Sweet and Sassy

Into the woods...

2009-11-11T19:19:00.003-05:00

So this past weekend we went on our first family camping trip to Hillsborough River State Park. It was actually the first time I camped with Shawn as well. I think we did pretty well for first timers, but it just wouldn't be a Daniels' family vacation if there wasn't a little humor involved. Don't believe me? Read my post on the cruise we went on! First let me start with the packing situation...

I am not a good packer. I always get a good start at doing a good job. I lay out my outfits, planning for each day appropriately, but as the departure times gets closer panic sets in. I start running through all the "what-if's". What if it rains? What if I fall and get dirty? What if a coyote eats my favorite sweater? It doesn't matter where I'm going, or if I've been there before I always get panicky. So in order to put myself at ease enough to avoid a full blown anxiety attack I pack EVERYTHING. Think I'm kidding...we went camping for 2 nights at a campsite 45 minutes from our house and 20 minutes from the closest Wal-Mart but having such amenities within a short drive didn't stop me. Oh no...just the pharmaceuticals I took was out of control. I took Calamine lotion, 2 different anti-itch creams, antiseptic spray, regular children's Tylenol, day-time and night-time cold-medicines, a thermometer, and a small first aid kit with band-aids and gauze. I packed 5 pair of pants, 5 pairs of shoes and enough shirts for a week. Two different hoodies (remember the coyote's could eat one) and at least 5 tubes of chap-stick. Sick...I know!

But I'm not the only one with packing issues. My husband also suffers from OPS (over-packing syndrome) and I think because he knows I'm panicking his need to "take care of his women" kicks into over-drive and he tries to be prepared for anything that might make me totally spaze out :). Anywho, after loading everything into the truck THIS is what it looked like.

Remember it's only for two nights we'll be camping. And you can't even see what's on the inside of the truck!

Shawn was taking a TV with us until I asked him if he had packed his digital converter box as well!

So, no TV, but we did have the lap-top and apparently free wi-fi. So Shawn and Allan (husband of Denise) watched an afternoon movie and took advantage of some of the free showings on Hulu (love Hulu!)

On Saturday, everyone went canoeing, we have our own John Boat which is nice as it also has a battery powered motor which means NO PADDLING!! Only trouble is, for being Hillsborough RIVER state park the only access to the river is via hand portage...meaning you carry your vessel to the water!! I suppose this really only sucked for Shawn since he did the carrying while I took the little one for a potty break and waited patiently (okay, so I complained briefly about being the last ones out onto the water...it was only briefly though).

Here's our captain preparing our ship.

Here I am sunning myself while the little one helps daddy by paddling the boat backwards :)

Here's a cool looking tree...which also shows how low the water levels are!!

Here's the little one...

Self-portrait...

Oh Captain, my Captain...

It was pretty and peaceful on the river, and the weather was perfect.

The ginormous gator we saw sitting on the bank.

The tree my little one asked daddy to drive the boat under. He of course couldn't say no!

Me taking a picture as we passed under, secretly hoping the flash would go off and prevent any spiders from jumping on my head!

The sweet look of success. I think he was actually waiting to see if I was going to yell at him :)

All in all it was a good weekend. We were with a group of friends that we always have fun with so it was bound to be a good time. Not sure how quick I will be to reserve my next camp-site but I won't say never.

And just for the record I wore 3 of the 5 pair of shoes and 4 of the 5 pairs of pants I took...so there!

On the baking front....I've been busy baking and will only get busier as the Holidays get closer. I have some things I'd like to share so hopefully I'll get to it soon.

Sugar coated kisses.

xoxoxo

Happily Ever After

2009-09-02T22:42:00.001-04:00

Monday was my grandparents 63rd wedding anniversary. Now, I don't know about you, but I just think that is the coolest, most special, way to rare these days kind of thing. I mean - Sixty-three years!@%! So in honor of their wedded bliss I made them dinner and a special little cake.

I had had the idea of making them a cake for some time but it was while at one of my favorite stores, Homegoods, that I settled on the idea. I found the most precious little figurine of a dancing bride and groom (I also scored hugely in the sprinkles department, I'll share when I take some pictures). The figurine reminded me of my grandparents wedding picture which is black and white with shades of pink and gray. It hangs on the wall in their living room and has for as long as I can remember, it's one of my favorite things. I decided immediately to use the figurine as a cake topper. I'd also been wanting to practice at making gum paste flowers and since the brides dress on the figurine had flowers at the base it was just perfect.

I recently received a recipe for a lemon cream filling in the mail and was anxious to try it so I paired it with vanilla buttercake that I brushed with a lemon syrup. Then I iced it all with a traditional vanilla buttercream. The result was delicious. It was moist and lemony and sweet, and when I say lemony - it might make some pucker.

I painted the flowers with a little luster dust mixed with Vodka. The alcohol evaporates and the flowers come out shiny and a little sparkly. The center of the flowers were little edible pearls (part of my sprinkles score at Homegoods), next time I may attach them differently. I used a dot of buttercream but it squished out around the pearls and it bothers me. I really liked this little cake, I think it's pretty. And the happy couple thought it was fantastic :)

Lemon Cream Filling

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup whipped cream

In small saucepan, bring lemon juice and butter to boil. Mix sugar and egg yolks together. When lemon mixture comes to a boil pour half of it over yolk mixture and mix well. Pour warm mixture back into pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and cook and stir 2 minutes more. Pass cooked cream through a strainer and stir in lemon peel. Cover surface with plastic wrap and place in refridgerator to cool. When cool, fold in whipped cream and chill.

Lemon Syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

lemon juice to taste

Mix water and sugar in saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Remove from heat and stir in as much or as little lemon juice as you like. Use to brush cakes and before icing.

I hope that in 57 years my hubby looks at me like my grandpa still looks at my grandma. And I hope someone makes me a cake :)

Nicole

xoxoxoxo

Because I Love You.

2009-07-26T09:36:00.023-04:00

I like to sing...I'm not good at it, but I like it. To my ears I sound fantastic; I could hold my own with Celine and Christina no problem. To the poor souls who are subjected to my random serenades I sound more like a rooster with bronchitis being struck by a car. But I don't let a little thing like tone deafness hold me back. Why just the other day I was inspired to sing.

Remember all that niceness I was sharing with you the other day. Well I decided I wanted to do something nice for my hubby. A few weeks back I had planned on making a home-made version of the Hostess cupcake, but I never got around to it so I decided to surprise him with some when he came home from work. As I was whipping up the fluffy, marshmallowy goodness that was to be the delicious center of these babies I found myself singing a song from my youth. Now, I'm a product of the 90's so don't judge me to harshly when I tell you what it was I found myself singing repeatedly...okay...you ready...it was Stevie B's, Because I Love You.

I know, I know, I know. I know what your thinking (at least I can imagine what your thinking..."Stevie B... sound of crickets...really???"). I can't help it...this song was like an anthem for at least a summer during my middle school years. I was a cheerleader for the local P.P.A.L league and every Saturday night our parents would drop us off at the rec center for the weekly P.P.A.L dance. I can vividly remember slow dancing to this song, having the chaperons (the poor adults with nothing better to do with their Saturday night then to stand around monitoring a bunch of hormonal, tweens stumble their way awkwardly through puberty and the beginnings of blossoming romances) step in anytime we got to close to one another. So say what you must, but I was feeling the love when I was making these and this song brings back fond memories for me as does the Hostess cupcake.

I can remember being a little girl and how excited I would get if my mom picked these up at the store, and how I would eat them first by peeling the chocolate fudge from the top, saving it for last. Then I would eat just enough cupcake to expose the fluffy center which I would eat around saving one big fluffy cake crumby bite for last. Then I would devour the icing and wash it all down with a big glass of cold milk...good times I tell you, good times!!

So with Stevie B playing on repeat in my head and visions of marshmallow fluff enrobed in chocolaty goodness running through my mind I proceeded to stuff the cupcakes by cutting out a small section from the center, then injecting the cream and replacing the cake section.

Then I glazed them and added the traditional white swirl using royal icing.

Next, was the hardest part of all (sigh)...taste tasting.

My first instinct told me they were the bomb...but I had to be sure.

And I couldn't leave my fingerprints and teeth impressions behind as evidence. What? What's that you say? This, isn't, a, crime scene? Well it WOULD be a crime to not finish this cupcake!

So good, so so so good. I usually don't care for a ganache glaze preferring a sweeter more fudge like version but paired with the sweetness of the marshmallowy center it was awesome. It was moan inspiring (yes, sometimes I moan when food is really good...especially when it involves chocolate and cake and fluffy centers...you get the point). My hubby loved them and I love him and it's all just love over here.

Marshmallow Cream

1 stick unsalted butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup Marshmallow Fluff

2 TBSP heavy cream

Beat all ingredients unitl smooth and fluffy.

These really are worth the several step process it takes to assemble them. Start with your favorite chocolate cupcake. You could skip the royal icing at the end and just use a powdered sugar and milk icing. I just happened to have left over royal icing so I used it. And if you prefer a sweeter chocolate glaze add some powdered sugar. After making these I'm tempted to try some different flavor fillings like a fluffy carmel center, a lemon curd, a whipped hazelnut filling...the possibilities go on and on and on!

I better go make a list (that I'll ultimately misplace and spend way to much time looking for)

Sugar coated kisses,

Now that's nice

2009-07-25T14:47:00.013-04:00

Have you ever seen that bumper sticker that says " Mean people suck"? I feel there should be a counterpart sticker that says "Nice people rock"! It seems we're always so focused on the negative in the world...which celebrity is headed for rehab, how bad is the economy today, that jerk just cut me off, etc., etc., etc. I'm a believer that negativity breeds negativity, you get back from the universe what you put out there. That being said I wanted to share a little bit of nice with you, maybe it will make you smile and in turn you will be nice to someone else. Lord knows the world could use a little bit of nice right about now!

Okay so first, about a month or so ago my Aunt Becky surprised me with a little package. She sent me some cookie cutters and silicone cakelett pans. There was no reason to send them other then she saw them, thought of me and bought them for me...how nice right! As a way to say thank you I decided I wanted to do more then the traditional card, so I made her some sugar cookies with one of the cutters she sent.

I can't decide if I think they look more like sunflowers,

Black Eyed Susans.

What do you think?

I hope that they reached her in good condition and brought a smile to her face!

Okay, next nice thing: last weekend I received a totally random email from a gentleman in CA who had seen the Mickey Mouse cupcake tower I made. He one, described it as a "masterpiece" and two, wanted to know how much I would charge for something similar if not the exact same thing. How flattering is that!!? I unfortunately, had to tell him I don't ship; but I was sure to tell him Thank you. I told him "baking is my passion and it brings me great joy to know that what I do makes other people happy." and that's the truth!

And last but not least my hubby asked me this week to makes some cupcakes for the ladies in his office. Things have been pretty hectic there lately and he thought it would be a good way to end the week. Nice right? He left the "what to make" decision up to me, and an easy decision it was. I decided to make my version of a Rocky Road cupcake. I call it "Malfunction Junction". Those of you from Tampa know exactly what Malfunction Junction is, for the rest of you...let's just say it's a section of I-275 that sucks beyond suckage. They just seemed appropriate for the occasion...the perfect way to end a rocky week!! For my Malfunction-Junction I start with a devil's food cupcake, I ice it with a marshmallow buttercream and then top it with toasted walnuts, coconut and a drizzle of chocolate. For the ladies I made them pink...and I just love them!

Pretty little things aren't they?

Marshmallow Buttercream

1 stick unsalted butter - room temp

1 cup marshmallow fluff

1 cup powdered sugar

4-6 tbsp. heavy whipping cream ( you could use milk, I happened to have cream so I used it)

Beat all ingredients until light and fluffy. Add as much cream as you need to reach the consistency you would like.

Go play nice.

xoxo

A Busy Week...

2009-07-18T21:59:00.023-04:00

It's been a long and busy baking week for me. I had 5 dozen custom decorated sugar cookies for Friday and a birthday cake for Saturday. I doesn't seem like that much when you type it, but anyone who's ever made this variety of sugar cookie knows, they are a labor of love. You have to make , roll, cut, chill and bake the dough. Then you have to cool, outline and fill the cookies. And then finally after they have been left to dry for hours, (yes, hours. They take hours for the royal icing to completely dry) you can do what is my favorite part...decorate them. It's decorating them to be special for an event or occasion that makes them worth the time and effort. I mean an iced cookie as an iced cookie, but when they're unique to you and/or your event they're...well...special.

This particular order was for a baby shower. They asked for pink, lavender and yellow cookies, with Lily on them. I just love babies, and the mom-to-be is a first timer which is awesome so I was super excited about making these. The colors were really pretty and the sprinkled sugar added just a little bit of sparkle.

I did some with just a letter "L"

and for the first time I used fondant, in the form of tiny flowers.

Here they are on pink on a black background. I'm never quit sure how to take a picture of cookies. So I tried a bunch of different stuff.

