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Quick Post today... just some cakes/cupcakes that I've done lately...

Nathan's 6th Birthday PIRATE SHIP cake:

Here's Natalie's cake-pick for her 8th Birthday this year:

 

 

And for Paige's 10th Birthday... cupcake scoops (Thank you Pinterest for the Amazing Idea!!!):

And the last one for now, the baseball cake for the 15th year old Mertz:

 

Christmas Creations

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!  And I LOVE making Christmas treats!

 Check out these reindeer PB cookies...

 

 And these melted snowman were such a cute idea, I couldn't resist giving them a try.

 

Santa wasn't the only one who got a snack this year... we made elf donuts too!  These are really just Cheerios dipped in powdered sugar, cinnamon or melted chocolate.

 

 

 

 

Northpole Santa Hats:

 



Chocolate toppings of Christmas Trees & Snowflakes:

CUPCAKES!

Here's glimpse into my cupcake world... CUPCAKES are so much fun to make and there are millions of different ways to decorate them!

2012's Valentine cupcakes:

 

 

Fish Fry ~ Jesus Fish Cupcakes:  

 



 

 

BABY Shower Cupcakes!

 



Just for Fun Cupcakes!

 

 

 

These had whipped cream filling just like the hostess cupcakes!

2012 Birthday Cakes

Here are pictures of the birthday cakes that I made in 2012. 

Nathan's birthday was in April, we wanted a Star Wars cake... although I don't think that this is the best cake that I've ever decorated, I still thought I should post.

 

The stars and letters were made out of tinted fondant... which I HATE USING, but just because I'm not good at it... one of these days I will master that stuff!

 

The light sabers on the characters were supposed to light up, but they wouldn't stay lit :(

 

Happy 5th Birthday Nathan!

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Dave's birthday was in April also - I made his a cake a little more age appropriate and super chocolaty delicious (since he's a chocolate freak!)

 

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And for Natalie's birthday in June, she wanted another castle cake.  I did this for her 3rd or 4th birthday, so I've had a trial run at this before, but I think that I did much better this time!

 

 

The pillars were made of 2 standard ice cream cones stacked upside down on top of each other - then I coated pointed sugar cones in pink sprinkles to top them off.  Along with a ton of butter cream icing and pink misting spray - I think that it turned out pretty good.

 

Happy 7th Birthday Natalie :)

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I made my little cousin Emily Carson's personal 1st Birthday cake (quite the honor!). 

 

 

Just small enough for her to dig into :)

 

 

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Last birthday cake that I made this year was for my sister Robin.  I found this idea on Pinterest (imagine that...) and was waiting for an excuse to try it!

 

 

HOW MUCH FUN IS THAT?!

 

Cheeseburgers in Paradise

Burgers & Fries anyone?  This is my favorite project so far.  Not only did these turn out super cute, but they tasted scrumptious!  Another idea found on Pinterest which ultimately led me to Bakerella's tutorial - she is amazing!

The "Burgers" are yellow cupcakes as buns and chocolate brownies as the burger.  I just baked the cupcakes and cut into thirds (I to discard a little to make it the right size).  Then I used a round cookie cutter on the brownie pan to get the burger the right size to fit in the buns.  Next just die the icing the right colors to make "ketchup", " mustard" and "lettuce" to drizzle on top of that burger.  Top the "bun" with white sugar crystal sprinkles to mimic the sesame seeds and viola!

The fries where a piece of cake... or cookies :-)  I just rolled out a sugar cookie mix and cut them into thin strips.  I topped with sugar before and after baking to give them the salty look.

That's it! 

Best Cupcake Masterpiece Ever!

Happy New Years!

This year, I have discovered PINTEREST.  I love that site - I get tons of ideas from there.  This is one inpired from there - this started out as a cupcake clock, but then i had extra room on the pan and extra cupcakes, so I added a few 'year' cakes as well.

Pretty simple - I just whipped up a Cream Cheese Buttercream and topped with hardened chocolate designs.

Closer look...

FIRST BIG Fondant Cake!

I made this cake for a friend's baby shower... it was my first BIG fondant cake.  2 tiers - 3 cakes mixes, 2 different buttercream fillings, homemade fondant and store-bought fondant all to make this beaut:

The top layer is yellow cake with a vanilla chocolate chip buttercream filling:

• 1 pound bag of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 sticks butter, cut into ½ inch slices
• 1/2 cup shortening
• One package vanilla instant pudding mix
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips, crumbled in food processor

• using the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, mix the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and milk at low speed until smooth.
• add butter, one slice at a time, until incorporated
• add shortening and whip at highest speed 10-12 minutes, until volume increases by at least 50%.
• Add vanilla pudding mix & chocolate chips

The bottom layer is choclate cake with extra rich chocolate buttercream filling - which is just a basic buttercream recipe with whipped choc ganache added to it.

Buttercream:

• 1 pound bag of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 sticks butter, cut into ½ inch slices
• 1/2 cup shortening

• using the whisk attachment on your electric mixer, mix the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and milk at low speed until smooth.
• add butter, one slice at a time, until incorporated
• add shortening and whip at highest speed 10-12 minutes, until volume increases by at least 50%.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces chocolate, finely chopped

1. put cream in a microwave safe glass bowl and heat on high for 2-3 minutes, until just about to boil.

2. put chocolate in a medium sized glass bowl and pour hot cream over.
3. let sit for a minute or two then stir with a wooden spoon until completely smooth.
4. freeze the ganache for a few hours until very firm, then whip in your electric mixer, about 5 minutes, until fluffy. Be careful not to over-whip the ganache, however, or you'll end up with chocolate butter!


The homemade fondant wouldn't hold up over the entire cake, so just some of the decor is made out of that.  The majority of the cake was covered with Wilton's packaged fondant - which doesn't taste that great... good thing I put all those yummy fillings in there :-)

I did a quilted pattern and added pearls where the pattern crossed.  Overall it turned out pretty good, I'm just not sure when I'll be ready to tackle another fondant masterpiece.