June 17, 2009 No Comments

semi-homeade sweets

book-club-sweets

I’ve belonged to a book club for the past six years {hey girls!}. Last week we had a potluck and I was to bring something sweet. My week was swamped and I never had a chance to bake so I ran to the grocery and picked up some chocolate covered graham crackers and strawberries.

I simply melted some pink chocolate in a resealable bag and piped our initials, BCB for Book Club Betties, and various shapes and designs {I liked the martini glass best} onto the cookies. (It could have been cleaner, but I was in a huge hurry!)

The cookies were a hit. But let’s face it, any type of chocolate goes well with wine. {wink}

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June 15, 2009 3 Comments

flower pot cupcakes

flower-pot-cupcakes

Tis the season for garden parties and I thought these two flower pot cupcake ideas were so super cute.

The first is from Georgia McDonald on flickr. I love the simplicity of them; simple, but very lovely. Just cupcakes with white icing, a fun sucker and gummy leaves with a little cookie or chocolate sprinkle.

The second set will take you a little more time. You’ll need to bake the sugar cookies (and make sure that the lollipop sticks hold in place well; make sure and chill your dough!). Plus, you’ll need to ice them, but I think well worth the effort for the outcome. Nice work Montreal Confections!

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June 14, 2009 7 Comments

campout cupcake

camping-out-cupcakes-with-smores-and-tent1

I designed these fun cupcakes a few weeks ago for my beautiful little boys and of course they go perfectly with our “campout” and “great outdoors” birthday party themes too.

My boys love tents, roasting marshmallows and fishing, so I needed to incorporate each element. If you’ve not noticed yet, there is also a little sleeping bag in the tent {giggle}. I couldn’t resist piping one since my boys love to use theirs on their beds sometimes! Oh, and by the way, these are the cupcakes I entered in the parenting.com cake and cupcake contest that I mentioned last week.

Here’s what you’ll need to decorate your white cupcakes (use egg whites only to preserve the color of your cupcake wrappers):

  • Hershey bars (2 3/4 pieces per tent)
  • Mini goldfish crackers
  • Fiber one cereal (campfire logs)
  • Cream cheese icing
  • Blue, green and red gel food coloring
  • Toothpicks
  • #46 tip (flat side for sleeping bag)
  • #107 tip (campfire flame)
  • #233 tip (grass)
  • white bakers wire (could use floral wire with non-edible items)

And here are the easy steps:

  1. Using the grass tip, ice your cupcakes. (TIP: You’ll want to add all of your decorations before the icing sets too much so that the grass will act as adhesive to keep the items in place.)
  2. Build your tents next. Take two full blocks of chocolate and trim the third, the base, to 2/3 its normal size. On the base pipe your sleeping bag, a short strip for the pillow and a long strip for the bag.
  3. Melt a block or two of chocolate in the microwave to use as adhesive for assembling your tent. Apply the chocolate with a toothpick and hold your tent in place for a few seconds to allow it to set. Place it on your cupcake.
  4. Using Fiber One cereal as your campfire logs {I know… but they look just like little sticks!}, set them up in a pyramid shape and then pipe a dollop of icing on top for the flame.
  5. Finally we create our fishing pole with a toothpick, I used colored ones, a mini goldfish and bakers wire. Simply wrap the wire around your fish and wind it around your toothpick pole. I placed it so that it is over the edge and then embellished the cupcake with a paper wave design as if they were on an island.

 I hope you enjoy my little creation, my boys really did!

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June 11, 2009 2 Comments

beach party cupcakes

beach-and-octopus-cupcakes

It’s no secret that I love our new deep sea birthday party theme. While scouting for some fun cupcake and cake ideas for an upcoming family birthday party I came across these two. Not only are both of these ideas adorable, but both can be executed fairly easily {stop that… they really can be; trust me}.

The beach theme cake and cupcakes are from pink apron {super cute!}. I don’t know if these were, but if you were to take on this idea, the cake and cupcakes could be purchased from a bakery an then it’s all about icing the cookies. Read my post on flooding cookies for some easy tips.

This octopus cupcake from two part sugar’s is too fun; I will definatley be making a version of this. It is fondant and I know that scares some people but don’t let it. You can buy pre-made fondant at your local craft store or bakery supply store. Make sure you tint it with gel food coloring, the other stuff will make it watery. As for the mechanics of it, the head is just a rolled ball and the legs can easily be rolled in your hands. It might take a few trys, but I have confidence any of you can pull it off. {wink}

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June 10, 2009 No Comments

polka dot cake inspiration

polka-dot-cake-inspiration

Polka dots are still all the rage and cakes and cupcakes are no exception; so I thought I would provide a little inspiration. Each of these cakes have one thing in common, besides the obvious polka dot {wink}, they are not covered in fondant. I myself love a beautiful fondant cake, but even as a baker fondant can be intimidating especially when you’re short on time. So here goes:

The first cake in the upper left corner was on the January cover of Gourmet magazine. I liked that they combined the cake with the cupcake. That said, I am curious about the stacking. I would suggest icing them and allowing them to set for several hours (3-5) before stacking them.

Remember how I said no fondant, okay, so maybe the dots are made of fondant on the cake in the upper right corner, but the cake and piping are just regular old icing. This cake and the cupcakes in the bottom left corner both come from cupcakesbyles.blogspot.com. Super cute stuff!

And finally, the cake in the bottom right corner is from Country Living Magazine. Not only is this a great picture of a beautifully decorated cake, but they walk you through this one and others with step-by-step pictures.

I know I’ll personally be making a version of these fun cakes for a new girlfriend gathering theme we’re working on. Happy baking!

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