Zoey's Delights

Cake pops

2011-12-13T17:22:00.000-08:00

Cake Pops fit for Princess Kiara! Happy 5th Birthday sweetie.

Craft Fair.. Cake Pops

2011-11-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

My display come to life..

My Workers for the weekend.

And they sold a LOT of cake pops.. 437 to be exact!! Great Job Team Cake Pops!

Pictures from the Craft Fair..

2011-11-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Cake Pops.. Cake Pops!! Tons of Cake Pops.. 470 to be exact!

Cherry Chip.. My new Fav.!!

Todd is Hired.. he is my sculpture!

Olivia Cake

2011-10-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hmm.. I got to buy some tools I had been wanting for awhile with this cake.. A flower maker.. Its like a cookie cutter with a plunger.. and very tiny.. took me a few tries to figure out how to make them like I wanted the flowers to be.. but it was worth it.. Loved the flowers on this cake.. The bow.. first time for bow making too.. and of coures I had to add disco dust to all the red gumpaste and fondant flowers.. What's life with out a little sparkle! Happy Birthday Korinna!

Slumber Party Time

2011-10-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

A little something for the girls that are coming over tonight for a slumber party!!

And of course I could not miss out on making one for the Boy!

Monster Energy Drink Cake

2011-09-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

I must say. Once this cake was done I loved the monster gooo on the sides.. The green made this cake!!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Off to the Fair

2011-09-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

Every year we go to the Tillamook Fair with my mom.. this year I decided to enter a cake. The theme of the fair was "Something to Crow About".. So I took that and ran with it. The cake was designed around the rooster crowing!! I really liked the way the seeds made the plowed field pop! And thanks to my Husband Todd who made all the animals out of gumpaste.. I would not have been able to do that.. So now he is my official Hired sculpturer!

I took 1st place and had an aditional award for a best in show.. :) very happy.

Cup Cakes for Eva

2011-09-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to do this design for some time now.. The cookie initial on a cupcake. I loved how they turned out!

For a Special Daughter

2011-09-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

Our first Daughter Zoey was Stillborn at 38 and 4 days. Every year on her birthday we do something special as a family and I bake something special. This year was cake pops.

Happy 7th Birthday Zoey. We love you.

Father's Day Treats

2011-06-20T15:56:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite things to make for Fathers Day. They are easy and so yummy.

This year I decided that the big burgers needed to have babies! And they are ohhh so cute.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. Wish I could send all of you some of these!!

Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes

2011-06-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

I will admit I have not had the best of luck with Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book. I have tried 5 different cupcakes out of her book and they all turn out differently then pictured or how I think they should taste. So I decided to give one more recipe a try. And to my surprise these little guys were heaven. I loved their taste and the peanut butter in the middle was awesome! The frosting is my own whip it together creation which went perfect with this cupcake.

So I am sure I will try some other recipes of her's again soon!

Graduation Goodies

2011-06-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

So what do you make with all this candy??.. Some yummy stuff!! That's what!!

Too a great year of Kindergarten

Baileys Irish Cream

2011-06-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Now when I went in to get the regular Baileys I use a lot in baking I saw this.. WOW, who knew they came in different flavors.. I sure didn't. So since the cake I was making had caramel in it, I chose to get this one and see how it tasted.

So this is the Baileys Irish cream chocolate cake, with Caramel filling and caramel on top!!

And this is what it looks like when you cut into it.. Look at all that yummy gooey Caramel.. Ahhhh.. I am in love with this cake. I was going to do a six layer one, but quite at 4.. and glad I did. This cake was huge.

Next stop will be to the decorette shop for professional 8" cake pans. I do not like the wilton ones I used for this cake..

Cake Pops

2011-06-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

A very good friend of mine, Kelly, gave me the cake pop book this xmas.. So I decided I needed to put it to use.. Practice Practice.. is what I need when It comes to chocolate. Getting the temp right, how to make it smoother, just basic stuff like that. I have always kept the cake pops I do pretty simple. So for a bit, I plan on making different ones from the book to get in the practice I need.

Thanks Kelly!!

