Thanks for the new pan, Mom!

I baked these pineapple "cakes" in my new dessert shell pan. I will never serve another plain store bought shell again. I really like the combination of pineapple, coconut and blueberry and I also used one to show off the first sugar paste flower I ever made. I have a feeling I will be using this pan a lot.

S'mores on a Stick

I love s'mores. What I love even more than the warm, gooey marshmallow, melted chocolate and subtle snap of mildly sweet graham crackers are the feelings they evoke of friends and family, summer and a simpler time. Also, what can be better than a warm dessert that does not require a recipe and only has three ingredients? I am not the only one who loves s'mores. When I was speaking to a maid of honor who was planning a bridal shower she mentioned that the bride to be also loves s'mores and she would like to work them into the dessert buffet we were planning. Could be tough considering your typical bridal shower does not have a campfire. The next best option would have to be a spin on the traditional s'more in a less messy, more refined way. I have coated marshmallows before and even coated mini marshmallows with chocolate and graham cracker crumbs but needed an elegant presentation for a bridal shower. To go along with the champagne cake on a stick and the oreo truffles on a stick that were also on the dessert buffet, I decided to add a stick to marshmallows that had been dipped in melted chocolate and covered in graham cracker crumbs.


In case you were wondering, I used Kraft marshmallows for these. I purchased both Kraft and a store brand and found that, while both tasted very good, the Kraft marshmallows were more dense, which made them ideal for inserting the stick

More Summer Inspiration

Now that it is officially summer, I thought I would share more summer inspiration with these luau pictures from a recent event at a local school's last day. The thoughtful principal provided her staff with a dessert buffet including pina colada cake pops, white chocolate macadamia cookies, dipped nutter butters decorated like flip flops and bright cupcakes.

Hello Summer

A few of his favorite things

I was delighted to be able to make a few things for a very special guy on his birthday. What makes him so special is that he makes someone I love very happy. Butter, sugar, and flour just doesn't seem to quite cut it.

Among the items on the birthday boy's list of favorite things is Guinness Draught. Instead of tackling one of the many chocolate stout cupcake recipes out there I simply replaced the water in a devil's food chocolate cake mix recipe with Guinness. I figured the Guinness company would not be too upset that I pirated one of their images for these cupcakes since I did use their product in the recipe. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the party where these were served but I hear they went over pretty well.
As for the cookies, he is a guy so no matter what they may say, these cookie designs are on most men's list of favorite things.

Inked

I am getting a little obsessed with my Kopykake frosting sheets and edible ink.

Happy Mother's Day

Blinged Out Bridal Shower

The bride wanted purple and bling, I think I delivered.




I have always wanted to try to make a champagne cake and I thought a bridal shower would be the perfect opportunity. I decided to to make champagne cake pops and the bride to be loved them. She has even requested them for her wedding! I simply replaced the water in the white cake batter with champagne. With the extra champagne I made an orange cake. Mimosa cake pops anyone?

Tequila!

Well, actually there isn't any tequila in these but that is where the inspiration came from. When searching for ideas for Cinco de Mayo desserts I found pictures from Cinco de Mayo a couple years ago. These mini trifles have layers of lemon lime cake and whipped topping, tinted green with food coloring, and garnished with lime zest. The rim is coated in lime juice and dipped in sugar. From what I remember they were quite good and the only complaint was that the "shot" was not large enough.

What a Month! Part Two

A co-worker of mine requested desserts for a baby shower. She provided the inspiration through the chocolate and cream invitation which set the theme for the cupcake toppers. Very happy with the results.

What a Month! Part 1

Campaign Cookies

I was very excited when I saw that someone from my small hometown was running for political office so I thought I would celebrate the campaign by making cookies for a Campaign Kickoff. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the kickoff myself but my cookies were there in spirit. Vote for Jay!
I got a little help with the cookies from this website .

Only a few days late

It's For The Kids

That is what we told everyone today at our bake sale when they either mentioned : their diet, fasting for lent, or money. And boy are we glad they listened. Because of everyone's generosity and hard work, our "adopted" camper will be attending MDA camp this summer on us. Great Job guys!
Everyone loved the little teaser samples we strategically placed around the building giving them just enough to come to the bake sale for more. The cupcake bar was also a hit. Mini pound cakes, chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing, and chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing could be topped with your choice of treats.
We made our goal and now McKenzie gets to go to camp. Happy Day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy Baking

These yummy bars were a hit at a recent event and I thought I would share the recipe. They will get you through until strawberry season is in full swing.

Business Card

A little work with Microsoft Publisher/Paint. Thanks Phillip for the program.

Resume'

Blue and Brown Bridal Shower

I had the pleasure to help my sister host a bridal shower for her best friend over the weekend. When a shower was mentioned I jumped at the chance to help. Even though I do not have children, I liken my desire for entertaining to childbirth, painful, but after it is over you forget the pain and it is all worth it. I had so much fun designing, baking, and decorating for this shower. I took inspiration from the shower invitations that my sister picked. The cupcakes and cheesecake pops were decorated with candy clay, which I have worked with before, and chocolate shavings. I tinted the chocolate using a coloring made specifically for chocolate, do not use regular food coloring, it will ruin the chocolate. For favors, we had sugar cookies speckled with melted chocolate to resemble robin's eggs. I used the same sugar cookie recipe I have in the past, hasn't failed me yet. Now, just waiting for more of my sister's friends to get married.....or start having babies!

Candy "Bar"

I have been spending the weekend gathering ideas for an upcoming bridal shower and found these pictures of the candy bar at the baby shower we threw for my nephew's parents. We went with an "It's a Boy" theme in blue.

After gathering all the blue candy we could find (including $40 worth of Berry Blue Jelly Bellies, don't ask) we made treat bags by stamping little brown bags with a boy stamp in blue ink. Yeah, that's the same "boy" from the bathroom sign but it didn't stop anyone from filling their bags.)

Happy Valentine's Day

I received an email from my husband's friend who wanted a special Valentine gift for his wife. He told me she loves peanut butter cups so they were my inspiration. I immediately thought of peanut butter and chocolate cake balls. The cake is German chocolate with crushed peanut butter cups baked inside, the icing is chocolate, also with crushed peanut butter cups and the coating is peanut butter flavored candy melts. I used a fondant cutter to make the cut-outs and heart impressions in the peanut butter cups. To my delight, the recipient loved her gift. Happy Valentine's Day all.

Valentine Inspiration

Sugar Cookies

A very Happy Birthday to my boss who is also a shoe lover like myself. I made the presentation extra special by packaging them in a parchment lined shoe box.

I used Paula Deen's recipe for these cookies as well as the sugar cookies I made for Christmas.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract ( I used 1/2 tsp)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond extract until combined.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until smooth. Wrap dough in heavy-duty plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with assorted snowflake cookie cutters and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill dough 15 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes ( I baked mine 8 minutes), or until edges are very lightly browned. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.