Grab Bag of Goodies

I'm totally kissing ass to make up for my complete lack of blogging lately, so you babies get two posts in one night! Ohhh you lucky little darlings!! I've been busy like whoa lately, & I wanted to post a few pics of what I've been up to.

I had a ton of chocolate chip cookie dough left after making the cupcake of the month, so I baked them up. Mmmmm!!

My best friend's husband is in the Air Force & is about to deploy, so she had me make this cake for his going away party.

Piggy sugar cookies for my sister. Who doesn't love little pink pigs?!

Baby shower cake...I love the brown & blue combo.

Baby Cakes & Mishaps

Oh look...another day, another post! I'm doing better I tell ya!

Back at the beginning of last year, I had the pleasure of making a wedding shower cake for my cousin, Tosha. She & her husband are now expecting a baby girl in a couple of weeks, & her sister asked me to make the cake the baby shower. There's no way I was going to say no! I had never tried a multi-tiered cake before, so I really wanted to try one for this cake. I was given a couple of the napkins to be used at the shower for inspiration, & this is what I came up with...



Now this is what the cake looked like this morning before we left the house. When we got to the shower...not so much. The fondant decorations had started to droop & pull down the buttercream icing with them. It didn't look horrible, but it wasn't that great either. I didn't want to give her a crappy looking cake. Everyone said how much they liked it, though, & it did taste really good...I can't complain too much, I suppose.

So I have a question to all of you seasoned cake decorators...how much internal support should go into a cake like this? It's a 8" on top of a 10", & there are 4 rather small wooden dowels in the middle of bottom tier. Help a girl out!

Anyway, that's my dilemma for the day. I've got a couple of Blake Makes posts coming up so stay tuned!!!

Crazy Week Wrap-Up

As part of my whirlwind cake/cupcake making last week, I not only had my cupcake of the month to make, but I also had a cake order & a cupcake order. I also made 2 dozen cupcakes using the leftover strawberry frosting I had made for these. We had a lunch at work for one of our coworkers, so cupcakes were my contribution. As for my orders...I had to make a strawberry lime cake for a coworker's birthday & strawberry lime mini cupcakes for another coworker. (As you can probably tell my coworkers keep me busy, & strawberry lime is now my signature recipe.) I tried to make a 9x13 cake using the strawberry lime recipe that I've used several other times, but I soon realized that it would have to be multiplied by about 3 to get enough batter for the cake. So I cheated...I took a box of strawberry cake mix & substituted half the water for lime juice. For the frosting on the cake, I used the regular lime frosting that my original recipe calls for. The cake wasn't as good as it would have been had it been homemade, but it actually turned out really good. One of the girls said that it tasted like Fruit Loops, & it kind of did...it had that tart, sweet, fruity flavor going on.

The mini cupcakes were for a wedding rehearsal dinner, & they were just strawberry cake mix with the same lime frosting as what I used on the cake. They were the last thing I did that week, so I was completely exhausted by the time I was done!

Crazy week's over...I survived & made some tasty treats in the process.

Birthdays & Babies

I've been a busy little cake maker this week. I made a cake for my dad's birthday, & I had a cupcake order for a baby shower. Dad got a strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream, & it was tasty...nice & moist. I read the other day about letting the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes after you pull it out of the oven & then wrapping it in plastic wrap & putting it in the fridge. Pure brilliance I tell you...it worked perfectly!



The baby shower cupcakes were a dozen & a half each of strawberry cupcakes & white chocolate macadamia nut cupcakes. As you may remember, the white chocolate cupcakes were from my first Cupcake of the Month. I did a little variation on the icing to make it thicker (last time it was a runny mess) so they'd look a little nicer for the shower.




Now for the strawberry cupcakes, I wanted to figure out a way to doctor up a boxed cake mix. I found a recipe that seemed pretty good, so I decided to give it a try. Since I didn't get to try the cupcakes, I'm not sure how they came out but they looked very moist. The icing was strawberry cream cheese made with fresh strawberries, & I can attest to the fact that it was fabulous.





Strawberry Cake

1 box strawberry cake mix
1 (11.5 oz) can strawberry nectar
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil


Mix & bake according to directions on box.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1 (8oz) package cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup strawberries, mashed in food processor
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter & cream cheese. Mix in strawberries. Add powdered sugar to desired taste & consistency.

Playing Catch-Up!

Wow...it's been way too long since I've updated this thing! Spring is in the air, & I'm loving every minute of it. I've done quite a few things since I last posted, so I thought I'd just give you a few pictures. Enjoy!



These are a few of 6 dozen cupcakes I made for a girl's 18th birthday party. There were 2 dozen each of strawberry, chocolate, & vanilla cupcakes all with vanilla buttercream.



Our friend just had a baby boy, & she's always asking if we have any cake around the house. This little 6" white cake was a surprise present for her.



Last month I was hired to make a cake & mini cupcakes for a wedding shower, & this is what I came up with. Their wedding colors are black, red, & white. This was my very first time using fondant, & I absolutely love it for making decorations. I'm not quite sure I want to try covering any entire cake with it yet, but I can definitely get used to the little stuff.

Mini Cupcakes Everywhere!

This past Friday I had the pleasure of being a part of an annual business women's luncheon here in town. I was asked to set up a booth for my cake business & pass out samples & info to the women that attended. Well let me just tell you...I make 8 dozen mini cupcakes plus a fake 10" cake for the event. Now you want to know how many cupcakes I gave away? Maybe a dozen. Seriously! On the plus side...I did hand out a bunch of my business cards & several of my price sheets. Now it's just a matter of sitting back & waiting for the phone to ring. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Here are 6 dozen of the mini cupcakes that I made...

And a close-up of the cupcakes...

This is actually a fake cake. (The "cake" part is foam, but the icing is real.)

Pictures!

I thought I should go ahead & post a few pictures of my favorite cakes & cupcakes!


I made this cake for a couple of women that I work with. I love love love the polka dots!

These cupcakes were for my cousin's little girl's 2nd birthday. What little girl (or big girl) doesn't love pink?!

My sister's birthday cake.

Cupcakes for twins...one boy & one girl.

Zoe's 1st birthday