Cup Cake Tower

2011-05-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Birthday Cake for a Friend.

2011-05-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

So since I found a caramel recipe I liked.. I had to make it again the next day and try it out as a filling for a cake. Decided to spruce it up a bit and put Milk Chocolate shavings around the outside of the cake. Note to self.. Do this part before decorating the top! Made it a little hard to watch the top and get the chocolate to stick to the outside. This is a four layer Double Chocolate, Caramel filling and Caramel top cake! Yummmmy..

I love the fact that my friends are willing to let me experiment on them! Thanks guys.

Little Cakes in an Ice Cream Cup!

2011-05-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try my hand in making Caramel Filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Sea Salt on top. I could not find any holders I liked and ran across these Ice Creamm Cups at Jo Anns.. Well I decided to give it a go and see if they would bake ok in these cuties. And they did. They baked up perfect. I also decided to try out making home make Caramel filling. Oh boy.. The first batch I burnt.. Yikes.. Then quickly put it under cold water and the entire thing hardened up like a rock inside my pan. Very funny after I figured out It would come out with hot water! But then I learned my lesson.. Add the correct stuff in the correct order. LOL So the second batch was heaven.. Love the recipe I found for the caramel. Who knew it was so easy to make caramel.

A little birdie told me they wanted to try these.. I might just have to make another batch for a Memorial Day BBQ we are going too.. hmmmm???

Princess Cakes for Two cuties

2011-04-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Howling Wolf Cake and Cupcakes

2011-04-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

This was my first try at stamping food coloring on Gum Paste. Loved it.. the possibilities are endless now

Happy B-day Moriah!

2011-02-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

Ok.. So this would be my first Ballerina cake. I had free range on what to do.. I went back and forth with designs.. went thru about 5 because for the life of me I could not find a ballerina. Anywhere! But finally as a last resort went into Hallmark and found one in the ornament area from xmas.. What a find.. not only pink with crown, but blonde hair for the birthday girl.

It was also my first time using the Cricut Cake cutter.. (thanks Dominique!) boy o boy.. I learned a lot with it. One.. never use there pre done frosting sheets. They are paper thin, the frosting color comes thru the sheets and hard to work with. Next time I will use gum paste and roll it out myself.

All in all, it was a fun cake to do.. and the reaction of the Birthday girl was priceless.. well worth the time and all the re-designing of this cake.

I love the crown topper!

Barbie Cake

2010-11-08T06:39:00.000-08:00

My girls were so excited when they saw this cake. It was one of 4 cakes made in my class!!

Cant wait for the next series of classes to start in Jan.

Dakota turns 16

2010-11-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

My nephew Dakota turned 16 last month and I was asked to do the cake.. I jumped at the chance since this is the first big cake I have been asked to do.. A half sheet.. And boy was it big. And heavy. 4 full cakes are sitting there on that board.

Happy Birthday Dakota..

Baby shower

2010-11-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine is having a baby and she asked me to make a few mini cupcakes for her shower. the theme was... yes.. red and white.. I will just say now.. I can not shoot white things. My camera and I were not getting along this day. I love how the little baby chocolates came out.

I enjoyed making these. Cant wait to see the new baby girl when she arrives.

14 layer cake

2010-09-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is what my kitchen counter looked like.. 8 cake pans ready to go. I used round cut out wax paper to fit the bottom of the pans.. I use this a lot when baking breads.. but never with cakes.. saw it in the recipe and thought it was a good idea. I will used this now with all my cakes. It makes it so much easier to get the cake out of the pan. No worries that it will stick.

I use regular pam to spray the bottoms of each pan first. Then put the wax paper down on that so it will stick and stay in place. Also I love using....... wait for it........ PAM for baking.. LOVE IT. when I don't have my quick release for cakes I reach for this. Works great everytime.. and for greasing down 14 pans its a must have. Made the moring go much faster.

This is what my counter looked like with layers of cake cooling. I did not even have enough racks to cool everything down. But they cooled fast and as soon as the last batch came out I was ready to start putting the cake together.

With one daughter looking and watching..

