Happy Birthday Nana!

Today my friend's mom is 75 and I am very lucky to have been asked to make a cake for this special occasion.  Happy Birthday Nana Underwood!

Preparing for the Bake Sale!

Life seems to always be hectic, but among all the craziness I am preparing for a bake sale.  What better way to celebrate fall than with pumpkin bread.  I finally had the opportunity to clean and cook my pumpkin and all I have to say is, using fresh pumpkin is always the way to go.  No fancy recipe, I used my mom's recipe and it is my favorite.  Raisins, walnuts in this fabulous moist pumpkin bread.

My second addition for the bake sale was one of my all time favorite recipes.  Sour cream blue berry coffee cake.  This is probably very unhealthy but if you love coffee cake and blue berries this is the recipe to have.  I am not sure if it is the sour cream or the cinnamon and brown sugar bottom, but it is heavenly.

Finally I thought I would bake another round of almond biscotti.  Easy ingredients and easy to bake.  Same as one of my last blogs, I can't get enough of these. 

The Perfect Coffee Dessert

This weekend I had my kitchen again and I totally took advantage of it.  My husband's birthday is this week and if you know him you know he is not one for desserts.  I wanted to make him a birthday cake, but I knew he would not eat it so I remembered one of his favorite treats, almond biscotti.  This traditional Italian treat is simple and delicious (and even better when dunked in your coffee). 

Biscotti are twice baked and the history behind them is that they were intended to have a long shelf life.  The ingredients are simple, eggs, sugar, flour, toasted almonds, almond extract, baking powder, and salt.

So much to learn

I have discovered that I still have so much to learn about decorating cakes, but I will only get better by practicing.  What you see below is my practice.  A coworker retired and she happens to be the biggest Red Sox fan I know (and that says a lot because you would think everyone in Boston was, but she is truly the biggest fan).  So what better way to practice decorating then to attempt a version of Fenway Park while also giving something special to a friend. 

Attempt is the key word.  I made a sheet cake covered in fondant.  I did not use the fondant from Michael's or AC Moore, I found Satin Ice online and in some local cake stores and it is a big difference.  It does not taste bad at all.  I then attempted a scaled down version of the Green Monster made out of rice treats.  Next was attempting a hat which was made out of rice treats and covered in fondant as well.  I really need to do a lot of practice covering cakes with fondant, that is all I have to say.  The cake part was easy, but let's just say I was very sad when the Green Monster fell over.  But there was recovery and a sad attempt at making it all work.  So here it is, not the best, but I am happy with it and happy I got the practice.  Most importantly, my friend loved it.

Ways to keep your house warm

What a beautiful day today.  The windows were open and the house was nice and cool.  Only problem was that I haven't been apple picking yet so no pies to make and I was not up to baking a cake because that will be next weeks project (and I mean project). So I decided to warm things up with some good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies.  When I make chocolate chip cookies I like to use the Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips and I use dark brown sugar.  Using dark brown sugar will make the cookies chewy.  Finally, I only use the mixer to combine the sugars, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda.  For the flour and chips I use my hands with a spatula to combine.  Baked at 325 for only 10 minutes makes them nice and chewy.

Here are a couple of pictures and stay tuned because next week I will be making a cake for a friend who is retiring and I'll give you a hint, she's from Boston and likes baseball.

The flowers completed

In my last blog I posted a picture of the flowers I made and that the cupcakes were in the oven.  Well, here they are complete on the cupcake.

Flower practice

Whether you call her a hurricane or a tropical storm, it's ugly out there and I am stuck in the house.  So what better thing to do then to practice on my decorating.  I am really trying to improve on my flowers so you will probably see repetitive posts on flower practice.  In the oven now are some cupcakes for me to decorate using these flowers, but I just wanted to post what I had so far.  I was so excited to use my edible pollen, this stuff is fantastic.  I picked it up at a cake supply store which is heaven to me.  The only problem is that as I keep practicing I find more tools that I want and it can become an expensive hobby, but it is a really fun hobby.

Monster Truck

In my blog yesterday I mentioned that I was making 2 cakes for my friend.  First was Thomas which I posted yesterday and here is a picture of the second cake I made, Monster Truck.  No carving involved, but I did use rice crispy treats to form the ramp on the cake. 

