Sweet Cheeks Baking Company

Gingerbread, Pumpkin, Apples, and fall spices conjure up memories of blazing fireplaces & warm mugs of cocoa & tea back East.  In honor of our friends & families in NJ and NY who are suffering without power and heat – and many fearing the worst for the damage done to their homes due to Hurricane Sandy, we send them love and warm thoughts until delivies allow for sending of goodies again!

Forging into November and living in San Diego, we feel fortunate this week to be warm and connected to our daily luxuries of sunshine, energy, cooked meals, and phone service.  We wish there was more we could do for all of them.

To celebrate our good fortune, we are thinking positive thoughts of chilly fall memories – although generally less the blazing fireplaces.  Our California fall still inspires us to create our favorite HOLIDAY FLAVORS in our baked goods, and we are excited to line up some packages to ship back home for our families next week!

This year, in addition to our super delicious SMASHING PUMPKIN with SPICED ITALIAN BUTTER CREAM, and our always popular CHEEBEE’S BEST CARROT CAKE with COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING, we have added another fun flavor combination for cupcakes:

:: GINGERBREAD with PEAR & CHAI SWIRLED BUTTER CREAMS and CANDIED GINGER TOPPING ::  “Yum-ville!” (as Michael announces at every bite)

We had a fun day with local photographer Laura Christin taking photos of these little gems, in between snacking, and wanted to share a couple.

If you live in the San Diego area, we are making HOLIDAY PIES this season – including GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS – for both RETAIL and WHOLESALE clients!

Do you have a favorite Autumn Dessert or Cake Flavor for fall that you’d like to see us create or that you’d like to share?  Please contact us at (619) 285-1220 or info@sweetcheeksbaking.com

 

 

 

All photos by Roger Knight, John’s proud Grandpa!

We love Old School style Winnie the Pooh!

1st Birthday cakes make every child smile!  We have so much fun making them for the little ones to smash, lick, poke, taste, and gobble up that we thank all of the parents for offering us the opportunity whenever they order a theme cake for their child’s 1st real party.

We will showcase a few upcoming blog posts, starring some fabulous cakes & happy kids, starting with this little cutie, who just celebrated his 1st birthday with family & friends last week…gosh he is adorable, and we LOVED their old school Winnie the Pooh theme!  Chocolate cake with slow-cooked chocolate fudge & raspberry preserves, frosted in pale blue Italian Butter Cream…truly a classic combination of deliciousness.

Cupcakes to feed the kids made a simple snacker for little hands.  Pooh Bear & his “hunny” pot in white chocolate; butter cream trees & grass; & forest flowers, #1, and tiny buzzing bees in gum paste completed the setting.

Mom Amy kindly sent us a glowing THANK YOU today that we just had to share around the kitchen (happy clients make our days worthwhile):

Hi!

We just wanted to let you know what a great hit your cake was at our son’s first birthday party. Everyone was in love with not only the way the cake looked but how great it tasted. We’ve attached a couple pictures of the cake, and also a picture of John enjoying his first cupcake. He enjoyed it so much that he even tried to lick the leftovers off of my husband’s hand. Thanks so much for working with us and making John’s birthday even that much more special.”

 

Do you have a baby, child, husband, sister, friend, or grandma, etc. who would love a cool and yummy gift of deliciousness?

Please give us a call or email to inquire about more of our fun SPECIAL EVENT CAKES, CUPCAKES, AND PIES!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sculpted cakes… We always love when we have the opportunity to do a cake that is a little out of the box. We got just that opportunity with Preston’s 40th birthday cake! Preston is a lover (and do-er) of all things music, from DJ to musician, and he has a lifetime of experience in the music industry. It is only fitting that his wife Helene (“Helene The Bean,” we like to call her) threw him an ALL MUSIC, ALL THE TIME birthday bash.  Held in a totally rustic warehouse location downtown, she added to the music motif an Arabian twist. The party reflected Preston’s love and passion for music down to the last details,from the table settings which sat on record players, to the candle sticks sitting in old tape reels. The cake was no different, it was a replica of a reel to reel tape player.  Preston’s own logo – a graphic image of himself in a turban (thus the Arabian feel) was carried throughout the party, so of course we added this cool image to one of the reels on the cake for a more personal touch.

Brett Rose Photography did an amazing job of capturing all of the details of the event, while Erin Hall Coordination helped to plan the event with Preston’s wife Helene Cornell. Happy Birthday Preston! It was a pleasure to be apart of such an amazing event!!

Other Accolades:
Event Space: Warehouse MONIKER GROUP INC.
Flowers: Diana Culver of Fleur De Lis Flowers
Catering: Sun and Glory Catering

 

Few people can say that they knew the person they were going to marry as soon as they laid eyes on them in middle school. This was the case for Graham. He met Carla back in Junior High, and knew ever since that she was going to be his wife. We had the pleasure of making their wedding cake, as well as their grooms cake for this incredible couple. Carla refers to Graham as her G.I Joe, and with good reason. He serves as a Special Forces Marine, and was out on a mission for the entire planning process. Carla is very much his Wonder Woman and took to all the planning while he was gone. Together they are a beautiful, dynamic duo, and it was an honor to be a part of their big day!

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. The ceremony took place at Sunset Cliffs, and the reception followed at Solare Restaurant in Liberty Station. Continuum Photography did an amazing job capturing all of the details.

Other Vendors Included:

Officiant: Retired Colonel Paul Longgrear

Ceremony Rentals: Platinum Party Rentals

Videographer: Joe Park Weddings

Florist: Petals by Katie

Coordinator: First Comes Love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning Self-Defense Training from an expert military trainer, the Sweet Cheeks Team took on Jeff Hanlon of DEFEND UNIVERSITY. An evening of kicking some butt and learning not to fear yelling “9-1-1!” to save your own life was an amazing test in nerves.

