Life Is Sweets

Custom Made Fondant Princess Crown Cupcake Toppers

2014-07-21T15:35:00.000-04:00

I'm back! I'm back!! I'm back!!!

After a year and a half absence, I don't know who, if anyone, is reading this, but I'm so happy to be posting an entry once again. I've missed this so much.

A lot of happened since I last blogged on Life Is Sweets. Shortly after my last post, my husband was in a pretty bad car accident with a fairly long recovery. He did remarkably well and has returned to work and a normal life with, really, no lasting effects or troubles. We are so thankful. We also took a bit of time for traveling, moved into a new house, and, finally, have a new routine that has allowed me to get back to what I love - baking and creating in the kitchen!

Okay, so let's get to it. One of my favorite four year old girls was having a birthday party to celebrate and the theme was "Ariel" and princesses. I wanted to create something to incorporate both elements, while at the same time not obligating me to tackle the actual making of Ariel, which I accept is outside of my current skill set!

I'm pretty new to the fondant game, but it's more fun to work with than I expected and I'd like to do more with it. I have done some fondant projects in the past, such as these cow cupcakes, but I've held onto to this idea that everything on a cupcake should not only be edible, it should be tasty and delicious. If you have to peel off or remove items, what's the point? Well, maybe just being pretty is point enough! With all that said, here's how I made these cute princess crown toppers.

To begin, I rolled out some waxed paper and used painters tape to secure it. You will be working with a smallish amount of fondant, so if you don't have tape, use a generous piece of waxed paper and anchor it with heavy objects at either end for stability. That will work just fine.

I purchased a crown cookie cutter measuring approximately one inch tall. I bought Wilton branad pre-made fondant at Michaels craft store in hot pink and and rolled it out in a fairly thick layer, keeping mind I wanted to insert a toothpick through the bottom. Next, I began to cut out the crown shapes. (To prevent the fondant from drying out, keep what you are not using wrapped in plastic so it will remain pliable.)

I worked on about 4-5 crowns at a time. Once they were cut out, I inserted the toothpick.

If the toothpick is showing through the backside of the crown, "patch" it with a very small amount of fondant flattened with your fingers. Gently spread it on the exposed area to create a seal. If the crowns have already begun to dry and the fondant does not stick, use a very small amount of water to permanently secure it.

I wanted to give some visual interest to the crowns and decided to add some "pearls" to the tips. I thought Wilton Pearlized Sprinkles would be perfect for this. Since the fondant I chose was pink, I went with white sprinkles.

Cute! Yet...I thought something more was needed. I set the crowns and a layer of paper towel (to absorb moisture and leave them nice and stiff) and moved on to something else.

Then it came to me! Ages ago I purchased a cookie stamper set with tiny little letters. How cute would they look on the crowns? I chose my friend's first name initial, "K".

Adorable!! I was very pleased. Very simple with clean lines and a splash of "bling".

The next day, however, I still had these crowns on my mind. While shopping for supplies, I didn't really know where I was going with this, so I purchased some plastic crown rings to put on the top of the cupcakes as toppers in case my ideas didn't work out. I REALLY hoped not to use them and was glad I didn't have to for that purpose. BUT, I had some inspiration about using them as stampers on the fondants. Would that be effective to create more of a "crown" effect?

I lined a ring up and rolled it back and forth, pressing firmly but not so firm as to flatten or distort the shape.

Voila!

I stamped a "K" in the middle of the heart.

Perfect! Would some "pearls" be too much? Of course not!

To secure the sprinkles, press one into each point of the crown making sure there is a semi-circular indent for the sprinkle to rest in.

Using a small paintbrush (that's never been used for painting - I have a supply reserved for food projects only), apply a trace amount of water in each indent and them apply the sprinkle. Once dried, the sprinkle should be totally secured to the fondant.

Here is the progression of the crowns as I made them. I loved the final version with the ring impression so much I redid all of the crowns for the birthday party cupcakes.

Now, to take a plain frosted cupcake and transform it into something fit for a Princess on her birthday!

I found these adorable castle cupcake wrappers and knew I wanted to use them, too, for the final product.

All done!

But then again...what about some sparkles by adding a layer of edible disco dust?

Or maybe securing an edible sugar heart in the middle of the crown. Perhaps a fun jewel sticker for some sparkle? The possibilities are endless! Color combinations and and array of sprinkles, quins, edible glitter, stamps, etc., will allow you to make your own specialized cupcake topper for the Princesses in your life!

Stay tuned for the second part of this particular party...Mermaid Tail Cupcakes! I will post a tutorial detailing the steps to make these cutie cupcakes. Thanks for stopping by Life Is Sweets!!

Hershey's Kiss, Kiss "Dah-ling" Cookies

2013-01-22T23:46:00.000-05:00

I must be watching too many episodes of the Real Housewives Franchise because, while putting these together, "Kiss, Kiss, Dahling" (in the voice of Lisa Vanderpump or LuAnn De Lesseps) kept going through my head. Despite this, I had so much fun making these!! I first spied the idea on Pinterest here at Munchkin Munchies. They looked so adorable I had to try them myself. Since we are fast approaching February 14th, I decided to mimic the hues of the Kiss wrappers found in the Hershey Kiss Valentine's Day packages. So cute.

I have an absolutely favorite cut-out cookie recipe that I always use, but it contains lemon juice and zest. I planned to use melted Kisses for some of the cookies instead of icing, however, which didn't seem to appealing to combine with lemon. Also, I wanted to flavor some of the dough with almond (to create a faux Hershey Kiss Almond candy) and some with cherry (for Hershey Cherry Cordial Kiss cookies). Neither would be tasty with a lemon based cookie.

For a new sugar cookie dough recipe, I turned to The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle, since she makes some of the most amazing cookies I have ever seen. It only stood to reason that her basic cookie recipe must be delicious, too, right? I made a few slight changes but was VERY happy with this recipe. I will most definitely be using it again.

Before baking the cookies, be sure you have your decorating supplies ready: Unwrapped Hershey Kisses (save the "Hershey Kiss" tag from each), food coloring in the shade of each wrapper you are turning into a cookie, and edible sprinkles in the corresponding icing colors.

Basic Sugar Cookies

adapted from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

1 cup (2 sticks) of real butter (I used salted)

1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons flavoring extract (I used Almond)

2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the egg and flavoring. Combine butter and egg mixtures and beat until fully incorporated. In another separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients and add to butter an egg mixture in three intervals. Mix until dough is pliable but not sticky. Roll out dough* and cut into desired shapes. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Let cool completely before icing.

To make the Kiss shape, I used a small heart cookie cutter. I tried to smooth out the top of the heart into a straight line for the bottom of the Kiss. Some were more successful than others. Last night I picked up a small metal heart cutter and flattened the cutter itself for the future.

Next, I mixed up some icing - confectioner's sugar mixed with water to a thickish consistency. To test the thickness I run a knife through the icing and count to five. If the line disappears before 5 seconds, I add a bit more sugar. If it takes 5 seconds for the line to disappear, it's exactly how I want it. I just eyeballed the amount of icing, making as much as I thought I'd need for the amount of cookies I had. Then, I split the icing into three parts dyeing the first one gray, the second light pink, and the third red.

Working with one color at a time, I poured the icing in a plastic piping bag fitted with a #3 tip. Outline the Kiss with icing and fill the inside. You can use a toothpick to nudge fill out the icing completely inside the outline. Immediately after icing a cookie, take one of the Hershey Kiss tags and, again using a toothpick, push it into the icing so it will be secure once the icing sets. After the tag is applied, immediately pour the sprinkles that match the icing color onto the cookie. (TIP: Pour the sprinkles over a coffee filter. When you are done sprinkling, use the filter to pour the unused sprinkles back into the container. Not my original idea, but it's genius and works like a dream!)

I started with gray icing and sprinkles:

Then I rounded out the Valentine collection with pink and red:

Once I completed the icing/tagging/sprinkling process, I melted down the unwrapped Hershey Kisses in the microwave in one minute increments at 30% power until they were melted. I poured the melted chocolate into a piping bag, snipped off a TINY bit of the end, and made a triangle of chocolate on each cookie:

Using a toothpick, I pushed the chocolate into a kiss shape and did my best to create that iconic swirly flourish at the top! I can definitely use more practice with that:

They are not perfect, but I *love* them. :)

I think these might be a new favorite of mine. I will make them for every Holiday and event coming because WHO doesn't love a Kiss? Happy Valentine's Day!

A Tiramisu Triumph!

2013-01-18T00:09:00.003-05:00

I'm excited to share this recipe with you. Of all the desserts, cupcakes, and sweet treats I've made to date, these cupcakes absolutely received the most rave reviews. They are both pretty and pretty easy to make! If you like tiramisu, I cannot recommend these enough.

To begin, mix up your favorite yellow cake recipe and bake it into cupcakes.

As they are cooling, make a cup of coffee. Any flavor you like will do just fine.

Next, using a skewer, poke holes into the cupcakes. Be sure to poke several holes so the coffee absorbs. You can either use a pastry brush to apply the coffee to the cupcakes or a spoon to pour it on. I found using a spoon worked better to achieve the sponge-soaked cake effect of tiramisu. I poured a teaspoon sized spoon of coffee onto each cupcake, one at a time, and repeated the process until the cup of coffee was gone.

This photo shows the three steps from bottom to top:

1. Bake cupcakes

2. Poke holes with skewer

3. Apply coffee with pastry bush or spoon

While the cupcakes sit soaking up the coffee, prepare the icing (which is soooo delicious!). One of the distinctive flavors of tiramisu is mascarpone cheese, a smooth and soft buttery cream mixture with a sweet, light flavor. In the cupcake version it's used in the icing. You can find it in the cheese section at most grocery stores.