Now the stacking starts. Glaze... Layer... Glaze.. Layer..

14 layers

2010-09-16T06:32:00.000-07:00

after putting the glaze on, this is what it looks like.. a huge stack of pancakes that are shiney!! not too pretty.

So chocolate frosting went on the outside to even everything up and make it look nicer. Now I am at small group.. I had to wait all day to see what the inside would look like.. :) I wanted to cut into it so bad.. As soon as we got there I was reaching for the knife to cut.

Now.. imagine.. :) pink borders around the bottom and top.. with hearts out of frosting on the side.. now see me scraping it all off!! yup.. I did not like how it looked and the hearts looked... well... like poo. So I just could not stand it and took it all off.. re-frosted it and left it plain.

I was excited to cut it open.. I had no idea if it would hold up its form.. Well it did.. :)

Looks pretty cool.. taste.. well again honestly.. kind of bland.. I think the glaze needed to be sweeter.. So next time I will change it up a bit. :)

this is where you can get the recipe if you want to try it out. http://www.oprah.com/food/The-Smith-Familys-12-Layer-Cake

All Aboard!

2010-07-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the J.D. Express.. ALL ABOARD!

My son turn 1 this last week. This is the train cake I made for him. His gift this year was the Geo Trax train set.

This would be my first "Boy" cake.. And it was very hard not to girl it up with some flowers. But I controlled myself and kept it boyish.
Happy birthday baby boy!

Luau Cake

2010-07-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is the second luau cake I have done. These I love doing. No fondant and just tons of fun. I had seen this out of a parent magazine and changed it up just a bit. Loved the little huts. And they were very simple to make. Starbursts and mini wheat. Sour green staws for the tree's, green licorice for the seaweed, nerds and jelly beans for the bottom rocks. The sand is shortbread cookies. Yummy!

Happy Birthday Eva!!

Father's Day Cupcakes

2010-06-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

We had 20 minutes tops to put these together. We sent Todd on a popcorn run and Eva and I got the stash of baked goods out. She was very excited to be able to help with one of my baking projects. And she did a great job also. These are made out of cupcakes (with a little brown coloring added to the batter) and brownies for the beef part. Then just colored icing. And white pearls for the top. Super easy to make. Todd loved them.

Beavers or Ducks??

2010-06-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

I am making these for our church's youth group. They are having a bake sale and they asked me to do them. I went through all my candies.. I needed a reason to organize them. They had become a big mess everywhere in my cabinet. So.. I found these cute little ducks and decided to do ducks and beaver pops on a few of them. Sorry. No little beavers but I did find black and orange candies. I will have to do the beaver ones different next time.. I am thinking on that one!

I love these flowers. They came out nice and bright!

Flower Cake Pops

2010-05-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Just experimenting with different ways to make flowers with cake pops!

Easter

2010-04-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

Had a bit of fun with these cupcakes. The girls could not wait to eat them.

Also working with my light box... Ahhhhhh I need more light from the other direction.

Slumber Party Cupcakes

2010-03-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

My two daughters had a slumber party over spring break. So I had to make these cupcakes from the Hello Cupcake book.

I would have to say, using canned icing is just not the way to go. Even though I know they swear they use it in the book. I have my doubts. It just does not hold up. Also.. I found salt water taffy works great for the blankets. Wow.. it rolls nice. And it comes in a zillion colors. I tried Air heads also.. They have just a few colors. But bright.

I had fun adding my own touches.. The bows were my favorite. I must say, I really enjoyed making these. And the look on all the girls faces when they saw them was priceless.

Slumber Party Treats

2010-03-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ok.. so I was trying to make the boy one.. boy I almost peed my pants when I stepped back and looked at this one.. Way to funny.. Need to have the eyes a little different. In the book the boy has a ghost book on his blanket. So he is suppose to be scarred.. But not freaky looking..LOL

And of course, for those of you who know me.. I had to do one of me in Pink and Brown.