1st Try At Carving

My best friend had asked me to make two birthday cakes for her boys.  One was turning 2 and the other one 8.  Of course I said yes and was excited to hear what kind of cakes they wanted.  First words out of her mouth was Thomas the Train for the 2 year old and then Monster Jam Monster Truck for the 8 year old.  I was excited and new right away my idea for the truck cake, but for Thomas I wanted to try something different.  Someone suggested the cake pan, but I really want to try new techniques and learn new ways to decorate cakes, so I looked online and how quickly I came upon a 3-D Thomas cake. 

I had planned sufficient time to get both cakes done.  I took a 1/2 day off from work on Thursday to bake the cakes and the day off on Friday to decorate so that there was no need to rush on Saturday the day of the party.  I wish it were as easy as that.  I ended up staying the entire day at work, but I was confident I had plenty of time to bake the cakes and not be up late.  I was wrong.  I got the first cake in the oven and started the second, but my dog was sick.  Sick enough to concern me so off we went to the ER.  I was there for a long time and thankfully she is ok now, but she did have to spend the night in the hospital (poor pup).  Anyway, that was more time lost.  When I got home, cake number two went in the oven and yes it was a late night.  Although baking helped me keep my mind from going crazy worrying about my dog.

So today was decorate day and my first attempt at carving out and stacking a 3-D cake.  It is not as easy as they make it look on TV, but I took my time.  There were a few errors in my measurements so I was a little disappointed that some of the pieces were not the right size, but I made it work.  I found this great kit online which supplied the dimensions and a few pieces such as the face and wheels.  What a great way for a beginner to try out their first 3-D cake.  Directions were easy to follow and while it took some time to complete and there were errors, I was happy with the finished product.  I hope the 2 year old is happy tomorrow for his birthday.

Pie or Cake?

So I am on the quest for the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe.  This evening I took a stab at another recipe and I was quite satisfied with the taste.  I was once again not sure what to do with the cake after wards so I decided to decorate a little differently.  I saw this idea in a cupcake book and it looked very easy to do.  Only problem, I don't recommend doing this when its hot, the icing became droopy because it was too warm in the room.  So don't judge the pictures too much, but you get the idea I am going for here.  These simple pie cupcakes are easy to do and if you can't tell from the pictures, the filling are M&Ms.  You cannot go wrong with M&Ms. Using extra touches such as silver cupcake liners and adding cocoa powder with some drops of yellow food coloring to make the pie crust color make a big difference. 

This was a fun project and great for kids.  If you are not into making your own frosting, buy some canned frosting, it is so easy to do.  

Practice makes perfect

Now that I am finally settling into things and organizing all my stuff, I finally took some time on this rainy night to practice my flowers.  Just a little simple test for myself.  I was happy with the flowers for a first try at these.  Not so happy with the cake, but I really wasn't trying, I just wanted something to place the flowers on.  Next time I will just practice with styrofoam rounds and cover with fondant.  I was finally able to test my pollen, not sure if you can see it well in the picture, but I'm loving this stuff. 

Keep checking out the blog because next week I am tackling two cakes for two little boys.  One will be a Thomas the Train cake and the other Monster Jam Monster Truck cake.

Finally, A Chance to Bake

I have not had the opportunity to bake cakes lately, but alas, I found a good reason.  A co-worker is about deploy to Iraq for 6 months and we are giving him a little send-off.  So I thought it would be great to make him a cake as a thank you and best wishes.  Here it is...  I am so happy with the way my drawing came out of the Agency logo. 

A little bit of history...

I'm once again on the road again and of course that prevents me from attempting new creations, but since I have some time I thought I would begin to add some pictures of cakes that got me started.  These are my first attempts at cake decorating.  I have since began more extravagant style cakes and creative cakes, but you have to start somewhere.

Just to share a little history first, I started baking as a kid and have always loved it, but never made a career out of it.  Actually my degree is Accounting and my work is centered around numbers, but just like accounting, baking is very precise so it really doesn't surprise me that I enjoy both so much.  My only issue is coming up with the creative part of what to decorate, then I go to family and friends for suggestions.  I have some great critics and creative minds that love to share and my cousin is always sharing the most interesting cake ideas with me that she finds.