Mascarpone Cheese Icing

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 8 oz. package of mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks. (To see the progression of stiffness as you beat the cream, click here for photos at one minute intervals).

In a separate bowl, beat together mascarpone cheese and sugar. Once the mixture if fully creamed together, add the whipped cream in three increments, beating until completely incorporated at each interval. The final product of icing will look like this:

To ice the cupcakes, I used a piping bag with the end snipped off.

After each cupcake is piled high with fluffy icing, dust the tops with cocoa powder.

Lastly, add some bittersweet chocolate shavings for garnish (if desired).

And there you have it!

You can see the coffee soaked cake deliciousness after just one bite.

Tiramisu is my Husband's favorite dessert so I'll be baking him these for Valentine's Day. I hope you have an opportunity to make and enjoy them, too!

What? Halloween is only 9 Months Away! ;)

2013-01-16T02:45:00.001-05:00

I've been on a bit of a hiatus. I hadn't intended to be away for so long, but life happens, right?! I had this Halloween Cupcake-scape in cue since last October and initially thought it was too late to post it. But then again, why not?!

The idea came from my an order my neighbor placed for a birthday cake for her son, who was turning 6. He requested a Halloween theme to celebrate, and we arrived at this idea instead of a traditional cake.

Begin by baking cupcakes in the flavor of your choice. While they are cooling, start on the chocolate trees. You can find directions for making them here. They cannot be easier to put together!

While the chocolate trees harden, arrange the cooled cupcakes in a random pattern close enough that they are touching. Dye a batch (or can) of icing green to create a "grass" color. If you would like to use homemade icing, you can find my favorite recipe here. Using a Wilton Grass Tip #233, start piping the grass.

Now comes the fun part - using your imagination to create any type of Halloween scene you'd like! I decided not to be too ghoulish, as this was to be for 6 year-old children. I made some white chocolate ghosts using a ghost lollipop chocolate mold. These, too, were super easy. Melt white chocolate, pour them into the molds (first, I melted a bit of dark chocolate, just a small amount, and used a small brush to paint in the eyes and mouth), add the lollipop stick and place in the refrigerator to harden. When you pop the ghosts out, you can use the lollipop stick to anchor the ghost into a cupcake.

I also added a chocolate tree, sprinkled a few autumn leaves quins underneath the tree, placed a few sugar pumpkins around, and randomly threw on some candy skulls.

Lastly, I added a "BOO" banner to tie it all together.

This was a really fun cup-"cake" to put together. The birthday boy was happy and the kids loved it. Mission accomplished!

I'm looking forward to blogging about desserts and such in the coming weeks. I haven't been blogging, but I sure have been baking the last few months. I'm excited to start experimenting and trying new things and hope you'll find some things of interest, too!

Happy New Year to you all, and thanks for continuing to follow Life Is Sweets!!

Cupcakin' It Old School - Jell-O Poke Cupcakes!

2012-08-03T12:42:00.000-04:00

Back in the day there was not a dessert I loved more than Jell-O Poke Cake! Seriously, this combo of jello and cake could not be beat. :) In an effort to make them more portable and eater friendly I wanted to make a cupcake version. This recipe has been around, as far as I can tell, since the dawn of time. Is there anyone who hasn't had this cake?! If you haven't I urge you to make this summertime staple. It couldn't be easier and it's just delicious!!

Begin by baking up some cupcakes. There are so many combinations you make. The standard while growing up in my family was white cake with fruit jello, usually strawberry. I made a vanilla cake with Blackberry Jell-O. Yum. Prepare the cake batter as directed (you can use a box mix or your favorite recipe). After baking, remove from oven and let cool for around 15 minutes, give or take. In the meantime, dissolve one package of Jell-O in one cup of boiling water. Using a fork, poke holes in the top of each cupcake.

Once the Jell-O is dissolved completely, spoon or brush it over the tops of the cupcakes. I poured one spoonful at a time on each of 24 cupcakes until the Jell-O mixture was gone.

Place cupcakes in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill. Next, prepare the topping. I've had this two ways: either Whipped Topping or Pudding Topping. I do have a preference for the whipped version. You can either use Cool Whip or make your own.

Homemade Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl (large to prevent spray of cream flying everywhere!). Using an electric mixer, beat on medium until mixture thickens, at which time increase speed up to high. Beat about 4-5 minutes until peaks form. To see photos of this process in one minute intervals, click here.

If the Pudding Topping sounds more appetizing to you, try this recipe:

Dream Whip Frosting

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 envelope vanilla instant pudding

1 envelope Dream Whip

Beat milk and Dream Whip on medium speed until mixture thickens enough to beat on high speed. Beat until peaks form. Add pudding and beat until well combined.

Pipe or spread your desired topping onto the cupcakes and refrigerate immediately. Store any remaining cupcakes in the fridge. These cupcakes are best eaten chilled. Look at the pop of color when you take a big bite:

I hope you have a chance to make these before summer's end.

A Treat "Fore" The Golf Lovers In Your Life!

2012-07-31T02:29:00.001-04:00

The one year anniversary of my blog is coming up next month and one of my first projects was a golf course made out of cupcakes. At the time I thought it was a bit sad looking and had wanted to give it another go with the proper tools, namely a grass piping tip. Finally, I had a reason to do it when I was asked to create a cupcake golf course for a birthday party.

As with any cupcake project, I baked up the cakes! Once they cooled, I arranged them on a cake board. Without giving it much thought I designed the shape the same way I've noticed the courses on google - random and askew:

The order was for 20 chocolate and 20 vanilla cupcakes. I purposely placed the chocolate on the outside so it would resemble earth beneath the grass. I'm not sure it made a real difference. Vanilla would have been just fine. Next, I mixed up three batches of buttercream icing.

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

2 sticks of butter

4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3-5 tablespoons half and half

Using a mixer, beat butter until it is fluffy. Add 3 cups of sugar - one cup at a time - mixing until it's completely incorporated. Add vanilla and half and half along with last cup of sugar and mix, adding more half and half until the icing is the desired consistency.

I wanted to make enough to cover the entire golf course. Since I was dying the "grass" green, I needed enough to be sure I wouldn't need to mix more icing. If I needed to make more I couldn't guarantee the greens would match and that there wouldn't be a darker or lighter patch on the course. For 40 cupcakes three batches of icing was perfect. I didn't have much left over at all by the end!

So, I combined the three batches (I mixed them up separately to ensure it turned out okay. Recipes are funny like that; some you can double or triple with no consequences, some you have to make adjustments in the measurements. I was under a time crunch, so I played it safe mixing the buttercream in three separate batches. I spooned out a nice sized scoop for the water and another spoonful of white for the sand trap. I spread the blue and white over the areas I designated for the water and sand. On top of the white I sprinkled brown sugar. I thought it had a nice, sand-like texture. I've seen other courses where crushed Nilla Wafers or Graham Crackers were used for the sand and I think next time I will do that just to cut down on the sweetness factor.

Once the "water" and "sand" were applied, I filled a piping bag with some of the green icing fitted with a Wilton #233 grass tip. Using the green, I filled in the remaining surfaces of the cupcakes. My client asked me to make it look like a smooth course, not like separate cupcakes arranged as a course. To that end, I filled in the spaces between cupcakes with some icing for a surface to pipe the "grass" on top. Once I made some decent progress with the rough, I designated an area for the green. Using the same frosting/smoothing technique as for the "water" and "sand", I added green icing and topped it with some light green sanding sugar to mimic the short grass of the green. Then I continued piping the rough.

To finish the "water" I added some small chocolate rocks:

Lastly, for the golf course, was the flag and hole in the green. I used a wooden skewer (next time will use a lollipop stick) for the post and white fondant for the flag. The hole was an upside down chocolate chip and the golf ball a white dragee:

That's it! A bit time consuming to pipe all of the "grass", but EASY. As always, however, I have a few ideas to improve the design.

So, the order was for 40 cupcakes, but I was only able to fit 30 onto the cake board. For the remaining 10 cupcakes I made cupcakes designed to be a golf course "green".

Picture quality is not so great, but you get idea. I have a new macro lens and camera I'm still trying to figure out, which means some photos will be better than others until I work it all out. :)

In elementary school one of my teachers had each of us students write a paragraph on the first day of school. On the last day of the year she handed them back to us so we could see how our writing improved and how much we'd progressed during the course of the year. This golf course is kind of like that for me. When I see where I was a year ago and what I can do now, all just because I keep trying, it feels pretty good!

Using Stickers In A Pinch (Or Using Them Just Because You Can!)

2012-07-30T02:07:00.001-04:00

I don't know about the rest of you cake pop makers out there, but I can't even begin to imagine how people make such intricate, detailed, perfect shapes, animals, etc. Chocolate is a fussy thing to work with. It's too liquidity, it's too thick, it's just not my preferred medium (fancy word there, huh? ;) for baking. Therefore, I haven't gone too far into the realm of cake pop options, apart from different colorings. The thing is, though, I'm getting kinda bored of the plain, old round cake pop.

Which brings me to my recent cake pop order. The theme was "Noah's Arc" (for twins...how clever!) and I was given an invitation for a color guide. I spent days thinking of what I could do to make them a bit more special without getting into making actual animal shapes I would have to add details to. As far as skills go, I just don't think I'm there yet.