St. Patty's Day

2010-02-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

I have had this in my mind for a while.. Had to make it a reality. Everything is better on a stick. I wanted to use my best tasting Dove Chef Chocolate on a cookie. And I do mean best chocolate ever! So I came up with a Peanut butter filled cookie held together with chocolate. Had no clue if it would work.. But, it did. It was a little hard to get the peanut butter mixture I use for my home made peanut butter cups to spread where I wanted it to, but I figured out if I use the back of a baby spoon, I get it just in the right spots.

It passed the taste test with the girls.

Now all nice and wrapped up pretty for delivery to my "Official Taste Tester's" :) Enjoy! I know I did.

Flower Power

2010-02-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Had to take a bite... Just to taste!!

Packaged up all pretty for the Birthday Girl.

Fairy Cake

2010-02-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

This was my first Cupcake Cake.. I loved doing this one..

Fairy Cake

2010-02-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

I was given two fairy's to design this cake around. I had about a month to really think about what I wanted to do. I was very excited to have pretty much free range on this one. I think I went through three different sketches before I got down what I wanted it to look like. I think I changed my mind a dozen times on what kind of flowers to use. :)

The prep. I thru in lady bugs at the last minute. I loved how they turned out. I did not want to color red fondant so I happened to have red spice drop in my candies for cakes and thought I would try it out.. Loved it.

This was the start.. I was so nervous to start it. But once I did.. there was no stopping me.

And of course I had to throw in a dragon fly!

v-day treats

2010-02-14T11:09:00.000-08:00

I have had this chocolate for awhile, but just have not found anything to use it on.. Then I saw how to make choc. hearts on a Regis and Kelly the other day.. Thought I would try it out. Then decided they work better on sticks!

The girls picked out the sprinkle to go on top. And they got to help decorate. This is a great project for kids to help out with.

And of course they love to eat what they made!

v-day treats

2010-02-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

The girls loved helping with these. They got to put the sprinkles on.

Valentine Cake Pops

2010-02-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

My daughter has a Valentine Party for preschool this week so I decided to have some fun with the cake pops. Finally, I have figured out wilton's melts.. They are always so thick.. but I got the chocolate to thin down and was able to dip the tops of the cake pops much easier this time around.

I will have to make pastel ones for easter! Fun Fun. Now I just need to figure out a cute design for St. Patricks day.

Fondant Cupcakes

2010-02-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

I decided to have some fun today with fondant. I was making cupcakes and decided to hold out a few and do some fancy ones for Valentines day for the girls.

I love being able to get out all my gadgets and play a bit when the girls are at preschool and the boy is down for a nap. I did not have a ton of time today, but I nocked out a few.

Oh.. I had so decided I need to buy a light box asap, or google on how to make one.

Valentine Cupcakes

2010-02-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

what else.. I had to do one with a dragonfly on it! :)

Rose Cupcakes

2010-02-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

I love working with pixie dust.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

2009-11-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

My daughter just turned three and this was the cake I made for her. I have to admit. I really love this cake.. I think the more I make and work with fondant the more fun I have.

This time half of the cake is made with the Marshmellow fondant I made. I usually just by fondant, mainly because it is easier and the only time I tried to make it , it was a huge mess in my kitchen. So I decided to do it a little diffenently this time (in my mixer) and it worked out well. Tatses so much better.

What will I do next. ??

Fit for a princess!

2009-06-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

My daughter Eva had her first princess party this week. She turned 4. So I decided to try my hand at a castle cake.

I started out by making the flowers in advance. Love this method.. They are made out of royal icing. They dry hard in about 8 hours. I sprinkled them with pixie dust. You can tell but they are very sparkly.

The towers were a little more of a challenge. I used white fondant wrapped around cardboard (from a wrapping paper center) Let it dry over night and it was ready to work with. I cut out circles for the tower tops, "glued" them on with corn syrup. Then used powdered shimmer dust with vodka mixed together to form a paint, to paint the tops. I also dusted them with the pixie dust to give them extra glitter.

Then it was time to put everything together. this part was the fun part. Making vines where ever you want and sticking the flowers on the vines also can cover up any fondant wrinkles!! I left the towers off till right before the party.. Note to self.. Put wood dowls in the middle of the towers so they don't lean or fall off when transporting it to the table for candle time!! LOL thank god I had already gotten a few pictures of it.

