What the Woman Behind My Cupcake Addiction Wants You to Know

When Elise Strachan was getting married, she bought some gorgeous, high-quality fake flowers to put on the tables, and—oops—one of the centerpieces caught fire during the reception. She laughs about it now, citing the flare-up as yet another example of how sometimes, we get so caught up in the planning yet mishaps (like flaming silk peonies) still happen; but, as long as no one gets hurt (they didn't in her case), it's not something to stress over. "Party pressure," as Strachan calls it, is real. Instead of feeling like your party must be an impeccably designed (and executed) affair, Strachan urges people to consider it a hit if you can come away with one thing: a great photo of the guest of honor and the cake. (Shot of her, her husband and their wedding cake? Check!)

The unsung hero of almost every showstopping dessert that Strachan pulls off isn't an expensive item she picked up at a specialty baking shop—it's a plain old zip-top bag. She uses these jacks-of-all-trades in so many ways. One of her favorites is to store leftover candy melts (which she uses to make cake pops and to decorate cupcakes with); she pours the melted chocolate into a bag, flattens it out, lets it cool and refrigerates or freezes it. Then, she just breaks off whatever she needs for another project. Strachan also loves to turn the bags into piping tools for frosting cookies and cakes. Snip a small triangle off one corner to make a hole and either squeeze the frosting straight through, or insert a piping tip for a star, petal or other shape.

Doing as much ahead of time as you can is one of the keys to hosting a stress-free event. And while certain dishes are known to taste better a day or two after they've been cooked, you may not realize that even some desserts fall into this category: namely, chocolate cake. The version Strachan swears by is her mud cake. It has instant-coffee powder in it, as well as dark-chocolate chips, unsweetened cocoa and buttermilk—and after freezing the baked cake for a few days, weeks or even months, it becomes fudgier and more dense, with deep chocolate flavor you wouldn't get if you ate it the day you baked it. Just cool it completely, wrap it in two layers of plastic and pop it (unfrosted) in the freezer; it'll keep up to a month. Thaw the cake, covered with plastic, for two to three hours at room temperature; then decorate.

Behind every impeccable buffet, there's a secret lurking—and, odds are, that secret is in the form of a cardboard delivery box or a stack of novels. Take a box or a couple of books, cover them in sturdy gift wrap, set them on a table and you'll have a lovely stage for whatever you're serving, whether it's a multi-layer cake or simply cheese and crackers. Strachan likes to use "bases" of varying heights, and set platters of little sandwiches, trays of cupcakes or even just stacks of Oreos on top. The alternating highs and lows give the illusion of abundance, whether or not you actually have loads of food.

The "naked cake" trend has gone mainstream, much to unfussy bakers' delight. And while Strachan loves to embellish with frosting as much as the next baker, she also says there are more stunning ways to decorate a cake without icing (that will also save you time): Cover the baked cake with chocolate shards; stick some striped paper straws in it and tie mini bunting between them; or, lay some edible flowers on top. No one will miss the frosting.