Sunday, April 6, 2014

What an amazing day.

Many of you may be familiar with the Make-a-Wish foundation, but did you know there is a nonprofit organization that provides custom celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the critical illness of a child? It’s a wonderful organization I’m proud to be a volunteer for, called Icing Smiles. There mission is simple; they grant smiles. 

Fred's Dream Cake
Families can request cookies, or one fun cake per year or a one time dream cake. 

Fred seeing his cake.
Several weeks ago I received a “Call to Action” from Icing Smiles. I had the opportunity to create a smile for Fred. And what an amazing young man Fred is. Actually, his entire family is amazing, warm, caring and loving. You can feel love when you are around this family. The have been at the Ronald McDonald house since Dec and have been on quite a journey with Fred for the past 2 years.

I wasn’t aware of how serious Fred’s situation was at the time of the request. This was a last surgery attempt. They didn’t know if it would work. 

You see, Fred has Diamond Blackfan Anemia, a disorder that causes failure of the bone marrow to make new red blood cells. The families hope was to manage the disorder with transfusions which became a normal part of their everyday life. But in Dec of 2010 test results would show this was no longer a viable long-term solution at which point Fred became a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. And so the families journey continued.

I can eat this? Sure can!
What struck me about this family was how warm they were. While I could see the exhaustion in both parents eyes, they both had huge smiles on there face and you could just feel the love. This was the same with their children. There youngest daughter Matilda is 6 years old and was bouncing about the kitchen area. She was full of smiles and had the same warmth of her parents. Mom was hanging up a sign that had been handmade for Fred and Matilda, and Dad was busy meeting guests as they arrived upstairs.
My Grandma always ladybugs are good for the garden and
bring you good luck.

I was excited and nervous to meet Fred. The nervous part was whether or not I would cry. As a parent of a 15 year old boy, knowing any child is going through something that is causing them pain just makes my heart hurt for them. I knew he had, had his spleen removed on St. Patricks day and was hopeful his counts were holding strong.
Sisterly look of love! Love it!


I have been following his story and learned from his videos and email exchange with his Mom that he wants to be a pilot. He also has a love for WWII planes, has a romantic soul and loves the art work on the nose of the planes. He and his father enjoy putting model planes together. So, I created a P-51 B Mustang for Fred, to sit on top of the cake. The other part of my nervousness was wondering if he would like it, would he know what it was, did I create it correctly? But most of all I was nervous about how would he be feeling. I was told from Icing Smiles its not uncommon for children to not react based on what they are going through, how there day is going or news they may have received from doctors. 

Those smiles!


When I saw Fred for the first time, he was smiling. My nervousness melted. He was dressed in a pilot outfit from the movie Planes. He walked up to his cake and immediately knew what type of plane it was. Relief…lol. Fred then walked around the back of the cake where I was standing and grabbed my hand. The warmth I spoke of earlier radiated through his little fingers into my hand. We stood holding hands as he looked at all the details on his cake and asked questions about it. His sister was right there by his side sharing in Fred’s enthusiasm and asking questions as well. But what struck me was the way Matilda looked at her big brother. You can see it in the pictures my husband snapped. She absolutely adores him.



I can’t tell you how many thank you’s I got from everyone there. But I feel thankful for the experience. I’m not sure if the family realizes what a gift they gave me today. They allowed a stranger to share in a milestone for their family and experience the warmth and the love they have for each other. 
What a gift, and an amazing experience. And that sign that Fred's Mom was hanging up, read "Goodbye Fred & Matilda."
Fred's Mom, Joanne.
That's right, they are going home. Onward and Upward for Fred! I look forward to keeping in touch with this amazing family!