All in all.. I LOVE this cake.. I was sad to have to cut into it. And very sad to toss the towers after the party. I did save the bottom of the towers though.. I have another cake to make on tues. for my first daughters birthday and I am going to reuse them for a purple castle cake. this time no fondant though.. I am going to try it out with just frosting.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

2009-05-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well I search on line to figure out how to dip strawberries in choc. Thought it would be simple.. just dip them in melted chocolate.. Nope nothing is ever easy if you want them to be just right.. You have to wash them, then dry them 100%.. no water anywhere can be on the berries.. This will cause the chocolate to seize.. And they must be room temp. I used just regular milk chocolate and tempered it. Then it was ready to dip. Then to get the berries to not have that flat part... yup.. you have to stick them onto toothpicks and then stick the toothpick into styrofoam board. And a side note.. put them in the fridge only to set the chocolate.. do not let them sit over night!! My mistake.. they will start to form condensation on the berries and chocolate.. :( next time I will know better!

But they looked just fine once on my cake stands.

Baily's Irish Cream Pie

2009-05-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

I make this every year for St. Patty's day. But this week I whipped out two of them. One as a thank you.. And one for the hubby.. He is very tired of me making desserts and giving them away. This recipe is very easy.. Again.. One I can make in my sleep.
1. envelope of unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
2-8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
8 ounce whipped topping, thawed
1/4 plus 2 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
Garnish, whatever you would like.
Place water in pan. Sprinkle gelatin over the top and let stand for 1 minute. Cook on low for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Mix cream cheese and sugar in mixer. blend well. Should be nice and creamy as seen below.

Gradually add gelatin mixture and the Baily's. Gently fold in the whipped topping. Put into pie crust.. (graham cracker crust tastes best)

Then garnish it with whatever fruit you would like.. or maybe drizzle chocolate over the entire thing.. I thought about that, but did not have any chocolate on hand today! That would taste really good with the baily's!!

I was not happy with just one strawberry. So on the one I gave away, I put strawberries all over!! Much prettier I should say.

This pie is very very rich.. refrigerate for about 2 hours to let set up really well.. Then scrap the bowl you just used and eat that while you wait!! It is sooooo goooood!!

St. Patty's Day treats

2009-05-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

I decided to head off to the Decorette shop for some advice.. I have not been able to melt my chocolate very well for some reason.. Well come to find out.. You can not put color in white chocolate unless you use Flo-Coat.. Becuase the color is water base.. it will seize your choc. or make it really thick and not very managable. So I went home to try out the new Guittard Chocolates.. Which are easy to melt.. No more microwave. Just boil some water.. take it off the stove and put the chocolates in a bowl on top of the steaming water.. It takes a while longer but the chocolates are easier to work with.

This is a really cute way to make your own "pot of gold". 6X6 inch square.. crease every two inches.. fold and cut.. then staple. I added the pipe cleaner for the gold part and put goodies in it for the teachers at Eva's school.

for the kids at her school.. They all got Cake pops. Eva and Kia painted the Shamrocks and then I paper punch holes in the pot of gold and shamrock to slide the cake pop in. To make these yummy cake pops you can go check out Bakerella.blogspot.com. She has some great stuff on her site.. I love it.

Cheesecake

2009-05-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, I really need to start blogging a little more on this site.. I have taken a ton of pics of things but have not made it to the actual blogging part.. This was a thank you for a church staff member.. He set up the gym for us for the tea.. And did more than we asked him to do..

This is a no bake cheesecake I can make in my sleep.. I have made this forever.. This is one of those I really do not measure to much.. But you can easily make it!! Cream 1 Cream cheese box, with sugar.. 1/2 to 3/4 cup.. taste to make sure it is sweet enough for you.. cream long enough to make sure the sugar is mixed and not gritty. slap in a few tablespoons of sour cream.. or you can also leave this out.. if you add the sour cream make sure you add the 3/4 cup sugar.. this really just makes it creamier!! it really all depends on if I happen to have sour cream in the fridge.. cream all together with a little splash of vanilla.. then hand fold in the whipped topping.. 1 8oz tub. The crust in not homemade.. I had three of these to make that day.. so it was from the store! Put in fridge for awhile and then serve.. Put any kind of fruit on top for decoration. There you go!! simple and takes only about 15 minutes to whip together!!

