AJ’s Moonlight Bakery Blog

On a warm Saturday evening, I brought the Buddy Dog and Butterfly cake to dinner at The Counter in Santana Row. My family finally had an evening all together just after my Mom and nephew’s birthday. My nephew wanted his dog in cake and my mom loves butterflies, so we had Buddy looking at the butterfly to bring the two pieces together.

After a long day of making cakes, it was great to relax at The Counter with the family. We had the fries and onion rings as a starter, and then big, delicious custom order burgers. I usually wouldn’t eat such a large burger, but I savored every last bite.

My nephew had fun playing with his dog when we were waiting for our meal. Who says you can’t play with your food?

Happy Birthday Mom and Mr. T!

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

Everyone now has some version of the iPod. They’re sleek, stylish, and hold a ton of songs for their small size.

Amy has a rockin’ dad. She picked eight of the songs he loves, and that they both enjoy together. Rockin’ with your daughter is one way to stay young. Happy Birthday!

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

This weather lately has produced some incredible rainbows. Amy and I were driving the curving overpass on Charcot Avenue to Guadalupe Parkway, and just while we were in the air, a huge rainbow appeared. The rainbow was almost right on top of us, seeming to move with us on the curve. Then just as suddenly as it appeared, and right when I was wondering about that pot of gold and what I would do with it, it was gone.

The cake version has a brilliant rainbow with a belted hat, shamrock, and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Of course that’s chocolate coins. They shine as bright as gold!

What would you do with a pot of gold?

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

Aoife gets creative when she talks to us about cake designs, knowing we make truely personal cakes. I always look around me and imagine cakes designed like patterns and objects that I see. It’s cool that Aoife knows we’ll create whatever she wants in cake.

We first saw Aoife’s youngest son Darragh when we made a Baptismal Font for his Christening last year. This year we had the pleasure of creating a sweet little boy’s outfit for Darragh on his first birthday.

The cake design was inspired by a birthday invitation with the little outfit. Details are made out of fondant and painted to show the subtle shadows you would expect to see if Darragh were wearing the little shirt and shorts with suspenders and buttons.

The only thing cuter than a little boy’s outfit is the little boy in it. Happy Birthday Darragh!

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

Deliveries are one of the rewarding parts of the custom cake business. I had the pleasure of presenting the Nike Air Jordan XVIII Shoes Cake to Frankie at his 18th birthday party.

Frankie was there sporting Air Jordans, though I had to tell him they weren’t the shoes we made. He disappeared for a moment and came back to show off a new pair of Air Jordan XVIIIs. He placed them on the table right next to the cake shoes, positioning them in the same angle and opening up one just like the cakes. The shoe cakes were just made from pictures of various angles, so it was a real treat to see the cake shoes that look like the real thing.

Thanks for sharing, Frankie! Happy Birthday!

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

The family came together to plan Ginni’s birthday. My brother set up dinner at Habana Cuba, an amazing Cuban restaurant. My oldest nephew confirmed what my brother said that Ginni’s favorite cake is German chocolate. And my sister remembered the GIANTmicrobes that Ginni had at her desk at work.

If you’re not familiar with the stuffed animal version of diseases, cells, and parasites, you should check out the GIANTmicrobes website. Herpes is adorable, the mange is scary, and the toxic mold is just crazy. Ginni lights up when she laughs, so chicken pox was just what the doctor ordered. She laughed forever while staring at her cake.

Happy Birthday Ginni!

~ with love from the whole family ~

AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

Some people are too intimidated to bring dessert to a professionally trained pastry chef, but that’s exactly what’s exciting–more dessert! And since Gloria went to the California Culinary Academy with our own pastry chef Amy, they both know how to make incredible desserts.

Gloria is the owner of the fabulous cupcake bakeshop in Livermore, Dolce’ the Little Bake Shop. She dreams of cruising in style in the 2009 Mercedes G55. So we took her logo and company colors to make the Dolce’mobile, the ultimate car for Gloria’s cupcake deliveries. I’m just hoping that when she finally buys the real Dolce’mobile, we’ll get to come for a ride while sampling cupcakes.

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

Ui celebrated her 30th birthday with family and friends at Hakilau restaurant in San Jose’s Japantown. Their spot in the back room was totally made up for an Egyptian celebration, including the Sphinx cake Ui chose months ago.

Soon Ui will be off on an Egyptian holiday where she’ll surely see the great Pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza, a symbol of strength and wisdom made with the body of a lion and the head of a god. Until then, a little bit of paradise found it’s way to her birthday.

Happy 30th Ui!

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

What’s black and white and red all over? Check out our Red Zebra Sweet 16 cake.

We arrived at the Fremont Community Center with the Red Zebra Sweet 16 cake to find red tablecloths with zebra print table runners on all of the tables. That’s when we know our cake found it’s home. Zebra’s are all about the camelflage, right?

The topsy turvy tiers of Mexican chocolate, white chocolate, and coconut cake were all covered in gianduja buttercream. Zebra stripes, stars, black, red, and white baubles, and a red 16 make this a festive cake for a great birthday party.

Happy Sweet 16 Jade!

Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

Who would think that THE premier cupcake lady of the Tri Valley would come to us for a cake? Gloria of Dolce’ the Little Bake Shop makes the best cupcakes for weddings, birthdays, and other special events, so we know she could make her own deliciousness for her daughter’s party. But I guess sometimes you just want a cake.

Caycie fell in love with our cakes last year when she had a pink pirate party. All of the girls were pirates for the day, and Caycie had a cake inspired by the Avril Lavigne pink skull and cross bones.

This year it’s all about the Webkinz. Three tiers of vanilla chiffon cake, strawberry filling, and vanilla buttercream are decorated in leopard print and pink and white strips. The Webkinz silverback gorilla, spotted leopard, and bubblegumsauraus hang out around the cake.

The morning after the party we found this picture posted to Gloria’s Facebook page with a message:

Another Masterpiece by Amy (ACE!). Thank You Again!!
Caycie’s is now known as the girl who gets the coolest cakes!!!

Gloria, we’ll make anything Caycie wants, anytime. Caycie has great taste!

Happy Birthday Caycie!

Amy and Jeanne
AJ’s Moonlight Bakery

For more information about AJ’s Moonlight Bakery and to see more cakes, please visit our website.