Special Cake for a Special Trio - Courtesy of Thea Sphere Sweets

This past weekend, my parents hosted our annual trifecta of family birthday celebrations.  It actually is a true trifecta, as my mom, dad and brother all have consecutive birthdays in the month of August.  "How bizarre," you may be thinking, but I've lived with this all my life and love to celebrate this fast and ferocious family holiday.

As we usually do, we had our cousins, aunts and uncles over for a big shin-dig.  Since I was in charge of the cake, I wanted to do something special and hit up my friend Thea who has a baking business called Thea Sphere Sweets, to do the job right.  First tasting Thea's delicious creations at this year's Ribfest, I was immensely impressed by her maple bacon cupcakes.  Since then, the two of us have been in touch, and I've been inspired by her sweet creations - and commissioning her to help out for my family's big birthday celebration felt natural.

Soccer and Heels Birthday Cake - Since I knew that Thea can make virtually anything, I designed a custom cake, including decor elements as well as flavor.  Wanting the cake to address both a masculine and feminine side, I thought that soccer balls (for dad aka Oci and brother, Peter) and high heels (for mom) would be appropriate.  From browsing her site, I saw that Thea had experience with fondant, so I was looking forward to this element shining through on the cake.
In terms of flavor, most of our party goers (including quite a few kids) were chocolate fans.  But wanting to keep the cake also sophisticated, I suggested that fresh raspberries be incorporated too.  Besides...who doesn't love that combination?!

When we received the cake (delivered to my parents' house on Long Island), we were pleased with its whimsical look and couldn't wait to dig in.  As we revealed it to guests, we got a nice reaction, as people automatically knew that it wasn't from a local bakery, but indeed something very different and special.

The taste was the best part, as it was rich and chocolatey, but not overly sweet.  The chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry filling was absolutely my favorite part, and I secretly wished to just pick the middle of the cake and eat it on its own.  I would've destroyed the whole thing if I followed my instincts, but still...I couldn't help to reach for another (and another) forkful of the chocolate/raspberry mousse.  

It was satisfying to see that the kids loved it too, my 5 year old cousin Emma exclaiming that "my friend is a good cook." Right on Emma!

To find out more about Thea's delicious creations, check out her Facebook page, and feel free to contact her directly.  And please tell her who sent ya ;-)