Leap Day

There is quite a long post right here that describes the wedding cake I made for my aunt and uncle. If you haven't already read it, please go ahead!

I probably won't have time to update my blog again this weekend, but I'll see you in March!

Happy Leap Day!

Sparkle!

Wilton has some new products that I like (as well as some old ones that I still like). I think you will sense a common theme here...

I don't have any of this... but my uncle does, and it looks very nice on the chocolate cake he made for his son's 9th birthday (so sparkly!)

I have some of this. I've not used it much, but I should. It's pretty.

I've used this on cakes and what-have-you, including this cupcakes!

These just look tasty!

I've used these a lot: for the pirate cake, the wedding cake, I was planning to use them for my sweet 16 cake... I'd like to try the bright and the primary sugars too.

There you have it: some Wilton products that caught my eye!

Penguin Cake Idea

My sister's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. This is a sketch I made (actually it's a picture of a sketch; I used the "documents" setting on my camera which is why it's brownish) of that cake. It's very early in the design phase right now. All I know is that I'm going to make an ice castle with penguins. (I'm definitely not the drawing kind of artist either)


This cake is an inspiration to me; I love the colors and she did a perfect job with the flowers and the sugary sprinkles and everything!

I would love to make such a pretty sparkling cake!

So that's my idea for Kate' s birthday cake! I'll keep you posted as I add and change the design over the next few weeks and I'll definitely be sure to post pictures after I complete it!

coming soon...

I don't know how soon I'll be able to post these, but my grandpa has given me some digital pictures of cakes I've made in the past few years. I'll go ahead and put the pictures up, but I'll add the accompanying words to it later, when I get the chance. Sorry for the delay!

Click here for more about this cake

(I apologize for the quality of this las picture;
it was the best one I had!)

How cool is this?

How cool is this? I am a "Blog of Note!!!" I am shocked. But now I know why my inbox filled up with blog comments, I suppose.

Thank you to everyone who has left a comment. Your feedback is such a boost to my confidence, and I'm glad that blogger has allowed me to share my sugary, confectionery goodness with everyone! :)

My Own Thin

Remember Good Eats? I was quite inspired by this little video (that episode is one of my favorites), so I made chocolate chip cookies today! The thin, of course!

They tasted excellent with a nice cold glass of milk... but they were too big to fit in a glass! :-P

After they invent smell-o-vision, they should come up with something to hook an oven up to an internet connection so that I can share that delicious cookie smell with everyone!

SUGAHH

I love this episode of Good Eats. Maj. Cookie is hilarious (although I must admit that his relative, Cookie Monster, is a pretty cool guy too).

Here are the recipes for cookies that Alton was making:

• The Puffy
• The Thin (my personal favorite, and milk's best friend- move over Oreos!)
• The Chewy
• The Chewy (gluten free)

From the episode Three Chips for Sister Marsha

Cakeless

Much time has passed since my last post, and I am sorry to report that there is nothing to report. No cakes, no cookies, no Valentine goodies, nothing, nada, squat.

That being said, I have no school this week. So, I should have some free time to make something beautiful and delicious. Like, chocolate chip cookies, maybe... Or dig out the leftover gumpaste from the fridge and finish making those roses. Or both!

That is really all I have to offer now, guys. Thanks for tuning in and I hope to having something must tastier to say next time!

The Cake Place

While we were coming home from Gracie's birthday party, I asked Mom if we could stop by the local (newly opened) bakery some-what near our house. She said yes!!

We went in; it's a little store, and you can see them decorating in the back, they were all decorated for Valentine's Day, and everything smelled like cookies (because of the delicious looking cookie display in the front of the store).

The lady that rung up our order (four cookies; I had rocky road and little Adam had chocolate chip, which he recommends I try next time) was very nice and mom made a nice little comment about how I like to bake. The cake place is closer than the other local bakery, but I just think it would be so cool to work at a bakery, that if there was a chance of either of them hiring me, I would be happy. Even so, I would be baking at home, so I guess I would be happy regardless.

Anyway, the lady said that, if business was busy enough, that I could go ahead and "put on an apron." Here's hoping for a successful quarter! =]

I was also doing some Googling today (just because I can) and I discovered that, somewhere in cyberspace, there is a $500 cake named after me! Check it out.

