A Fistful of Pearls Mini Cake

I had gotten some biscuit cutters a while back, and I've been itching to play with them. I thought about how to mesh the idea of cupcakes and cakes together to create "the mini cake".  I absolutely love purple and red together. The cake is homemade. I created a more dense cake so that it would be easier to cut the circles out, and it worked. Not to mention, the cake has such a yummy custardy taste. LOVE.

Blue Steel Heels Cake

So, it all started with some killa heels that I saw on Pinterest one day. I thought, "That might be a really cool design for a cake". So, that's just what I did.

After a sketch on some paper, I spent the day designing and decorating.

The finished product....

I thought it turned out pretty well.

It's a 6 inch 4 layer chocolate cake with buttercream icing. The roses and part of the cake board are made from modeling chocolate. It was my first time working with modeling chocolate. I really liked it! It colored very well and so easy to handle. I think it may have moved a step up above fondant. 

Here's some other shots that my hunka husband took for me...

Nom nom CAKE!!!

Sweet and Tiny

It has been so long since I have blogged. I apologize for leaving everyone hanging. It got crazy for a while with having a baby and getting through his first year along with having a 3 year old who constantly keeps me on my toes. Hopefully it won't be this long before I post again.

I made these sweet little cupcakes for a friend of ours who had their first baby. She is such a cutie and tiny as she can be. They are trying to adjust to their new addition and new schedule too, so I hope these cupcakes can bring a little cheer to them.

They are white cake with vanilla frosting topped with a white chocolate heart.

Peanut Butter & Nutella Cake Balls

I stepped out my front door to go get the mail one day and saw this beautiful yellow leaf laying amongst all of the dead brown ones. I love finding beauty like this when I least expect it. Good thing I always have my phone on me. I'm constantly taking pictures of the things that strike my fancy. My husband is the real photographer, but I try to do my own little thang from time to time.

By the way.......total coincidence that my hubby decided to use a yellow leaf in taking these foodie photos for me. Just goes to show you that great creative minds think alike.

In the making.....

From left:

Peanut butter cake ball (chocolate cake + peanut butter)

Nutella cake ball (chocolate cake + Nutella)

Peanut butter & Nutella cake ball (chocolate cake + peanut butter + Nutella)

All coated in milk chocolate and drizzled with peanut butter or sprinkled with glitter sprinkles.

My recipe is simple. Cook your favorite cake (I used a devil's food boxed cake mix), mix in your favorite icing or filling (I used peanut butter and Nutella), roll into balls, freeze, then dip in your favorite chocolate (I used Almond Bark milk chocolate) and finish with your favorite toppings (I used glitter sprinkles and melted peanut butter morsels).

Easy as pie!....................or...........................easy as cake balls!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I made these chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes for my husband's birthday. His favorite ice cream is chocolate chip cookie dough, so I made these to go along with a big heaping bowl of his favorite ice cream.

The cupcakes are yellow cake filled with a bite of chocolate chip cookie dough inside and topped with chocolate buttercream icing with a Famous Amos cookie. I also made the cupcake liners out of good ol scrapbook paper and colored the designs on them to give them a little personality.

They were incredibly easy to make. One tip I have is to make sure you don't fill the cupcake liners with too much batter because you need to make room for the big cookie dough bite to go in the center. Otherwise, they will have a large "muffin top" like mine turned out. However, it didn't make them any less delicious! I've attached the link below for those of you who would like to try these out. Believe me....you won't regret it!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband who is the greatest Daddy to both of my babies. I decided to celebrate this occasion by baking him a cake made with his favorite chocolate. Dove chocolate. This cake is called "Chocolate Lovers' Cake" and when you read the ingredients, you can see why!

The cake itself is made with Dove dark chocolate promises, then covered in a milk chocolate icing, lined in Twix bars and topped with sprinkled cocoa. All different kinds of chocolate for the chocolate lover. The cake itself reminded me of the center of a truffle. The texture of a cheesecake but melts in your mouth when you eat it. Mmmm.

At the bottom of the cake, I made Dove milk chocolate fondue but changed the recipe a little and added a spoon full of peanut butter to it. It helps hold the fondue together a little more (so you can have more chocolate in each dip) and gives it a little salty flavor that just enhances the sweetness of the chocolate a little more.

Now, if you decide to make this cake, just do yourself a favor and don't think of the calories you are consuming. It would just ruin the experience. Just make it for a special occasion and then the calories won't count! ;0)

You can find both of these recipes on Dove chocolate's website.

DOVE CHOCOLATE

Mini Chocolate Coffee Cakes with Caramel Icing

I found this little mini bundt cake pan at Walmart on the clearance rack. I've always wanted to make little mini cakes, so I thought I'd give it a try.

To make the cakes with a coffee flavor, I simply followed the ingredients on the back of a cake mix box except replacing the amount of water with strong brewed coffee. And of course, the stronger the coffee, the stronger the flavor in the cake.

The caramel icing is a recipe I found online. I've never had this type icing before and it was very good. It is a dense icing, but it instantly melts in your mouth when you eat it.

Easy Caramel Icing (makes enough for 24 mini cakes)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

About 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in brown sugar. Cook and stir over low heat 2 minutes. Add milk, continue stirring until boiling. Remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm. Put into small mixer bowl, add sugar and vanilla while beating on medium speed, then beat on low speed for one minute.

