Shits & Giggles

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 :) !

Happy New Year

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!