Chocolate Fondue

This recipe is SO creamy. The peanut butter and cream really thicken it up and make it so yummy. As you can see, I fixed fresh cut strawberries, bananas and pineapple. However, you can dip anything you like in it. Pound cake, brownies, apple slices, oranges, pear slices, cherries and maybe even popcorn. Anything you want dipped in creamy chocolate. 

4 blocks Hershey's Baking Chocolate

1 cup of light cream (or whole cream)

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Heat baking chocolate & cream in a fondue pot or a sauce pan over medium to low heat. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth & well-blended. Add sugar and peanut butter; continue cooking until mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from heat & stir in the vanilla. 

Makes 2 cups.

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. 

Otis Spunkmeyer Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are the most moist homemade muffin recipe that I have found. 

2 cups of fresh blueberries (rinse lightly and drain)

1 package white cake mix

1 package of instant vanilla pudding (4 serving size)

4 eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

3/4 cup of milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Rinse blueberries lightly and drain. In mixing bowl, beat eggs until light. To the eggs, add cake mix, pudding, vegetable oil, vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth but do not over beat. About 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Batter will be thick. Carefully fold blueberries in the batter with a spoon or spatula. Try not to break the berries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes depending upon the size of your muffin cups. Test with a toothpick and taking care not to over bake. 

Will make about 9 large muffins or 12-15 small muffins.

The Cupcake Truck

Recently, I found this cool cupcake site with a very creative flare. It is called "The Cupcake Truck" and it is basically a mobile bakeshop. They are located in New Haven, CT and they fill the cupcake truck with fresh cupcakes every day and ride around like an ice cream truck. I would love to taste their creations since they have yummy-sounding flavors like salted caramel, sweet potato pecan and loco coconut. You can also rent out the truck for parties and other events. Check it out!



The Cupcake Truck

They also have a blog if you are interested in reading.



The Cupcake Truck blog

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

How To Achieve the Perfect Cookie

Perfect Cookies

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Lemon Glazed Blueberry Pound Cake

This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite recipes that I have found. And I have added a small touch to it that really gives it some extra zip. I have made it several times and it was always a big hit. Plus, SO easy to make. My mom had given me some home grown Mississippi blueberries and I used them in this recipe. YUM! The lemon glaze is what I invented to drizzle over the top. It really does give it that extra tang to go with the blueberries.

This pound cake is baked in a tube pan.

Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Cake

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups flour, divided

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 pint fresh blueberries or 2 cups frozen, thawed

Glaze

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325º

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Sift 2 cups flour, salt and baking powder together. Add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture and beat. Dredge berries in remaining flour. Gently fold floured berries into the batter. Grease and dust a tube pan with confectioner's sugar or flour; pour batter into it. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until it tests done.

Once cake has cooled, take out of the pan and place on cake plate. Stir confectioner's sugar together with lemon juice and drizzle over the top of the cooled cake.

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. 

Substitutions

1 cup cake flour = 1 cup minus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar = 1 cup granulated sugar mixed with 2 tbsp. molasses

1 tsp. baking powder = 1/4 tsp. baking soda plus 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup whole milk = 1 cup skim milk plus 2 tbsp. melted butter

1 cup buttermilk = 1 tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup (Stir; let mixture stand 5 minutes).

1 cup sour cream = 1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup honey = 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup water

1 cup molasses = 1 cup dark corn syrup or honey

1/2 cup corn syrup = 1/2 cup granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup water

1 ounce (1 square) unsweetened chocolate = 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa plus 1 tbsp. shortening

1 ounce (1 square) semi-sweet chocolate = 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate plus 1 tbsp. sugar

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips = 6 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped