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 :)

A month of cakes

I haven't been on in a while, sorry :)  I made this cake a few weeks ago.  It was for a couple girls at my work.  Their girlfriend's birthday was coming up and they wanted a funny cake.  I made them a Poise pads cake.  It was pretty funny.  I told them I don't want them to buy me a cake for my birthday :)

I also forgot to post the next cake.  Paul's cousin Tyra turned 17 the end of July.  She LOVES Hello Kitty.  I hear her room is covered in it.  So I made a cake for her.  Simple, but she loved it.

My girlfriend Tessa wanted me to make her a big cupcake cake for her 30th birthday this year.  That was the same weekend as the wedding cake I just did, so I had to tell her no.  We just saw her Tuesday and were seeing her again Friday.  I told her I was baking this weekend and she said she wanted 1 cupcake as a joke.  I surprised her with 1 cupcake :)  I have never done just one before.  It was a little weird to put a whole muffin pan in the oven with one cupcake and the rest water.  She was very surprised and loved it!  I got the idea from mycakeschool.com.  I love her blog and all her ideas!  That is where the grilling cupcakes came from as well.

Lastly, my nephew was baptised today.  Brayden Anthony.  I made a yellow cake with buttercream frosting.  The cross is made from white chocolate melted.  The accents are fondant.  I had a whole other idea in mind and then after the cake was frosted I changed everything.  I think it turned out alright for totally off the top of my head at last minute. 

I believe that is it for now.  I have another wedding cake due in two weeks.  I am about to start buying everything for it.  It will be a simple cake, but like all wedding cakes will take more time and care to put into it.  I will post the progress and end result for you all. 

In the mean time, I hope you all have a great holiday weekend and will leave you with a pic of Brayden after the baptism.

Wedding Bells

This week was the wedding.  I started baking on Wednesday.  Finished baking on Thursday.  6 hours total to bake all the cake.  Thursday night I had all the cakes frosted.  I woke up at 6:30 Friday morning and finished the cakes.  I put on the black ribbon and made the fondant pearl border.

The cake had buttercream frosting, Bavarian cream and strawberry filling inside a marble cake.  I had a little mishap once I got to the hall to set it up.  I am not sure if it was the heat or the ride, but part of the border fell off of the 2nd tier.  I was able to re-attach it.  The lady at the hall assembled the flowers on the cake after I left. 

My friend Jennie loved the cake!  Because I am not a licensed baker they were not able to cut and serve the cake to the guests.  So, a few of us decided later in the evening to sample it.  It was fun.

It turned out very well and I will start thinking about the next wedding cake I have to do in September.  I am not sure how many more I would like to due because of the pressure it brings to be perfect.  We will see what the road ahead has in store.

I have one due this Friday for my great grandma, stay tuned :)