Cookie Exchange :)

Every year my family does a cookie exchange.  This year there were 4 of us participating.  We each made three different kinds of cookies and exchanged 1/2 dozen each.  I made Chocolate Crinkles, Peanut Butter Ritz and Red Velvet Cookies.  I also made some snowmen as an added bonus :)  He was made from an Oreo ball and dipped in Almond Bark.  A girl and I were talking at work one day, I still don't know for sure what Almond Bark is, but I use it every year :)  Here is how to make the snowmen:

First you need to crush up a pack of Oreos, I use my Bullet to finely crush

Then mix in a package of softened cream cheese.  It is easiest to hand mix this

You want to put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes.  Then shape into 1 inch balls. After they are all rolled, put back in the fridge for another 10. While they are chilling I started the bases of the snowmen.  I got everything ready to go beforehand.  Makes for easier decorating.  Here is what I used for his accessories

Melt the almond bark.  Take a tablespoon and dump on wax paper.  Spread it around to get your base.  Then add all your extras.  You want to do one at a time, otherwise the bark will set before you get back to it.

I let them set in the fridge for a few minutes.  Then take your balls and dip in the bark and place them on your base.  Put your nose on right away.  Do these one at a time as well.  Otherwise you will have to go back and glue on your noses.  I let them completely set and then drew in the faces with my food writers.  That's it!  Pretty simple, just takes a little bit of time.  When you do the oreo balls, please remember to refrigerate them.  They have cream cheese in them.  Here is the finished product

They are super fun for the holidays! 

Lastly, my girlfriend Katie gave us some treats for dog sitting for her this year.  I thought I would post a pic of them since they are so cute!  Thanks KT!

Stay tuned for Christmas Cake Pops!!!  Till then, Have a great and safe Christmas!

Bake Sale!!

We have an annual craft and bake sale at my work every year.  I decided to bake for it.  I made cupcakes for the event.  There was a ton of other foods there, but no other cupcakes :)
I didn't know how many to make or how to package etc.  I ended up making 4 different kinds and totaling 72 cupcakes.  I bought some containers for the big sellers and just gave other people plates which seemed to work out.

My first cupcake I did because of my brother, Tony.  These are his favorite kind and so I made some extra to bring over to him.  It is Devils food mix with filling in the middle

I then frosted them with whipped frosting.  I made candy molds of Christmas lights to go on top.

This is what they look like once you bite into them.  It's a nice surprise!

Those were the most popular and no one knew of the filling :)  The next sellers were my snowmen.  It is a chocolate cake with the snowman on top.  I have a pretzel in the middle of the marshmallows holding him up and standing on the cupcake.  His accents are glued on by candy melts.  I have done another version of him in the past.  Always a crowd pleaser.

I then made two different kinds of yellow cupcakes.  The first were the wreaths.  These were also a hit.  They were pretty easy to make.  Just a little bit of piping work, simple but cute.

The last ones were ornaments.  By the time I did these I was getting a little tired and started loosing inspiration.  They took a lot longer to do than I thougth they would.  I still think they turned out good.

I made 72, but gave a few away.  I sold them for $2 a piece and only left with 6!  I brought the rest to Paul's work for them to finish them off.  Here is a pic of them all waiting to get packaged up.

Overall, it was a lot of fun!  I am glad it went so well.   I will definitely want to do it again next year.  I hope you enjoyed it and hope you all have a great weekend!

Boo!!

Okay, so I made  another cake this morning.  Holy cow!  I saw a pic of this cake and really wanted to try and make the cake to see if I could.  It is a yellow cake with buttercream frosting.  The ghost head is rice krispie treats.  The ghost is out of fondant.  It was a fun cake to make. 

I have one more cake to make this week and then I think I will be done for a while.  We'll see how long that lasts :)  I have had fun baking these last three days.  It has kept a smile on my face. 

Have a good rest of the week everyone!

Smash!

I made the birthday cake for my girlfriend's little one's 1st birthday.  She was doing the Construction Pals theme.  I made the cake to match.  It is a marble cake with buttercream frosting.  Fondant accents.  The truck is made from Rice Krispie Treats covered in fondant.  I am pleased with how it turned out.

Jackson seemed to like the cake.  I made him a separate smash to go after.  He liked the red and green frosting.  Didn't really go for the cake too much.  Overall, it was a hit.

I had some leftover cake so I made some cake pops.  I haven't made any in a while.  I think I need to buy different candy melts.  The wilton ones don't seem to want to melt that well.  I used chocolate in the double boiler and that worked pretty good.  I also have to start making the balls smaller.  It is getting too heavy for the dipping process.  I still have a lot more to learn with them. 

Here is the white pumpkin:

Next is the Pirate:

And last we have the Mummy:

I hope you all enjoyed today's post.  I am in the middle of baking another cake :)  I saw a pic of a cute ghost cake, so I decided to make it.  I feel like all I have done these last three days is bake.  But, I am still having fun while doing it so that is all that matters.  I will post it later on when it is done.

