Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Madness has Started which is Hudson's Birthday week!!

Good Morning my Blog readers :)

So this week is THE week!!!  I'm baking up a storm, getting ready for my son's birthday party.... so here I am baking in stages... yesterday I made the cupcakes for Hudson's little friends' Mater Cakes... and froze them.. I also baked the cake for the Cake Pops and froze the slab.. so today I am attempting to bake the BIGGER Mater cake... WISH ME LUCK!!! My 3 month old girl, Tenley is sound asleep, well napping so its time to get the cakes in the oven before she wakes up.... Tomorrow is fondant making, and than placing it in the fridge.. Thursday is the day I will do the cake pops.. and Friday HOPEFULLY I can do the cupcakes and the big ole Mater cake in between running to Lethbridge to get Hudson's hair trimmed for the BIG DAY :)
I will post pictures along the way this week and let you know if everything worked or if it all got turned into cake pops :)  WISH ME LUCK!!!!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Perfect Pound Cake

One of my ALL TIME Favorite cake to bake and yes, I eat this one!!!
The aroma of buttery, light softness fills your home as this classic cake bakes



ENJOY!!!!
**If you are wanting this recipe... Comment on here!!**

Friday, January 21, 2011

Challenge # 1

Good Morning people of the Blog world....
So let me explain what my Blog is kind of about....
I wanted to not just LOOK at amazing baking and the creativeness of OTHER people.. I wanted to actually ATTEMPT to become one myself... and to do this I needed to test recipes that I thought looked beautiful, amazing, creative and tasty!!!
I wanted to be able to challenge myself in new areas that I have NEVER gone to before and I wanted to prove to myself and to all of you reading that its possible that we, the ordinary bakers could create things that looked like and tasted like it was done by a pro :)  Kinda of like the movie... Julie & Julia but I will be testing recipes from different cook books as well as websites... 

So, with all that said.. here is my attempt for the week :
My son will be turning 3 on the 29th and he wanted a Mater Cake...  not a Lightning McQueen cake that we did last year that actually has a 3D baking pan to make it easier.. but a TOW MATER... one of the most popular characters from the Cars movie.. but of course.. he has no cake pan.. so here I go.. I am going to attempt 3 recipes... and using home made FONDANT... which I have never used.  Of course I could actually run to Michaels and buy pre made fondant.. but really.. can it be THAT good??? its been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long!! Do I really want to put that kind of play dough into my little boy's tummy and all his friends?  So I am making this birthday cake thing even harder by  making my own fondant as well...  after all.. it's Hudson's first ever FRIENDS birthday party.. it needs to be special!
Here is what they SHOULD look like!!!!  lets see if my 3 month old baby girl will let me put her down long enough to make this amazing cake with matching cupcakes.... 

 What the Cake SHOULD look like
What the Cupcakes SHOULD look like 
(from bakerella.com)

AND if I get even more creative ( which means, If I have more time....)  I will attempt to make chocolate covered cake balls as well ....
WISH ME LUCK... I am going to need it!!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Panda Parade

Obsessed with Kung Fu Panda...?? My 1 year old was... PANDA was in fact one of 
his very first words! So who better to celebrate Hudson's First Birthday with than a Parade of Panda's!!!

Sticky Caramel Popcorn Balls with Toblerone Drizzle

Tasty... a great mix of sweet and salty!!

Chocolate Skor Cupcake


Irresistible  Chocolate Skor Cupcakes with an Old Fashioned Caramel Icing to top it off...
A MUST for any snowy, cold winter night!!




How To Make :

Devil's Food Cupcake ( from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes) :

3/4 c - unsweetened DUTCH processed cocoa powder
3/4 c - HOT water
3c - All Purpose Flour
1t -Baking Soda
1t - Baking Powder
1 1/4 t - Coarse salt
1 1/2 c - Unsalted butter
2 1/4 c - sugar
4 - Large eggs, room temperature
1T +1t - Pure vanilla extract
1c - Sour cream, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth.  In another bowl, whisk together flour,baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium low heat, stirring to combine.  Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl.  With an electric mixer, beat until mixture is cooled, 4-5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined.  Reduce to low speed.  Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with sour cream, and beating until you just combined after each.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three - quarters full. Bake, rotating tins half way through, about 19-20 minutes.  Transfer to wire racks to completley cool.
4. When completley cool, you are free to frost!

Old Fashioned Caramel Icing
 ( from Donut and Bakery Shop)

1/2 c - Butter, unsalted, melted
1c - Brown sugar
1/4c - Milk
3 1/4 c - Icing sugar

1. Add brown sugar to melted butter in a pan.  Bring to boil, stirring occasionally.  Cook about 1 minute, or until slightly thick.. left un attended and it will burn.. and FAST! Cool completely!
2. Add milk, and beat until smooth with the brown sugar/butter mixture.. in a stand up mixer.
3. Beat in icing sugar, adding it gradually until icing is spreadable.

FROST AWAY!!!!!




Blue Velvet Cupcakes

I saw this recipe and was dying to try it out!! Who would have ever thought to  make BLUE Velvet?? I had never even tasted RED Velvet, so I was hoping for the best when I mixed this batch up.  The result was an incredible tasting new color to the Velvet color wheel!  I decided to whip up these tiny beauties for a little boy's baby shower and I couldn't have been more happy with the way they turned out


 Mix Them Up ...
Fill Them Up... 
 Wipe Them Up ...
 or Lick Them ...
 Ice Them Up ...
TA DA!!!!