The couple is not a fan of fondant- and who is when the kind most people taste comes from an industrial bucket and is filled with artificial flavors and chemicals? (Sugared Magnolia’s handmade fondant tastes dreamy!)- so they wanted to stick with buttercream frosting. They had a few ideas in mind- beautiful layers of ruffles or whippy mounds of buttercream. They emailed photo ideas to me and based off those, I created a buttercream frosting that would resemble petals. They wanted a mid-tier riser that was stuffed with dahlias and lemon leaves (courtesy of Megan at Persimmon Floral), so that was integrated in to give the cake more height without adding to the serving amount. The cake was topped with two fragrant gardenias and a spray of lemon leaves to offset it. The base was one of Sugared Magnolias custom built cake stands wrapped in ribbon mirrored in the bouquets of the bridal party. And the flavors? Dark chocolate as the bottom tier and the top two tiers being lemon with lemon curd filling: a tangy bite of real lemon, softened by a custard base.

Here’s the final outcome!

Hints: It has a brioche dough, plenty of spices in the filling and it’s going to make the Sugared Magnolia kitchen smell like Christmas (good anytime of year!)…

Have you guessed it yet?

The snowy landscape hides the chocolatey goodness underneath!

This was one of my favorite little cupcake projects… I made these snowy fellas for a kindergarten class. The mother who brought them in said the kids were so excited about the marshmallow men that she hardly opened the box before all the snowmen were snatched away!

Well… that’s what they were created for- little mouths to enjoy!

Lavender Sugar - Homemade Version

Today I’m embarking on a new adventure: creating homemade flavored sugar. I’m intrigued by the idea of taking a staple, like sugar, a making it a little more gourmet. The store-bought kinds can run a pretty penny… homemade to the rescue! I purchased lavender in bulk from the new market down the street and added it to the organic sugar we use here at Sugared Magnolia. After two weeks the end result should be a subtly flavored sugar, gifting some of Sugared Magnolia’s baked goods with a light and unique flavor.

Want to try this at home? Let’s go!

Lavender Sugar:

2 T dried lavender flowers – organic*

1 cup sugar**

A tight sealing jar

Piece of muslin to wrap lavender in, if desired

If you would like- for ease of later use- bundle up the lavender in muslin and secure with string. If you don’t have muslin, you can mix the sugar & loose lavender together, you may just want to strain the lavender out when you use the sugar.

Make sure your jar has been cleaned and dried thoroughly and that the seal is tight. You want only the lavender fragrance in there and you don’t want any escaping! Combine the sugar & lavender- stirring loose lavender with the sugar to get it evenly distributed or dropping the lavender bundle in the middle of the sugar.  Seal the jar and shake or stir every few days. After two weeks begin testing to see if it is ready for use… you’ll know it’s ready when it smells fragrant!

We’d love to hear what experiments you are working on in the kitchen or how you plan to use your flavored sugar. Let us know and enjoy!

* Make sure the lavender you use is intended for culinary purposes otherwise it could contain scented oils and chemicals. We’re not making potpurri!

** We use Fair-Trade Organic Evaporated Cane Juice sugar. We suggest avoiding sugars with heavy molasses content as that may overpower the delicate lavender fragrance – but go ahead and experiment; you may have a winner!