frogs+bride+groom

 

I work in a preschool during the day and this past week was the last full week before the summer break. So, we had a lot of fun games for the kids to participate in and one was the Last Cupcake Standing.  Each class got to decorate their cupcakes and pick a theme for their class. We had judges (teachers) and each class awarded an award. I think we got Most Creative Use of Ingredients? : ) I made about 100 cupcakes for the whole school (and buttercream) so that all the kids had to do was decorate them. Our class tinted the frosting green and then we used white chocolate disks with a brown M&M for the eyes, and one strand of Twizzlers pull and peel licorice for the smile. My class did frogs:

 

 

I thought they did a great job! Can you tell which one I made…….. : ) My favorite is the one on the bottom that looks like he got in a fight. Preschoolers……. precious : )

 

I also made bride + groom cupcakes for a friend to bring to a wedding rehearsal. I had found a picture of these a while ago and was really looking for a chance to make them so I was so excited when she asked me to make them for her! These were vanilla cupcakes with a buttercream and fresh strawberry filling, AND chocolate cupcakes with chocolate mousse cupcakes. The mousse actually was more pudding-like but it was still yummy. Then they were topped with fondant pieces to look like a tuxedo and wedding dress.

 

I had a lot of fun with these and I really took my time with the pearls and the tuxedo piece but it was SO hot in my apartment that the fondant was sweating so I had to move fast! It was surprisingly easy to make the fondant pieces– it just took me a little while to really get the dresses perfect. I used a biscuit cutter to make the white circles, then used the top of a heart cookie cutter to make it look like the neckline of a wedding dress. The pearls, although beautiful once they were in place, were painstakingly put onto a tiny tiny tiny dot of buttercream with tweezers! The tuxedos were way easier : ). I cut out black circles and then used a paring knife to cut out a triangle, then placed tiny black fondant dots on it for the buttons.   I made 2 dozen:

They look pretty cute all lined up don’t they?

This picture is my favorite! Notice the funky background…..(that’s one of my aprons actually)….. trying to experiment with photography… looks sophisticated…. yea!!!

PS. I just wanted to thank everybody who has looked at my blog and sent me comments or emails. I love hearing from you and I appreciate all your support!!! xoxoxo

UP NEXT: cupcakes in NYC and the Cake Boss?!?!?!?

Oh Minnie!!!

Minnie mouse!!! These cupcakes came out so precious I was so excited about them! I made them for a first birthday party. They were chocolate and vanilla with buttercream frosting with fondant accents. So I started with the fondant bows:

I was pretty impressed with how easy they were to make because usually I struggle with the bigger bows. But the little ones are sooo much easier!
Ok so then I baked them and piped frosting and then used mini oreos as the ears

yummy…..it took me a little bit to get them perfect but it was worth it. Look!!

I love them! I made 6 dozen. Whoa.

Random note: every time I hear the word “Minnie” I always have Sharon Osbourne in my head saying “oh minn-ay!” to her dog in her glorious high pitched English accent. Ok one more

A little obsessed. Oh I also practiced with my photography

Thats on a wine glass! Black forest cupcakes with a chocolate glaze and whipped cream frosting. Here’s one that winks at ya

Lots of pics in this post!!
UP NEXT: frogs and a bride and groom

Cleaning out the pantry

In my attempt to start preparing for the big move to NYC, I decided to clean out the pantry and use up what I could. I made muffins and cookies. Observe:

These were blueberry muffins that were luscious and gorgeous. I topped them with a light sugar/cinnamon sprinkle that gave them such a sweet taste. A success!
Ok then I decided to experiment with ingredients and made cranberry muffins with flax seed and WW (whole wheat) flour:

They look like craters……the crumble topping exploded a bit… But they actually tasted good! Not too sweet but a nice breakfast option.
And now for the cookies: chocolate chip with toasted almonds

Super delish! I got the recipe from a Williams Sonoma cookbook. I toasted the almonds before adding them to the batter and that really made them scrumptious. I’ve also decided that I need to work on my photography and presentation skills. Last weekend I went dizzy looking up other cake blogs to see what else is out there and everybody’s pictures look professional!! So I need to kick it up a notch. I tried to recreate the beautiful and perfect Williams Sonoma picture:

And mine came out like this:

Yeaaaaaaa. Maybe its the blue milk….at least they tasted good! I have to play around with my camera I think too.
Ok thats it for now. Minnie cupcakes are up next for real this time! I leave you with my new coping strategy:

space cake + lemon cupcakes

So, this past weekend I made 2 things: a space cake for a birthday party, and lemon cupcakes for Memorial Day. Here is the space cake:

Birthday cake for Bella

The inside was chocolate cake with a buttercream and fresh strawberry filling. It was pretty de-lish if I do say so myself! It was very moist because the strawberry juice was a little leaky….. The spaceship on top is a decorated sugar cookie–the planet and the stars are fondant (store bought). I tried making the fondant to cover the cake myself instead of buying it already made, but boy was it a sticky mess! It didn’t really come out so I had to do blue buttercream (not my strongest suit) and I forgot to take a picture of the sticky fondant!!! I’m still getting the hang of this blog thingy so bear with me : ).

On Monday, I wanted to make something refreshing and light for our Memorial Day BBQ so I decided lemon!

 

Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcake

I made them kinda plain but cute. It’s a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting and some yellow sprinkles. The recipe is actually a white cake mix that you doctor up with lemon pudding mix to make it super moist. They were very tasty and very moist! Like spongy moist… Yummm.

 

When they came out of the oven they were beautiful and I was sooo happy because it was a new recipe. But then once they cooled they looked like this:

whyyyyyyyyyyy

I was like ah!! they’re all wrinkly!! But I made it work and they came out pretty darn cute  : )

Lemon cuteness

 

UP NEXT: Minnie Mouse Cupcakes