St. Patty's Day sugar cookies

2009-03-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I saw this done on Martha stewart. I have tried it once and wanted to try it one more time before I decided if I liked it or not. I would have to say if you want really pretty cookies.. do not use the squeeze bottle. Use the bag and tip. Maybe with some more practic I will like it better. I would let my kids decorate this way though. Much easier for them. And less mess for you.

In the end, you just cant get much details using the squeeze bottle. I think it is due to the tip. It is just to big. And does not lay the icing very smooth.

But hey, My girls love them.. So that is all that matters.

Valentine Petite Fours

2009-02-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

I decided to make Petite Fours for my MOPS meeting this Friday. They are easy and pretty fast to make.

Bake any cake on a cookie sheet. I used a pampered chef one.. I like using the cookie sheet stone when doing this cake. Bake at 325 or 350 for only 15 or so minutes.. just watch it carfully.

Let it cool. Then frost it.. Use buttercream frosting though.. this batch I used canned frosting and it just starts to melt way to fast compared to the buttercream from scratch. Put wax paper over the top of the frosting to smooth out frosting. Wrap in plastic wrap, then freeze over night.

The paper will come right off.

Cut the sides to even make everything straight.

Then take a good knife and heat under water for a few seconds, wipe clean, then start cutting. I have to clean my knife and re-heat it every few cuts.

I used wilton melts for the coating. Just microwave at 50% till melted. Be carefull not to seize the chocolate. Heat it only for 1 minute at a time.

I use my cooling rack to place the petit fours on to dry. I switched to wax paper after my cakes started to stick to the rack. Not sure what was going on. I have never had this problem..

The let your daughter eat the left over chocolate.. She loved this!!And then wrap in pretty papers and give away as gifts!!

Chocolate sugar cookies

2009-01-29T15:52:00.000-08:00

Ok.. So I wanted to try out some chocolate sugar cookies for Valentines day. I love how they look. Not sure on the recipe. I think I need to try a few more before I decide on one. The colors just pop on these dark cookies though!

Valentine cookies

2009-01-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

I decided to start practicing for Valentines day. Also I am hosting a MOPS moms night out and this is what I am teaching the moms to do. Decorate cookies. Since it is in Feb. I thought Hearts would be perfect.

I tried a new technique with the making the heart in the actual dredging part of the cookie. It was really easy!! Love this effect.

Bread or Cookies??

2009-01-14T15:57:00.000-08:00

So I was in the baking mood today. Made some sugar cookies, then looked at the banana's I had in the fruit basket.. They looked pretty sad. So I decided to make banana bread.. then I thought.. oooohhh I have some chocolate chips. I should add those to the loaf.. Then I took it a step further and decided to see if they would hold up in cookie form. And what do you know?? They did!

I only made 6 at first on the silpat.. Then I let Eva try one!! LOL I too tried one.. I was pretty impressed that they tasted really good. And they were done all the way through.

I used a Med. pampered chef scoop to scoop them out onto the silpat. That way they are all the same size.

I had to keep checking on them. Not knowing how long to cook them.. I started at 10 minutes.. Then kept having to come back to them every 2 minutes.. They finally looked done at 19 minutes.. So I would say the time is between 18 to 20 minutes..

The big three O!!

2008-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

I made this cake for my freind Tina who turned 30 in Dec.

This design came from a balloon.

Turkey's Turkey's

2008-11-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed doing this one with the kids.. I had a friend come over and help.. We had 4 kids helping and eating all the candy!

All you need is Oreo's, Candy Corn, Woppers, Resses Peanut Butter cup (mini) and frosting. White and Brown. I had a friend send me a link to The crafty Crow that had these goodies on there site. I decided to give them a try.