Here's the picture from carriescakes.com It's a very pretty cake, I must say. I like the fondant bow and the gold accents. Very classy.

Success!!!

I finally finished my Webkinz cookies Thursday night (really late, actually, since I didn't start until 7), and they are beautiful! I was so proud of my work and took lots of pictures... there are 20 cookies in all.

Actually, I'm saying words like "are," in the present tense. But I should probably be saying "were" since I don't know how many have been eaten by excited little Webkinz-loving children. (Personally, if I were one of those children, I would never eat something so adorable... but that's just me, and I'm a total pack rat. I hope some people got to enjoy eating the cookies as well as looking at them.)

I'm totally digressing. Friday morning, I delivered the cookies to my brother's 3rd grad class. I am happy to report that everyone loved them! It was so sweet, actually, because his class thanked me for the cookies. They're such cute little kids! 3rd grade is a fun year, I think. (Shout out to Ms. Reese!)

Mom told me just today that the cookies in their entirety sold for $40. Although the PTO family night's fund raiser was supposed to be a silent auction, the cookies were sold individually (which is cool with me, since they earned so much). All that money went to Relay for Life.

I am so proud!! Those cookies were fun and they were for a good cause. Baking at its best, I believe.

And now for the photos...

Football Cookies

Here are my football cookies. Pretty basic: Royal Icing on Sugar Cookies, cut out with a football cookie cutter. The cookies are from a mix; I've never made homemade tasty sugar cookies before.
Last year I was a little more elaborate, and I made trophies, and team mascots, and helmets for the super bowl, but I kind of ran out of time this year...

King's Cake

Today, as you may or may not know, is Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Carnival. The last day before Lent starts and a big, happy feast in places such as New Orleans.

Accompanying this tradition of pre-Lenten partying is a delicious treat called a King's Cake. I have no idea what's in it, because I've never made one, but Publix makes an excellent one which we've eaten the past two years. I'm sure the cake is not as good as what you could get at New Orleans, but it is tasty enough for me.

Next year, however, Mom wants me to make one. I found a couple of good recipes at CakeCentral.com

• Recipe One
• Recipe Two

King's Cake, however, is not the only pastry news I have to share. I made adorable football-shaped cookies for the Superbowl. They were a big hit at the party I went to, although we did have some leftovers (which I will attribute to the other delicious desserts, like the really super chocolate cake). I don't have any pictures from my digital camera, but I'll try to snag one before we finish eating them all.

The Webkinz cookies that I'm making for my brother's fund raiser are going well. I'm pretty much done with them, but I'll add the FINAL touches tomorrow, so that I can send them in on Thursday. The sample cookie I sent to his teacher was met with much approval and praise (she said they were "a wonderfully creative idea").

Next week, the Beta Club at school will be having a Sweetheart's Dance at the local assisted living home. I signed up for the snack/food committee, and I'm hoping that I can bake cookies, or cupcakes, or (hopefully) a cake. I'll find out Thursday what the plan is.

Now you know what's been going on in my baking world as of late. I hope to have something interesting to take pictures of soon... Katie's birthday is in seven weeks, and I'll definitely take pictures of her penguin princess cake. No cake for Easter, because that's two days after Kate's birthday, so we'll still have leftovers. I'm not sure about other cake opportunities, but we'll find out together! =)

Rosca de Reyes

This is a delicious sweet-bread that is eaten in Mexico on Jan. 6, El Dia de los Reyes (Day of the Kings, or Epiphany). I made some for my Spanish class.

Traditionally (and what my class did), a small baby is placed inside the cake, and whoever gets the piece with the baby will throw the next party on Feb. 2 (Candlemas, the official end of the Christmas season).


Recipe can be found on this website.

Gumpaste Gorgous

My work stuff.

This is a lily... or at least it's supposed to be

This is a broken lily petal. Oops.

Another view of the lily.

Daffodils. For some reason, I keep wanting to call them dandelions. They didn't turn out so well, but maybe next time?

Another view of daffodils

The classic rose. You can't tell from this angle, but it turned out a bit... oval-y.