birthday cupcakes and cake...

here are some pictures for the cupcakes and cake i made for my cousin sammy's 16th birthday (which is also my aunt robbie's birthday, who happens to be sammy's mom)... so i was lucky enough to make the desserts... and when it came to the show piece cake, all that came to mind when i think of sammy, is the beach and summer time in LBI... so here you are sammy girl... happy birthday you cutie!

my sister will be emailing me some more pictures, since i didnt have my camera on this day... so i'll have some more photos to upload soon!

the cake shifted during transport... and if you know me, you know how everything has to be perfect... so the sight of off kilter cake layers was KILLING ME!!! but no one seemed to notice but me... oh well...

here i am busy at work at my parents house, getting this little lady all set for her birthday debut...

happy baking everyone!!

and check out the previous post for some of the other stuff i've been up to... :-)

a mess of goodness...

hey everyone... i know it's been a long time... but i've been super busy, and not just with my own personal baking but with some business baking... and things couldn't be going any better... so here's a quick sample of some of the goodies i've been whipping up so far... so i hope you enjoy... here we go...

here are some caramel macchiato cupcakes... they were a yummy coffee cake, topped with espresso buttercream, homemade salt caramel, rice krispies, mini chocolate chips, and toffee bits... such a explosion of awesomeness...

i used a Vietnamese coffee cake recipe from the awesome cupcake pioneer, Chockylit, and man... not only are her recipes so inventive, they are really, really tasty... she is such an inspiration when it comes to the world of cupcakes...

and here's a pretty variety of some cupcakes i brought to a baby shower cupcake exchange... the top ones are ice cream sundae cupcakes, the second are Neapolitan cupcakes, and the bottom are simple, delicate and amazing vanilla cupcakes with a mellow yellow butter cream...

these ones were made with a deliciously moist chocolate cake, topped with vanilla buttercream and strawberry mousse... yumms!

here are the sundae inspired cupcakes... awesome chocolate cake, topped with vanilla buttercream, dark chocolate ganache and a cherry...

and these are the pretty ones... a moist and tender vanilla cake, topped with a lightly yellow tinted buttercream, and homemade sugar flowers...

these monogrammed babies were made for a birthday party for a little lady named Erica who turned 5... i thought they were fun!

and these pretty lovelies were made for a friends baby shower, she's expecting a little fella... these were made with vanilla cake, topped with vanilla buttercream, and hidden beneath is yummy strawberry mousse...

happy baking everyone!

strudel-doodle...

catching up part 3... strudel...

no real reason behind making this delicious flaky pastry... well no other reason then because i had a major hankering for one (and i rarely have a hankering for baked fruit)... and since i had some puff pastry on hand i figured why not... sometimes we just have to indulge ourselves, right?!

this was super simple to make... and you can completely tweak it to your own tastes... me, i decided to go simple with apples (2 medium sized honey crisp), cinnamon (1 1/2 tbsp), brown sugar (1/2 cup), homemade raw vanilla sugar(1-2 tsp) and some juicy plump brandy soaked raisins (about 1/4 cup, maybe more)... oh... and butter... gotta have my butter...

once all those ingredients were combined i laid them atop some thawed puff pastry... i know, i know, it's not homemade puff pastry...cause damn that stuff is a biotch to make... i will master it someday (i hope!)... so once atop the thawed and rolled out puff pastry, i sprinkled on a few cubes of salted butter (about 3 tbsps)... then i rolled the puppy up... glazed it with some melted butter (i know, most recipes say to glaze it with egg and water, or egg and milk... but i love me some butter)... and then dusted it with even more of the homemade raw vanilla sugar...


then popped it into a preheated oven and baked it till it was nice and brown and the insides were bubbly... ahh... it smelled amazing... and man, did the raisins really add some awesomeness to it... it was perfectly buttery, flaky and just something that tasted wholesome in each and every bite...

happy baking everyone!

as jack would say... happy love day!

catching up part 2 - valentines day

well... here are some of the valentines day cupcakes i made for me and my boys... of course like almost everyone else out there who baked cupcakes for valentines, i went with red velvet cake... i know, i know... so original... i went with a recipe from the amazingly talented "smitten kitchen"... that woman sure knows how to make me hungry!!

anyways... i love red velvet... but i always under do the red food coloring (so they are more of a deep maroon)... as i've said before too much food coloring and dye just freaks me out a bit... and it freaks me out even more after my four year old ate some SUPER red-dyed cupcakes and his poop was red for two days... not the yummiest thing to write about i know... but i just felt like sharing... :-)

anyways, her recipe was delicious... really moist and soft, with a subtle hint of cocoa, and a lovely tang on the finish... and another shocker... i topped them with cream cheese frosting... well actually a vanilla cream cheese buttercream... you see i'm a fan of both the buttercream and the cream cheese, the hubs, not so much... he doesn't like the overwhelming butter taste... so as i aim to please, i compromised with the cream cheese vanilla bean buttercream... how very nice of me!!

red velvet cake recipe adapted from "smitten kitchen" - yields about 30-35 cupcakes
ingredients:
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water *i used much less then this*
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

directions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners
2. whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl
3. place oil and sugar in the bowl of the mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended
4. beat in eggs one at a time
5. with machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring
6. add vanilla
7. add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches, then scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine
8. place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running, and beat for 10 seconds
9. with the liners filled only 3/4 of the way, the baking time should be between 20 to 25 minutes, but check in on them 2/3 of the way through in case your oven gets the job done faster

happy love day, and happy baking everybody!!

happy 1st birthday ben... and we have so much catching up to do!!

catching up... part #1

happy first birthday ben!

i cannot even wrap my head around the fact that my little man is one... where has the time gone... not to mention that my little dude jack is nearing his 5th birthday.... AHHH!!

anyways... we decided to celebrate my little benjamin buttons birthday up at my parents house in new york... we kept it simple with just some yummy appetizers followed by some sweets and treats... i didn't go overboard like i normally do (like when i made 120 cupcakes for jacks 3rd birthday... a fun time, but a little much!)... so i made just a little showpiece cake and about 3 dozen cupcakes... all in cute baby blues and white...

i also did something new for me... i made a cute little bear out of fondant... and not to get all proud, but i have to say i think i did a awesome job!! what do you think?!

the theme was blankets and bears... the reason... ben is a total blanket baby... he cannot be anywhere without his favorite fuzzy blue blanket (he'll probably be taking it to college with him!)... and one of his many nicknames is... are you ready for the mommy cheesieness... "benny boo bear"... i know i know... cheesie...

and for little party favors my mom made little blankets and attached them to some cute little stuffed bears...

how cute is this little guy... its my first ever fondant creation... i think i might have to start doing this more often!! i just love his expression... super cute!!

happy first birthday my benny boo bear... and happy baking everyone!