And here they are all bagged up and ready to go.

My tips for making sugar cookies is to roll and cut the dough when it's warm. I roll mine between sheets of wax paper. Chill it, then remove scraps and bake the cookies. I outline mine with a medium consistency royal icing and then flood them using thin icing in a squeeze bottle. I outline them again once they're dry and then decorate . They are best kept in the refrigerator and can be stored in the freezer. You can find a good recipe for sugar cookies and royal icing at Fancy Flours

Hope you like.

Back with a BANG!

2009-07-03T10:58:00.010-04:00

So it's been a while since I last posted here. No excuse really. I have the tendency to get a little sidetracked, starting new projects only to get bored after the initial excitement of the whole venture wears off. It's not that I haven't been baking, believe me I have. I just haven't been taking pictures and blogging about the experience. But lately the itch to share my sweet treats has returned and when I made blueberry scones yesterday I knew it was time.

I've been wanting to make blueberry scones for some time now. I had never even tried a scone until recently and yesterday was the first time I made them. I used the blueberry streusel scone recipe from Joyofbaking.com. Since I didn't hunt down any devonshire cream to go with them I made a mascarpone whipped cream also found on the joyofbaking.com. I ate one immediately after they came out of the oven and a second one not long after the first.

It's one of those things where when your done eating it you use your fork to mash up any bits of crumbs left on the plate, it's that good.

Here they are right out of the oven. Look at how the cream melts and oozes all down the sides of the scone. YUM,YUM,YUM!!

I sprinkled a little of the streusel topping and a few extra blueberries I had left over on top. Who doesn't love a little extra yum!

And here it is after given a few minutes to cool off. No oozing cream but just as big on the YUM factor. And look how festive they are, perfect for the 4th wouldn't you say.

Close-up of delicious blueberry goodness...

The key to mixing these is to NOT over mix them. I mixed them completely by hand and just until the flour was incorporated. Over mixing will yield a tough scone. Be gentle when folding in the berries so they don't burst before baking and I didn't use all of the streusel topping. But you can sprinkle it on afterwords or even save it for your pancakes, either way it's delish!

Next time I think I will add a little more lemon zest to the cream, I only used half a lemon this time. The lemon compliments the blueberries so well and gives the cream a really fresh taste. I'm telling you, from the way the blueberries pop in the scones during baking spreading their delicious juices throughout to the rich and creamy, sweet goodness that is the mascarpone whipped cream these babies are a must try. Not to mention how festive they are for the 4th. What better way to start your Independence day celebrations then with a fresh blueberry scone...YUM!!

ICE: April - They Give You Wings

2009-04-23T20:23:00.017-04:00

I wasn't going to compete in this months ICE challenge (which is soda-pop) for a number of reasons, one being that I just couldn't come up with a recipe idea that included soda (or Pop for those of you in the mid-west) and still sounded appealing. But all of a sudden this afternoon it came to me...here's the scoop.

After a busy morning of errands I was tired and I still had several household chores to do and was majorly lacking in motivation. You see I finally decided to jump on the Twilight bandwagon (after weeks of listening to my MOTG friends swoon over it) and while at Sam's club picked up a copy of the 1st book. So I was anxious to dive into it, but the laundry was spilling over and my floors HAD to be cleaned so I did what I always do when I need a little pick-me-up...I had a Red Bull. I figured it would give me the energy I needed to do my chores plus I'd be able to stay up past my usually bed-time of 9:30 PM to do a little reading. It was when I went to the fridge to get it that the idea hit me...MAKE RED BULL CUPCAKES!!! That way I will be able to enter the April ICE challenge, snack AND stay awake late at night to read Twilight (which I have heard happens frequently, I've heard stories of reading at red-lights, waking up in the middle of the night to read just one more chapter, etc. etc. etc.).

So I sucked my Red Bull down and proceeded to buzz around the house in a fashion that would have made the Tasmanian Devil proud; I mopped, windexed, dusted, vacuumed and laundered. Choring done I tackled my next task...the cupcakes. I went with my favorite, devil's food, for a few reasons. 1) it's my favorite and 2) I already had some baked (after all I'm gonna need all the time I can get for reading). I started by brushing the cupcakes with a little Red Bull.

I made some buttercream icing substituting Red-Bull for the milk. I choose to make the icing blue so it would match the can.

I was going to top the cupcakes with some wings made from red candy melts but when I entered "wings" into the search field in clip art the cutest freaking picture of a little vampire bat came up. I was going to trace the wings with the candy melts but after I found the little vampire I choose to make some super cute picks instead. I must say the results are better than I expected...I thought the icing would be way to sweet but it's actually rather nice and the Red Bull flavor is nice...you can definitely tell it's there...which I imagine will come in handy these next few days.

So without further adieu I present to you what I have dubbed the "They have wings" cupcakes. I hope you enjoy them.

Now, if you'll please excuse me I have some reading to do :)

Voting will begin no later than Wednesday, April 29 at 8 p.m. at No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner

Our April ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A creation by FRUITFLYPIE
a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers:

HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS

HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

JESSIE STEELE APRONS

TASTE OF HOME books

a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM.

Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com/

Red Bull Buttercream

2 sticks butter - room temp.

1/2 cup Red Bull ( I used sugar free)

8 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

Cream indredients until smooth and creamy. Ice as desired

Devil's Food Cupcakes

2009-04-19T16:30:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to be asked to make cupcakes for two baby showers. One was for a girl the other a boy; both were for first time mother's to be. Being a mom myself I feel comfortable when I say there is no other experience like becoming a mother for the first time. There is nothing that can prepare you for it, and no real words of advice that an experienced parent can offer. It's just one of those things you have to experience for yourself, each experience is different yet uniquely similar and fantastically beautiful.

Both showers were going with a chocolate brown and polka dot theme (blue for the boy and pink for the little girl) which I really enjoyed (the colors and the polka dots). The little girl to be will be named Savannah so I decided to try something new. I made mini "S" shaped sugar cookies and then coated them with chocolate. I first tried dipping them but they were to small and just became blobs of chocolate so I decided to paint the chocolate on. Then I added some pink sanding sugar for a little sparkle. They were pretty fragile and I broke quite a few in the process but I loved the end result (make sure icing is room temp before adding cookies to top). It was simple, and pretty and pink and chocolate and, etc. etc.

Look how much prettier it is in the natural light (I'm having an issue with one of my photo lights...)

For the little boys shower, the parents have not chosen a name yet so I choose to make some cupcake picks that simply said "It's a Boy". I had originally planned on doing blue and white icing and alternating them on the stand but was unhappy with the color icing I was getting so decided to go with all white and I'm glad I did. I think the blue AND white icing would have been to busy and all blue would have been just too blue. The white icing was perfect, I added a tiny bit of blue sugar but you couldn't really see it.

Again....here it is in the natural light

Growing a Garden

2009-04-18T14:04:00.001-04:00

So this is the second year that we are growing our own organic garden. The idea of having our own garden was really so that we could show our little one where the food she eats comes from. We didn't know how successful it would be and it didn't matter we just wanted her to have the experience, but it didn't take long before we were enjoying tomatoes picked right from the plant. Now, I was never a big fan of tomatoes until I tasted one of my own. When allowed to ripen on the plant they are sweet, juicy and DELICIOUS, pair them with some fresh basil or cilantro snipped fresh and well, there is just nothing that compares.

After the success of our first garden we decided to do it again this year, using what we learned from our first go around to make improvements. Here are some pictures showing the planting process and the growth that has occurred over the past month. Enjoy!

Here it is "The Garden". It's not that big; it's roughly 60 square feet. Before planting we prepared the soil. I use the term "we" loosely here (and throughout)...VERY loosely. By "We" I mean Shawn did it and I helped by not asking him to do anything else...and making lunch :). Anyway, back to gardening...it was all overgrown after last years harvest so we cut it and then covered it with plastic tarps to kill the weeds.

Then we added good organic soil building it up into rows of little hills. Next, we planted the plants in the hills and caged them.

Our little helper!

48 days later the results are as follows...

I had Shawn stand in this one to give you a frame of reference for how tall the tomato plant to the left of him is (he's 6"1' or 6'1"...whatever). He had to attach it to pvc pipe to hold it up.

and the soon to be eaten...

Here is one of the cucumber plants. they are so pretty and yet so weird at the same time. They grow these little arms and attach them to things in what appears to be a way to hold themselves up. And the underside of their leaves feels fuzzy but when you mash it between your fingers it makes this weird crunchy sound that feels even weirder. No cucumbers yet, but I'm enjoying the flowers...

Now get out there and row your hoe, or hoe your row...sow your seed...You get the idea plant something, give it a little love and you will be rewarded :)

Why Cupcakes??

2009-04-06T23:19:00.001-04:00

My love of baking was instilled in me as a young child...let's just say I was licking batter off beaters when I was still in Pampers. And while I have always loved cupcakes I didn't become so obsessed with them until 2003.

It was in 2003 that I was married to my husband. During the wedding planning there were very few details that he was allowed to...oops I mean interested in helping with, but when it came to the cake he specifically requested cupcakes. At the time cupcakes were not all the rage they are today so when I went about looking for a photo to give the baker I found very few that captured what I was after. Until of course, the one and only Martha Stewart put this picture on the cover of her magazine.

It's beautiful isn't it. Simple, elegant, classy, cupcakes....perfect. So with magazine in hand I went to meet with the wedding planner. I gave them the photo and the following instructions..."I would like cupcakes like this only without the fondant monogrammed hearts. I would like chocolate cupcakes, with white frosting and silver sprinkle thingies (I'm sure I said thingies as I had no idea what a dragee was at the time)" I also asked for a small cutting cake for "ceremonious purposes but nothing fancy...simple and pretty"...like me :) Now one would think that with the above picture as a sample along with my request there would be little to worry about right? WRONG...oh, was I so very wrong. This my friends is what I got.

I know {{{{{{{{{{{GASP}}}}}}}}} But wait...here it is in color

Are you kidding me...really? I did give you the cover of Martha Stewart as a reference right? It's pretty pathetic isn't it? I mean the frosting isn't even piped on, and the cutting cake...when I said cutting I meant I wanted to cut the cake not take a bite of it and cut the inside of my mouth! I shit you not they used a strand of fake plastic pearls around the top edge of the cake (again piping obviously was not in their skill set) and then fake flowers, not sugar flowers, fake plastic flowers that they secured to the cake with STRAIGHT PINS. So here is me and my hubby trying to cut the cake...except as were cutting, the strand of pearls is pulling across the cake and pulling all the flowers with it. At this point I'm over the whole "ceremony" bullshit and I just want to get back to the party, so I scoop the whole damn slice right up onto the cake slicer and go in for a bite.

Just call me Grace...could I have opened my mouth any bigger???????? Anyway, notice said strand of fake pearls dangling from cake. Now here is the next picture...

Not a very good picture, but that's me pulling a pin out of my mouth and looking at it like "WTF is a pin doing in my cake?". Now I don't know about y'all but I don't think you should put pins in a cake unless your intention is to cause bodily harm or your performing some sort of cake voodoo. On top of the shear ugliness of the whole mess, AND the pin situation it wasn't even good cake. It was dry and bland and I don't even remember the icing. Needless to say it was a cupcastrophe!

My marriage on the other hand has been bliss. Early, in our almost 6 years of wedded bliss, I began making cupcakes regularly for my husband and experimenting with different recipes and flavors, expanding on the knowledge that had already been passed to me from my grandma's during countless summer vacations and Christmas holiday's. Baking is a part of family tradition for me. I love everything about it. Making it, eating it, the way it smells when it's baking. It's like therapy...it makes me feel good. So that's "why cupcakes?" because they're good and they make me feel good :)

ICE March - Nuts and Seeds

2009-03-24T08:23:00.002-04:00

I was having a hard time (Never, not me...) deciding on a cupcake to make for this month's Iron Cupcake Earth challange. I use nuts in a lot of different cupcakes but I felt like the nut or the seed should take center stage rather than be just an addition and I just couldn't settle on an idea.

I had all but given up and had moved on to doing a little research for another post I'm working on when in the midst of that research I came across a picture and recipe for an almond and sour cherry cake. It was so pretty and looked so delicious and it was then that I decided this was the one. I decided to make almond flavored cupcakes; to half the batter I added cherry preserves. The cherry almond cupcakes were iced with a cherry buttercream and the plain almond cupcakes I iced with an almond flavored fudge icing. They were then topped with a Godiva chocolate covered almond or toasted slivered almonds. On looks alone I loved them. The pink cherry buttercream is....well pink and the chocolate fudge with the slivered almonds is....well chocolate and almonds. It was like ecstasy for the eyes.

And then I tasted them. First was the cherry buttercream variety. The soft lusciousness of the cherry buttercream surrounded my tongue and I thought "could it get better"? I then got a taste of the tart cherry's baked into the almond cake and oh man; that combination of sweet and tart is like a symphony of flavor!