My Mom always baked cakes and she got that from my Nana who baked wedding cakes for family and friends.  My passion for decorating comes from my Mom and throughout my life it has always been an outlet for stress relief for me. Cake decorating oddly is very relaxing to me. 

I learned the basics from my Mom and have taken many classes from the local Wilton courses, to the Culinary Institute of America in NY, Johnson and Whales, and local classes held by some very talented folks.  I enjoy it so much that I try to take as many classes as possible all over on weekends and week nights just to learn new techniques.  Now I am in the stage of practicing and still learning (I will always be learning).  So I encourage anyone looking for a cake to let me know, I am always looking for an excuse to try something.

Keep checking out the blog because I have some ideas that I plan to try and will definitely be posting pictures.  In the meantime, here are some pictures of cakes that I did in the beginning.  Enjoy!

A 1st birthday cake for my good friend's little boy. 

This one was my attempt at a shoe cake for a friend who is the ultimate shoe and accessory queen.  My first time using gum paste.

This cake was so much fun to create.  My niece and I did this together for my Mom.  My Mom is a tea drinker and for Mother's Day, my niece and I wanted to try and be creative.  I am so happy to see that she shares the same liking for decorating.

Another cake for my Mom.  This was my 1st attempt at making people.  I tried to make each of children and their families. 

This was what I call in-class homework from one of my courses. 

This is one of my favorites because I was very proud of my attempt at covering a cake with fondant and the the fish on top were free hand. 

Success!!!

The Bake for Hope was an amazing success.  The truffles that I made and the chocolate chip cookies by David raised $812.  Amazing!!!  Today we held a celebration for the winning bidders and added some extra good stuff.  It was a great opportunity for more baking.  In addition to the chocolate truffles I had also baked some cupcakes with a butter cream frosting.  That was nothing compared to the brownies, cookies, and cupcakes that David made.  Here are some pictures from this great event to celebrate the generosity of some great people.

Chocolate Chip Cookies To Die For

I have to write about these amazing chocolate chip cookies.  These are not my creation, but a good friend with a great talent for baking.  All of us love the famous Toll House chocolate chip cookies, but these are much more than a basic cookie recipe.  Straight from David's kitchen, they are described as old school Toll House chocolate chip cookies with high chocolate chip to dough ratio and loaded with fresh walnuts.  They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside - who can resist!

I am a huge fan.  One bite of these cookies and I was sold.  Absolutely delicious, they taste just as good as they look.  I know you are all drooling at the mouth.  Best part, you can bid on them and support a great cause.   These delicious cookies are up for bid as part of a bake for hope campaign to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Check it out and be sure to bid on 5 dozen of these fantatic cookies at Bloggers Bake for Hope.

Dark Chocolate Truffles

A variety of truffles for the true chocoholics.   I discovered a recipe for Ghiradelli chocolate truffles which was fantastic, but I wanted to change it up a bit.  Rather than just plain truffles, I added some sea salt (a definite favorite of mine).  I prefer using a sea salt that is small, but flaky.  In my last adventure in baking I used Bela Mandil Flor De Sal, Algarve-Portugal.  It turned out spectacular.  This became a quest for more and perfectly timed by a suggestion from a great friend and fellow blogger Local Lisa to participate in Bloggers Bake for Hope.  I was beyond excited to participate; baking (which I love) and for a great cause!!!  So it was an instant light that turned on when she suggested participating and these truffles won my heart. 

I decided to use Callebaut bittersweet chocolate and in true truffle fashion some heavy cream and butter (yummy).  But I wanted to make them stand out.  I didn't want small truffle balls so I made them slightly bigger using a silicone mold for square bites that I had.  Then to create a look that matched the theme, I put pink ribbons on them.  But wait there is more!  I added a few different flavors.  A lot of folks love the chocolate and raspberry combination and some love coconut so I opted to add those, but I wanted something different in addition to the sea salt and standard flavors.  Then it came to me, banana creme.  I was skeptical at first, but surprisingly it added a small, but sufficient difference that was yummy. 

These truffles will melt in your mouth. Be sure to watch the blog for Bloggers Bake For Hope and if you love chocolate you should bid on these.  If you are not the biggest chocolate fan you should still bid on what looks like some fantastic desserts.