Till then...



Cupcake :)

Last weekend a couple girlfriends and I went to a new cupcake shop in South St. Paul called Sweet Bebe Cakes.  We each bought 6 cupcakes and tasted all the different flavors.  Their cupcakes are very good and rich.  We definitely could have used some milk :)  The store just had one case for their display.  Had 12 different kinds to choose from.

I think my favorite one was the Oh My Gosh Ganache!  It was fudge cake, ganache filling and chocolate buttercream.  A classic!

Needless to say, I was inspired!  I made some cupcakes for our friends who got married that night.  I made a new yellow cake recipe with buttercream frosting.  The cake was a good recipe.  The swirls are made from chocolate.

I had a few cupcakes leftover.  I was looking online at you tube.  I found these flower cupcakes that were adorable and they looked really easy.  I looked and saw that I had the tip to do them.  So, I tried and they turned out great!!  They are probably my favorite cupcakes that I have made yet.  I was thinking of making them for our work's craft and bake sale in December.

I have had fun making cupcakes from scratch.  I find it more fun to bake them.  I look forward to seeing how they will turn out.

I made a cake today for a friend's little one's 1st birthday.  It took a lot of the day, but I hope he likes it.  It is not stacked yet, so I will post pics after the party. 

Till then, happy baking :)

Autumn

I made a few cupcakes over the past couple weeks.  First ones were for a fundraiser.  My lia sophia manager was having a fundraiser for her sister who has lung disease.  They were having a bake sale so I made cupcakes for them to sell. It is yellow cake with buttercream frosting.  The pumpkins are made from candy melts poured into a mold.  Then  I bought some leave sprinkles for the final touch.  Shannon said the cupcakes were a hit!  Good to hear.  I bought the containers at Lynn's cake store, worked perfect for the occasion.

I tried a few new recipes.  I made my brother in law cookies and cream cupcakes for his birthday.  They turned out excellent.  I also made a yellow cupcake with chocolate chips inside.  I think the recipe was okay.  Will try and find a better recipe to use.  I decorated them as pumpkins and acorns. 

The acorns are made from pecans dipped in butterscotch.  I have never tried to melt butterscotch before, a little hard to do.  It did not want to get totally smooth to dip.  Here is a before shot with the tops done.

Lastly, I just finished a carrot cake for a girl at work.  Her sister is getting married this weekend.  They are having all kinds of desserts and just wanted a little cake to cut for pictures.  The bride's favorite cake is carrot cake.  I made this recipe from scratch.  Had to practice a couple weeks ago to see if it was a good recipe.  Turned out the first one I picked was a winner.  It is topped with cream cheese frosting.  Num :) 

I have had fun making all the different cupcakes these past few weeks.  And also the homemade cake.  I am searching for recipes now and will hopefully start to cut back on the box cake. 

I have a birthday cake due in 2 weeks.  Our friend's little man is turning 1.  Should be a fun cake to make.  Till then, have a great day and thanks for looking!

Wedding Bells

This week I had another wedding cake.  I took Thursday and Friday off work to work on it.  I like to have extra time for the big cakes in case something goes wrong and needs more work.  I don't take much vacation so most of it is used to bake :)  I borrowed some mixing bowls from my mom to help the process go smoother.  It was a 4 tier cake with buttercream frosting and a chocolate filling so that is a lot of different mixes going on.  Her bowls were huge, I loved them!!!  I had hardly any sugar spray from them being so deep.  I think I will have to go out and buy a bigger bowl for next time.  Here is a comparison, My bowl is the small bowl (which I thought was a big bowl)  My mom's puts mine to shame.

Like I said it was a 4 tier cake.  That is a lot of cake to mix. I made 12 cakes, 2 batches of buttercream frosting and one chocolate frosting all with a hand mixer.  I have had it for a while and am surprised I didn't burn it out this time with all that.  I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and gazed longingly at the Kitchen Aids thinking how much my shoulder would have loved not to have worked that hard in two days.   I am hoping when we get a house to be able to purchase one.  Right now we just don't have the counter space for one.  Someday......  I used Paul's aunt's recipe again for the chocolate.  It is so bad for you, hence why it is so good.  For you to get an idea, it calls for 2 cups butter.  Yes a whole package!!

The cake turned out good.  I still have some learning to do and am not sure I want to continue with wedding cakes.  They are very time consuming and have to be perfect.  Talk about pressure.  We will see what happens in the future. Here she is:

You can't tell that well in the photo, but the colors are lilac purple and navy blue. 

The next cake I have is in October.  My girlfriend's son is turning 1 years old, so that will be a fun cake.

Till then, hope you all have a great day!  Thanks for looking :)