I went to the craft store to pick up sticks, wrappers and ribbon the day of the project and resigned myself to playing it safe with the ball shape, matching colors as best I could. As I walked to the register past the scrapbook sticker aisles I thought, "Why not look for some animals to add to the packaging." It's such a simple, easy addition, but I LOVE the way they turned out!!

Here is a photo of the group with the invitation:

Aren't they CUTE? I may be a bit more enthusiastic than is warranted, but the amount of time and stress it saved me while, at the same time, playing up the theme makes me want to sing and dance! ;)

I definitely will only use scrapbooking stickers, rather than flat, one dimensional versions, because they're more visually interesting and polished. I'm totally going to capitalize on all of the adorable stickers out there and save myself some headaches when I can. The possibilities are endless!!

Tattoos for Treats?! Sure, I'll give it a try! :)

2012-07-26T23:03:00.000-04:00

Well, hello there!! This summer has been so crazy....I've really missed baking! We've hosted lots of visiting family and friends at our home and did some traveling. I was even able to spend some time on the set of Royal Pains during the filming of an episode! However, things have settled down and it's time to get back to blogging.

Over the last months I've worked on orders people have asked me to do. So, now that I've found a few minutes to myself for blog baking I am having difficulty decided where to begin. I've been trying to come up with something a little different. Something original. I'm still trying to come up with it. Everything is a variation on a theme, you know? So, in the meantime of coming up with a unique and amazing product (lol), I decided to experiment with the zebra stripe brownie tattoos I picked up at Michaels some time ago.

The photo above is the picture perfect look I was going for. It's by Duff Goldman, some big time baking guy. I think he has a show. Anyway, mine didn't turn out quite as lovely, but I think they're cute!

First I baked up some brownies. For fun I baked them in a cupcake pan.

I was in a "round" kind of mood, but the shape of the tattoos wasn't ideal for round brownies. They are designed for square items since they have a border, so the pattern isn't big enough for a cupcake sized brownie. If you make brownie bites it will definitely fit nicely. After reading the instructions I discovered I would need a brownie icing to create an adhesive for the tattoo. Here's what I whipped up:

Brownie Frosting

recipe from Allrecipes

6 tablespoons milk

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

1 dash vanilla extract

Combine milk, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil for 30 seconds and immediately remove from heat. Add chocolate chips and vanilla, stirring until melted. Pour immediately onto warm brownies

I removed the cooled, but warm brownies from the pan and then frosted them with the brownie frosting. Initially, when you make the icing it is liquidy. It will harden, though, and not stick to the brownie very well. It's definitely best to frost them immediately before they cool completely and let the frosting set after applying it.

Once the icing was on, I applied a square of tattoo on top of the brownie. The tattoos come in a rectangular shape, so I cut them into squares myself.

Using the flat side of a knife, I ran it over the top of the tattoo to secure and smooth it to the frosting. After it set for about 20 minutes, I cut the edges to make rounds.

Looking at the picture above you can see what I mean about the edge of the pattern not fitting on top of the round brownie surface. Making the brownies a bit smaller would easily take care of this problem. I think these are cute, and for something themed these would be a great dessert. You cannot taste the tattoo at all and brownies, of course, are always DELICIOUS! This is a pretty quick and easy way to whip up something simple with that extra pizzazz!

Moooooo-ve Over Other Sweet Treats, The Cows Are Coming Home!

2012-06-27T11:53:00.003-04:00

I have been having a crazy-busy spring/summer season! Lots of travelling and hosting guests who've come to tour NYC. I've also been filling baking orders, but have been on such a time crunch I was never able to photograph and blog about them. This time, however, I tried something new and decided to share my experience: Fondant.

I have been afraid of fondant and dreading the day I had to use it. Finally, that day came and I reluctantly purchased the necessary tools to make these cow cupcakes. I have no idea when or how I developed the idea that fondant was a messy, sticky, difficult substance to work with, but I could not have been more wrong! It's pliable, not terribly sticky, and FUN!!

These cutie cows were favors for a birthday party. I was shown a picture to work from, and it was clear that the only way to accomplish this design was to use (in my opinion) the F-word. Fondant.

Unfortunately, since I have family visiting from Buffalo, I was not able to photograph each step involved in putting these together. I wanted to be efficient and still spend time with my guests.

To that end, I bought pre-made white, black and pink fondant from Michaels. I also used candy eyes and black decorating gel for the snouts.

To begin, I rolled out the white fondant. I made pretty thick discs and next time will make them thinner, since there's really no reason to use so much when topping a cupcake.

These are the tools I used to cut the shapes:

I used my graduated circle cookie cutters and matched the size of the head to the size of a cupcake. Next, I used a smaller circle for the pink "snout" area. After cutting the snout I used my fingers to press it onto the white head, forming it into an oval shape. I used the smallest cutter from a "Fondant Flower" set from Michaels Craft Store to make the spots on the cow. Certainly, you can make all kinds of different spot shapes, but I decided to be a little more uniform in the design, though I randomly placed them on the head so no two cows would be the same. :) The smallest circle cutter was for the ears. I cut circles and then pinched the bottom of the circle together for a 3D ear effect.

I assembled them in this order:

Large circle head
Pink circle snout pressed onto the head
Black spots randomly placed on the head
Pressed in the eyes (which didn't stick very well, so I dabbed some black gel underneath them to act as a "glue".
I rolled bits of white fondant to make a "snake" sort of shape for the horns. I placed them underneath the head and pressed the "forehead" area down into the horns to make them stick.
I rolled pink fondant on top of black fondant and then cut circle shapes with a cutter. I pinched them into an ear shape and used the same "sticking" method as the horns to make them stick to the head.
Random smiles, smirks, and nose dots on the snout using the black gel.
I left them on a cookie sheet overnight to dry.

The next day I made vanilla cupcakes and vanilla buttercream icing.

I placed a dollop of buttercream on top of the cupcake and then pressed a cow on top:

And that's it! The process took about 2 hours of rolling, cutting, shaping and placement. I had fun doing it and can't wait to try some more new designs with my new friend, fondant!! :)

Pretty In Pink: Chocolate Desserts

2012-06-08T01:47:00.001-04:00

I had an order for a baby shower with the request to use browns and pinks. This was a fun assignment and I was excited. However, it was also a little overwhelming coming up with designs with so much inspiration and ideas from research. Also, if you follow me on Facebook, you know I had some issues with humidity, as in it's E-V-I-L, which upped the ante in completing this order. For five days straight it was foggy 24/7 and without air conditioning I had to have the windows open in order to prevent suffocation. I have either a) never experienced weather like this in my life or b) never noticed because I was baking all the time. I'm just not sure.

Since I had this order why not just put in the air conditioners you ask? Well, my husband was working 14 hour days and they are too heavy for me to install myself. So that was that.

For instance, I was asked to make sugar cookies in a flower shape with pink icing. I had to call and say I wasn't able. The icing was NOT drying. I had an idea to make chocolate cut-outs and to use melted pink chocolate for the flower outline. I baked the cookies for an extra minute to dry them out a bit more and the pink chocolate worked just fine, so they turned out okay in the end. For the incredible recipe for these cookies, click here.

The second part of the order was cake pops. I had no issue making these, thankfully. As for the design, I was going to use a squeeze bottle to decorate them with pink chocolate, but since I used some for the cookies it seemed too redundant. I was asked to keep the design very clean and simple, so I used some brightly colored flower sugar candies I'd picked up at Michaels Craft Store. I separated enough pink ones and used a toothpick to apply a bit of melted chocolate to the tops of the pops. Then, using tweezers, I added the pink candy. I actually really liked the final result! For instructions to make cake pops, click here.

The next part of the order was chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling. I had a hard time making a filling that wasn't too runny, which made the cupcakes soggy. Finally, I came up with something. For directions detailing how to add filling to a cupcake, click here. Next, I made some buttercream icing and on several I piled fluffy, pink frosting.

I decided to experiment with hand-rolled gum paste roses. They kinda turned out okay. I definitely need more practice making them. Some looked more like roses than others. The good news is I enjoyed making them. It was a zen kind of project.

Lastly, for the chocolate cupcakes, I attempted to smooth the buttercream icing and make pink buttercream flowers with a dragee center. As you can see, the concept was a good enough one, but, clearly, I need to work on this design. With the moisture that permeated my house, the buttercream was acting fussy, too. Yes, even the icing was in misery!! ;) To see a much prettier version of this flower design, click here.

And then there were the stars of the show...the Tiramisu Cupcakes. I had to make a second batch after throwing out the first. The idea is to poke holes on the top of each cupcake and then dip them in espresso. The first batch was beyond soggy. I was worried about the second batch, but they turned out just fine. They were topped with an amazing Mascarpone Icing, finished with a dusting of cocoa powder and chocolate shavings. Oh, they were beautiful. I mean, I really loved them and felt proud of how they turned out. So it was really too, too bad that they tipped over during the delivery and were a complete mess of icing and powder. At least I have this pretty picture to remember them by:

*Sigh* The good news is, they were (barely) able to be salvaged and everyone LOVED them. All was forgiven and I didn't completely ruin the poor Woman's Baby Shower as I feared. These cupcakes are so awesome they will be getting their own post soon. Stay tuned!

Let's Play Ball For Father's Day! - Red Velvet Baseball Cupcakes

2012-06-06T21:18:00.002-04:00

I've made many orders of cupcakes the last few weeks, but they were all variations on a theme of what I've done before. Yesterday, however, I made some baseball cupcakes for a boys' birthday party at Yankee Stadium. How FUN does that sound?!! This was new design for me. Pretty simple, and, of course, I had ideas how to improve on them them while I was in the process of putting them together so this will be a fun project to do again.

