Giving....

Every year Maliha Creations is honored to be asked to contribute to local schools, charitable events and silent auctions. To date, Maliha Creations has given away dozens of cakes and gift certificates for custom cakes to schools like Chancellor Street and Johnson Elementary, all the way to organizations like Potentials Foundation, American Cancer Society, and the March of Dimes.

I will continue to participate and donate to local schools and organizations with free custom cakes, but I also wanted to tell you about a donation that will be a little bit different. This year, the Hospice of the Piedmont has asked Maliha Creations to provide an auction item for their 30th Anniversary Gala on Friday, April 23, 2010 at the Ash Lawn-Highland Hilltop Pavilion. So get your tickets and bid on "A Day in the life of a Custom Cake Designer." In this unique opportunity you will get the chance to spend a few hours with me learning how to frost and fill a cake, make it structurally sound, cover it with fondant, and decorate it. The winner of this auction prize will leave with a finished cake that he or she created!

So check out their website and learn more about this wonderful organization, and buy your tickets today at the Gala Website!

Maliha Creations has a new website!

I am excited to announce the launch of my new website. Please check out www.malihacreations.com for more information about me, my cakes, and a new and improved gallery! I would love to hear your feedback!

A sailor gets his due...

This cake was created for a gentleman who was retiring from the U.S. Navy after twenty years of service. His fiancé, Rolonda, was in charge of the surprise and worked with me to make a cake to honor his achievements. We decided to go with a HUGE sailor hat...and decorated it with different Navy sayings that Joe and his buddies used. The cake was double chocolate with Amaretto-mocha buttercream. The entire cake is edible...from the brim, to the anchor.

After the event, I received this lovely note from Rolonda.

Anita,

I know, I know...it's been a whole month since the retirement party, and I haven't had a chance to write you to tell you how wonderful your cake was at the retirement party! We plan to send you pictures as soon as we get them downloaded.

The sailor hat cake was a huge success!! Everyone took pictures! Since the party was held in local location, we ended up sharing your masterpiece with everyone who requested a piece of the cake. Although the cake was supposed to feed 50, I think that we ended up feeding over 75 people (and that's not including seconds!). We had a couple of chefs who told me that they could tell that this cake was made from scratch and were very impressed with the cake (taste and design). They had thirds! :)

As for Joe, he was so surprised! He couldn't believe the cake. Since he ended up driving us to Virginia Beach, he knew that there was a cake in the back. He said that he didn't know that it was that great! He just couldn't stop looking at the cake. It was so unique that he wouldn't let us cut it until he had enough pictures. We are really appreciative of the time and care you took to make his retirement cake. It was definitely memorable!

Thank you so much!

With all my regard,
Rolonda


Thank you, Rolonda, for choosing me to create Joe's cake. But mostly, THANK YOU, Joe, for your service to our country.

An artist gets her cake...

I met with Nicole, Matt and BOTH of their families for a tasting last year. What a fun bunch it was...they all had a great time mixing and matching and creating their own flavor combinations. When Nicole mentioned that she wanted to use my services after seeing a monkey cake on my website, I have to admit, I did wonder where we would go with her wedding cake! Turns out, both Nicole and her mom are very artistic and had an appreciation for the zany nature of that cake.

Nicole and Matt eventually chose a cake in traditional ivory fondant, draped with a shimmering drape and decorated with dozens and dozens of hand made edible gumpaste grapes. The effect was striking and worked so well at Veritas Vineyard.



Their cake flavors were Double Chocolate Cake with raspberry buttercream and fresh raspberries and whipped cream cheese frosting and Vanilla Butter Cake with dulce de leche filling and chocolate buttercream.

Congratulations, Nicole and Matt! I look forward to seeing you next year on your first anniversary!

Photos courtesy Jen Fariello

Argentine Delight!

When I met with Elena and her mother, I was a bit nervous at the prospect of recreating an Argentinian specialty. After all, mother knows best...but with her guidance and confidence in my abilities, a lovely and truly delicious cake was the result.

The cake Elena chose was lemon cloud. Her cake consisted of a layer of cake, which was then layered with dulce de leche and topped with crushed meringue cookies, another layer of cake, and then a sinfully delicious layer of fresh strawberries and cream, another layer of cake topped with more dulce de leche and meringue cookies, and finally a last layer of cake...phew! The whole thing was covered with vanilla buttercream and vanilla fondant and decorated with swiss dots and beautiful fresh orchids from Pat's Floral Designs. I think this is my new favorite flavor combination!

Elena and Drew are such a lovely couple as you can see from the amazing pictures from Jack Looney Photography. I wish them a blissfully happy married life! Thank you for choosing Maliha Creations to bring a little bit of Argentina to Charlottesville!

Eat Cake and Be Merry...Happy New Year!

Before I venture into 2010, I must take a moment to acknowledge the wonderful memories that were afforded to me by my clients. There was no end to the vision and taste of cakes I was asked to create for each special occasion. No matter the celebration, I was honored to provide the sweet moment to celebrate the arrival of a new baby, the start of a new life together, the accomplishment of years of hard work and everything in between.

But I also sat back and took a look at these moments on a broader scale as well…in every culture, tradition and religion, whenever there is a celebration or joyous moment, some sort of sugary confection seems to be involved. I am thankful to be asked by my clients to be a part of it. Whether pushing the envelope for a daring groom’s cake, or providing a simple “smash” cake for a one year olds first taste of the fluffy yellow goodness, cake is simply a celebration of family and food…my own true loves. And cake is a lot like family…a mouthful of sweetness, a dash of salt, and occasionally a little nuttiness ;).

From my family to yours...Happy New Year and may your 2010 be filled with laughter, joy, and of course, cake.

2nd Annual Tee It Up For Conner!

I had the priviledge of creating another cake for the annual Tee It Up For Conner tournament. Last year, we created a golf bag cake for the event...this year we changed it up and to a classic tiered cake, we added golfer's argyle, a putting green, and edible images created by Conner's brother and sister.

Thank you, Kim, for thinking of me to do this cake for your event!