You use the frosting to glue all the pieces on. I used brown frosting to glue everything together. Dont push to hard on the candy corn or you will split the cookie apart.. I used brown frosting on top of the white filling to increase the hold on the candy corn. They stuck in there easier. Then put the cup and the wopper on.

I used white frosting to put the beak on then pipe the eyes with white and a little dot for the color of the eyes. Instead of pipping orange frosting on for the feet I cut the orange part of the candy corn and used that for the feet.

They were fun to make. The kids enjoyed the final product.. And all the parts of the product!!

Corral cake and horse cupcakes.

2008-11-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

This year Kiara seems to be into horses. So I decided to do a the horse cupcakes I saw in the book "Hello Cupcake" and then I came up with doing a corral for a cake. O-boy did I take on a project.. First I could not find, ANYWHERE, the white circus peanuts that they use in the book. I could have ordered them on line but did not have the time, nor did I want to spend the money it would have cost to order one small bag!! So I was lucky enough, after looking everywhere in my home town, to find the orange circus peanuts at Freddies... Just to let you know.. Fred meyers is the ONLY place around that carries them. So I had to dip them in white melted chocolate to get them white... it actually was pretty easy once I figured out a day or two before how to do it. It took a couple of tries. I tried just dipping them, then putting them on the waffer.. but that did not work to well. So I put them on the waffer (with melted chocolate) then dipped them.. much much easier.. On the side of the wafers is chocolate with sprinkles. Then I used melted choc. instead of frosting for the eyes.. that way I could grab onto the heads with out worring about the eyes and nose.

Then the assembly stared.. I had to do one at a time from this point on.. They went pretty fast though. You cut the cupcake then stick the waffer in all the way to the bottom.

Then comes the ears and hair between the ears. I used a size 3 tip and bag to do this part. I dont like using the ziplock method that they use in "Hello Cupcake" I am so used to using my bags it is just easier for me to use them. Then comes the mane down the back.. pretty much just dots and you pull back to make them stand up a little.. I did three lines.. one down the middle then two down each side on the corner of the waffer. Then just put a few "spots" on the horse and sprinkle jimmies on them.

Next comes the tail.. I tried just making them by melting chocolate then pouring it onto wax paper in the shape of a tail. But they ended up being to fat the first one I tried, the cupcake almost split in half.. So I went with the pretzel. I went through a whole bag just to get the correct part that I needed..!! I would get almost the right piece then it would break on me.. Hello cupcake does not tell you that!! But I managed to get enough for 12 cupcakes.
Then came the corral.. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted it to look like. And I must say, it does look like how I wanted it to.. But it took forever! I used the round waffers, I cant remember what they are called right now.. But they come in several different flavors.. I used vanilla. They were very heavy to use for this project.. I think that is why it took so long. The melted chocolate would have to harded completly before I could let go!! I broke several pieces off as I was putting another on.. ohhhhhh... as you can see I even tried the condensed air to try and freeze it quiker.. did not help much..
But then finally at midnight that night I got it completed!! I used fondant for the sign and edible ink for the writting.. Love the edible ink!!!

Todd was nice enough to make the trough for me from fondant.. I used pipping gel for the water.. then I added the chip strips for the hay.

Kia loved them when she saw them.. It made it worth all the hard work.

Craft Fair for MOPS

2008-11-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

So... The craft fair has come and gone.. It was a huge success for M.O.P.S. . It was also a lot of work.. Tina and I are going to take a week to recover I think. We were there at the church all day.. every day for three full days.. My feet have never hurt so bad. Anyway.. Our bake sale table went very well.. These are the things I donated for the table.

Eva has yet to see the princess sucker!! I have two made and at home for some special treat sometime soon.

My flower sugar cookies I can now do in my sleep.. But I do love to make these.

And ofcourse the cupcake pops.. With my label on them!! :) I had three people ask for cards.. I should have made some! I am now going to order some asap!!

And something new for me.. Chocolate pretzels.. I have done some in the past but not with molds.. Tina gave me this mold and I had to try it out the same day she gave it to me last week.. So I made a few for the craft fair.. Next year I want to do xmas ones.. They sold fast..

