These dark-chocolate raspberry cake pops were made as a birthday gift package. They’re covered with milk chocolate and a melted candy swirl.

For Cavan’s 30th birthday, we celebrated in style. We hunkered down at Bradstreet Craftshouse Resturant at the Graves 610 hotel. Cavan is a big fan of all of the unique cocktails they serve.  (He even infuses his own vodka; see the video on his website, You’re in my Kitchen). With this love of spirits, I decided on a champagne cake frosted and filled with vanilla buttercream and fresh raspberries. Happy Birthday Cavan!

My Cara girlfriend jokes that her life could be a sitcom, because it’s rife with everyday challenges and related small victories. But, I’m of the option that those small victories are what you have to celebrate! For her “27th episode” friends are gathering at a quintessential corner bar for none other than a gloriously greasy cheeseburger.

We also collaborated to make a fun spring-inspired cake that is probably a little ahead of its time, at least if you venture outside the coziness of the bar’s back booth. The lime-colored fondant covers a key-lime cake with lime buttercream and a fresh raspberry filling. Thanks for the wonderful inspiration Cara, and here’s to even more wonderful “episodes.”

My coworker’s first son nicknamed her daughter before she even arrived. One year later, everyone still calls her “Butter.”

This raspberry cake with chocolate buttercream is decorated in bright bold colors, with stripes and stars. The smash cake is designed to match.

Antonia turned 1 today and the only request was fruit cupcakes. I decided on a white cake with raspberry swirled into the batter, and raspberry buttercream. A hint of almond would take this to the next level, but most young ones don’t eat nuts until 18 months. To top it all off, I added little bite of chocolate in the form of an intricate piped heart. I thought this would be more appropriate than a fondant topper, as the chocolate is soft to bite into. As I had some spare time, I designed a cute little to-go box liner to fit inside an Asian style take-out box. This packaging option would make a great party favor for guests of any age.