Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Army Tank Cake




Here is my newest cake I have made. This was made for a friends, son's eleventh birthday.





Everything on this cake is edible, except the army men.


I carved this cake out of two 9x13 cakes. All chocolate.


Love how detailed it turned out, with the sand and tracks. It was a huge hit!
Stay tuned for May. I have 4 cakes on the list to make!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Spring Cupcakes

Every holiday we bake tons of sugar cookie cutouts and spend hours of fun decorating them. Well, this Easter we decided to look through some old recipes I had saved and never tried. We came across these adorable, little spring cupcakes and couldn't resist.



My little helpers- still in jammies and patiently watching the cupcakes bake. :p



We couldn't help making one tray covered in sprinkles. Thats the best part right?


These cupcakes are easy to make. You whip up the batter then divide it in half, one half you make chocolate and the other half remains vanilla.


I love the colors!

Recipe:

Makes 24-36 cupcakes
Prep 15 minutes
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons canola oil (use vegetable if that what you have)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar (I had to use more, my frosting was a little too soft)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Assorted pastel food colorings
1. In a small bowl, blend cocoa powder and oil until smooth. Set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners into cupcake pans. In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
2. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light-colored and smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add flour mixture, alternating with milk. Stir in vanilla. Divide batter in half. Stir cocoa mixture into one half. Spoon both batters into prepared liners.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove and let cool on wire rack.
4. Frosting: Beat butter, sugar, milk and vanilla on low speed to blend, then on high speed for 2 minutes, until good consistency. Divide frosting into bowls and tint to desired colors. Transfer frosting to plastic bags and snip off one corner. Pipe in swirled pattern onto cooled cupcakes.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Easter Topiary


This is a cute little spring topiary I made. This took a total of about 10 minutes and cost... are you ready? Only $7.00!!! I bought everything at the dollar tree. I have a sofa table centered on a big wall of ours that gets a lot of attention this fits in perfect. I think it looks adorable!
My inspiration came from all my friends that have been making these lately. They seem to be very popular so I jumped on the ban wagon.
To make: I bought a planter, floral Styrofoam block, moss, eggs that were already attached to skewers, I broke a stick off one of the trees in my backyard, tied a ribbon on, then covered a Styrofoam ball with fake flowers. Yes, it was that easy!
My next step is to make one that is universal and then package little pieces that can be added for each holiday/season. For example, shamrocks for St. Patty's day, red/white/blue for the forth of July... you get the picture.
I will definitely be making another one of these as a gift for our Easter dinner guests.
Thanks for lookin'!