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Creating sweet memories with cookies


My Grandma passed away three weeks ago. She was known for her cookies. In fact some of her cookie recipes are the ones I use in my own shop. So when asked to bake cookies for her service, I wanted to do something that reflected some of the things that remind me of her. The colors of spring, as that was the start of gardening season for grandma and her favorite time of year. The color yellow because she loved the sun, she would spend countless hours gardening in the sunshine and have the best tan. The flowers and patterns on the cookies reflect the many floral patterns found on sweatshirts and casual shirts my Grandma always wore. And the leaves represent all the things that grew in her yard. From the large trees we use to climb as kids, the grape vines grandma use to make jelly from, to the apple trees that produced countless mason jars of apple sauce and apple butter. The tunnel of Bridal Veil that produced the most dainty flowers that when the wind would blow covered the ground in white flower confetti. And of course the vegetables that grew in her garden. My mom and I would always fight over who got the lemon cucumbers, our favorite. All my creations tell a story, but this one tells a very special story about an amazing Grandma who also baked the most delicious cookies. 

How I created them

I created these cookies using my favorite sugar cookie recipe. From there I made white chocolate, modeling chocolate in three colors; white, green and yellow. Next, I iced the cookies in a thin layer of SMBC, then placed a disc of modeling chocolate cut out of the same cookie cutter I used for cutting out the cookies.

I used a number of beautiful edible images from Luck's to create the flowers on the cookies. I used Sizzix floral dies to cut the flowers out of the sugar sheets. Once cut I pulled the backing off and centered the flowers on the cookies.

For the leaves, I used the same cutter I cut the cookies out, with my green modeling chocolate. I placed the green leaf on top of the sugar cookie, thinly iced with SMBC. I used a veining tool to create the veining on the leaves. The SMBC under the modeling chocolate helps create more of a 3D effect to the veining of the leaves. 

For more information and pictures follow me on FB at http://www.facebook.com/epicdelights

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Friday, July 13, 2012

Epicurean Delights to Host Classes from Ultimate Cake Off Winner

North Hampton, NH -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/13/2012 --  Epicurean Delights is a company dedicated to empowering individuals to find their inner artist. The Seacoasts premiere studio for cake decorating, candy supplies and confectionery art education will be hosting classes by TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off winner, Susan Carberry. Classes will be offered August 24th-26th, 2012 at the Epicurean Delights studio in North Hampton, NH.

“When I opened the studio one of my objectives was to make education by top artists easily accessible to our students,” says Michele Hopps, owner and founder of Epicurean Delights. “Having to travel great distances for education is costly. Bringing the talent closer to home makes it affordable. I couldn’t be more pleased to have Susan as our first guest instructor. She is an amazing talent and one of the nicest cake artists you will ever meet.”

Carberry, the owner of The Cake Cottage in Murrieta, CA will be teaching 4 classes at Epicurean Delights. The first, scheduled on Friday, Aug 24th, from 10am-5pm is an all-day class focusing on a three tiered safari themed cake. The second and third classes are scheduled for Saturday, Aug 25th starting at 11am and will feature a three hour class where students will make a baby buggy cake topper. A three hour wine and cheese themed class follows, at 3pm where students will learn to make a wooden wine crate, wine bottles, wine glasses and much more! Lastly on Sunday, Aug 26th from 11am – 6pm a class on creating a garden critter inspired cake. A demonstration on proper stacking techniques will also be shown during class.

For more information on these classes or to register online please visit http://www.epicdelights.com/guest.html. Space is limited so don’t miss out on this great opportunity! Stay up-to-date on Epicurean Delights news and class announcements by following them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/epicdelights.

About Epicurean Delights
Epicurean Delights located in North Hampton, NH specializes in cake decorating and confectionery art supplies for professionals, hobbyists and Do-It-Yourselfer’s. It is the seacoast’s premier private vocational studio offering education in cake decorating, cookie design, chocolate and sugar art classes for adults and children. Classes are designed for those interested in learning cake decorating and sugar art as well as those looking to further their confectionery education. Our studio specializes in the Wilton Method of cake decorating and all core classes are taught by a Wilton Method Instructor and are certificate classes. For more information including current classes offered or to register for classes visit http://www.epicdelights.com. We can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/epicdelights.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Lots of great classes!

Greetings Cakers!
I hope this post finds you all well! We have lots of great classes coming up! For those of you that have already taken Course 1 & Course 2, Sandra Woodbury will be at the studio teaching a royal icing flowers class this Thursday (6/14)  from 11am-1pm! This class is designed to introduce you to additional royal icing flowers not taught in any of the previous classes. This is a certificate Wilton Method class.

Royal Icing Flowers introduced:

-Sunflower
-Zinnia
-Fern
-Half Rose
-Bachelor Button
-Half Carnation
-Holly Leaf



Also on Thursday evening I will be teaching a Couture Chocolate's & Transfers class. Learn to make filled chocolates, cordials & fancy chocolate transfers. Makes a wonderful father's day gift! All supplies included! Just bring a box to take your finished chocolates home in. 

This Saturday we will have a kids Father Day Class. Kids of all ages can come create fun cookies to give Dad for Father's Day! Class includes all supplies including cookies! Just bring an apron!

Lastly, we will be having our second Cake Club meeting on June 16th from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Join us for an evening of cake sharing! There will also be light snacks. Bring your ideas, suggestions and questions and get ready to share! 

Be sure to register online for Cake Club and all classes mentioned above! http://www.epicdelights.com/classes.html

Happy Caking!
~Michele

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Class Schedule and Registration

Our online class schedule now has the ability to register and pre-pay for your classes so that you do not have to make an extra trip in! Keep up to date with all the great classes being added daily! We will also be adding local guest instructor classes to the schedule as well as very popular out of town guest instructor classes! Stay tuned! Some very exciting stuff coming up!

Happy Caking!
Michele

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Mother's Day Kids Mini Cake Class


Kids 7 years and older, come create a special present for Mom! We will be decorating mini cakes. All supplies are included, even the cake! Registration required to ensure we have enough cake! 

Cost:
$20 Register over the phone or via our website, by clicking on Classes from the home page. http://www.epicdelights.com

When:

Saturday, May 12 from 3-4pm

Who:
Kids ages 7 and up. 

Where:
We are located in the Fern Crossing Plaza where Wholly Scrap and the North Hampton Post Office are located. We are upstairs directly above the Nail Salon.

Epicurean Delights
44 Lafayette Road North Hampton, NH
Phone: (603) 967-4440
Web: www.epicdelights.com

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Studio is open & much more!

The store is open and we've been having a lot of cake fun! Lots of new cake decorating supplies already available for purchase and more being delivered daily. We've enjoyed teaching new students the Wilton Method of cake decorating and are adding more classes every week! We are also looking forward to featuring delicious bakery treats from a number of talented local bakers with the opening of our Sweet Treats counter next month.Stay tuned for more cake fun!

In the mean time if you looking for some cake fun for your children over spring break we have a number of fun classes scheduled! Come learn and create at our week long Kids Camp! Students will learn a number of fun things such as cupcake basics, decorating with stars, creating with fondant and figure piping. Don't miss out on this fun week of activities! Space is limited, so register soon!

Kids (6-11) attending all 3 sessions will receive a certificate on the last day of camp. Tweens attending all 5 sessions will receive a certificate on the last day of camp.

Camp Session Dates for ages 6-11 yrs:
April 23 10am-11:30pm
April 26 10am-11:30pm
April 27 10am-11:30pm

Camp Session Dates for Tweens:
April 23 2pm-3:30pm
April 24 2pm-3:30pm
April 25 2pm-3:30pm
April 26 2pm-3:30pm
April 27 2pm-3:30pm

Register Online: http://www.epicdelights.com/classes.html

Cost: $25 per session

Supplies: All supplies are included. Just bring an apron and something to take your sweet treats home in!

Location:
Epicurean Delights®
44 Lafayette Road North Hampton, NH 03862
Phone: 603-967-4440
Email: michele@epicdelights.com
Web: www.epicdelights.com

Epicurean Delights is located in the Fern Crossing Shopping Center across the street from Staples & Home Depot. We are located upstairs between Wholly Scrap and the North Hampton Post Office above the Fashion Nails Salon. Our walk up entrance is between the Nail Salon and the E.W. Long Tax Prep store.