I've made (and posted about) Red Velvet Cupcakes...and I still SWEAR by the recipe I use. It's absolutely delicious and has been an overwhelming success every time. The color is such a lovely, deep red which an amazing hint-of-chocolate taste. The Cream Cheese Frosting I usually top it off with is incredible, too. In fact, it's often the star of the Red Velvet Cupcakes - such a winning combination (you can find the recipe here). However, in this case I was asked to make a barely sweet icing so I decided to go with something a little different - Mascarpone Frosting. I made the Mascarpone version for Tiramisu Cupcakes I baked a few weeks ago. With only 1/2 cup of sugar I thought it could be a wonderful compliment to red velvet. Turns out, I was right!

Okay, so here's how you make the cupcakes:

Sprinkles Copycat Red Velvet Cupcakes

Followed to a "T" from Carrot Top Mom

2 1/2 cups flour (I used all-purpose)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch processed)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice)

1 ounce red food coloring

4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking pans with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In separate bowl, beat butter and sugar using electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Beat in eggs one at a time. Add sour cream and milk, beating until well combined. Lastly, add vanilla extract and red food coloring.

In three increments, add flour mixture. Beat until just combined, do not overbeat. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick come out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Adding red dye to creamed ingredients

Red color of creamed ingredients with red dye

Slightly brownish red color of combined creamed and dry ingredients

The Mascarpone Frosting could NOT be easier to make:

Mascarpone Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream

8 oz. Mascarpone Cheese

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Using an electric mixer, whip heavy cream until if forms stiff peaks (about 5 minutes).

Add cream to the bowl

After 1 minute of mixing

After 2 minutes of mixing

After 3 minutes of mixing

After 4 minutes of mixing

After 5 minutes of mixing

Consistency thick enough to not fall off of spatula

In a separate bowl, beat together mascarpone cheese and sugar. Once they are completely combined, add whipped cream incrementally:

Add in increments - I added in three

Finished Frosting

I frosted the cupcakes as smoothly as I could, letting them set a few minutes after the initial icing to "crust" a little bit. Then I went over the rough spots once more. It's not a silky smooth icing. It's really ideal for piping rather than smoothing, so it's not going to look perfect. Once they were all frosted I used the red buttercream icing and piped half moons on each side of the cupcake with a #3 piping tip.

Next, I piped a "stitching" effect on the half circles. This was a bit challenging, as the buttercream did not want to stick to the mascarpone icing. I used a toothpick to coax everything into place.

They are playful and fun, but I am planning to experiment a bit more. One thing I'd like to do is making the "stitching" "V's" a bit smaller. I will use a smaller piping tip and make the buttercream icing a little less stiff so it will cooperate more. I had some leftover cucpakes, which I piped some Mascarpone Icing onto and decorated with some red M&M Minis:

And then, like all good bakers do, I sampled one to make sure they were okay:

SSOOOOOO GOOD!!!! A word of caution - if you use the Mascarpone Cheese icing, place the M&M's on at the very last minute. The icing drained the candy color of it's red and by the next day they looked a stained mess! Otherwise, the M&M's add a nice effect and a bit of sweetness to compliment the icing. Anyway you make them you will love them!

No-Bake Vanilla Ice Cream Raspberry Sherbet Pie

2012-05-22T22:34:00.001-04:00

Forgive me Blog Readers...it's been too long since my last post! I was busy with my Father visiting from Buffalo and then I drove him back home for a visit with the rest of my family. OF COURSE, I came down with some kind of awful flu while traveling, which I've been fighting for these last weeks. Next thing I know, May has nearly passed me by. Which brings me to now...ready to back into the swing of things with baking and blogging!

With summer nearly here, I'd wanted to try my hand at a Vanilla Ice Cream Raspberry Sherbet Pie that caught my eye. I'm going to share the recipe with you, but I'm going to cut to the chase and share my opinion that this dessert is a lot of effort to put together and wasn't as delicious as I expected. The flavor combination seemed like a winning one, but, for me, not so much. It looks pretty, though ,doesn't it?!

Some of my issues may have stemmed from my lack of experience working with ice cream (that whole slightly melted vs. too melted thing). I always seem to miss the mark of this exact science, leaving me with such a mess to clean up:

No-Bake Vanilla Ice Cream Raspberry Sherbet Pie
Recipe from "Spring Get Togethers" by Pillsbury

Crust

2 cups crushed chocolate cookies (wafer)

1/3 cup melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

Filling

1 cup chocolate fudge sauce, slightly softened

1 quart vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

1 pint raspberry sherbet, slightly softened

12 oz. frozen raspberries

Topping

1 cup heavy cream/whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Begin by crushing the wafer cookies. I placed mine in a large plastic ziploc bag and used a rolling pin to crush them. Mix in the sugar. Put 1/4 cup of sugar/crumb mixture aside for garnish. Add melted butter to remaining crumbs and stir until combined. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. Place in refrigerator to set for 15 minutes.

Remove crust from refrigerator and spread fudge sauce over the top.

Place spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream on the fudge and spread evenly.

Next, place spoonfuls of raspberry sherbet on top of the ice cream. Using as spoon, gently spread the sherbet into the ice cream, combining to create swirls.

Randomly place frozen raspberries on top, pressing them into the sherbet.

To make the whipped cream topping, pour heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into a chilled bowl. Using chilled beaters, beat until stiff peaks form (about 3 minutes). Spread whipped topping over the pie. Garnish with reserved chocolate crumb mixture.

Cover and freeze for at least six hours. Before serving, let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.

And here are my notes:

1. I must have made the crust too thick since I used a pie dish instead of rectangular pan. It was nearly impossible to cut through and did NOT produce nice, neat squares.

2. I did not care for the sherbet taste. If I make this again I will try raspberry ice cream for a deeper, raspberry taste that goes so nicely with chocolate.

3. I didn't think the frozen raspberries added anything. I would try using fresh raspberries that freeze with the ice cream in another attempt.

4. The recipe actually used whipped topping instead of homemade whipped cream. I made the substitution. I didn't like the whipped cream on top - can someone tell me if frozen whipped topping would actually be preferable to homemade when freezing??

I don't mean to be a downer about this dessert, you may love it! If you give it a try, let me know how it worked out for you!!

How Do I Love Tartufo? Let Me Count The Ways!

2012-04-28T02:33:00.000-04:00

It's no big secret that my kryptonite is ice cream and gelato. No matter how much I've eaten and how stuffed I am, there is always room for ice cream. A few years ago I discovered Tartufo, an amazing Italian dessert, and a few days ago I thought I'd give it a try myself.

In Italy tartufo has a double meaning. It translates as "truffle"; both the "fruiting body of an underground mushroom" and a gelato dessert. I'm obsessed with both. Although the mushroom version may not sound appetizing by it's description (or their looks, for that matter),they have such a flavorful, distinctive taste that I can't get enough of! A few years ago, while traveling around Italy with some friends we were lucky enough to visit Alba during it's Truffle Festival.

I almost passed out from happiness of being in truffle heaven! We could not afford to buy any, but I did pick up some truffled honey and truffle salt. To find out more about truffles and their interesting history, click here. After all, they are not type of tartufo this post is about!!

So, let's get back on track with the ice cream. Well, to be as authentic as possible, it should actually be gelato, if you can find it. I was only able to locate vanilla gelato. Ice cream is fine to use, as well. You can use many different flavor combinations, but tartufo traditionally have a fruit/nut center or fruit juice in the center. I was not about to try working with juice, the ice cream was more than enough to handle...finding the melted-yet-not-quite-melted temperature was a challenge. So, I chose simple vanilla and chocolate gelato/ice cream with a maraschino cherry center. It can have a chocolate coating, a crushed chocolate cookie/chopped chocolate coating, or even cinnamon or powdered cocoa. My favorite is chocolate coating with a cherry center. So that's where I started!

To start, here's a Don't Do list:

1. Don't let the ice cream become TOO soft. I found it best to work while the ice cream was hard enough it was difficult to scoop and it made my wrist hurt a teeny tiny bit.

2. Don't use a scooper that doesn't have a spring release. I didn't the first two times and it was a mess trying to get the ice cream out of the scoop.

3. Absolutely do not remove the filled-and-scooped ice cream from the freezer until it's completely hardened. I found it was best to let it sit overnight. If it's doesn't become firm enough you will get...you guessed it, a mess!

Let's begin:

Scoop your ice cream/gelato so you half of a ball. Use a wooden spoon or some other object to poke a hole in the middle. Don't go all the way down! Fill it with whatever you have chosen. I chopped up some cherries and mixed them with chopped chocolate bits and almonds.

Once you have added filling to the half scoop, round it out and "spackle" the hole with ice cream. You can top off the scoop with the same flavor ice cream or you can add an additional one, as demonstrated in the photo below. One scoop is all vanilla, one is chocolate AND vanilla, and the third is all chocolate (I'll get to the coating of the chocolate scoop in a moment). Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper and place in the freezer until they are completely hardened.

The first of the two ways I chose to coat my tartufo is a hard chocolate shell. Melt 4 squares of semi-sweet chocolate with 1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil.

For my first attempt I chilled the scoops for 4 hours. I removed them from the freezer and placed them on a wire rack with waxed paper underneath.

Then I spooned the chocolate over the ice cream balls, trying to cover them completely. This proved difficult, as it became apparent I hadn't had them in the freezer long enough. They melted super quickly. After the first coating, I placed them back in the freezer for about 20 minutes, removed them and coated again. Back into the freezer they went for 15 minutes and then I picked them up and dipped the bottom of the scoops in the runoff melted chocolate on the waxed paper so they would be completely coated.