Next, I sampled the almond fudge topped almond cake. Almonds and chocolate together is just timeless. If you like these two seperate your gonna love them together. I think my favorite part of this cupcake was the toasted slivered almonds on top. The crunchy texture they added to the cupcake was so nice and different from the crunch added by chopped whole nuts. Needless to say they were both delish and for me it was easy to pick which one was my favorite...Both. I mean seriously, how do you choose. I tried, really I did. I sampled each cupcake bite for bite until I found myself high on sugar and stuffing my face. So I surrendered.

You take the challange, see if you can choose!

Will in be Number 1

Cherry Buttercream and Chocolate Covered Almond on an

Almond Cherry Cupcake

Or Number 2, the Classic

Chocolate and Almond Fudge with Toasted Slivered Almonds

on an Almond Cupcake

To Vote for one or both of my cupcakes go to: No One Puts Cupcake In A Corner starting on April 1st.

Now for the recipes:

For the cupcakes I used the Golden Almond Cake recipe from The Cake Bible
( this is such a fab book, I won't print the recipe bc if you like to bake you should own this)

To make the almond cherry cake: Mix batter as directed. Add 1/4 cup good quality cherry preserves to the batter (I used Bonne Maman). Divide batter evenly among mini muffin cups and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes

Cherry Buttercream
1 stick unsalted butter- room temp
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup canned cherry juice
1/4 tsp. almond extract
pinch of salt

Cream butter and 2 cups sugar with cherry juice, salt and extract until smooth. Add remaining sugar gradually beating until smooth.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

5 tbsp. unsalted butter

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat milk, butter and sugar over medium until it boils, stiring often. Remove from heat and add chocolate and extracts, stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool completly before piping on cupcakes. Top with toasted* slivered almonds. Enjoy!

* to toast nuts place on baking sheet in 350 degree oven for ~10 minutes. Turn once or twice.

As always thanks to the sponsors who provide an awesome prize pack!

Our March ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

A Bunnycake Easter Plushie by DOGBONEART, http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21636297.
A whimsical piece by CAKEASAURUS, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5729584.
as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
a collection of all new printed cupcake liners, 200 in all from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers:

HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com/, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com/; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com/; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com/ . And as a special thank you, we would like to once again thank DIANAEVANS - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5599270 for her participation in the February challenge. An incorrect link was posted and we want to be sure that she gets the recognition she deserves. Thanks again Diana!

Now run along and vote...for me of course ;-)

Catching Up...

2009-03-17T21:02:00.002-04:00

These past few feeks have been busy for me. First there were cupcakes for a friends birthday. Vanilla buttercake with chocolate buttercream and an iced sugar cookie, and in my new boxes!!! LOVE them (the boxes and the cupcakes).

Then there was this Mickey Mouse cupcake tower for a little boys 2nd birthday. I got to use my new custom built cupcake tower for this one, LOVE it!!

All that was immediatly followed by one of my all time favorite events the Little Everglades Steeplechase. I not only got to go and enjoy the event but I provided cupcakes for two tailgates ( I only got pictures of one). Thanks to Fancy Flours for having the perfect and cutest little cake topper for this event.

Devil's food with cashew buttercream and devil's food with mint buttercream

Me!

And last but not least I did this Super Mario Cake for one of my favorite little guys 5th birthday! the original Nintendo was the first gaming system I ever had and I can vividly remember the Christmas that I got it and how my cousins and I stayed up all night playing. We literally played until out thumbs hurt! The little guy thought his cake was pretty cool and that made me feel pretty cool as well!

I hope you like them!

Tiny Tiramisu's - ICE February

2009-02-23T21:41:00.027-05:00

Since coffee is the ingredient for this months Iron Cupcake Earth challenge I just had to make a cupcake version of tiramisu. I've made cupcake tiramisu's before and really enjoyed them, but this time I wanted to do something a little different. Since I was already making coffee flavored devil's food cupcakes for my first ICE entry I decided to make chocolate tiramisu cupcakes for my second entry. I also wanted them to be bite-size because that's just the kick I'm on!

Once the cupcakes were cool, I sliced them in half (try and be careful to keep the correct tops and bottoms together...they'll go back together easier this way) and brushed them with Frangelico and coffee. I brushed each piece twice but was careful not to soak them so they wouldn't get to soggy and fall apart. Next, I piped a small dollop of the mascarpone icing onto the bottoms. This is about when my mouth started to water!

Finally, I replaced the tops, added another dollop of icing and finished them with some grated dark chocolate. I must say, these came out almost cuter then I imagined and they taste fantastic. They are light and sweet and beautiful. They would be perfect for any black and white event or special occasion. I believe this is my new favorite. They don't take much more effort to make and they are well worth it, I highly recommend you try them! And now, I will shamelessly beg for your vote!

PLEASE

VOTE

FOR ME!

To vote for me go to http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com/ . Voting will commence on March 1 @ 8 PM (at the latest). The winner will receive an awesome prize package from the following...

Our February ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
DIANA EVANS - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5599270
as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

As an added bonus for February, SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in a variety of cupcaking supplies, http://www.acupcakery.com/index.html.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com/, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com/; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com/; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com/ .

Tiny Tiramisu's

1 devil's food cake recipe ( 24 standard cupcakes or minis)

2 oz. fresh brewed dark coffee

1 oz. Frangelico liqueur

Mascarpone Icing (adapted from Shelly Kaldunski's Tiramisu Cupcakes)

1 lb. mascarpone cheese

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup Frangelico liqueur

1 tsp. vanilla

Whip ingredients together until it comes together and gets fluffy.

Bake cupcakes according to directions. Once cool slice each mini cupcake in half (standard size cupcakes cut in thirds) Mix coffee and Frangelico together and brush each side of the cupcake with the mix. Pipe a dollop of the mascarpone icing onto the bottoms and replace the tops. Add another dollop of icing and sprinkle with grated chocolate.

Coffee Cupcakes - ICE February

2009-02-23T21:20:00.002-05:00

Since Tampa was recently voted the Nation's most caffeinated city it seemed only fitting that for my first Iron Cupcake Earth challenge the ingredient would be coffee. I will admit I am a slave to my coffee pot, I set it the night before and wake in the morning to it beeping letting me know that the "sweet nectar of the Gods" is ready. I truly don't feel I can fully function until I've had my coffee. Yes, I am addicted!!

For my first entry (yep that's right I will be entering more than just one cupcake) I made a simple coffee flavored devil's food cupcake that I then brushed with more coffee and iced with a coffee flavored buttercream. To make the coffee flavored devil's food I used my favorite devil's food recipe (I'm sure any chocolate cake would do just fine) and added instant espresso style coffee to the batter. Now I never drink instant coffee and don't pay much attention to it but when I saw this one marked "espresso" I knew it was the one I wanted. You see, one of the many Cuban influences on Tampa's culture can be found in Tampa's coffee. Cafe con Leche or Cuban Coffee are staples here in Tampa and pack a powerful caffeinated punch! Anyway, enough history...back to baking.

Once the cupcakes were baked and cooled I brushed the tops with black coffee ( I used Chock full o' Nuts which is what I drink daily). To make the icing I mixed the instant coffee with the milk for the recipe and then added it to the butter and powdered sugar. After tasting it I felt it needed a little more coffee so I added another tsp. straight to the icing. I like to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, I just think they're prettier that way, and since these were coffee cupcakes it seemed only appropriate that the icing be a little perky!

These cupcakes are so yummy! Chocolate and coffee go so well with each other that it's hard not to love these. The coffee flavor is not overwhelming but is definitely present. I actually had one with my cup of coffee the other day and dipped my cupcake (icing first) into the hot brew...OMG...heaven in a bite. These are perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up and since the icing is not a cooked buttercream they will freeze nicely so you can always have some on hand. I hope you will try these and enjoy as much as I have! We are not only competing for bragging rights but also for prizes ( a list of can be found below) so PLEASE vote for me by going to http://mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com/ . Voting will begin no later than March 1st at 8 PM.

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes

One recipe Devil's food cake (or your favorite chocolate cake recipe)
3 Tbsp. instant espresso style coffee ( I used Cafe Bustelo)
1/2 cup brewed coffee, black ( I used Chock Full Of Nuts)

Add instant espresso to the cake batter and mix well. Distribute batter evenly amongst paper lined cupcake pans filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for ~15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Brush the tops of each cupcake with the coffee using a pastry brush. Ice with coffee flavored buttercream.

Coffee Flavored Buttercream

1 stick unsalted butter (room-temp)
1/4 cup milk
4-6 Cups powdered sugar ( to desired consistency)
3 tsp. instant espresso style coffee ( I used Cafe Bustelo)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
small pinch of salt

Mix instant coffee with milk to dissolve crystals. Add coffee, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt to butter and cream until light and fluffy. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

The Sponsors

Our February ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

DIANAEVANS - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5599270
as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!As an added bonus for February, SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in a variety of cupcaking supplies, http://www.acupcakery.com/index.html.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers:

HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com/, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com/; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com/; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com/ .

Cake is Love and Simple is Sweet

2009-02-16T15:57:00.000-05:00

One of the guests from my mom's progressive dinner called me and asked for 3 dozen mini cupcakes for his wife for Valentine's day. Apparently, she loved the cupcakes from the party and had been asking about them. I was rather flattered by this and thrilled to get to make valentine cupcakes for them. After all cupcakes are a way better gift than a lame box of chocolates!

I made butter cake and devil's food cake with raspberry buttercream and butter cake with lemon buttercream. The pink color of the raspberry buttercream is beautiful and perfect for the occasion. It is super yummy and pairs very well with the lemon buttercream which is also delish!

Devil's Food with Raspberry Buttercream

you know you want to lick your screen!

My plans of an easy 10 AM delivery were foiled when last night I realized the cake box I had was too big and looked ridiculous so I had to run to JoAnn's this morning, which wouldn't have been that big of a deal if they really opened at 8:00 am like the web-site says. Anywho, love was in the air and I was not going to be discouraged so I went to Super-Wal Mart (which is surprisingly peaceful at 8 in the morning). While they didn't have the cake box I needed I was able to get ink for the printer and a valentine's balloon for Lexi which she loved. After another stop at Joann's I got the box I needed and managed to deliver the cupcakes on time! I hope she enjoyed them as much the 2nd time around.

Vanilla Cake with Lemon Buttercream

It's melt in your mouth good!

My day was made even sweeter when I arrived home and was surprised to find that my dear sweet husband had vacuumed, folded laundry, made the bed in the guest room, and loaded and started the dishwasher. I know, BEST Valentine's day present ever (you see I'm a simple girl no jewelry or flowers necessary just clean the house and I'm putty in your hands)! Since I didn't have a house to clean and I had quite a bit of left-over cupcakes I decided to finish icing those. In addition to the loads of cupcakes I had I also made one 6 inch cake of each flavor and layered them to make a chocolate-vanilla layer cake that I iced with a classic vanilla buttercream (pink of course) and decorated with mini chocolate chips. The only problem now is deciding which to eat first...

I hope you all had a sweet Valentine's day!

UP NEXT: I've joined Iron Cupcake Earth (see the logo on the side) and the flavor of the month is coffee. I'm so excited and already have a ton of ideas. I'll be posting on that by the 24th so come back and see me.

~Nicole~

M-I-C-K-E-Y * M-O-U-S-E

2009-02-07T15:08:00.006-05:00

Come on sing along with me...anyone? Hello, anyone??? Okay maybe not. Well who doesn't love Mickey Mouse, I think everyone at some point in there life has watched the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. But as much as I do enjoy Mickey and all things Disney related ( I am from Florida!) I was a bit troubled when asked to do a Mickey Mouse themed cupcake tower. You see I'm a girly girl...pink, purple, swirly, sparkly, these are all things I am very comfortable with. I'm also not one to back down to a challenge so I gladly excepted this opportunity to step outside my comfort zone.

The soon to be cupcake tower was for a little boys 2nd birthday so I really wanted to make it special. To see a little person's eyes light up at the sight of their birthday cake is one of those moments as a parent you treasure so I truly enjoy being a part of that in my little cupcakey way. I decided early on primary colors and found some mondo sized confetti that I used to make cupcake picks. I also found a super cute Mickey candle at my local party store (I also saw it on-line). Now, up until yesterday I've never made red icing...and let me tell you it takes A LOT of food coloring to get it red. I expected this would be the case and bought a new jar of red food coloring ( I used a combination of Wilton's Christmas Red and Red (no-taste)) good thing because I used almost half the jar. It also took quit a bit of blue food coloring to achieve the shade I was after. And since I was already stepping outside the comfort zone I also decided to make a Mickey Mouse Silhouette out of red fondant to place on the front of the cake. Here are the results...I hope you enjoy them. Oh, they were vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.

Next Up: I got a request for some Valentine's cupcakes and I'm hosting a Barbie play date so I'm sure I'll have something fun to share from that!

