Friday, October 16, 2009

Black Forest Birthday Cake

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to make a black forest cake for a friends birthday. I have to admit that I have never made or eaten black forest cake but I was up for the challenge =].. So i found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and tried it out. I really liked the cherries with the chocolate cake but I wasn't really crazy about the chocolate cake recipe itself.. it was too dry. Unfortunately I had no choice but to send this cake over because I didn't have enough time to start over and make my usual chocolate cake. She said that she really liked it and I'm glad she did but I think if I made the other chocolate cake she would have LOVED it lol.. Ill definitely be experimenting with this!

I decorated with some pearl sprinkles and cherries and the happy birthday was written in dark chocolate.. I didn't have enough time to take any pictures so thank god she took some (Thanks Kris! Your awesome! =P).. Check out the pics..



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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I figured it out!

I finally taught myself how to pipe frosting onto cupcakes! lol.. I know it seems so simple but I was having such a difficult time with it! I have been trying to pipe my frosting on for months and when it didn't come out right I just grabbed a spatula or butter knife and spread it on but i think it looks so unprofessional. So after months and months of spreading frosting I realized that it didn't need to go all the way around to the ends and my frosting needs to be a little firmer than it usually is.. I just wish everything else in life was that easy to figure out lol =P

Here are a few pics of carrot cake cupcakes I made for my
grandma yesterday..


I'm was trying to get a totally different post up today but i'm so scatter brained today that ill just save it for the weekend.. Check back Friday or Saturday for it! =]

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dog Birthday Cake

I made this cake for my friend Gians birthday, He LOVES dogs! This one kind of looks like a teddy bear but everyone knew what it was. My friend picked up this little stuffed dog and I copied him, Everything looks the same except for the color. I think if i gave him longer arms he would have looked more dog-like but it was my first time using Rice Krispies treats to decorate. Actually it was my first time making homemade Rice Krispies treats.. Which were AWESOME by the way! lol.. I ate the leftovers by the next day all by myself =\.. This one I made the same way as the sushi cupcakes, with boxed cake mix, diet soda and 2 egg whites. I used chocolate and vanilla cake mix and layered them, chocolate/vanilla/chocolate/vanilla, so it looked really cool when it was cut into. (I don't have any pictures of that part though)

I wasn't really happy with the way the writing came out
because after a while it all spread out.. Just something I
have to keep working on though! =]






More birthday cupcakes =]

These are homemade chocolate cupcakes with homemade (pink) whipped cream.. I used some tiny pearl sprinkles and premade flowers i found at NYC Cake Supply. I had such a hard time trying to decorate these because I was running around trying to finish them and I wanted them to look really girly, I think they came out nice =]






Sushi Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made for my friend Susies birthday. They were made with boxed red velvet cake, 12 ounces of diet Dr. Pepper and 2 egg whites. We were on weight watchers a few years ago together and found the recipe on the Weight Watchers website. They tasted really good even though the recipe sounds kind of weird, No one knew the difference. I used Fat Free Cool Whip for the frosting and they also have a Cheesecake pudding glaze, which was made with cheesecake flavored Sugar Free Fat Free Jello instant pudding mix and fat free milk. The 'Sushi" was made with Rice Krispies treats cut in half length wise and then dipped in white chocolate and coconut flakes. Then i put some Swedish fish on top and wrapped a sour power strip around them and secured those with a toothpick. She loved them! =]

I had to use toothpicks because I didn't have enough "seaweed" =\
But it was for a friend so she didn't mind =]
I made her a "spa" gift basket with a homemade brown sugar body scrub..
All ready to go =]

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Cupcakes!

I haven't posted anything new in a while.. To be honest I got kind of lazy here after going on vacation and having my laptop crash.. But I have been baking away! Here are some cupcake pics and i'll have something new up in the next few days! =D






















Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Pool Table Cake

I have to make a pool table for a surprise birthday party.. for 80 people! So I decided that I needed to practice since I've never made a pool table cake and especially because its for so many people and I wanted to be sure that I would be able to do it, I think I'll be able to. =] I'm happy with the way it turned out. I know that its a little bit less neat than I would have liked for it to be but for the first one.. I'm proud of it!

Here are some pics:

Top view..


Sideways..


The balls..


They're actually cupcakes =D..


I even made some chalk..



UPDATE:

This is the actual cake that I made for the party.. which came out MUCH better! (except for the water spot that my mother got on it!) The fondant was smoother, the balls came out better and most importantly the cake tasted better!


Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Zebra Cake

I saw this zebra cake on Baking Bites and I thought it was the coolest thing ever! lol.. So I decided that I wanted to give it a try but I wasn't really in the mood to start baking at 10:00 at night. So I made a Duncan Hines boxed cake.. I know, I cheated lol. I figured that it was all about the technique and it really didn't matter what kind of cake I made or what color it was, and it didn't. I made it pink and purple and I liked it! =P

If you want to try it out, Here's what you do:

After you've made your cake of choice split your batter in half and add whatever color food coloring you'd like. Take 3 tablespoons of one color and put it directly in the center of the pan. Then take the other color and put it right in the middle of the last color you put down. Repeat that until you've finished putting all the batter into the pan. Just make sure that you don't shake the pan or move it around so it will spread. You have to let it spread on its own! It seems like it isn't spreading until you get to the last few tablespoons of batter and then you notice how much it actually spread. Good luck! =]


Kinda looks like Pac Man, No? lol.. I decorated with some neon
dinosaur sprinkles and plain pink and purple sprinkles..
It was so good, I love Duncan Hines!..
I made them opposite, I think i like the bottom layer better though =]
Backwards view..












Sunday, May 31, 2009

Oreo Cheesecake

I made a few Oreo cheesecakes this weekend from my mothers recipe. She got the recipe from my grandmother who found it in the newspaper, it's called 'Cheese Cake Father Sarducci'. When ever my mother makes this, which is usually holidays, everybody goes crazy for it! She usually makes it plain with a graham cracker crust but I wanted to try something different so i made an Oreo crust for all three cakes and one with crushed Oreos on top the other two with crushed Oreos inside. The first cake I made with the Oreos on top came out okay in the center but the Oreo topping tasted a little bit burnt. The other two came out good with the Oreos inside but all three were a little bit oily from the cream inside the cookies. When I make this again I'm probably just going to add the cookies to the top after it's cooked.

Here's the recipe and a few pictures.

Cheesecake

-1 pound ricotta cheese
-2 cups sour cream
-16 ounces cream cheese
-1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
-1/2 cup butter, softened
-3 extra large eggs
-3 tablespoons flour
-3 tablespoons cornstarch
-5 teaspoons vanilla
-5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

- Cream the 16 ounces of cream cheese in a bowl
- Add the pound of ricotta cheese to the cream cheese and mix until ricotta looks creamy
- Mix in the 2 cups of sour cream
- Then add the 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of butter
- Increase speed to medium and add 3 eggs, 3 tablespoons of flour, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, 5 teaspoons of vanilla and 5 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
- Beat on the highest speed possible without splattering for 5 more minutes
- Pour mixture into a 10 inch spring form pan
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour
- Turn the heat off after the hour of cooking and leave it in the oven for one more hour

Tips-

- Make sure ALL ingredients are at room temperature before making!
- Bake the cake directly in the middle of the oven.
- Do not open the oven door while cooking or cooling.
- If you have a large capacity food processor. You could use it to mix all the ingredients together and it will help to blend the ricotta for a creamier cake.
- Place a large cookie sheet in the oven filled with cold water one rack underneath the cake. This will prevent cracking on top of the cheesecake.


Oreo crust

-1 1/2 cups Oreo crumbs
-2 1/2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

- Mix together Oreos and melted butter
- Flatten the mixture into the spring form pan just a little bit higher than the seam of the pan


These cakes were made in a smaller pan and needed to cook for a little less than an hour. That's why they're a little bit more browned than i was hoping. Still edible though =P






I couldn't even get in a picture of this one whole.. lol

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Pink Cupcakes

I made these for my cousins communion.. I am so happy with how they came out! Everything was made from scratch except the sprinkles. The cake is chocolate, the frosting is vanilla butter cream and the fondant is homemade with marshmallows. I decided to try making the fondant because the store bought pre-made one tastes really terrible, this one tasted like Lucky Charms marshmallows. It was a little bit sticky to work with but fondant usually is. Here are a few pics.. Tell me what you think! (=







Thursday, May 14, 2009

My First Order! =D

This last 2 weeks has been pretty busy.. I got my first job! I couldn't believe it because it just fell into my lap. I had to make 65 cupcake pops. I didn't realize at the time how much of a job it was going to be.. But it wasn't too terrible =P. I had my mom and my boyfriend helping me because I just didn't think I would finish in time if I did it by myself. So they helped me package them because i'm too much of a perfectionist for them to help me with anything else. I know I shouln't refuse the help but I cant help it, Especially on my first order, They had to be absolutely perfect. They came out pretty good, I wasn't very happy about having to use ice cream sprinkles though. I just don't think that they look as nice as the little round sprinkles do but thats what I was asked for and the customer is always right.. lol =]. The other problem was that I wasn't really prepared. I didn't have enough cake so I had to make more after I shaped 2/3 of the cupcakes and I had to take 2 days molding them. I also ran out of sprinkles at 2:00AM and found at that there is only 1 supermarket open at that time so I had to drive all over the universe to figure that out. I'd say it was a good learning experience though and i'm glad I got the job. =]
If anybody needs anything.. Let me know =P

Waiting to be dipped..



Drying so i could do the tops..



My assembly line..


Finished and waiting to be bagged..


All ready to go..


I got some feedback a few days later.. She said that they were great but she thinks I should make them gigantic. I think it's because I didn't put them on sticks. I'll definitely ask how big they want them to be next time.