Well, they turned out rather...uhm...ugly.

The insides looked like carnage! Yuck.

I decided to try them again...this time freezing the scoops overnight and using whole maraschino cherries. So they wouldn't end up looking like this:

Well, this turned out MUCH better! Exactly what I envisioned my tartufo to look like. :)

Not only did I freeze them overnight before coating them, I added the chocolate shell in the morning and let them freeze until dinner time. They were perfectly set to cut in half nicely:

And it tasted SO GOOD!!

The second type of coating I wanted to try was crushed chocolate wafer cookies with chopped milk chocolate bits. I crushed the cookies in a plastic baggie using a rolling pin and added the chopped chocolate.

After freezing the maraschino cherry filled ice cream scoops, I placed them into the cookie/chocolate filled bag, one at a time, and rolled them around in the crumbs until they were fully coated:

After freezing them again for approximately 8 hours, I placed one on a bed of caramel:

Once again, absolute deliciousness!!! I've read tartufo can be hard to find in restaurants in the United States. I rarely see it on menus when eating out, but I'm not going to let that stop me from indulging in a good thing...I'll make them myself, and you should, too!! :)

You Can't Change A Zebra's Stripes...Unless You Take A Big Bite!

2012-04-23T19:16:00.000-04:00

Later this year, my Husband and I are going to on a safari trip to Kenya. I am so excited to see The Great Migration of animals since I've watched so many programs about it. We are lucky enough to be going with some amazing people we met on our train tour in India, which makes it even more exciting! I've been researching and thinking a lot about zebras and decided to bake something with their pattern. I spotted these cake pops on Pinterest (where else, ha ha ha) on Mom's Killer Cakes & Cookies and decided to attempt them. I almost didn't think I could possibly pull it off, but I did! They are very unstable in the stick-and-dip process and need to be handled with care, but if you have some patience (and I really don't, just to give you an idea that anything is possible!) and time it's doable. :)

I'll explain what I mean. To find instructions for putting together cake ball pops, click here. Follow all of the steps up to the point you shape the cake into balls. At that point, use a heart shaped cookie cutter and stuff the cake inside of it, filling it completely and smoothing out the top and bottom. To remove the cake from the cutter, gently push the shape out onto a cookie sheet:

Refrigerate the hearts for about 2 hours or place in your freezer for 10 minutes. I usually do the freezer method, but I've been having problems with the chocolate coating cracking, so this time I chilled them in the refrigerator and there was no cracking! Definitely make certain they are nicely chilled before attempting to add the sticks.

I wish I had a third hand to take photos of putting the hearts on sticks and dipping, but with only two hands, I was not able. I used the same method to stick them as ball shaped cake pops, but these were more difficult. I had many casualties from putting the stick in to fast, to high inside the heart, not high enough, tapping too vigorously trying to remove excess chocolate, things along that line.

So, what I can tell you is this: Dip the stick into melted chocolate, about an inch. GENTLY and SLOWLY push the chocolate coated stick into the bottom of the heart. Do not go further up than a little over half way. Since the hearts are thinner in width than a cake ball, you can feel how the stick is going in and are able to control it from puncturing the outside. In other words, make sure the stick is entering straight up.

The next problem is that the hearts are top heavy. This makes is more difficult to dip into the chocolate. When I started to dip, I could feel the pop was not very secure on the stick. Through trial and error, I was finally able to dip and keep the hearts on the stick. I'm trying to figure out a way to describe it, but I think you have to feel out while doing it. Just go slowly, take your time. Once the heart is covered in chocolate and sets until the chocolate is hardened, it will be very secure on the stick and you can proceed normally without worry it will fall off.

Next, take some of the leftover white chocolate from the dipping and, using CANDY COLOR DYE, dye it black. I capitalized candy color because if you use icing dye, the water based dye will cause the chocolate to seize and it will be ruined. You need to use Candy Dye, which is oil based. If the chocolate has hardened, re-melt either in the microwave or a double boiler. Again, click here for a review of the process.
Using a toothpick dipped into the black chocolate, randomly drag chocolate stripes across the heart. It's been awhile since I've had a photo illustration in this post, so now would be a good time:

Voila!

And then the last step: Taste Testing! Obviously. ;)

These Zebra Stripe Cake Pops take some extra work and TLC to make, but the end result is adorable, isn't it? I will definitely be making these again!!

Brie Cheese and Cherry Jam Pastry Puffs

2012-04-22T17:32:00.003-04:00

I don't know what the world is coming to....last week I posted a recipe for Honey Glazed Balsamic Vinegar Roasted Baby Carrots (SO good!), and now a brie cheese appetizer. I don't even like brie cheese. Well, I don't like brie unless it's baked in these pastry puffs. In this case, I LOVE brie cheese! Anyway, I've made a bit of a departure from sweets, but these are worth it!

These couldn't be simpler to make (well, I guess they could if they were a one step baking recipe, but this is 3, so that's good enough for me to qualify as easy!) and they were a HUGE hit with the dinner guests I served them to.

I started out very irritated because the puff pastry I thawed out stuck together. Stuck as in wouldn't unfold. At. All.

Eventually, I gave up and tried the second sheet. I don't like being defeated by puff pastry, but I gave in when even my sous-chef cat Morticia became interminably bored and left the kitchen to engage in something more interesting that watching me struggle endlessly with something as silly as PUFF PASTRY. Moving on....

Okay, so I unfolded the second sheet of puff pastry and assembled the ingredients. The recipe I was following, from my new favorite blog (more on that later), Eat Yourself Skinny, said to use chives, but I could not find any in two stores so I used scallions:

1 sheet of Puff Pastry, thawed

24 one inch squares of Brie Cheese

Cherry Jam

Chives or Scallions

Chopped Pecans

To begin, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Next, cut the puff pastry into squares and place them in the bottom of each cavity of a muffin pan prepared with cooking spray. Eat Yourself Skinny suggested cutting 24 squares, which I did, except I can't measure or count so I made them pretty small. I will admit to never working with puff pastry before, so I thought they expanded in size. They don't. They puff UP, not out. So, this means the size you cut the pastry will be the size you end up with. They do not spread like cookies. As a result, I ended up with brie bites. They were perfect to pop in your mouth and exploded with flavor. I'm getting ahead of myself, though. So, place each square into a muffin pan.

Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven.

Press the middle of the puff pastry down with the handle of a wooden spoon. Bake puffs for 6-8 minutes longer or until they are golden brown if necessary:

Once they are golden brown, remove from oven and press center of pastry down again. Fill the center of each puff with cherry jam, careful not to overfill. The amount you use will be determined by the size of the pastry puff:

Place a square of brie on top of the jam and place pan back into oven for 3-5 minutes or until cheese begins to melt:

Immediately after removing puffs from the oven, garnish with chives or scallions and chopped pecans. Serve them warm, but before you do sample one. You will love it. And how easy is this recipe?! In 15-20 you will have an appetizer that impresses everyone.

Certainly you can use different flavor jams or types of chopped nuts, you can do a lot of experimenting with this recipe. These are the bite sized ones I made:

My Husband loved them SO much and they disappeared so quickly I made more the next day using larger puff pastry squares in a two-bite size:

They were, of course, as delicious as the bite-sized ones. So, let the occasion you are making them for guide what size pastry square you should cut and bake. They look so pretty and not only make a great appetizer, but my Husband enjoyed them for breakfast the next morning!

Next month we are hosting a dinner party to celebrate a milestone in my husband's career and these are TOTALLY on the menu!! Okay, now the reason I love Eat Yourself Skinny. I discovered on the left sidebar of her blog she has recipes broken down into Weight Watcher points with a variety of items from 0-9 points! She has come up with some great recipes and did the hard work for those of us on plan! These Brie Puffs are only TWO POINTS!! For the breakdown of this and many more recipes, go to her site. She's fabulous!! In the meantime, bake these up and enjoy! :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate - Chip Pound Cake with Peanut Butter Glaze

2012-04-18T20:01:00.002-04:00

Pay attention folks, this is one recipe you should NOT miss! I expected it to be delicious, but WOW, it's amazing!! It's also totally not good for you, but you can pretend I didn't write that.

Okay, so I pinned this on Pinterest ages ago from Recipe Girl and I finally got around to making it. I feel like I was in a cupcake rut and wanted to try something different. I picked the right recipe with this one!!

I'm just going to get to it so you can start baking this ASAP, but it's going to be hard for me because I sent it all to work with my Husband so I wouldn't eat any more. Yeah, guess what I've been craving all day!!

Peanut Butter - Chocolate Chip Pound Cake with Peanut Butter Glaze

Recipe by Recipe Girl

For the Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup creamy peanut butter (Recipe Girl advises against natural)

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated white sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

For the Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips for garnish

To begin, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a tube pan thoroughly with non-stick cooking spray, set aside. Next, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together peanut butter and butter until creamy. Add granulated sugar and beat for an additional 5 minutes.

Add eggs and vanilla, beat until combined. The batter will be thin.

Add the flour in increments (I did 4) to the batter. It will thicken very quickly:

Pour the batter into the greased tube pan and tap it against the counter to make sure any air bubbles will pop.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Test with a wooden skewer to make sure it is fully baked (stick skewer into middle of the cake and if it comes out clean the cake is done.). Remove cake from oven and let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes. After removing the cake from the pan, let it cool completely before adding the glaze.