Shits & Giggles

2009-01-27T15:55:00.001-05:00

On Saturday morning I was faced with a critical decision...should I take something out of the freezer for dinner tonight or should I decorate a cake...

As you can see I choose the cake and my darling husband cooked dinner both Saturday AND Sunday night!!

There was no real reason to bake and decorate a cake other than I wanted to (and after Lexi's sloppy princess cake I wanted to redeem myself). So Saturday morning I set out on my mission. Baking the cakes was easy...thanks to Pillsbury ( yes, I cheated and used a cake mix...it is the weekend!) and I knew I wanted to do a purple and white cake so the hard part...decision making...was over! When I sat down to do the crumb coat (you know the first layer of icing) my hubby walked by and asked "what's that cake for?". To which I replied "Shits and giggles.". He then requested that I write that on the cake which is about the same time I reminded him how completely ridiculous he can be :)! Men, what do they know about pretty purple cakes....humph!

Decorating the cake itself went pretty well. I think I did a pretty good job getting the buttercream nice and smooth. I also think I did pretty good keeping those dots in a straight line on the top tier... I didn't mark the cake or space it or anything fancy I just sat down and started piping. It's when I went to decorate the top of the cake that I was at a loss. I didn't want to try my hand at piping flowers and I just can't warm up to the fondant and gum paste. I know, I know...gum paste and fondant flowers can be beautiful, I just can't stand the taste and I prefer cakes where all parts taste good. I did however, (in my effort to overcome my distaste for fondant) place fondant ribbons along the bottom edges of the cake, but I ended up piping almost all the way over them in order to hide a small gap between the layers caused from the cake board so I guess they really didn't need to be there...oh well, I tried! So what should I put on the top of the cake was the question of the hour. After much thought and consideration I finally decided I too can be just as ridiculous as my hubby...and I kind of like it that way :)

I'd love to hear what everyone else does for "shits and giggles", you know after the laundry's finished and the house has been cleaned (or in my case when you turn a blind eye to the laundry and the housework). Leave me a comment and maybe I'll add it to my next cake...I am always looking for inspiration :) !

Brides, Birthdays and Barack

2009-01-22T09:53:00.001-05:00

Brides: My friend Denise asked me to make some cupcakes for her sisters bridal shower and of course I was happy to do so. The bride-to-be requested no chocolate because she didn't want to risk having it in her teeth during the party. I couldn't help but chuckle over this one only because since becoming a mother I have had things in my teeth, hair and all over my cloths and at some point your just like "ah screw it"!! But you are only a bride once (at least we all hope) so you should have it your way! So vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream it was. The wedding colors are going to be black and ivory so I used black ribbon on the cupcake tower and added some grated chocolate to the tops of the cupcakes and I think the end result was simple and classy. I do hope she enjoyed them and I wish her many happy wedding wishes!

Birthdays: The 15th was my little ones birthday...she turned 4 (wiping tear from eye). I had wanted to make her a Tinker Bell version of a princess castle cake with butterflies and flowers (per her request...at one point she wanted a Batman on top with Tinkerbell...because "they got married"????). I was planning on using the Wilton Romantic Castle Cake set as a template only with Rice Krispie treats in place of the plastic pieces. But after a day at Disney and too many jello-shots at a friend's birthday party I just didn't have it in me so I modified the plan. I had already made some fondant flowers and butterflies and had planned on painting some details on them and adding a little luster dust to make them sparkle (neither of which I have ever done but really want to!) but ended up just using them as is. I also totally cheated and used a boxed cake mix and only made one cake of each size rather than the 2 you really should make (like I said to many jello shots!) While I was not totally thrilled with the end result (it might just be cake wreck worthy...LOL) the birthday girl LOVED it and at the end of the day that's all the counts.

Barack: Well, what can I say. While I did not vote for Obama and may not vote for him should he be up for re-election in 4-years I can recognize the historical significance of his being elected and sworn in. I think what strikes me the most is the energy his campaign and inauguration has brought to this country and to the rest of the world. It is the first time in my life when I have seen such enthusiasm surrounding a presidential candidate and in the political arena in general and for positive reasons. And it's not just those that voted for him who are enthusiastic and hopeful that he will be able to bring the change that he speaks of. I watched the inauguration with my daughter the other day and she brought me her recorder (you know like a flute) and told me to play music for her every time she walked by like they were doing on TV...she then told me "I want to be the President when I grow up". I paused for a moment and then I replied "baby if that's what you want to do then you can." and when I said it I meant it and believed in it as a real possibility. As parents we try and raise our children to believe that they can do whatever they set their minds to but often in the back of our minds we think or know that the chances of these things happening are limited but now it seems the tables are turning and doing what you want is a real possibility for all people. Now who among us can deny the excitement in that!

2009-01-11T14:13:00.011-05:00

I had a little extra time the other day before picking up my little one from pre-school so I swung in to Homegoods to see what treasures I could find. I rounded the corner of one of the aisles when this lovely little thing caught my eye!

Can you believe it? It's a cupcake stand! And it's the cutest freaking thing I've seen in sometime. I couldn't resist and HAD to have it. I also just had to make a special cupcake just to place on top so when I made the Gator cake the other night I also made some standard size cupcakes as well as 4 jumbo cupcakes. I iced the standard cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and the jumbo's with the same chocolate fudge icicng I used on the cake. And since I was in the fondant flower making mood I made some pink ones to place on top of the cupcakes. And now for the results...

Next: Lexi's 4th birthday cake...

Sweet, Sweet Victory

2009-01-09T21:09:00.012-05:00

Gator football and cake...two things I love! Last night I finally found a use for the neon orange fondant I had laying around. I'd been wanting to make some little flowers and since it was Gator orange and the game was on I couldn't resist. I also had a bag of Reese's Pieces in the freezer and who doesn't love those? I filled a devil's food cake with marshmallow fluff and crushed up Reese's Pieces, then I iced the cake with chocolate fudge frosting added the candy at the bottom and the fondant letters and flowers. I thinks she's cute!

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T20:53:00.002-05:00

Ahhh, a new year. I love the beginning of a new year. It's like a new car when it still has that "new car smell", still all pretty, hasn't been dented yet or had coffee spilled all over it. This is how I feel about the beginning of a new year...I haven't had time yet to blow my resolutions, I have a whole year to accomplish whatever it is I plan on getting done, and it also means that December is over. While I do love the holidays, December is a particularly busy month in my family. We have 5 family birthday's all in December, that combined with the traditional Christmas baking and the holiday parties leaves me with little time for anything else. So to officially put a close on 2008 I wanted to post the pictures of some of the baking I have been doing (I was sooo busy I didn't even snap pictures of some of the stuff) I hope the new year brings you happiness :) Thanks to those who have stopped by to check out my blog, offered words of encouragement, or just passed through. I plan to continue baking and sharing my stories of such with you in 2009!

My Grandma's birthday cake - Devil's food with raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream and buttercream roses (it was a little messy but she loved it)

My birthday cupcakes - Devil's food with raspberry buttercream and devil's food with coconut buttercream and then topped with mini chocolate chips, coconut and chopped roasted almonds (HEAVENLY!!)

Cupcake tower I did for a little girl's dress-up themed 4th birthday party. It was a 6 inch devil's food cake and mini-cupcakes and yellow buttercake cupcakes iced with pink and white buttercream.

My mom's dessert party

Devil's Food cake with coconut buttercream, toasted almonds and coconut.

Yellow Butter Cake with raspberry whipped cream filling and lemon buttercream icing paired with yellow butter mini-cupcakes with raspberry buttercream or lemon buttercream.

Some traditional Christmas cookies

Almond Crescents or Christmas Trees

Russian Teacakes or Snowballs

Two-bite brownies with peanut-butter buttercream and mini-chips

And last but not least my mom's birthday cake and her request. Chocolate Devil's food cake with raspberry buttercream.

Happy New Year!

Carnival Inspiration...Not So Inspiring

2008-12-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

The tale of one girls first and last cruise.

I will NEVER go on another cruise. I’ve been home since Thanksgiving morning and I think I’m still recovering. I've been planning to type a whole synopsis of the occasion since before we even left Mexico but I have not been able to convince myself to do so...I think I've been afraid of having flashbacks of the hairy chest contest (insert puking smiley here).

I knew when I booked the trip months ago that it most likely wasn't going to be my favorite thing. I’m not a fan of confined places in which I cannot escape and while some may think of a cruise ship as wide open space you CANNOT escape unless you’re a really good swimmer or fish. But the cruise had been arranged as a part of some old friends who were having their wedding on board. It came with a nice price and the idea of having a group of friends to hang with helped to lessen the uneasy feeling brewing in my belly. So a cruising we shall go…

The morning of our embarkation Shawn realized that he, along with another groomsman, purchased the wrong color pants (even though I questioned the color at least 100 times and was told “no, it’s Khaki”), no biggie, we’ll just swing by the mall on our way to the terminal we’re ahead of schedule anyway. As we got off the expressway onto Boy scout I suddenly realized that when Shawn chose to put on his boots that morning instead of the flip flops I had laid out I didn’t pick up the flip flops and pack them….these are the shoes he is to wear for the wedding (insert panicking smiley here). When I tell Shawn he of course FTFO and proceeds to drive all the way back home (about 15 miles I guesstimate) at about 100 MPH while I pray that I do not die. Needless to say, we made it home got the shoes, swung by the mall (where we had to wait 2 minutes for them to open the damn door…in this economy if there is a customer standing outside your door waiting to spend money you let them in…not stand there and organize your new floor schematic for the sweater section) and managed to make it to the terminal with plenty of time.

Getting on the boat was easy, the wedding was short but lovely and the reception that followed was simple but fun. After that all ended we were able to get into our room. The room was small but had everything I needed and the bed and pillows were surprisingly comfortable. And at night they would turn down your bed and leave the cutest little towel animals. I couldn't resist the photo op!

That evening we headed to our first dinner where we met the people we would be eating dinner with for the next four nights, they were also guests of the wedding and we were grouped with the rest of the wedding people so it worked out well. Dinner was okay.

The next day we were at sea all day…this is when the “I cannot escape” voice starts to chirp in my head. Shawn headed to the casino to play poker (imagine that) and I wandered around for a little while until I decided it was warm enough to brave laying out (after all I should at least get a tan). I found a portion of the deck that was not totally crowded and even found a chair on the end of a row with no people around it …YAY (have I mentioned I don’t like sitting next to strangers especially when half necked, I prefer to sunbath in private but I’m determined to have a good time). After about 30 minutes Shawn appeared. He had quit the game because “it was dumb”, “not enough people showed up” etc. etc... We laid together for maybe 1 hour before the hairy chest contest began. This is a contest where 3 women sit on stage while 6 dudes dance their way to the stage where they strip there shirt off, dirty dance their way across the stage allowing each lucky lady a chance to rub his hairy chest. I believe at the end one of the men is awarded the “hairiest chest award” but I was only able to stomach the first 2 dancing dill holes and abandoned my chair immediately.

That night was “Captains night” where they host a complimentary happy hour before dinner and you have to dress up. (Let me tell you if you do ever brave a cruise of your own you must take advantage of any free cocktail hour as the cost of a drink on board is practically the price of a whole bottle at the duty free!!). Cocktail hour was nice and dinner was again okay, it’s the after party where things start to go awry. First we go the casino, where while playing a game one of the guys curses and is told he must watch his language (insert sound of crickets here). Here’s my thought: I can drink, smoke and gamble but I can’t say shit if I lose? Are you Fucking kidding me…it’s a casino…not a temple!?#%&! So after everyone had had there share of that we headed to the “rock and roll club” (how cheesy) where I proceeded as did Shawn to drink to much, but whatever, your only young once and what are they going to do kick me off the boat! (Snicker) The next morning we arrived in Grand Cayman, where hangover and all we got off and walked around the unimpressive port. Here’s my thought on the Cayman’s: There’s a whole lot of money in the Cayman’s it’s just not spent on the port. It’s one of those places where if you can’t afford to stay at the really nice resort don’t bother going…there’s nothing there and everything is overpriced.

The next day we got to Mexico where you can see from the photo I made it a whole 10 paces off the dock before succumbing to the calls from the Corona’s. I really enjoyed Cozumel…it’s much more “my kind of place”. We again opted out of any cruise sponsored excursions; I’d had my fair share of being herded like cattle whilst on board and wanted to enjoy my few hours of freedom my way! So we sat and drank a few while we collected our little group, then we caught a cab “downtown” where we drank more as we walked along and looked at the shops. They have this wonderful little tactic at the jewelry stores. They see you drinking a beer and they say “oh you like Tequila” or “you drink Corona?” and then they lead you to the back of the store where they give you free drinks! What a great way to make friends and to get them to buy your stuff!! Through one of these jewelry store portholes we found this fantastic little bar that sat in the middle of a courtyard. Bar stools with saddles, $1.00 Coronas, awesome chips and salsa and a live Mariachi band... I’m in a happy place here. We decided to take advantage of the fantastic beer price and proceeded to set up a game of beer pong.