Jeff is researching a new facility to start regular classes, but please contact us if you want to find out more…

Ever dream of that perfect wedding day dessert table and wish you could make it look like this?

With the beautiful backdrop by Pow Wow Vintage Rentals and the fast thinking arrangement by Vanessa of Alchemy Fine Events, the Luce Lofts of downtown San Diego suddenly acted as the perfect setting for our dessert station at the DREAM Wedding event.  Thanks to Paula Luna of Luna Photography for such stunning photos in this urban setting.

Crystal sugared cookies, so delicious and simple, add glitter and sparkle in a natural way for the taste buds.

Sweeping sheer drapes, mirrored boxes & vases, and footed pink glass pedestals show off a soft, classic vintage elegance as alternative displays for desserts. So many cool and unusual pieces from home can become perfect combinations to create a dessert “wow!”

Fondant inner tubes, gel paste fishing ponds, and chocolate bears sneaking around chocolate cabins with a single little Coors Light can just waiting for a swig… Do bears enjoy Coors Light with their snacks?

One of our darling groom’s who works in the film industry, wanted their wedding cake not only made of NEW YORK CHEESECAKE but also shaped as the stacked FILM CANS that he works around daily as a movie producer. Never afraid of a challenge, we asked them to send us some awesome engagement shots and used those as the (now edible) film spooled around the top reel.

Our friend Lisa, owner of Elle G Photography, brought some of our very cool cakes to life with her shots taken in the kitchen. She always has a way of making even fluorescent kitchen lighting look fabulous – pretty amazing.
Thank you, Lisa G!

Sweet Cheeks is so blessed to have been chosen to produce fabulous wedding cakes for Hotel Del Coronado weddings. What a stunning venue with outstanding service, amazing vendors, and happy couples!

Recently our cakes were featured in multiple photo shoots at “The Del,” while they were showcasing some of their cool reception rooms. We wanted to highlight some of our team’s creative designs through the gorgeous photos taken by Pam Scott Photography.

*The beach wedding set up with Pacific ocean blues & natural driftwood (decor by Dawn Stone of Embellishmint Floral & Event Design),  made Kristin’s white on white 3-D flower mini cake shine like a gorgeous addition to the sea scape. This cake design was chosen by Dawn Stone especially for this setting she created with the sea fans, shells, and wood pieces…very cool.

 

*Bejeweled as its namesake Crown Room, our handmade sugar jewels sparkled around the shoulders of the 3rd tier with help from pink & blue uplighting. I had this vision of the jewels “hugging the shoulders” of this single tier to enhance the design and focus it all in one spot. Sogoal & Jessica made of those sugar gems in the kitchen during a crazy week of client appointments, and they just mastered them for my design. The Crown Room is the true GEM of the Del’s venue sights, although not the only beautiful location by far.

 

*Given a second layout in the Crown Room to work with Natasha from Classic Creations and her lush array of all white hyacinth, we captured an all white approach to nature with the butterfly wedding cake design. Sogoal had also hand painted monarch butterflies for this cake design, but the setting in the room begged for an all-white look for these photos…more with the fully detailed monarchs can be seen under Wedding Cakes on our website gallery.

 

*Rippling water lights in the Empress Room enhanced both the oceanic beauty and movement of underwater sea kelp, hand painted in gold & copper over royal icing piped on aqua fondant. This is my own favorite design, having a love for all things NATURE in design. It is a toss up between feathers and kelp, hand painted in copper and gold on pale aqua fondant. The moving lights that streamed through the room during the shoot gave it a fascinating feeling of underwater movement, truly one of the COOLEST designs in lighting I’ve seen for a wedding reception.  Stunning flowers like these phaleanopsis orchids in the room were provided by LaVonne of Adorations Botanical Artistry.

 

*Finally, an all-white, delicate setting of lace overlays and dusty rose pink in the Carousel Room provided the perfect stage for a resplendent, contemporary shaped white wedding cake.  Jessica’s pink, hand made flower on an extra tall middle tier and the striped effect on the top gave this cake a very modern yet classic feel. She added softness to the contemporary design with the mini white florets on the bottom tier, which coupled beautifully with the lace overlays. (decor by Dawn Stone of Embellishmint Floral & Event Design)

Brian Worley of Your Bash in Los Angeles designed the basis of the photo shoots, such a beautiful eye for the elegant.  Appropriately fabulous linens were provided by both Wildflower Linens and La Tavola Linens.  All in all, a REALLY EXTRAORIDNARY SETTING with beautiful “models” and a gifted photographer. Thank you, Hotel Del Catering Team and Pam Scott Photography for supplying these great pics for us to share!

 

 

Check out this  video to see how Cupcake weddings are fun and can be as beautiful & festive as wedding cakes when you let your bakery be creative.

Fortunate enough to be asked by Nancy & Kyung to create the cupcake tower of their dreams, we feel so privileged to have been a part of their special day at the Ocean Beach Villas.  RA Creations Video made a beautiful wedding video for them, and they featured the cupcakes more than once…NOW we feel special!  Thanks Ruben!

DeShai Roberson of Oh So Chic Events coordinated the day beautifully, as you can tell by the level of calm on the bride & groom’s faces.  Nancy’s dress is magnificent lace, and the detailing in the floral pattern is mimicked in the top tier cake that they cut for the ceremony.  That’s the way to make cupcakes look delicious and beautiful without spending a fortune!