Congrat's Cake

2008-10-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

Well this is my first paying job.!! It is a 12x12 cake and I would say a little over 4 inches tall.. Two layer, chocolate cake with chocolate filling. I used an edible pen to do the small writing in the middle. The design is from the arm patch that the McMinnville officers wear on their uniform. The patch itself is made out of fondant.. Had to use it.. I needed the smooth texture to get it to look like I wanted it to look. The # in the middle is his badge No.

Zoey's Birthday

2008-10-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

I love making cake pops. These were for our daughter Zoey's heavenly birthday on June 24th this year..

the put the cake pops in cream filled cupcakes.. which those I can make in my sleep.

Eva's Birhtday cake

2008-10-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

I just came across this cake I made for her actual birthday. It was my first fondant cake! It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. Too bad she was sick on her birthday.. we did not get to eat it for two days after her birthday.

Eva's Second Birthday cake.. 2007

2008-10-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of the first, really fun cakes I made... I loved making the little bears with swim suits on them.. Just everything on this cake came together well..

Kiara's 1st Birthday cake

2008-10-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

This was Kiara's first birthday cake.. I loved how this came out.. Ofcourse... Pink and brown.. Now that her birthday is coming up again.. I am trying to figure out what kind of cake to make her!!

Baby shower cake

2008-09-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten about this cake.. I made it for Randi and Josh's baby shower at my friends Jenny's house.. (that would be her brother and sister inlaw's baby shower she was throwing) This was a full chocolate cake with chocolate filling. I would have loved to have done this in fondant.. But it still looks pretty good.

Baby Shower Cake and Cupcakes

2008-09-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

We had a MOPS steering meeting today and I was asked to make a baby shower cake for one of the mom's (stacie) who is due in a few days.. I was excited to be able to try a few more things.. this is my second fondant cake. The flowers are also out of fondant with silver dragee's in the middle. I love the way it all came out.. I would have to say this is my favorite cake so far..

I am going to have to put these cake stands on my christmas list!! I had to borrower these from Jen!.. Thanks Jen.

Rose cake

2008-09-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten about this cake I had made awhile back for Kameo's family. It was only for practice. I wanted to try vines with roses and rossettes. I need to make another one, but on a much smaller scale.. this thing was HUGE..

Chocolate Cream Cheese Mini's

2008-09-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

I have been toying with what to put into these chocolate cup molds I bought. Thought I would try my no bake cream cheese filling I make. I put crushed graham crackers in the bottom of them and them pipped in the filling and drizzled chocolate over the top.. they came out pretty good. I need to work on the chocolate getting to thick on the bottom of the cups. I also put the filling in between two graham crackers and froze them.. Those turned out yummy also. But these look prettier! :)

Still trying to come up with a name for them.. hmmmm...

Sugar cookies

2008-08-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so not only did I decided to play around with trying another sugar cookie recipe today, but I also decided to play around with my camera. :)

I love this doggy cookie!!

Signature Petite Fours

2008-08-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

This is the third batch of petite fours I have made in the last week. I finally got the mixture right so it hardens up. I still think I will play with it a little more to make them better.

I have decided on this as my "signature" for these goodies.. :) I have noticed all petite fours have some kind of signature on them.

Flower Cookies

2008-08-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite cookies to make.. They turn out great. They are made with Fondant and royal icing.

These were also for a Tea Party.

cupcakes

2008-08-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

I made these for a friends daughters birthday Tea.. I can make these in my sleep now.. I have made them several times.. They are cream filled mini cupcakes.

Eva's Birthday Cake

2008-08-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

Just getting caught up with the different cakes that I have made in the last year.. I thought I would start with this one..This was my first time making a waterfall on a cake.. It ended up being very easy. I really should have added some sugar to make it look like sand, but I just did not think about it.

Dragonfly Cookies

2008-08-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try these cookies forever. I saw them awhile ago on a website that I often visit. They are regular sugar cookies with fondant and there is luster dust on one of them.

You can see the luster dust better on this picture. I think I like the one with the dust best.

For a great tutorial go visit this http://www.cakejournal.com/.