Here's me (and my liquid courage) holding a ginormous diaper wearing iguana

WooooHOOOO were having fun now!! We decided it best to only play one game and left to find our next destination…”The No Name Bar”. No, really that’s what it was called. This bar was also hidden behind a building and it happened to be where the cruise crew people hang out when not on the boat. We drank many more beers here, then walked what seemed like an eternity back to our ship where we ate, then retired to our room for the evening. The next day we were at sea and it was very windy and too cold for me to layout so we wandered around, watched TV and ate and that’s pretty much it.

Thursday morning we arrived back in Tampa where we couldn't get off the boat quick enough. We choose the Self-assist debarkation option which means you carry all your own stuff but you get off first. Can I just tell you getting back into this country from a cruise has to be the least secure, easiest thing ever. My passport is in my maiden name, but my travel documents were in my married name so I traveled with my marriage certificate and my birth certificate so I could prove who I was. When getting on the boat at the start of the cruise, they verified my marriage certificate. Getting off the boat, going through customs, I walked up to the man at the podium where he the took our customs paper said “hello Mr. and Mrs. Daniels", then looked at our passports and said “Shawn Daniels and Nicole Aynes…welcome home” and along we went. They didn’t check our bags, pat us down, make us walk through the little scanner thing we had to walk through to get on the boat, didn’t ask for my marriage certificate…nothing! I was SHOCKED, especially since we had just watched the whole Mumbai thing unfold while we were on the boat and hadn’t they gained access to India through their waterways????????

A similar thing happened in Mexico. When we were getting off the boat there was a police officer with a sniffing dog…he sniffed out a ham sandwich (which they confiscated) but getting back on the boat after a day in Mexico no security anywhere? I’m no expert but don’t you think there is a greater possibility of people bringing stuff back from Mexico rather than dropping it off there??

Overall, the boat itself was unimpressive. It had a sort of cheap strip club feel with thes giant stripper pole looking poles all over ( I assumed they were some sort of support beam holding the boat together but they were silver and shiny and in one room they were purple?) and the food was average at best. I can also confirm after 5 days of people watching we ARE an obese country…push away from the table people, push away. Just because there is a self-serve ice-cream machine available 24 hours a day doesn’t mean you need to eat ice-cream 24 hours a day. I’m serious. It’s no wonder diabetes in children is shooting through the roof…I watched one chunky kid eat a cheeseburger, hotdog, cookies and ice-cream in one-sitting while his mother sat across from him eating a bowl of fruit….ummm hello! And you could tell this was not the first time this child’s food wants had been indulged. And another thing, people are just RUDE! While waiting in the buffet line for lunch one day there was a women 3 people ahead of us SMOKING IN THE FOOD LINE. Please tell me you see the problem with this…but wait it gets better. This was a nacho bar, at the chip bowl they had these pathetic little tongs that only allowed you to get one chip at a time, the smoking lady (who had finished her cig at this point) I kid you not reached into the bowl with not one but both of her hands and as she did it she says to those of us behind her “I just sanitized my hands” (on cruise ships they have Purell stations at the beginning of every food line in an effort to stop the transfer of germs). At this point Shawn had had it and I could no longer convince him to be quite…he proceeds to say “was that before or after you smoked your cigarette and blew the smoke on the food and our faces”! AHHH SNAP! He is a former smoker and never would have done what she had done and I never would have allowed it. This woman was appalling and lived up to every trailer park, white trash stereotype out there.

The next rude thing, and something which should be completely not allowed was how people would come into the dining room barefoot and wearing only their bathing suits. Ewww! There was a buffet available outside; if people want to eat in their bathing suits they should have to stay outside by the pool. Whatever happened to the “shirt and shoes required” rule? Hundreds of bare-foot, sweaty people walking around the carpeted room daily...it just makes me shudder typing it. And every time someone would walk by me shoeless and shirtless I would think “and I can’t curse in the casino?”

I suppose cruising would be fun if I was one of those people who likes to lay out by the pool on lounge chairs lined up like sardines in a can...so close together that you can barely get out of your chair without bumping the guy next to you. Or if I liked meeting at 2:30 in the Paris Lounge for random movie trivia, but I’m not one of those people. It is my opinion that cruises are for cattle, if you can only have a good time with scheduled, senseless group activities and you enjoy waiting in line and eating hoards of greasy, slop style food then perhaps this is the vacation for you…I’d rather stay home. I’ve heard other people’s stories of fantastic food, and luxury…perhaps on another cruise line or a different destination but I will have to rely on other’s people’s stories as I will never cruise again. I would like to return to Cozumel but will opt to fly next time.

Errands Make Me Batty

2008-10-27T15:29:00.006-04:00

So in my effort to watch my spending I choose to shop at Wal-Mart today rather than Target. I know Wal-Mart has better prices on some of the household staples I use and I don't caught up in all the "cuteness" like I do when I shop at Target. However, every flippin' time I go (okay maybe 7 out of 10) I manage to come home without at least one of the items I purchased. So regardless of what I saved by shopping there (and supporting China) and using coupons I've been screwed because now I either have to just cut my losses (a bag of snickers) or I have to waste my time and gas and energy to go back up there to get my stuff. This just pisses me off. I don't know how ya'lls Wal-Marts work but in less I stand there and bag my own stuff something always gets left behind. I blame it on the dumb turnstile bagging mechanism they use. They just bag then turn, bag then turn and one of my bags always gets stuck on the backside next to the cashier who is never paying attention. Let me give you an example...I was purchasing a big ass bag of cat food today that I loaded into the cart rather then on the bottom so that the cashier would see it and would be able to reach her little scanner thing over the counter and ring it up, rather than one of us having to lug the thing onto the counter to be scanned...do you think she noticed it in my cart? NOPE, I could have walked right out with it, but I'm not that lady so I was honest and told her she forgot to ring it...how do they thank me for my honesty...by keeping my bag of snickers...which happened to be the best bag of Halloween candy I bought and due to my angered state could really be helpful at this moment.

Wait it gets better. After leaving Wal-Mart I went across the street to get a shirt I saw in their Sunday flyer. I made it past the dollar spot (should be called the $20 spot) easily found the shirt, grabbed it in two sizes so my hubby could decide which one fit best (it's for him, I don't depend on him to tell me if my cloths fit...). I quickly headed to the checkouts managing to divert my daughter's attention away from the toy aisle (I told her our cart didn't have any breaks!) checked out and headed home. I pulled the shirts out of the bag to show my husband and not one but both of the white button down shirts have black grease stains on them! AHHHHH, I so do not have time for this. I've been trying to buy all three of us white button down shirts to wear for our upcoming family pics. You'd think that was an easy task...and for some of you perhaps it would be, but not for me, not this time. I tried Old Navy...apparently to fit into a small you must be invisible...I'm 5'3", 112 lbs. and I couldn't even button the shirt...not to mention that it was barely long enough to cover the top of my jeans and we all know the style for shirts these days is to the hips. So now, I have to go back to Target, which I was gonna have to do regardless of the stains since I bought two shirts, but now I have to hope they have an un-stained one in the correct size, I'm calling it a lose on the snickers, I have to take everything I bought from Old Navy back, and I also have a bag of stuff to go back to Steinmart because the white shirt I bought for my hubby there wasn't one he liked...sigh...I ran all these errands and in the process created a whole new list of them to run. I suppose I should just be thankful that I don't work outside the home and am able to run these errands during the week when the stores are a little less crowded...and maybe if I had a snickers bar to eat I wouldn't be so bent out of shape...you just don't mess with sugar addicts candy I tell you. I'm going to lay in bed and watch Oprah..ohhh, or maybe Maury...his pathetic guests always make me feel like I'm livin' a dream (LOL)!

NOTE: After I sat here and typed this rant I got up to go watch Oprah, I headed to the kitchen to get a snack...I opened the freezer and there was the missing bag of snickers. Now I happen to think this is hilarious...my 3 year old put them there because in her words "snickers need to be cold". Ahhh, my crazy life...you still should not mess with my candy! But apologies to the cashier I blamed my lost bag of snickers on...today my cashier actually did her job correctly. If only I could go look at my white shirts and see that the grease stains were just spots I was seeing from low blood sugar brought on by my "missing" bag of snickers...I desearve a snickers so I'm off to get one before they go missing again. Is it a full moon?? I'm batty I tell you...batty

Friday Fun

2008-10-26T07:50:00.000-04:00

On Friday I hosted a play date at my house for my daughter and 10 of her friends. Since she didn't get to help me with the cookies I did for the baby shower I decided to host her very own cookie decorating party. I made the cookies and had the icing in little zip locks for the kids to use. I'm not sure what I did wrong but my cookies didn't come out quite right. They spread (just a little) which is not supposed to happen. I'm thinking it was caused by one of three things...

1. I didn't let the eggs come to room temp.
2. I beat to much air into the dough.
3. I didn't let the dough chill enough.

Whatever the reason, it didn't really matter, the cookies were fine for a party for 3 year olds! I also decided to try out a different icing recipe (Wilton's poured cookie icing) that didn't call for meringue powder so I used the kids cookies as Ginny pigs so to say. I did not like the icing as much as the recipe I generally use. It was fine for piping edges and filling in but you could not do any detail work with it. Here are the cookies I decorated after the kids were gone. I like the shininess of the icing but like I said you can't do any detail work with it.

Since play dates are as much about the mama's as they are about the kids I wanted to make something for us to enjoy. Being fall (even if it was like 85 degrees today with 200% humidity) I choose a cranberry-pumpkin bread with a cranberry-pecan streusel on top. The recipe calls for you to drizzle a simple icing on top after they've baked but I never got around to doing it and IMO they didn't need it. I decided to make the recipe as muffins rather than as a loaf..easier to serve and prettier presentation wise (again IMO).

Cranberry-Pumpkin Mini Loaves
By Publix (my local grocery store)

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup cooking oil
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 recipe Cranberry Streusel Topping
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

Cranberry-Pecan Streusel

3/4 cup coarsely chopped cranberries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Stir well to combine.

Prepare your muffin pan (or 6 mini loaf pans as the recipe calls for) and set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, orange peel, salt and ginger. make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine pumpkin, oil, milk and eggs. Add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened. Fold in the cranberries and pecans. Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter into the muffin pan (or spoon evenly into loaf pans). Sprinkle streusel over batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes (35-40 minutes for loaf pans) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. Just before serving combine the 1 cup of powdered sugar and milk, then drizzle over the tops.

Notes: As you can probably see in the picture I didn't use very many cranberries in the streusel. I didn't measure what I did use but it was probably only about 1/4 - 1/3 cup. And I used Sun Maid Cranberries (the kind you find by the raisins) NOT fresh or frozen cranberries. And as mentioned before I didn't put the icing on top.

No Fail Sugar Cookies

By Fancy Flours

6 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups butter

2 eggs

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, and flavoring (you can also use almond). Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix well.

Put a handful of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper (or wax paper) and roll to desired thickness. Repeat with the remaining dough. Put the rolled dough, including the parchment paper, on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes or longer. Your dough will be ready to cut and bake with no added flour! Repeat with scraps after cutting cookies.

NOTES: If you have not yet discovered Fancy Flours, I highly recommend you check them out. They have the most wonderful products, they even have a catalog you can receive for FREE, that is filled with ideas. I just love it!

Poured Cookie Icing

By Wilton

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. milk

2 tsp. light corn syrup

Place sugar and milk in bowl. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Add corn syrup and mix well. For filling in areas use thinned icing (add small amounts of corn syrup until desired consistency is reached).

How to Build a Cupcake Tower

2008-10-20T13:13:00.000-04:00

I promised I would explain how I built the cupcake tower I did for my step-dad's 50th suprise party (just in case the 4 of you read this blog are curious :)) As I've previously disclosed, I don't do math, so building this thing to accommodate the correct number of cupcakes was a bit of a challenge. I actually never figured it out, my lovely husband stepped in and rescued me and thank goodness or I'd probably still be sitting around trying to draw it out on graph paper (that or I'd be sitting in the corner beating my head against the wall). So here it goes.

1) I started with 4 inch thick floral foam, found at Michael's or JoAnn's or whatever craft store you have in your neck of the woods. I bought two 36x12x4 inch pieces. Each of those was cut to be 24 inches long (save the extra pieces for the next two levels).

2) Next, the two 24 inch long pieces were tapped together, both down the middle and around the edges so that when I picked it up it didn't fold in half.

3) One of the extra pieces from step-one was used as the second tier, which was 12x12. And the last extra piece was cut down to be 7x7. We cut it as small as we could leaving it big enough to accommodate a 6 inch cake.

4) Next, we wrapped each tier. I used Wilton's Fanci Foil wrap. I was going for a black and silver look so this worked perfectly. I wrapped each tier just like I would a present.