To make the glaze, whisk together the confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, milk and vanila extract until its combined. The glaze needs to be thin enough to drizzle on the cake, so if it's too thick add a bit of milk a little at a time until desired consistency is reached. Once the cake is cooled and glaze is whisked up, drizzle! Garnish with additional chocolate chips.

I totally want this cake for dinner. I'm so glad I sent it away, but not-so-secretly wish I saved myself a slice! Anyway, a word of caution when making this cake. I had to make it twice because the first one did not bake through all the way. I removed the first attempt from the pan and left for an appointment while it finished cooling. I noticed, when I returned, that it sank. I ignored it and added the glaze and after it set I cut a nice slice for myself. That's when I noticed the ring of uncooked dough all around my cake:

I used toothpick to check the cake and it came out clean, but I believe a toothpick is not long enough to give an accurate result. The second attempt I used a skewer and after 1 hour 20 minutes it was not done, so I baked it for an additional 15 minutes and it was perfectly done.

But when I cut into the first cake, I'm not going to lie, I was devastated. I wanted to eat a slice so badly I did the only thing I could do...I made it again. So. Worth. It.

Now, if you like super dense, peanut buttery, chocolate accented, glazey goodness this cake is for you and I guarantee you will love it!!

Sometimes Life Is Sweets, Sometimes Life Is Sour, But Mostly Life Is Everything in Between!

2012-04-18T02:12:00.003-04:00

I cannot imagine how two and a half weeks has passed since my last post. A lot has gone on, some good and some not always so great, but, oh, how I've missed baking and blogging about it! Life Is Sweets has become such a nice constant amongst unpredictable days.

I wanted to write about Easter. It was such an amazing day! The majority of my family is in Buffalo so I am not able to spend most holidays with them. My Husband's family is from Ukraine and do not celebrate holidays in general. So, once a year I love gathering my in-laws and the rest of my Husband's family together for a Holiday meal. This year we hosted Easter, despite the fact some family members are Jewish and others are Russian Orthodox, so their Easter is a week later. Truthfully, it was my first Easter as a hostess, so I tried some new recipes. Some worked, some didn't. Case in point, the ham:

I was so excited to try a recipe I found for Dijon/Brown Sugar/Gingersnap Crusted Ham. It seemed simple enough to do, BUT, the crust fell off in chunks and bits...basically everywhere but on the ham. HOW DO YOU SUCCESSFULLY MAKE A CRUSTED HAM??!! I still haven't found the answer. The ham was delicious despite my efforts. ;)

Another new recipe I found from Pinterest, Honey/Balsamic Glazed Baby Carrots turned out perfectly delicious:

The recipe, from So Wonderful, So Marvelous, is so easy I highly recommend it!

Balsamic Honey Glazed Roasted Baby Carrots

2 pounds baby carrots

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling

3 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread carrots on cookie sheet, careful to not pile them on top of eachother. Drizzle with some olive oil adding salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and add the two tablespoons of olive oil, honey and balsamic vinegar. Roast for 5 more minutes. Eat and enjoy!

My Husband decided our featured Easter drink would be Chocolate Martinis. Yeah, they were super delicious!!

Before everyone arrived I made sure everything was ready in the dining room, which is fairly small. We have a long table with both leaves inserted. As a result, we have to turn the table sideways to fit everyone. For this gathering we needed seating for 10 adults and 4 children. I had ideas on an earthy tablescape, but also wanted a bit of fun for the kids. I found the adorable string bunny and egg decorations and hung them along the curtain rod. I thought they added some Easter cheer without being tacky. Not only did the kids love them, my cat did, too!

I bought some loose flowers and eucalyptus leaves to make floral arrangements in three square glass vases. I loved how they turned out, though I can definitely use some practice at arranging. I also bought egg cups and filled them with some jasmine I snipped from a bush in my yard.

And then there was dessert. I made white cake mini rose cupcakes and a meant-to-be-but-not-really hydrangea cupcake. The icing was a brighter green than I was going for, and I got overzealous with the frosting, but, hey, I tried! At least the roses turned out cute. it was my first time trying the technique and it actually works!

Hold the cupcake in one hand and in the other a piping bag fitted with a 2D tip. Holding the piping bag upright over the cupcake, start piping from the middle of the cupcake and slowly spiral around, ending where you begin. So super simple!

I wish I could say these cupcakes were totally delicious, but they were dry and not very tasty. At all. I was completely embarrassed! However, I made my Lemon Tarts, too, and they were a HUGE hit. They saved the day. :)

I made Easter baskets for my niece and nephews filled with candy, puzzles and other fun stuff. My Secret Service Agent cat Morticia took her job seriously and guarded them closely.

My sisters-in-law brought eggs dyed and designed by the kids and a wonderful collection of pussywillow branches with colorful hanging eggs. So cheerful!

Dinner was totally delicious with great food and tons of laughing. It was such a gorgeous day outside...we played games, egg hunted, scavenger hunted and enjoyed the sunshine.

And then everyone went home happy! Am I the only one who feels a sense of satisfaction of a job well done when I see a table of used dishes stacked up after a gathering? It's not that I love the cleanup, I just enjoy the remnants of a good time had by all. :)

I hope you had a wonderful Easter or Passover!!

Candy Cupcakes Part IV - Raspberry M&M Chocolate Cupcake with Raspberry Buttercream

2012-03-30T21:45:00.002-04:00

And today is the last installment of my week with Candy Cupcakes! I'll be glad to focus on Easter Treats next week because - is it okay to admit this? - I'm a bit sick of candy. Yeah, I said it. ;) Reflecting on this past week I realized I used some form of M&M's in most of the cupcakes I made. Thinking about it I concluded it was because I'd never tried Mint, Raspberry, or M&M Minis before. And now I know how awesome M&M Minis are...less candy crunch to get to the chocolate taste. Yay! And as far as mini candies go, these are the cutest out there!

So, the cupcakes. I sampled a Raspberry M&M and found the berry taste was pretty powerful. I didn't want to make something that was overpoweringly Raspberry, losing the chocolate flavor. After thinking about it I settled on two different types of chocolate cupcakes.

Chocolate Raspberry M&M crunch cupcake with fresh raspberry buttercream:

For these cupcakes, I added a bit of raspberry extract to the chocolate cake batter I mixed up. Next, I crushed up Raspberry M&M's (I used a potato masher, rolling while pressing down on the M&M's. It was actually not difficult!) and added them to the batter, mixing until fully incorporated. I baked the cupcakes as directed. When they cooled completely, I topped them with awesomely delicious Fresh Raspberry Buttercream, piping them with a 1M Wilton Tip in a classic swirl:

Raspberry Vanilla Buttercream Icing

2 sticks of butter (I did use salted)

4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon raspberry extract

1/2 cup of fresh raspberries

3-5 tablespoons half and half

Using a mixer, beat butter until it is fluffy. Add 3 cups of sugar - one cup at a time - mixing until it's completely incorporated. Add vanilla, raspberry extract, fresh raspberries (rinsed and THOROUGHLY dried) and half and half along with the last cup of sugar and mix together, adding more half and half until the icing is the desired consistency.

I really liked the crunch in the cake, and, did I mention this buttercream is AWESOMELY AMAZING?!! No? Well, it is! The first time I made this icing it turned out perfectly. This time, however, if you look closely, you can see the swirl shape didn't hold up too well. That's because I didn't completely dry the raspberries and it made the icing a bit watery. I didn't want to add more sugar because I didn't want it to become too sweet, so I left it as is, learned my lesson! Now for cupcake number 2:

Chocolate Cupcakes with smashed Raspberry M&M topping iced with raspberry buttercream and Melba sauce:

These were my favorite of the two. First, I baked the chocolate cupcakes as directed, with no M&M's added. While they were still hot out of the oven, I topped them with some crushed M&M's:

When they were completely cooled, I topped them with the same icing as above, but I did not add the fresh raspberries. I piped the white raspberry icing with the same Wilton #1M tip in a classic swirl. Next, I poured Raspberry Melba sauce into a squeeze bottle using a small funnel:

After I filled the bottle, I took the cupcakes out of their wrappers since adding the sauce would be messy. (This is one cupcake I would serve with a fork and no wrapper.) I squeezed the sauce on top of the icing in a criss cross pattern. I think they looked great and they were SSOOO good! As with the previous cupcake there was a nice, unexpected crunch of the M&M's and lots of great raspberry flavor. Chocolate and raspberry together are heaven! I will definitely make these again for dessert in the near future.

That's the end of my Candy Cupcake Series. In two weeks I'm going to do a series of cupcakes based on favorite non-alcoholic drinks. Next week will be carrots, bunnies, chicks and colorful eggs! Have a great weekend. :)

Candy Cupcakes Part III - Mini M&M Bite Sized Rainbow Fish Cupcakes

2012-03-29T20:59:00.000-04:00

Oh how I *so* love these little guys!! Once again, I've been seeing them on blogs and Pinterest, so I don't even know who to give credit to for this idea...but whoever you are, well done!! How great are these? I even had a lot of fun putting them together. And, it's so easy! This would be a great activity to do with children. Here is the first time I came across these cupcake fish. I made a few slight changes - I did not place the M&M's on an angle and I added M&M tails.

To begin, you need either store bought or or make your own mini cupcakes. You can find mini-muffin liners at the grocery store and they can be placed in a mini muffin pan. Fill the liners about 2/3 full. It's much easier to frost them if the cake is even with or a little above the top of the liner. If they don't quite reach the top, you can put them aside to use for the "water".

To assemble these you need a bag of M&M Minis, White Icing (either a can or homemade. I always recommend homemade. It really makes a difference!), Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue food dye, and either 2 Ziploc baggies or piping bags.

