Red and Green

I have been in a funk so I decided to bake to cheer myself up.  I found a new recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  It was just what I needed.  I feel better :)   The recipe turned out very well.  The cupcake was a rich red.  I put some Valentine sprinkles on it for fun.

Here is a shot of the red center :)

I had a birthday cake to make for my friend's niece this weekend.  She was turning 13!  She likes the zebra print and loves green so this is what we came up with.  It was yellow cake with buttercream frosting.  I was told to load up on the frosting in the center.  I am sure her and her girlfriends were bouncing off the walls from all the sugar :) 

I hope you all have a great week and thanks for looking!

Cake Pops

I had many treats and goodies to make for the holidays this year.  I made cake pops for a few of them.  Everyone loves cake pops!!

They both were made with yellow cake and vanilla frosting.  The first ones were Christmas Trees.  Paul bought me 14 different kinds of sprinkles for Christmas and it happened to have yellow stars!  Worked out perfectly :)  It was dipped with green candy melts and has sprinkles for the lights.

The second ones were Santa Hats.  I showed my aunt how to make these the week before for her Christmas.  I think they are a cute idea. 

I made them a little bigger than normal, but they were still delicious!

I now have a portfolio with my pics inside!  My little sister Ashley made me a book with my pictures of my cakes for Christmas.  It was very thoughtful of her!  I have a cake due in two weeks for a teenage girl. 
Until then, I hope you all have a great and safe New Years!

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 :)