5) After they were wrapped, we glued the black ribbon all the way around.

6) Stack the tiers and TaDa you now have a cupcake tower.

I needed it to accommodate 60 cupcakes and the little cake on top. Since the tower was placed up against a wall I wasn't able to place many cupcakes on the backside so I simply placed them on the table, essentially creating a 4 tier tower. If your building a tower that is to accommodate a cake on the top then I would start with how big the top tier must be and then work down ( I first tried to do it the other way and it wasn't working out)

Cookies, Cookies and more Cookies

2008-10-20T08:04:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I had my first paying baking job!! I was enlisted to make sugar cookies for a baby shower; 100 cookies to be placed in bags as favors and another 30 in the baby's name to be displayed on a tray. The shower was on Sunday, I started baking on Thursday morning and in true Nicole fashion there were some speed bumps along the way...

First Speed Bump: On Wednesday night I decided I would measure out my flour and other ingredients to save me a few steps in the morning. Upon pulling out my bucket of flour I came to the realization that I had been so excited about the fantastic sale on butter at Publix that I totally forgot to check how much flour I had (it was $2 per lb!!!) and from the looks of it I didn't think I'd have enough. This time I lucked out and had almost exactly the 18 cups I needed. Breathing a sigh of relief I headed to bed to get a good nights sleep since the next day was to be a busy baking day!

Second Speed Bump - So much for that good night's sleep. I woke up at 3 AM not because I was anxious to get started but because I had to puke! Great I'm thinking, now I have the flu and I'm supposed to make 12 dozen cookies AND hand decorate them. Thankfully I was only sick once, however, after that one time I lay in bed for the remainder of the night panicking about whether I would feel well enough in the morning to bake and worried about contaminating the cookies.

Third Speed Bump - Thursday morning comes quicker then I wanted. Tired and starving but to afraid to eat in case I really do have the flu I help my little one get ready for pre-school and get her dropped off. I race back home, sterilize my kitchen (in case of the flu) and get baking. I started by preparing the dough, rolling it and then placing it in the fridge to chill. At 11:45 I raced back to pick the little one up and then made a quick stop at Publix for more flour and sugar just in case I needed it ( I also got Sprite to help settle my tummy). As soon as I get home I start baking the cookies...it is at this point I realize I'm in for a really looooooong day. You see I only have 2 cookie pans and these are big cookies I'm making so I could only fit 8 on a pan. Do the math 12 dozen divided by 8 is 18...18 times 10 minutes of baking is 3 hours. Now three hours doesn't sound so bad except I had to wait for the pans to cool before I could place the next batch on them and then there was the cutting of the dough, re-rolling the scraps, re-chilling and cutting again, and again, and again. This combined with the constant interruptions from my 3 1/2 year old made for a very inefficient day. Thankfully my mom stopped by and offered to take the nugget home for the evening. At 10 pm I had all the cookies baked, cooled and put away for the night. I headed to bed and crashed as soon as I my head hit the pillow. Here are most of the cookies waiting to be put away (they're stacked so you can't see all 144)

Friday morning, I popped out of bed, headed straight for the coffee pot and got right down to making icing for the cookies. And here is the next dumb thing I did. I knew I was going to need several batches of icing and I also knew I was going to need 4 colors. Now, you'd think I'd just make a batch of each color...yeah, so not what I did. Instead, I made one batch, separated it into 4 bowls and then made my three colors (the 4th color was white). So once that was gone, I had to make another batch and then make the colors again. Well anyone, whose colored icing knows it's damned near impossible to match the colors (unless your super anal and count how much food coloring you use in each batch...which I don't do). So I caused myself some considerable delays by doing it this way. I did manage to get all of the cookies outlined and filled by the end of the day. So on Saturday I would just have the final decorating and bagging to do. (here's a pic of getting ready to outline)

Saturday morning I get up and again get right down to business. I get the cookies out of the fridge and discover I've made another error. I was up so late the night before icing the cookies, some didn't have enough time to dry completely and when I covered them, the foil stuck to the icing and ruined the lovely smooth finish you want in this sort of cookie. GREAT! It was only about 10 that needed to be fixed, so I simply smoothed the icing as best I could using my handy paintbrush ( a must have when doing decorated cookies of this nature) and then re-iced them to cover the flaws. Those few still didn't look as good as I would have liked but they were still nice enough to present and hey out of 12 dozen if only 10 got screwed up that's pretty good! I worked on the cookies until almost midnight; I had to get done by then so I could watch Sarah Palin on SNL!!

Sunday morning all I had left to do was bag them and put them in the basket for the party, which I was also attending. Me and the cookies were all ready to go by 12:30 leaving me just enough time to snap a few photos..

All in all this project was a success. I completed it on time, the customer was very happy with the finished product and I got paid!! There are of course things I would do differently (like perhaps trying to be a bit more organized) but there is always next time. And my hope is that the more I do this the less my nerves will get all twisted up. I felt such a huge weight lifted off me once I had finished; I put a lot of pressure on myself and worry constantly about whether what I do is good enough. I suppose this sort of pressure is good...it ensures that I always strive to do better than the last time.

My First Cupcake Tower

2008-09-29T16:52:00.002-04:00

Like I mentioned in a previous post I have been busy preparing for my step-father's surprise 50th birthday celebration. It was held over the weekend at Iavarone's Steakhouse here in Tampa. This is the biggest event I have ever done cupcakes for. I was so incredibly nervous about the prospect of making the cupcakes for this party that I made myself sick. As soon as I woke up on Thursday I knew I was in trouble, my sinuses were so full of pressure it was making my teeth hurt (ouch!). Well many sinus and cold remedies later I successfully completed this project I took on and I was thrilled with how it all came together. Here's a timeline of how it went followed by recipes.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Friday - I baked 120 cupcakes and one 6 in layer cake (5 batches of cake in all) as well as a double batch of chocolate ganache. I did the ganache today to ensure it had enough to time to cool itself and thicken up so I could whip it and pipe it on the cupcakes on Saturday. I used a scale to measure my ingredients for the first time today and let me tell you, if you don't do this I would highly recommend giving it a shot. Aside from the accuracy of it, it really does save you time in the measuring department. It's so much easier to just dump flour into a bowl until it weighs enough than to spoon it into a cup and level it...I promise. Rather than make the white chocolate raspberry cupcakes I had planned on I opted to leave the raspberry's out and just do a white chocolate cupcake with a white chocolate buttercream ( I wanted to simplify things a little) and I paired those with devil's food cupcakes with a whipped chocolate ganache. The six inch cake on top was a 3 level devil's food cake layered with fresh sweetened whipped cream and iced with the same chocolate ganache as the cupcakes.

9:30 AM Saturday morning - I took more meds and then made the white chocolate buttercream and whipped the ganache. Again my wonderful husband had to come to my rescue more than once on this particular day. First it was too feed me, I was sick, starving and up to my eyeballs in cupcakes and icing and I desperately wanted some good soup and a sandwich. I really wanted McAlister's Deli but that's in Gainesville and while he's a nice guy he's not driving 2 hours to get me soup; so I settled for Panera Bread which hit the spot. Rejuvenated by my lunch I got back to work and iced 72 of the 120. You see I only needed 72 cupcakes but one of the batches (24 cupcakes) of white chocolate cupcakes I rushed through and overfilled the cups and I didn't like their appearance (they will be in my freezer for any late night cravings that may arise!) that combined with my funny math ( I didn't think to cut a batch in half to only get 36 per flavor rather than 48) resulted in a few extra cupcakes but that's okay because I got to pick the prettiest one's for the party and wasn't stuck with any that needed to hidden in the back! I then leveled my 6 inch cakes and cut one into 2 layers to make a total of 3 layers (one cake was made with more batter and making it into a 3-layer cake was the easiest way to solve the uneven layer problem). I whipped some whipped cream layered in with the cakes and iced with the ganache. I then used a warm icing spatula to smooth the icing.

3:00 PM Saturday ( 2 hours before I am to arrive at the party to set up) - With all the cupcakes and the cake iced and packed to go I decided to start wrapping the cupcake tower. Enter hubby for the second rescue of the day. He stepped in and duck tapped the bottom level together since it was made of two pieces and needed to be tapped together for stability ( I will add another post with tower instructions)and then helped me wrap it. Then he glued all the ribbon on it for me and thank goodness because once I saw how he was doing it I realized my plan for doing it NEVER would have worked right!

3:35 PM Saturday - I finally get into the shower and start getting ready. I called my sister right before getting into the shower realizing I could really use some help at the restaurant carrying all the stuff inside and putting the pieces of this cupcake puzzle together. She agrees to meet me at 5 (not sure what made me think I could do all this by myself, but thank goodness for a good family)

4:46 PM Saturday - I glance at the clock and think oh-shit I'm to be there in 15 minutes and I haven't started loading my car. I'm ready and putzing around totally oblivious to the time, I blame this on the cold medicine. Hubby, again rescues me, and quickly loads everything into my car, starting it to get the AC running so that it wasn't so hot inside that the icing started melting. Isn't he a smart guy.

5:01 PM - In route to restaurant, one minute late and suddenly realize I'm not positive where the restaurant is. I can picture it and I think I know where it is but again the cold medicine gets the best of me and I have a total brain fart. I quickly call my sister who gives me directions and she informs me she will be there 20 minutes later than expected.

~5:10 PM - yes, I was that close to it and couldn't remember where the damn restaurant was. I arrive at the restaurant where a very kind valet boy helped me carry up my many boxes of cupcakes and supplies. And I felt so bad, I had no cash and therefore didn't tip him, but I did say thank-you! I jump right into putting all the pieces together. I had to put the cupcakes into the foil wrappers, add the pics to the tops of them, add the cake topper and candles and pipe the whipped cream around the little cake. My sister, the one who was coming to help, arrived just as I finished, but that was okay because it all came together really easy and my mom's friend who planned the party was there with her sister and they helped with the foil wrappers.

5:30 PM Saturday - Cupcake tower complete, I am sitting in a chair sipping water, no alcohol for me tonight, I feel to crappy. Guests start to arrive around 5:45, most notice the tower immediately and I was thrilled with their comments. They loved the concept of the photo pics. I used pictures from throughout my step-dads life to make the pics. I cut just his head from the pictures for the cupcake pics and then the pictures in their entirety were placed in frames and spread throughout the room for everyone to enjoy. Great conversation pieces! Well here it is...not the best picture, I wish I had taken more but I received many compliments. I'm glad that it was well received and I watched as people at the cupcakes and they were finishing them so that's a good sign! I even had someone approach me about doing a cake for the Steeplechase!!

Now I can breath a huge sigh of relief and take some more cold medicine and go to bed...

Oh but first the recipes... I must actually in some sick way thrive under stressful situations because I choose to use a recipe I had never tried before for these cupcakes and thankfully they were fantastic (I would have been so screwed if they turned out crappy). The white chocolate and raspberry cupcakes I posted about previously even without the raspberry jam in the middle I still found a little heavy, good - just a little heavier then I wanted since I was pairing it with such a rich icing.

White Chocolate Whisper Cake
By Rose Levy Beranbaum found in The Cake Bible (if you like to bake and don't have this book, you should).

6 oz. White Chocolate Fine Quality (I used Ghiradelli)
4 1/2 large egg whites
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup + 3 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
9 tbsp. unsalted butter - must be softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a double-broiler melt the white chocolate over hot (not simmering) water, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup of milk and the vanilla. In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and min on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cups milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Scrap down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrap down the sides. Add the white chocolate and beat to incorporate. Scoop the batter into your prepared pans. I baked the cupcakes for ~18 minutes, removing them once a toothpick inserted came out clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely.

White Chocolate Buttercream
By Betty Crocker

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla
3 oz. white chocolate melted and cooled
2 to 3 tbsp. milk

Mix all ingredients except milk in medium bowl. Add milk and whip until creamy.

NOTES: For the cake, The Cake Bible also lists weights for ingredients, which for the eggs was 4 oz. It only took me 4 eggs rather than 4 1/2 to get 4 liquid oz. Proving one, that not all eggs are equal and two, that weighing is more accurate. On the icing, 1/3 cup is a strange butter measurement, it works out 5 1/3 tbsp. Have you tried to cut 5 1/3 tbsp. from a stick of butter...hard to know if you got it right. Next time I would probably just stick with my usual 1/2 cup butter to ~4 cups powdered sugar and then just add maybe another 1/2 oz of chocolate or to taste. I'm not sure why I didn't do it like that to begin with, perhaps because I was freaking out about the whole thing and I was hopped up on cold meds. but it worked and that's all that matters in the end.

Devil's Food Cupcakes

2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups + 2 tbsp. sugar
3/4 cocoa powder ( I use Hershey's)
2 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs, room temp
1 cups water
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. With a standing mixer, beat your butter at medium speed until smooth. Increase the speed to medium high and add the sugar, beating until it is light and smooth. Add the cocoa and the vanilla and beat for one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the eggs one at a time beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape down the side of the bowl.