Split the white icing into five parts. Dye one yellow, one orange, one green, one blue, and leave the last white. Set the white aside. Next, decide how many cupcake minis you would like to be fish and how many to be "water". Set the water cupcakes aside. Start icing the designated fish ones in each of the four dyed colors. Once you have completed this step, it's time to add the M&Ms...the best part!

The photo below shows the first steps of placing the M&M's. Coordinate the M&M colors with the cupcake icing color. If you are anal like me, you will be careful to make sure the"M" logo is facing down. Add two red M&Ms for the fish lips:

The next part of the transformation is to add the eye. Fill a Ziploc bag or piping bag with 1/2 of the white icing. Snip a very small bit off the corner of the baggie or bottom of the piping bag. I used a Wilton Tip #3, but realized I didn't need to after all. Squeeze a dot of white icing where you would like the fish eye to be located:

Now take a brown M&M and gently push it into the center of the white icing dot:

Adorable! Right?! Next I made the "water" cupcakes to place randomly around the fish, as if they were swimming around. In the second Ziploc bag or piping bag, I placed the white and blue icing together. I squished the two colors a bit, careful not to fully blend them:

Snip the end of the bag again, a little wider this time to make more of a wave pattern, and ice the cupcakes. I used a piping tip for a little more texture, but if you don't have one to use, it'll be just fine. I used an up and down motion sort of like this ^^^^ in two or three layers on top of eachother until the cupcake was covered. Then, I arranged the cupcakes and water on a Fish Platter:

So cute! Yet, something was bothering me. I realized it was missing tails! The photo I first saw didn't have tails, and lots of others didn't, either. A few I saw used flattened Starburst Candies shaped like a tail and placed on the end, but I didn't have any. Instead, I decided to use some of the leftover white icing I'd used for the eyes as "glue" to add some M&Ms for tails. This worked fantastic!

Now I was happy! The "gluing" of the tails worked because the M&M Minis are so light. I'm not convinced this method would have worked with regular size M&M's. I believe their weight would have made them fall off the edge. However, this was a success and I just love these little guys!! I like anything with fun, bright colors, really, though.

Well, tomorrow is my last day of Candy Cupcakes. Stay tuned for M&M Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes!

Candy Cupcakes Part II - Mint Chocolate Andes Candies Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream

2012-03-28T19:45:00.003-04:00

Okay, day two of candy cupcakes. I am not a huge fan of minty things in general, but I do love Andes Candies! On the odd occasion I happen to go to Olive Garden I spend most of the meal looking forward to the candies that come with the check. :) I have been known to snatch up any leftover ones no one took from our table on the way out, too. They are a perfect balance of chocolate and mint AND I am satisfied after eating only one. As far as chocolate candies go, that it rare for me. Maybe unheard of.

So, they are my selected candy for cupcake number 2. I've seen these kinds of cupcakes floating around Pinterest, but I have not clicked on or pinned any of them. Instead, I did my own thing. I started with a bunch of unwrapped candies (again with the exact measurements, but add as many as you'd like, you won't screw it up!) and chopped them up.

I threw *ahem, gently placed* the chopped bits into the prepared chocolate cake batter. I used a boxed chocolate cake including a pouch of instant chocolate pudding and substituted the water with milk. After adding the chopped Andes Candies into the batter, I used my electric mixer to blend them completely. All that was left was baking them as directed.

While baking, I noticed I wasn't the only one with a snack on my mind. The cutest little squirrel was on my back porch nibbling on a walnut he'd buried in my backyard last fall. I grabbed my camera but he was quicker than me and scurried up our tree! (There's some poetry in there, he he he):

He got comfortable on a branch and continued munching:

However, I wasn't the only one watching him. One of the three stray cats I care for (a Mom and her kittens) also had a snack on her mind...a tasty squirrel:

I thought she deserved an afternoon treat, too, and didn't want it to be squirrel so I gave her a few Temptations kitty snacks. The sound of the bag attracted Mom, who is not one to pass up something to eat. Don't they look like twins?!:

Eventually, third kitty showed up for something to eat, which is a rare occurrence. She is still wild enough to not come around during the day, only evenings. These three have been through some pretty rough times on the streets, and I've come to absolutely love them. They appreciate me, too, for the consistent meals I offer! Grey Kitty let me know she didn't appreciate having her photo taken (the camera scared her) and then she ran off:

So, at this point everyone was well fed and happy except me. Luckily, the cupcakes were ready to come out of the oven! So, I made the Peppermint Icing:

Peppermint Buttercream Icing

2 sticks butter, room temperature

4 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 tablespoons milk

In large mixing bowl, beat butter on high speed until fluffy. Add three cups of sugar, one at a time until combined. Add vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and milk, along with last cup of sugar. Beat until smooth. Add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency of frosting.

I used a Wilton French Tip for piping and tried some different designs. To finish them off, I used Mint M&M's, some whole, some crushed:

The last cupcake I decided didn't need the business of random M&M's topping it. So, I left it alone. Or, you can add an Andes Candy like I did in the lead photo.

So, these were GREAT! Every bite I took of the cupcake had chunks of Andes Candies in it. The peppermint flavor was subtle in the icing so the mint was not too overpowering. The M&M's kicked the mint factor up a notch if you want a stronger mint flavor. For my taste, it was perfect!

Tomorrow: Mini M&M Bite-Sized Rainbow Fish Cupcakes

Candy Cupcakes Part 1: Chocolate Rolo Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

2012-03-27T20:57:00.000-04:00

There have been SO many cupcakes based on candy and candy bars, I decided to get into the action and experiment with a few. I didn't want to have 72 cupcakes after trying 3 different kinds, so I used one batch of cupcakes to do them all. I selected: Rolos, Andes Candies with Mint M&M's, and Raspberry Chocolate with Raspberry M&M's (which I had never sampled, so I snapped them up right away in the store!).

I used a Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake mix, added a box of chocolate instant pudding, substituted the water with milk, and added the oil and eggs as directed. For the Rolo cupcakes I baked them up as is for 18 minutes. While they baked I cut a bunch of Mini-Rolos in half. Once the 18 minutes were up, I cut slits into the cupcakes:

Then, while the cupcakes were still hot, I shoved the cut-in-half Rolos into the slits (I made 3-4 slits depending on the size of the cupcake). The reason I added them after baking rather than mixing them into the batter is heavy additions to cupcake batter tend to sink to the bottom, and I wanted these to be more in the center:

While the cupcakes cooled, I got started on the buttercream. One day I'll use a different recipe, but until that time comes, here's my favorite with a few alterations for these cupcakes:

Buttercream Icing

2 sticks butter, room temperature

4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Bailey's Caramel Coffee Cream
about 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
handful of melted Rolos

In large mixing bowl, beat butter on high speed until fluffy. Add three cups of sugar, one at a time until combined. Add vanilla extract, sea salt and caramel coffee cream, along with last cup of sugar. Beat until smooth. Add more cream, one teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency of frosting. Place Rolos in microwave for 60 second intervals at 30% power until gooey. Scrape into buttercream mixture and beat for about a minute to incorporate completely.

I used a 2D tip to pile on the icing. Some of the Rolo bits (the melted Rolos harden in the icing) were caught in the tip, which clogged the icing from coming out, so I would recommend something with a wider opening. This icing is also better the next day, after the flavors and salt have some time to marinate together. I realized I used extremely scientific measurements of "about" and "handful", but you can adjust these amounts based on personal preference. More sea salt, more Rolos...however you like it!

These were very good, but a lot of sweetness for me (though the salt does cut the sugar a bit). I don't know if I'm a good judge, though, because the more I bake the less tolerant I am of super sweet things! That's a hazard of testing icings, cupcakes, cupcakes with icing, etc. ;) But these are a fun twist on chocolate and caramel and I recommend them!

Tomorrow, Andes Mint Chocolate Cupcakes!

The Versatile Blogger Award - "I've Won an Award! It's a Major Award!"

2012-03-25T16:24:00.000-04:00

If you have watched A Christmas Story a zillion times, like I have, you'll understand my post title. :) Unlike the leg-lamp, however, this award is not Fra-Gee-Lay!!

I started blogging about baking less than a year ago and it's been SUCH a rewarding experience! I was very nervous when I began - there are so many amazing baking and bloggers out there I couldn't imagine I had anything to offer. And this is what led me to my first post, and the theme of my blog....I figured lots of people, like myself, lack the confidence to try creative confections that are done so perfectly by those we admire! We are all in this together, so lets learn from eachother. :) It's been a ball, but yesterday I was given the Most Versatile Blogger Award by DJ's Sugar Shack, a blogger and baker who makes some of the most original and beautiful treats out there, and I can't begin to express how amazed I was that someone would do something so wonderful for me and Life Is Sweets!! DJ's Sugar Shack first caught my eye when I saw these. I mean come on, how cute and clever are these cookies?!

I've been an admirer and follower of hers and to receive this award is just amazing! Thank you, Thank you!! Once you receive this award, you get to share it with 15 additional bloggers you follow, though it was very hard to pare my list to just 15!

Here are the 15 blogs I would like to acknowledge with the Most Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Sunny By Design

2. Something Sweet - Winnie's Blog

(her page is in Hebrew, but she has a translator option on the top left of her page.)

