Bridal Shower Cupcakes

When my daughter was in high school, she had this little group of girls she would hang around with.  There were 2 of them that were especially close to her.  Now that they are in their mid 20's, they are still very close.  The third amigo is getting married at the end of summer, and the other two were throwing her a bridal shower.  The colors for the wedding are yellow and blue.  Her wedding dress is almost all lace, so I wanted to reflect that in the cupcake theme.

I made both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, put pale yellow buttercream frosting on them all and then decorated them with a blue flower and some pearl dragees.  The girls had given me an idea for a bridal dress on the top of the cupcake tower, so I made a cake using a Pyrex bowl.  I then covered that with white fondant and pressed my lace mold over the bottom of the dress to mimic the lace in the actual gown.

I heard rave reviews from the bride-to-be, as well as the two girls throwing the party.  I don't think I have ever been more nervous or more proud of something I've created.

Here is the final product...

Cupcake bouquet

I have a friend going through chemo for breast cancer.  Several of our friends have prepared meals that are oven ready and easy to serve.  Several have dropped by with flowers and well wishes.  I decided to do a bit of both...I made a cupcake bouquet.

I wanted to mindful of the fact she was having chemo and may not be feeling well.  I decided to go with a chocolate cake with no milk or eggs.

Here's the recipe:  http://tastycheapskate.blogspot.com/2011/01/wacky-cake.html

I added some buttercream piped like flowers to complete the cupcakes.

To build the bouquet, find a vase or basket of your choice.  Get some plastic cups and some clear Scotch tape.  I'm sure there is some scientific method to putting the cups together, but I just taped them together at the bottom of the cup and then fit them into the basket.  Once you have that completed, cut tissue paper into squares.  Put a square of tissue paper into each cup and then put a cupcake in the cup.  Once you have all your cups filled with paper and cupcakes, fill in any blank spots with additional tissue paper squares.

Voila!

I had my husband deliver the bouquet to my friend's house.  I got a note from her immediately following thanking me.  Knowing that I lifted her spirits just for a minute was gratitude enough for me.

Pitter patter of little feet

My daughter asked me to bake cupcakes for her boss’ baby shower.  I asked my daughter what kind of cupcakes she wanted, but there was no real answer other than “she’s having a boy, she likes teal and she’t not a girlie girl.”  So….this is what I came up with.

I made chocolate cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes.  When they cooled, I colored the buttercream frosting and then put it in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds.  This made is somewhat of a glaze consistency.  I dipped the cupcakes in the frosting and then put them in the refrigerator to harden a bit.

I got a packet of stencils at the store a while back, and I found some baby stuff on one of the stencils.  I could not get the other things to come out in a manner that would be recognizable; so after much trial and error, I decided to make “pitter patter of little feet” cupcakes.  I took white buttercream, put it in the microwave for about 15 seconds and then poured it into a squeeze bottle (you could also use a piping bag and a small round tip).  I held the stencil over the cupcake and then filled it in with the white buttercream (think Royal Icing on cookies). 

I thought they were just about as cute as the day is long…I hope they went over well at the shower.

Easy Recipe Pecan Pie minis

I was explaining to someone the other day how I love to bake.  He asked me if I would be willing to bake a pecan pie for his significant other's birthday.  He wanted the kind with the whole pecans, and nobody had them around our area.  I told him I had not made one before, but I would be willing to find a recipe and try.  I told him to come by the house and I would give him a sample.

One problem with that theory...I don't eat pecan pie.  I asked my guinea pig husband if he liked pecan pie and he said NO in no uncertain terms.  Hmm..what to do?  Who is going to tell me if the pie tastes good?

I decided instead of making a full-sized pie, I would make little individual sized pies so I could shop for more opinions.

I found a recipe from Paula Deen for the pie...
1 cup sugar 
3 tablespoons butter, melted 
1/2 cup dark corn syrup 
3 large eggs, beaten 
1 1/2 to 2 cups pecan halves 
2 tablespoons good-quality bourbon (I left this part out in my pie)
1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell, unbaked

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, eggs, pecans, and bourbon, and stir until all ingredients are combined. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell, and place on a heavy-duty cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until pie is set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack

I thought they looked pretty good.  I still had the problem of who would try them.  I turned to Facebook armed with this picture and these words..."I have 6 more of these left.  First one to comment gets them."  Problem solved!  I had a willing participant within 5 minutes.  Luckily, she gave me a glowing review!  

