brody!

Hope you had a Happy Happy Birthday little BB! We love you lots!

Love, Auntie Lyndsay