Butter Pecan Cake Balls

This was my first attempt at making cake balls. I decided I would try butter pecan cake with cream cheese icing dipped in white chocolate and topped with a pecan. These were a lot of fun to make and they turned out SO moist. They remind me of truffles. One or two of these and you've hit that sweet spot wall. But they are so worth it! I think my next attempt will be a pumpkin spice cake ball with cream cheese icing. Stay tuned!

Fall Leaf Cupcakes

I had some creative brainstorming today that just hit me, so when it strikes, I must act. I had been toying with some ideas to do something for fall and today it came to me.

The cupcakes above are yellow cake with eggplant-colored buttercream icing. The leaves are made of gum paste. I started with adding a golden yellow food coloring gel to the gum paste and then adding brown, blue, and red without mixing all the way to create the marbled color you see. The leaves were cut from a template I created (not a cookie cutter) and veined with a gum paste tool (not a veiner press). Believe me....if I had both of those tools, I would have used them. In the final stage, they were dusted with yellow luster dust to give it a shine. The paper wrappers were made from brown lunch sacks that I cut up and crumpled to provide a nice texture. I wrapped a piece of twine around them and tied it in the back to help them to stay on the cupcake.

I think what's so cool about these cupcakes is that I used ingredients and stuff that I had around the house. Now, not everyone would have gum paste or luster dust, but since I had some leftover from a previous project, it makes it easier. I had so much fun creating these. A lot of hard work but a big payoff in the end.

Margarita Cupcake Recipe

Since so many people have been asking for this recipe, I decided to post it so you guys can make your own margarita cupcakes.

Cupcakes

1 white cake mix (18.25 oz. box - no pudding included in the mix)

1 can (10 oz.) frozen margarita mix, thawed and undiluted

3 egg whites

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tbsp. lime zest

Beat all ingredients together on medium speed with a mixer. Fill 2/3 full in muffin tins (makes 24 cupcakes). Bake at 350º for 22-24 minutes. After a few minutes, take cupcakes out of the muffin tins to continue to cool. Do not leave them in the pans to continue cooling.

Lime Cream Cheese Icing

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp. key lime juice

1 tsp. key lime zest or lemon zest

4-5 cups confectioner's sugar

Beat all ingredients together except for sugar. Then beat in confectioner's sugar 1 cup at a time. I added a little food coloring to my icing to get that limey color to it. Otherwise, icing will be a creamy yellow tint. 

Enjoy!

Margarita Cupcakes

Margaritas and Margarita Cupcakes. Can't get much better than this. I absolutely love these! The cupcake is made from frozen margarita mix, so it tastes just like a margarita. The icing is made from lime juice and cream cheese and is decorated with a ring of sugar and a sour lime candy on the side. Great idea for a party!

My Grandmother's 80th Birthday Cake

My Grandmother was having a party for her 80th birthday over Memorial Day weekend and I was asked to make a cake for her. It was such an honor to make my Grandma's birthday cake. 80 years is a special age and it was a very special day to celebrate. As you can see in the first picture, pink and pink roses was the theme for the cake table. The cake was a half-sheet cake with white cake and snow white buttercream icing. The roses are gumpaste and I added little iridescent stones and pearls to accent them. Her initials on the cake in the center are made from a mixture of gumpaste and fondant and they are brushed with pink luster dust. I will say, it is difficult to travel 3 1/2 hours with a cake....let alone when there is not a toddler sitting next to it. But I am so glad that it got there in one piece. Most importantly, my Grandma loved it and that makes me proud. Happy 80th Birthday, Grandma!!

Fireman Cupcakes

I made these fireman cupcakes for a little boy who was turning 2 this past weekend. I made the platform out of styrofoam and foam core. Each platform was covered in black fabric. Yellow cupcakes with buttercream icing. I made the chocolate fireman hats out of a mold and piped the number "2" on each one. The top white cupcake is of course for the birthday boy. Thanks for looking!

Happy Easter Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my family on Easter weekend. They are lemon cake with lemon cream cheese icing, gum paste daisies and chocolate crosses. Everyone thought these were a big hit and I thoroughly enjoyed making them. A lot of firsts for me. The cupcake wrappers were made from paper doilies you can find at any craft store. Happy Easter!

Tea Party Cake

This was a cake I did for my daughter's 1st birthday party. The theme was a tea party, so I designed the cake to look like table cloths over tables with the tea set on top. The bottom tier was strawberry cake with buttercream icing. The top tier was white cake with buttercream icing. 

Happy Valentine's Day Cake

3 layered strawberry cake with white buttercream icing and covered in white fondant. Sitting on a cake board covered in fondant wrapped in pink ribbon. Plastic pearls strung on thread around the bottom. Fondant bow on top dusted with pink luster dust.

This was a very fun cake to make. It took about 8 hours total from baking the first layer to taking the pictures of it. Some people can't believe that I would spend that much time working on a cake....well, for no one really....except family. But I find this to be so much fun. I am an artist at heart and to work with my hands again is truly exhilarating. I have had a lot of people comment on the bow. I am attaching a video from YouTube that I found on how to create this bow and wanted to share with you all. Hope you enjoy.

Fruit Basket Cake

Yellow cake with chocolate icing, sugared grapes and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Surrounded in Pirouette cookies and wrapped in a gold ribbon. This was a welcome home cake I made for my sister and brother-in-law. Very yummy.

My First Decorated Cake

I made this cake and cupcakes for a family member's birthday. They love hummingbirds, so I decided to design a cake to mimic that. This was my first time covering a cake with fondant. It was a little difficult trying to get it smooth around the sides, so I was kinda glad that my design included the chocolate ribbon around the bottom to hide it. Sometimes you learn as you go.