The real pie will be due at the end of the month.  I hope his family enjoys the pie.  

Minion cake

My grandson recently turned 2 years old, and the term "all boy" could not be more true with him.  My daughter is having a bit of a hard time with this concept because her first child, a girl, is the true definition of princess...not to mention that my daughter was a princess herself when she was little.

My grandson loves trucks, trains and playing in the mud.  What he loves most of all though...are minions.  If you are not familiar with minions, look them up on Google or YouTube.  They are the little yellow guys in the Despicable Me movies.  

The week before I was to have this cake completed, I decided I was not going to procrastinate like usual.  I made a list of things I needed for each layer.  I made a task list for each day during the week.  I was so excited.  I was not going to have to be up until all hours of the night!  About that....nothing got done until the night before the cake was due.  Nothing....well except 1 batch of fondant.  I was up until 3:30 a.m. the night before and then back up at 7:00 a.m.  I had to cut details that I wanted to add.  

All in all, I think my little minion cake looks pretty good.  I wanted purple cotton candy for the purple guy's hair but could not find it.  The purple guy's arms were supposed to be the other direction and holding the candle and sign, but the fell.  I forgot to take the yellow guy's hair with me to the party.  My silver dust filled in all of the stone texture I put into the bottom layer so it just looked poorly covered; but hey, my grandson was happy...and that's just fine with me.

Snickerdoodle cake with cream cheese frosting

It was my dear husband's birthday last week.  In my house, when it's your birthday, you get to choose the flavor and the design of the cake.  I knew he would never, ever ask for anything...it's just the way he is.  I happen to know that his very favorites are cream cheese and cinnamon.  Armed with this knowledge, I went to work finding an easy cake recipe that would combine the two.

Along came the snickerdoodle cake with cream cheese frosting.  I knew he would love it.

From http://caribbeanmissionarywife.blogspot.com/

preheat oven to 325 deg fahrenheit and butter and flour 2 round pans
  (I use 9 inch but 8 inch would be just dandy)

 Whisk together

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

 In a separate bowl cream together  till they are nice and fluffy

2 sticks (softened) butter

1 3/4 cups fine sugar

1 cup sour cream

Add  to cream mixture one-at-a-time

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

1 1/4 cups whole milk (room temperature) 

Don't let this confuse you, 

 add 1/3 cup of flour mixture to cream mixture....a little milk and stir....

1/3 cup of flour mixture.....a little milk and stir.....

etc, until all the flour and milk are added

Bake until a toothpick comes clean.  Mine took a little under 30 minutes.
Cool before slicing again and frosting.

For the frosting, I used this recipe loosely and added cream cheese and cinnamon:

1/3 cup butter

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

cream cheese (I used 8 oz due to my husband's love of the stuff)

cinnamon (I used enough to sort of thinly coat the top of the bowl  - again due to my husband's love of cinnamon)

He loved the cake.  He made that OMG face and everything.  I think he had a happy birthday.  Mission accomplished.

Oreo crumble crispies

Did you ever get an uncontrollable craving for something sweet?  Well, I had one the other day.  I was looking through Pinterest and it hit me....MUST HAVE SWEETS.  I found this recipe for Oreo crispies and thought it would be perfect.

What you need:
1 can crescent rolls (8 triangles total)
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
6 Double Stuff Oreos
1/2 cup flour

glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk

Here we go:
1 - preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2 - prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat - do NOT grease
3 - crumble Oreos by food processor or by placing them in a bag and crushing with a rolling pin
4 - combine Oreo crumbs, brown sugar, white sugar and flour
5 - cut the cold butter into the Oreo mixture to form a crumble
6 - separate the crescent roll dough on your prepared cookie sheet - I pressed them down a little for more surface area :)
7 - Add the Oreo crumble to the crescent triangles
8 - Bake for 8-12 minutes at 400F
9 - Let cool completely and then cut into smaller pieces if you wish.
10 - make the glaze by combining all ingredients together and then drizzle over the Oreo crumble crescents.


I have tried to detail the steps to be thorough.  Please don't be put off by the number of steps.  This is super easy and equally as quick to put together....and very well worth it.

I am now thinking about different cookie combinations to use.  Nothing personal Oreo, I'm just always looking for something new and exciting.  Maybe peanut butter cookies with a chocolate glaze?