For all the Harry Potter fans.......here it is.

  A friend that I work with asked me to make a cake for her husband's birthday and told me that he really likes Harry Potter.  Well, being that I know nothing about Harry Potter (I have never read the books, and I only made it through half of the first movie) I was a little nervous to attempt it, but thought it would also be a great challenge.  So what else could I say but YES!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures:)

Cake: Devil's food

Icing: Buttercream covered in marshmallow fondant

Cake Pops

So, I am a huge fan of Bakerella  and one of the things featured on their website are Cake Pops.  I have to be honest and say that I had never heard of these before, but they are so cute and the possibilities for decorating them are endless. All week long I have been looking forward to baking these delicious treats! Cake Pops are so easy to make and I hope that one day I will be able to make these for someone's special occasion :)  

Cake Pops: 

    - Yellow Butter Cake mixed with cream cheese frosting dipped in Milk Chocolate.

     -Yellow Butter Cake mixed with cream cheese frosting dipped in Pink (Vanilla flavored).

     -Devils food mixed with cream cheese frosting, dipped in White Chocolate and decorated with milk

      chocolate designs.

Back to school

August........the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year.  This month is always bittersweet for me because it means leaving my daughters whom I have been able to spend all summer with only to get ready to spend the next 10 months with 100+ teenagers who for the most part hate English and Reading and would rather be doing something "fun."  Even so, I love my job and always look forward to the beginning of school and the new opportunities that come with it.  This year I decided to bake cupcakes for all of the amazing teachers and staff that I work with.  I found the idea for these cupcakes online and thought it would be a perfect way to start off the year.  This is also the first time I had to bake this many at once (6 dozen)!  Hope you enjoy the pictures :) They were delicious!!!

Cupcakes: Devil's food

Frosting: Cream cheese frosting covered in red and green sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles for the seeds, pretzel for the stem, and mint leaves.

Splash of color

One of the best things about summertime is all of the yummy colorful fruit that I tend to buy.  The produce section is the first part of the grocery store that I walk into and what inevitably happens is the grocery cart becomes a rainbow of food.  From kiwi to bananas to peaches to watermelon.  You name it and it probably gets put in the cart.  So one of my last bakes of the summer became watermelon cupcakes.  My oldest daughter loved this idea and she even decorated her own.  I have found that I really enjoy baking cupcakes, they are so easy and fun to decorate.  Plus there are so many things you can do with them.  

Cupcakes: Vanilla

Icing: Cream cheese tinted with read and green gel food coloring

Topping: mini chocolate chips to look like the seeds 

Giving in to cravings

O.k. so I have a bit of a sweet tooth, and when I am craving something sweet I like to eat Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups.  The combination of peanut butter and chocolate seems to calm me.  So what better way to satisfy a craving than make a cupcake with both these ingredients.  And that is exactly what I did.  These cupcakes were so YUMMY!  What I liked best was that the frosting was easy and took no time to make.  I think I am going to explore my creativity with these sweets as well.  

Cupcakes: Chocolate fudge

Frosting: Whipped peanut butter

Topping: crushed peanut butter cups

Happy 4th of July

Independence Day! Not only is it a day to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom, but it was another reason for me to make a cake :)  4th of July is always fun with kids.  We enjoyed the day grilling out and spending time with close friends and family.  The girls played in the pool, on the slip n slide and went for wagon rides. The best part of the day was yet to come.  As it started getting dark, they were ready for the fireworks and sparklers.  We watched a few fireworks from our neighborhood going off in the distance and the girls loved the chance to throw poppers on the ground.  We had a great day, and to top it all off we came inside to enjoy some dessert!  This cake took a little bit longer to cook because of the many layers, but it was well worth it.  My challenge this time was coloring the fondant blue and red.  I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to get the color just right.  I found the idea for this cake online, but changed it just a little.

So, here is the second one.......4 layers

Cake: top layer is vanilla cake; bottom layer is Devil’s food cake

Icing: Butter cream covered in marshmallow fondant

June 2010

I had been thinking about my goal for the summer long before school was out and I was so excited to finally get started!  I went to the store and bought a few things that I needed for the cake and then headed home to BAKE :)  With two children though, alone time becomes limited so I had to plan and do the first cake in steps. Step 1:  Make the marshmallow fondant and let it sit overnight.  Step 2: make the cake during nap time.  Step 3: Decorate the cake after the girls go to bed.  Although it was a longer process than I had imagined, I was pleased with how it turned out and it was so much fun to make! 

So here is my first cake........small and not too complicated.  By my daughter’s request I needed to put pink polka dots :)

Cake: Devil’s food

Icing: Butter cream covered in marshmallow fondant