Combine the water and milk in a pan and heat until just boiling. Remove from heat and cover so liquid doesn't evaporate. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixing until just combined. Carefully pour the hot liquid into the bowl mixing until just combines. Remove bowl from mixture, scrape down sides and the bottom of the bowl and using a spatula finish combining the batter until smooth. Scoop into prepared cupcake pans. Bake for ~18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely.

Milk Chocolate Ganache
By: Rose Levy Beranbaum found in The Cake Bible

12 oz. milk chocolate (34% chocolate mass such as Lindt)
9 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
3/4 tsp. vanilla

In the bowl of a food processor with metal blades, break chocolate into pieces . Process until the chocolate is very finely ground. In a small pan, bring the cream to a boil. With the motor running, immediately poor it through the feed tube onto the chocolate mixture. Process until smooth, about 15 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Add the vanilla and pulse a few more times to incorporate it. All the mixture to cool for several hours until it reaches frosting consistency.

NOTES: On the cake, again because I must like stress, I tried something different with one of the batches. Rather than add the cocoa powder to the butter and sugar mixture I added it to the hot liquid. I found no noticeable difference between the two batches and neither was easier than the other so whatever your preference I guess? On the icing, because I was originally planning on making a dark ganache using semi-sweet chocolate I didn't have as much bittersweet chocolate as I needed to make the double-batch necessary for all the cake. So I used 24 oz. milk chocolate (Lindt), 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate and 10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate. I allowed the ganache to chill overnight in the refrigerator and then in the morning I brought it to room temperature and whipped it with my mixer. It lightened it both in color and texture but it was still a little thick to pipe so I added whipping cream a little at a time until of the consistency I was looking for (sorry no measurements, just eyed it).

Another political rant

2008-09-25T10:59:00.003-04:00

so when I started this blog it was not meant to be of a political nature...but in light of all the ridiculousness occurring in the political world today I can't help myself....(deep breath)

I'm so sick and tired of the all the freakin' bickering. Obama thinks by continuing on with the debate on Friday it's going to show the people he can multitask....great! We already know Palin's got that down, with 5 kids and a husband she could probably teach a masters class in multi-tasking. And then Obama says the American people want to hear what the future President would do....ummm I'm one of those America citizens and IMO standing on stage and bickering about what you'd do differently than your opponent is going to solve nothing. If you REALLY want to show the people what you'd do then get your ass to Washington and help fix the problem instead of spending the next few days preparing for the debate all the while chillin in Clearwater enjoying the beautiful fall weather that just rolled in. I don't care who solves it I just want it fixed...and fixed right, not given a little neosporin and a cute scooby-doo band-aid to make us all feel better but really fixed. If it takes more time then you have left in your current session...TOO BAD. Call the wife boys and tell her to put your dinner in the microwave cause you're going to be working late tonight (better yet, just have her freeze it, it'll keep for 3 months, maybe that'll be enough time for ya'll to fix what you've allowed to get all screwed up)

(taking 10 deep breaths...ahh now I can move on to my laundry :)!)

2008-09-23T14:00:00.001-04:00

After a much needed weekend away with the girls (and the 4 days needed to recover) it's time to get back to baking. I've taken on the task of making cupcakes for my step-dad's upcoming surprise birthday party to be held at a local steakhouse. It's gonna be 72 cupcakes and a 6 inch cutting cake. I'm also building a cupcake tower which I've never done. It became immediately apparent that I'm a much better baker than I am a builder. After searching through pictures on Flickr to decide on the style of the stand, trying to map it out on graph paper, and then making 4 trips to Jo Ann's to purchase supplies I still couldn't figure out how big each level had to be. So with only a week left until the big event my hubby finally came to my rescue; in one hour late Friday night he did what I hadn't been able to accomplish in 3 weeks (and I think 15 of those minutes were spent laughing at me and explaining my layout options...yeah he even gave me options...I can't come up with one complete design and he has options???!!!)

With the cupcake tower ready to be wrapped and ribboned (I will post pics & instructions on how I did it when it's finished so that perhaps I can save another math challenged soul from the frustrations I experienced) I moved on to finally decide what combo. of cupcakes to place on the tower. I know, I know...nothing like waiting until the last minute. I've been thinking about this project non-stop but somehow have been unable to make any real decisions. I'm a procrastinator by nature and seem to operate a little more efficiently under the wire?? Any who, I've known I want to do black and white cupcakes but what flavor????? Well I've settled on a white chocolate and raspberry cupcake for the white and a chocolate hazelnut cupcake for the black. Each cupcake will also be topped with a photo pic (depicting one of 5 images of the birthday boy from throughout his life). The cake on top will probably be a chocolate raspberry combining flavors from both versions of cupcake (this way I can cover all my bases and my brain can settle down over whether I've made the best choice).

Yesterday, rather than do laundry and iron my man's work shirts I choose to make some sample cupcakes so that I could place them on the unfinished cupcake stand to be sure it would look like I pictured (yep, I still can't fully visualize it, I need to physically see it). I decided to try out the white chocolate raspberry version. I made a white chocolate and raspberry cupcake and then iced it with a white chocolate butter cream. I first made a white chocolate ganache but I must have done something wrong as when I was adding the melted chocolate to the slightly beaten whipped cream it curdled...the more I beat the more it curdled and it never would have been thick enough to pipe onto cupcakes like a whipped chocolate ganache so I dumped that and started over. I started with a basic butter cream recipe and then added the melted white chocolate. The end result was visually what I was looking for. Taste wise....it's very sweet and IMO needed more raspberry flavor to balance out the white chocolate, I'm partial to chocolate chocolate so I always find myself saying "it's good but not as good as devil's food". But they were pretty, displayed nicely and did taste good so I'm sticking with them short of a few minor changes I will make. So here's the recipes I used...my changes are listed in pink

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes
by Shelly Kaldunski in Cupcakes

yields 12 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
4 Tbls. unsalted butter - room temp
1 large egg - room temp
1/2 cup whole milk ( I used 2%)
3 oz. white chocolate chopped

1 cup raspberries (I used raspberry jam pushed through a strainer to remove seeds- read below)

White Chocolate Butter cream adapted from Betty Crocker

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 oz. white baking chips, melted and cooled
2-3 tbls. milk

Beat butter and sugar until combined. Add milk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add melted chocolate and mix to incorporate.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into bowl and set aside. On medium-high speed of electric mixer beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the white chocolate and beat on low speed until combined. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Remove from pan. (cooled cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days; bring to room temp before finishing). Place Raspberry's in a bowl and use a fork to crush them lightly. Spoon the crushed berry's on top of the cooled cupcakes, dividing them evenly. Frost the cupcakes with butter cream, garnish with white chocolate curls. Serve right away.

Here's what I did differently...

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into prepared muffin cups, add a rounded teaspoon of raspberry jam to each cup and then top with remaining batter. Bake as directed, cool completely and then ice with white chocolate butter cream.

What I'd do differently next time...

Rather than use a prepared jam that contains sugar I'd like to make my own raspberry puree. I felt like the white chocolate and the sweetened jam was just too sweet for my tastes. I think I'll melt the chocolate before adding it to the cupcake batter to be sure it's spread equally through out rather than one cupcake have a few more pieces than the next. And, I also think I'll use a little more chocolate and cut back on the sugar in the icing...add a little more whipped cream to lighten it.

Please do something...

2008-09-23T13:42:00.004-04:00

I just had to write a letter...it is an opinion piece.

Senator Martinez

While I appreciated your reply to my earlier email regarding Bill 1738 – The Protect our Children Act (Mr. Nelson didn’t even respond) I found the template letter response insufficient. I’m not too sure what "referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary" means but my good friend who has participated in this country’s political process more than I have explained it to me like this “basically means it will spin around "in committee" forever until someone decides it’s ready to be made into a "bill". Basically, do nothing until someone makes us do it!!!” I realize sir that in this economy funding is sparse. I also, however, realize that our children are our future and if we do not do something to stop this growing trend of peddling child pornography via the internet the problem will continue to fester much like an infected wound until it has infected every city and small town across this great nation. Just over $2000.00 per American citizen is what is being proposed to bail us (I use the term “us” loosely because it seems like the only ones being helped are the company’s who made poor business choices) out of this financial crisis. It would only cost roughly $1.00 per American citizen ($320 million over 5 years) to pass this bill in its financial entirety. How about half that, can we get that…aren’t our children worth it? It seems that we feel the future of Iraqi and Afghani children are worth fighting for; how about our own children. The war on terror is not just one that needs to be fought over seas in other countries. Per the definition of terror (use of terror, especially as a means of coercion), a person who prays on children so that they can commit horrible crimes against them is one of the worst forms of terrorist and it’s happening right now, in our country as I type this. I know your session will be coming to an end soon, but I urge you…no I beg you to do something, anything. Can you not mention it, open it for discussion, bring it up over coffee with some of your peers???? Again I know ya’ll have a lot on your plate but I also know that being tired is not an excuse to call it a day and not finish an important job(such as protecting our children). After my husband has worked a 14 hour shift (putting in OT to make up for the increased cost of food and fuel) when he drags himself in the door tired and hungry, he puts all that aside so that he can spend a few before bed-time minutes with our daughter. To give her a hug and a kiss and to let her know she is safe and loved. Please sir, I beg you to help us keep our children safe and to push through the appropriate funding to fight off the monster that is lurking and waiting to strike again, and again, and again.

I do hope this letter reaches you and doesn’t find it’s way to file 13 (AKA:the trash) or left to some staffer to decide it’s importance.

Thank you,

Nicole Daniels

p.s. It’s my understanding the white, female vote is being considered the “swing vote” in this election. I am a registered independent, please help me swing towards your party.

Rock My World Rocky Road Cookies

2008-09-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

The last time I made cookies the hubby made a request for the next batch. He is lactose intolerant and can't enjoy ice cream so he asked for a rocky road cookie! I've made rocky road cupcakes but never cookies and I thought it would be easy enough so I made him some as a thank you for all his hard work tearing apart the kitchen to give me my beloved shelf. I started with my chocolate chip cookie recipe and then decided to substitute roasted and salted almonds for the walnuts. I cut back on the amount of chocolate chips and then added marshmallows. I was a little afraid that the marshmallows would just melt causing the cookies to spread into one big mess on the pan. To try and avoid this I cut the marshmallows into little chip sized pieces. The result was wonderful. The marshmallows didn't melt causing a big mess, they actually held their shape. They were roasted on the outside but maintained the soft, chewy goodness on the inside that makes smores so delicious. Both hubby and I agreed that they needed more almonds. When you'd get a bite with all three (chocolate, marshmallow and almond) it was like heaven but without that added crunch from the almond something was missing so next time I will add another 1/2 cups almonds.

Recipe:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups brown sugar (50 % dark, 50% light)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs at room temp.

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp.

1 cup roasted and salted almonds (chopped)

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup cut up marshmallow pieces

Mix dry ingredients in bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until well incorporated but don't cream as much as you would for a cake or your cookies will flatten to much. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg and scraping down sides of bowl if necessary. Add dry ingredients a little at a time mixing just until incorporated. Add chocolate chips, almonds and marshmallows and mix to combine.

Using a small cookie scoop drop dough onto cookie sheets. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 9-11 minutes until just starting to brown. Marshmallows on top will look roasted. Cool on wire rack or newspaper. Store in air-tight container in the fridge.

The loss of a mentor

2008-09-02T10:25:00.003-04:00

Minnafay Reynolds, my grandmother, passed this morning. As a little girl I spent several summers with her standing on a chair in the kitchen learning to make cookies. She instilled in me a love of baking and the memories I have of our time spent together in the kitchen will be treasured. Of the many things she shared with me one of my favorites is her recipe for a happy home. Shortly after I was married she shared this with me and I have had it hanging in my kitchen since. It served her well, as it has me and I hope that in my sharing it you too will find it of use in your own homes...

Faye Reynold's Recipe for a Happy Home

1 Husband
1 Wife
Children
1 Bible for each child
1 Home
Generous portions of prayer
3 Cups love firmly packed
1 package work
1 package playing together
1 Portion patience
1 Portion understanding
1 Portion forgiveness
1 Cup kisses
1 Small paddle

Mix together thoroughly and sprinkle with awareness. Bake in a moderate oven of everyday life, using as fuel all the grudges and past unpleasantness. Cool, turn the platter of cheerfulness. Garnish with tears and laughter in large helpings. Serve God, Country and Community.

Faye will be greatly missed by all those who knew her...

A Sweet Score

2008-08-31T17:20:00.003-04:00

So my kitchen is pretty much finished, short of a little touch up paint and a trip to Homegoods to look for some accessories for my new shelf. I still do not care for my cabinets, but they are what came with the house and I'd rather have them then the job it would require to afford new ones. I do however love having a place to keep my collection of cookbooks (26 at last count, not all pictured).