3. Crazy for Crust

4. Crumbs and Chaos

5. Food Corner

6. The Ranch Wife Chronicles

7. Dwell on Joy

8. Made Famous By

9. Miz Helen's Country Cottage

10. Lady Behind the Curtain

11. Be Different...Act Normal

12. Chef in Training

13. Flour Me With Love

14. Mandy's Recipe Box

15. Delightfully Dowling

As a recipient of this award, I'm also supposed to share 7 random things about me:

1. I grew up in Buffalo, NY and although I don't live there anymore I think it's the greatest place in the world...it will always be home!

2. I LOVE the beach, but only if I'm completely in the shade!

3. To clear my head I like to sit by water; river, lake, ocean, stream, etc...and my favorite place to recharge is sitting on a cliff in Maine watching and listening to to the waves smash against the rocky coast.

4. I can, and have, eaten an entire half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. I'm not bragging or proud of it, but it's true. ;)

5. I have a rescued black cat named Morticia who lets my Husband and I live in our house with her...she's totally in charge!

6. I shamelessly watch reruns of the original Beverly Hills 90210 on Soap Net all the time. I love that show. I'm also addicted to all Real Housewives Bravo shows!

7. I will only watch movies at home now....never in the theater. Talking, cell phones, snack bags rustling, crunching and munching drive me CRAZY!!

Okay, so now you know! Thanks again, DJ's Sugar Shack for thinking of me!! I look forward to seeing more from you on your awesome blog. :) A huge thank you, too, to everyone who takes the time to read and support my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you!!

One last thing - If you receive this award you should follow these rules:

Thank the person that gave you the award in your blog post.
Include a link to their blog in your blog post.
Pass the award on to 15 bloggers you follow.
Include 7 random things about yourself in your post.
Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog.

Mother's Day Flower Bouquet Cupcakes

2012-03-21T18:18:00.000-04:00

When I first began this blog last August, I had a wish for myself. I hoped that, although I got started by finding recipes and designs that inspired me and creating them as exactly as I could, one day I would suddenly start having my own ideas for additions, substitutions, and designs of my own. Slowly, this has been happening and I can't tell you how rewarding it is! I've admired so many bakers and bloggers ability to make amazing confections...and how they find inspiration EVERYWHERE! Well, I still begin by finding images of whats been done before, but, sometimes, I come up with something on a whim. Like these flower bouquet cupcakes I made last night. How exciting!!

I'm certain something like this has been done before, and I would find it with a bit of Googling, but I didn't see it first and then make it. No, instead I was sitting with my Husband while he ate a late dinner and I just started playing around with leftover cupcakes and icing. And I love what I came up with!!

These are such HAPPY cupcakes. Don't they make you smile? The colors and the illusion of tiny little flowers piled high....sigh. I just love them.

While I was looking at them I immediately thought of Mother's Day and how perfect they would be to give to one of the most important women in our lives. And, honestly, they are just so easy to make. Really!!

Begin, of course, by making a batch of cupcakes. I used some leftover strawberry ones from my Ladybug Cupcakes. You can use any flavor you like, but some of the cupcake color will show through the flowers, so bear this in mind when coming up with your color scheme.

Next, make your buttercream. This is my favorite recipe:
Buttercream Icing

2 sticks butter, room temperature

4 cups confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

In large mixing bowl, beat butter on high speed until fluffy. Add three cups of sugar, one at a time until combined. Add vanilla extract and milk, along with last cup of sugar. Beat until smooth. Add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency of frosting.

Split the icing into as many colors as you'd like to use. I used yellow, purple, and pink. Then fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #2D tip (place each color of icing into a separate bag). Use the photo below for reference while reading the written description that follows:

First, pipe a circle of flowers around the outside of the cupcake (first cupcake in photo). Then, fill in the exposed middle area with four flowers (second cupcake in photo). Pipe four more flowers on top of the middle four flowers. Lastly, pipe one flower on top of the second layer of four flowers, centered (third cupcake in photo).

When you've completed the flowers, use a pair of tweezers to add a single dragee in the center of each flower:

Here is the succession of steps:

And that's it! Couldn't be simpler!! I used green for the demo, as I had some left over from making the grass on my Ladybug Cupcakes. The color doesn't work for the "bouquet" I put together, however it would be nice for next St. Patrick's Day or Christmas. But it's neither late-winter or mid-winter, so let's enjoy the light, bright colors!!

Would your Mom be impressed if you gave her something homemade rather that store bought goods? I know mine would. So, even if you don't make this particular design, play around and see what you can come up with. Mom's love a little thoughtful creativity. :)

Lovely Little Ladybugs!

2012-03-20T20:29:00.001-04:00

Omigosh I am so excited I was actually able to make these! I've been wondering for some time now why people bother to use fondant and gumpaste for cakes, cupcakes and cookies. I mean, they look beautiful, but you can't eat them despite the fact they are edible. You can eat fondant, but it's not tasty. So what's the point? Then I made the Minnie Mouse Cupcakes and it was so much fun...I started to get it. It's about channeling your inner elementary art student days and being creative. You can make anything you want!

Now, I've never been terribly good at art - drawing, sculpture, visualizing - so I'm going to start with only the most elementary designs. Like a ladybug. How can you screw that up?

I began by making a batch of strawberry cupcakes. I used a box mix and added a package of vanilla pudding and used 1 cup of milk instead of water to make it a bit tastier. While they cooled I began shaping the ladybugs using gumpaste.

Gumpaste becomes hard pretty quickly and is very sticky, so you can use Vegetable Oil to help keep your hands free of gummy residue and to keep the gumpaste pliable. Rub some on your hands and coat your work surface before handling the gumpaste. I used it quite generously with no negative effects of the design. Using smallish amounts of gumpaste at a time, work some coloring into the paste using your hands. I didn't use gloves and the dye made a mess of red all over my hands, but it washed right off. I used Wilton No-Taste Red gel dye. I could not photograph this process since I didn't want my camera to be covered in red!

Next, I made odd oval shapes in different sizes. I worked some black dye into a separate ball of gumpaste and then used it to make the heads and dots, as in the photo above.

Then it was time to mix up some buttercream.

Buttercream Icing

2 sticks butter, room temperature

4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

In large mixing bowl, beat butter on high speed until fluffy. Add three cups of sugar, one at a time until combined. Add vanilla extract and milk, along with last cup of sugar. Beat until smooth. Add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency of frosting.

I removed about 3/4 of the icing from the bowl and mixed green dye into it to make the "grass". I used a Wilton Tip #233. To make the grass, squeeze the icing in the piping bag gently and lift up as you stop squeezing. After covering the cupcake completely with grass, place the ladybugs randomly on top.

I divided the remaining 1/4 of icing and split it into 2 bowls. One I dyed yellow, the other light purple. I used a Wilton Tip #2D. Before piping the flower on top of the cupcake, I made a few practice flowers to get a sense of the pressure to use and just how it worked in general.

Once I felt I had the hang of it, I piped some flowers randomly on the cupcake and used tweezers to add one white dragee in the center of each flower.

And then the last step - adding a white picket fence around my little ladybug garden. I picked up some cupcake wrappers I found at my local Michaels Craft Store:

And Voila!!

I honestly think it's so amazing you can go from a simple, plain cupcake to something so special and cute!

I'm pretty excited to try some new sculpture and other avenues of decoration I have resisted. I'm not sure what I'm going to try next, but the sky is the limit!!! Happy Spring. :)

March Madness - Baking Style!

2012-03-19T21:50:00.000-04:00

I had mentioned the fundraiser baking I was doing for St. Patrick's Day, but I didn't mention two additional orders placed for the same day. This led to a few absolutely chaotic days of baking and travel, which has challenged me more than just about anything I've done is a short period of time....but was also the most fun I've had in awhile!

The fundraiser I was contributing to was in New Hampshire. Having to get the baked goods such a long distance (since I live in NY) was cause for concern. I could have come up with a few items that would have withstood mailing. However, in the end, my Husband and I decided to make a weekend out of it and too a nice, long drive with cupcakes, cakepops, and brownies to keep us company! (Sadly, I had to take most of these pictures in the middle of the night, so the lighting and colors are off).

(To find the recipe for Guinness Extra Stout Brownies click here.)

In addition to the fundraiser treats, I had an order for 2 dozen green velvet cupcakes. I absolutely love any color "velvet" cupcake. The taste of the cocoa and vinegar is just too delicious!

In addition to all of the St. Patrick's green items, I also had an order for Minnie Mouse Cupcakes for a birthday party. I absolutely LOVED the way they turned out. Unfortunately, I finished them after sundown and had to deliver them before sunrise, so the photographs were taken with unnatural light. The colors are completely washed out doing no justice to the vibrant pink, which makes me sad! They were so cute:

My friend Amy was an absolute Godsend, helping me with the gumpaste bows and ears. I hadn't worked with gumpaste before, so her assistance in working out the method while continuing to bake cupcakes honestly was a blessing. Thank you, Amy W!!!

Another friend, also an Amy, came by to help with the cakepops. We had a lot of fun putting them together. Thank you, too, Amy G!!!

(Instructions for making Cake Pops can be found by clicking here.)

And here's the whole haul (minus Minnies):

After delivering everything, my Husband and I enjoyed the perfect New England weekend. The weather was amazing, so we visited Strawberry Bank in Portsmouth, NH, which is a collection of Colonial buildings put together as a museum:

Next, we toured the inside of and learned about a World War II era Submarine - the USS Albacore:

Then we popped up to Maine to see one of my favorite Lighthouses - The Nubble Light in York, ME:

And to cap off our time in New England, Maine lobster rolls for lunch:

A perfect weekend! It was so great to be out in the warmth and sunshine. Now it's time to think spring, flowers, bunnies, and colorful eggs - in baked goods form, of course!!