Well after what seemed like days of cleaning and dusting the house I was in need of a little retail therapy. Plus my cats really appreciated it that I went out to get them some food (if only they would eat cupcakes). So I headed to Target; upon entering I was drawn the the "dollar spot" in the same way I can only imagine a crackhead is drawn to crack. I'm serious, my pulse started to quicken, I shushed my child so that I could concentrate and "take it all in". The separate bins all full of cheap non-essential items, in their cute packaging were just screaming out "BUY ME, BUY ME". If you're a teacher picture a classroom full of kids all waving their hand in the air bouncing in their chairs practically screaming at you "oh, oh, pick me, pick me" that's what's it was like for me. On this particular day I hit the jackpot. As I walked through I caught a glimpse of a cupcake and it was over (I'm now like a crackhead with a stash)! Foot lotions and scrubs, glittery body lotion, body butter, sleeping masks, manicure sets and magnetic notepads and all with the cutest little cupcake label. I HAD to buy some, there was no option, but I was very reasonable and only purchased the body butter, foot scrub glittery body lotion, magnetic notepad and the eye mask. Riding on my high from my $5 splurge I headed to Borders (cranky toddler and all) for my next treat...The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

While the lotions are nothing special (the body butter and the body lotion are the same thing and both are watered down) I am in love with my eye mask. I do not wear it to sleep as it has these little scented beads inside that press into your head but I do however, use it as a sort of headband/sweatband which I'm sure looks totally ridiculous, but I don't care, I LOVE it! I'm also in love with The Cake Bible. It has been keeping me up nights since I bought it 2 days ago. I can't get enough of it...page after page of recipes, complete with explanations of why and how it all works...it's fabulous and will be a treasured part of my collection.

My Guilty Pleasure

2008-08-25T17:37:00.006-04:00

Well aside from cookies and cake that is...

I just love this show, it is smart and freaking hysterical (something I think is totally lacking in the majority of network TV shows these days). Not something you want to watch in the presence of your kiddos (for obvious reasons) and no I do not condone the smoking and/or selling of illegal drugs. I do however, suggest that if you have Showtime you do yourself a favor and watch an episode or two. It is highly addictive! And aside form the fact that Mary Louise Parker is smokin' hot she's also good at her job (not the pot selling one the acting one people) She's up for an 2008 Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series. You can read more about the show here. Now run along people, set your TIVO and get addicted!

Semi-Homemade = Semi-Annoying

2008-08-23T09:33:00.001-04:00

Okay, I'm sorry to any Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee fans if this offends you but she annoys the pants off me. I can't get passed the fact that every freaking episode her kitchen matches her outfit. Give me an effin break, matching your kitchen....daily...too much for me. Now, I know it's most likely a studio kitchen and there is a staff who changes the background but still is this necessary, matching the kitchen?/@! I do own one of her books (it was given to me as a gift) and I can appreciate the idea of adding to already made products to make something special or to cut down on prep time, but the matchy, matchy thing is ANNOYING and IMO just plain wrong. Therefore I can not be a fan...sorry Sandra.

Closed kitchens and cupcake logos

2008-08-23T08:40:00.000-04:00

What is this you ask? Why, that's my kitchen in the early stages of a minor remodel. We took down some cabinets and a soffit and now we're removing the soffit on the other side and then texturing the walls and painting. I'm super excited to be finally getting this done; however, I have some buttermilk in the fridge about to expire and I can't bake so I'm totally stir crazy!! So what does a baking addict do when she can't bake....yep, that's right I browse all the other wonderful baking blogs out there. On Cupcakes take the cake, they featured "10 Cupcake Bakery Logos We Love" (check them out super cute, and wonderful blog for those addicted to cupcakes like myself). Well, I too have a cupcake logo. One of my many dreams is to own my own bakery, and with latest craze being cupcakes, I took the plunge and had a logo created...

I know, pretty fabulous huh. A found a wonderful artist, LaFoi on DeviantArt, who created this for me. I just love it, I can picture it in the front window of a bakery with pretty cake plates staked up with delicious cupcakes, cookies and cakes behind it to make the mouths of passers-by water, convincing them they must step inside and try one of my tasty treats. Upon trying a single bite they would become helplessly addicted therefor forced to swing by daily for their "sugar fix" continuing to be seduced by the sweet smell of sugar wafting in from the open kitchen....oh, I'm sorry, got a little carried away there for a minute ( I told you it was a dream didn't I). Anyway, I love my logo and hopefully, one day, I will be able to put her to good use!

Week in Review

2008-08-22T17:19:00.000-04:00

Fay Schmaye

Ahhh, yes, another false alarm!! Lexi's first day of school was postponed on Tuesday due to the small possibility of the wind blowing and the chance of rain only for the day to turn out to be a beauty. Roll to Thursday her actual first day...rained....and still freakin raining. But nothings canceled today, I still have to go out in the rain to head to the dentist (can you feel the excitement people) so annoying. It's been windier and rained more in the last 10 hours then it did during all 72 hours the local meteorologists stood around in a state of euphoria watching and waiting to see which way the wind blew. Even with all their fancy equipment and years of education they still can't accurately predict the direction of a storm, instead displaying the "cone of uncertainty" that generally encompasses most if not all of the state. To me that's the equivalent of a Dr. sending you for an MRI and a Cat scan only to tell you that you have a mass located somewhere in your body between the right ear and your left pinkie toe, then sending you home to "wait and see" what happens. And then there's "the preparers". Who are these people you ask. These are the individuals who run out to the grocery star as soon as they hear it's going to get windy and rainy and stock up on SPAM, water, peanut butter and bread, they board up their windows or even worse tape them (which is useless), and sit glued to their TV's or their weather radio's just "waiting to see what happens". Puhhhleeeease, I'll tell you what's gonna happen, it's gonna rain and the wind is going to blow...deal with it. Get out some board games, pop some popcorn and freaking relax! I've lived in FL since the late 80's, prior to that I lived on a cornfield in Illinois so I've weathered my fair share of hurricanes, tropical storms AND tornado's. I'd much rather sit through a hurricane than a tornado...

So what do you do when it's supposed to rain, everything is closed and your kid is home from school.....why you bake (that way IF the power does go out you'll have cookies to eat!). This is exactly what Lexi and I did on Tuesday, we made both chocolate chip toffee cookies, and peanut butter cookies.

Here's my little helper...

Balls of delicious dough...

Our sweet reward...

Jen's Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies (adapted from the Nestle Tollhouse recipe)

What I do different is I use a combination of dark and light brown sugar, my grandma says that back in the day they didn't have light and dark brown sugar they just had brown sugar, so one summer my cousin Jenny was on a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie and she mixed the two together added, toffee and it's perfect. Then instead of one cup of chopped nuts I add ~ 1/2 cup heath toffee bits (just the Bits o' Brickle not crushed up Heath bar) and then a 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Bake and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from the Jif irresistible peanut butter cookies recipe)

What I do different...I use butter flavored Crisco ( I prefer to bake with all butter but have found that all butter in a peanut butter cookie makes them to dry and I prefer my cookies a little soft) rather than the regular Crisco, I cut back on the vanilla using only abt. 1/2 tbsp., then I add about 1/2 cup salted peanuts. Finally I use a fork dipped in sugar to criss-cross the cookies and sprinkle a little extra sugar on top. Again bake and enjoy

Bittersweet

2008-08-16T07:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was "Meet the Teacher" day at my daughter's pre-school. Her new classroom is lovely as are her two new teachers, but I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. I'm excited for her to be going back, to get to watch her grow as a person and to learn new things (and to have more time to bake, I mean do laundry) but I think it's all the "newness" that overwhelms me ( a personal trait I'm trying desperately to not project onto my daughter). All but one of her classmates are new this year...new kids means new parents to meet and interact with. As I sat in the middle of the room in one of those little school chairs looking around at all the unfamiliar parental faces, I kept telling myself "I'm sure they're all very nice people" what I was actually thinking was "I wonder which one of you will annoy me first". I mean really can you get lucky every year and not only like your kids teachers but also her classmates AND they're parents, because this was the case last year. I'm sure in a few weeks I will have settled into the new school year and all will be fine, in the meantime I will obsess with all the possible things that could happen, I will read the parent handbook at least 15 times, I'm sure I'll even have one of those dreams where you show up to school without your pants or your backpack. In the end it will all be good.

On the brighter side of this whole back to school thing her teacher has an obsession with frogs! The whole classroom was decorated with various lily pads and frogs. My mind immediately started buzzing with all the cute froggy creations I could bake this year for class parties, and teacher appreciation. So stay tuned for some froggy fun in the kitchen!

On a baking note...

I recently made some chocolate cherry cupcakes with a fudge frosting. I used an old recipe my grandmother gave me. She has alway made a sheet cake with the recipe but since latley I've been obsessed with cupcakes I decided to try cupcakes instead. The results were...lets just say not what I remember them like as a kid. Perhaps the non discerning tastebuds of my youth could never get passed the sweet seduction that is the fudge frosting to actually taste the cupcake itself but now that I'm all grown up...

Upon coming out of the oven I was displeased with their appearance. Because of the heavy moisture from the cherry's they didn't rise. I tasted one warm from the oven and wasn't impressed with the flavor...I'm not sure if it's because I used a boxed cake mix (something I'm usually against doing, however I had an itch to try this recipe, but didn't have what I needed to bake a German chocolate cake from scratch), or because I expected a stronger cherry flavor. I didn't bother to ice them since I had already decided I didn't like them, but because I just hate to waste cake I put them into the fridge. A day and a half later, I went to throw them out to make room for the tiramisu cupcakes I made for my grandfathers birthday and I couldn't do it. They suddenly looked more appealing after having chilled in the fridge. So I finished them. The end result was good, but still not what I wanted flavor wise. The icing was the best part, rich and fudge like. My grandma liked them, I however, will continue my quest for a chocolate cherry cupcake.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

1 box German Chocolate cake mix (or one from scratch)
3 eggs
1 can cherry pie filling

Mix all ingredients together (following directions on box but using 3 eggs) and bake in standard size cupcake pan for 18-20 minutes at 350.

Fudge Frosting

1 cup sugar
5 tbsp. butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bring sugar, butter and milk to a boil, remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Allow icing to cool down (it will thicken as it cools). Spoon over cupcakes.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

2008-08-13T17:09:00.000-04:00

In honor of my Grandfather's 85th birthday we took him to dinner at the Olive Garden and what goes better with an Italian dinner than tiramisu? I'd been wanting to try this recipe and this was the perfect opportunity. I used the recipe from Shelly Kaldunski's book Cupcakes but used the presentation found in Pamela Clark's book also entitled Cupcakes. First let me tell you these are by far the most expensive cupcakes I've ever made. After a trip to the liquor store to purchase Kahlua and Amaretto I then headed to Publix for the mascarpone and whipping cream needed for the icing. The icing alone breaks down to ~$1.00 a cupcake! But they were so worth it! I'm glad that I took the time to layer the icing and the cupcakes rather then to just ice them, it made it more like traditional tiramisu rather than a cupcake. They were delish!

Tiramisu Cupcakes from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski:

Yellow Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp. u.s butter (room temp.)
2 large eggs (room temp.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup whole milk

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, at room temp (I used Chock full o' nuts, brewed twice as strong as I would for regular coffee).
1/4 cup dark rum ( I only used half as I don't care for rum)
1/2 cup Kahlua or other coffee flavored liqueur
2 tbsp. Amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur
1 lb. mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 oz. semisweet chocolate grated ( I used a Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bar)

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with papers. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt ( I sifted mine together). In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium-high speed just until no traces on flour remain, about 30 seconds; do not overbeat.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 mintues. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and cool completly, 1 hour.

While cupcakes cool...In a small bowl, stir together the coffe, rum, 1/4 cup of the Kahlua, and the Amaretto. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the mascarpone, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and the remaining 1/4 cup Kahlua until just combined; do not overmix ( I beat mine a little more as I wanted it to thicken up a little more...).

Here's where Pamela Clark's recipe comes into play...

Remove the papers from the cooled cupcakes. Cut each cake horizontally into four ( I only cut mine in thirds). Brush both sides of cake slices with coffee mixture. Join cake slices with mascarpone cream. Spread tops of cakes with mascarpone cream ( I piped the icing on the top using Wilton tip 2D); sprinkle with grated chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

The arrival

2008-08-12T09:10:00.000-04:00

I did it, I created a blog! It took me some time to settle on a name and a template but I'm pleased with the results. I decided on the name sweet and sassy, well, because I love all things sweet and I tend to be a little sassy (plus it sounded better than baking and bitching...LOL). For the most part this will be a place for me to share my baking adventures, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't bitching about something so from time to time I will share this with you as well. I welcome your comments but like my mother always said... if you don't have anything nice to say shut the hell up!