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The real secret to macarons - a convection oven. 

Make the investment and it will pay for itself in pride and praise. 

Graduation Cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting (Yellow Icing)

White Chocolate Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting (Blue Icing)
While the red velvet was good, these white chocolate cupcakes were a show stopper (if i do say so myself). Recipe here. 

Cupcake toppers made all with fondant and lets just say I don’t want to tie another fondant diploma…until next year. 

Congratulations, Graduates! You deserve a cupcake! 

Tangled Cupcakes.

Behold! My first cupcake gig. Made this for a one year old Tangled themed birthday party. I recruited my sister to help me make the decorations. She was in charge of the pascals and it took her over an hour to make each one!

Chocolate cupcake with an oreo cream filling and swiss buttercream frosting. 

idea from: http://iheartkatiecakes.blogspot.com/2011/01/disney-tangled-cupcakes.html

Pie Pops.

Hardware: Candy popsicle sticks (i get mine from Michaels in the baking aisle)
20 - 6in (15,2 cm)  

Ingredients:
1 package pillsbury already made pie crust (found in refrigerator section)
1/2 can pie filling
2 Tbs. brown sugar 
1 egg
Sugar for sprinkling 

Directions:
1. Unroll the pie crust and roll it out to make it thinner. These are small pops so the regular thickness would make for too much crust. 
2. With a 2.5 inch round cookie cutter, cut out 28 circles and lay flat on a parchment lined baking sheet. Put in refrigerator. 
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and 1/2 can of pie filling. 
4. Using a tablespoon, spoon this mixture onto 16 cut out circles making sure not to over fill it. The pie filling should spread but you should still be able to see a complete ring of pie crust underneath.
5. Beat an egg in a small bowl and using a brush, apply the egg wash onto the rest of the pie rounds.
6. Place a stick onto the pie filling side almost (but not all the way) to the top of the round.
7. Place the egg washed pie round onto the pie filling side round. Press with your fingers, emphasizing the area around the stick. Using a fork, make indentations all the way around the pie pop.
8. Brush top with more egg wash and sprinkle sugar for a finishing touch.
9. Using a toothpick, poke 3 holes in the pie crust to allow air to escape (so they wont explode!)
10. Bake at 350 F for about 12 minutes until pie crust is golden brown. Do not try to lift it off the pan until they are completely cooled.  

I love the already made pie crust for this. Its the perfect consistency - no mess, no fuss. 
 

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ingredients:
1 cup and 1/8 cup All Purpose Flour
2 tbs. almond flour 
3 Tbs. white sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 package of vanilla pudding mix 
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1/4 tsp. baking soda (1/2 tsp. for a more muffin like cookie)
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. banana extract
1 smashed aged banana
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift flour, baking soda, and almond flour together. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, whip butter with both white and brown sugar until fluffy. 
3. Add vanilla pudding mix, vanilla extract, banana extract, smashed banana, and pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg (these two spices really enhance the banana), and egg. Mix well. 
4. Add flour and baking soda. Mix just until combined. Don’t forget to scrape down the bowl. 
5. Stir in mini chocolate chips. 
6. Scoop by the tablespoons onto parchment lined pans and bake for 10 minutes until light golden brown. Cool on wire rack. 

These cookies are a somewhat healthier alternative to normal chocolate chip cookies. Bananas always bring out that muffin like quality in cookies that make for a really nice morning treat on the go. Next time i’ll try adding nuts as well! Enjoy, cookie monsters!  

 

Seems that…

all I bake/make are birthday cakes now. 

Butter cake with vanilla swiss buttercream frosting and fresh strawberry filling. 

With colored white chocolate shavings. 

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Happy Birthday, Grace!

Lemon cake with Lemon Custard Filling and Swiss Lemon Buttercream 

Lemon Cake:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package lemon instant pudding mix
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon, add to taste)
1 3/4 cups water
3 egg whites

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F
1. Mix yellow cake mix and lemon instant pudding mix 
2. Add water, and egg whites. Beat on low for 2 minutes and increase to medium for 3 minutes.
3. Add fresh lemon juice and beat on medium for 2 more minutes, or until all the lumps are out. 
4. Pour into two 8 inch circle pans and bake for 25-30 minutes. 

Lemon Custard
1/4 Cup white sugar
1/8 Cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup water
1/6 (or about a fourth lemon, juiced) 
2 Tbs. butter

Directions:
1. Prepare a double boiler by adding water to a small saucepan and bringing it to a simmer. In a heatproof bowl, combine, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolk and water. Add to the dry mixture.
3. Cook over double boiler, stirring occasionally until it begins to thicken. When it does begin to thicken, stir constantly. 
4. Remove from heat and add fresh lemon juice and butter. Cover with plastic wrap until completely cooled before using.  

Lemon Swiss Buttercream Icing:
4 sticks of unsalted butter (2 cups), cubed and at room temperature
5 egg whites, at room temperature
a pinch of Cream of Tartar
1 1/4 cup regular white sugar 
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. butter extract 
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract 

Directions:
1. Prepare a double boiler by adding water to a small saucepan and bringing it to a simmer. In a heatproof bowl of an electric stand mixer, heat sugar and egg whites until the sugar has melted held over the simmering water. Its ready when you rub it between your fingers and cannot feel any granules. This should only take about 4 minutes. 
2. Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fixed with the whisk attachement and whisk on high speed until mixture has cooled and stiff peaks have formed, about 10 minutes. 
3. Add the butter, cubes at a time, making sure it is incorporated after each addition. If the mixture is beginning to curdle, it is okay! Just keep whipping and it will become smooth. This is, however, a sign that you are not incorporating the butter after each addition well enough. To avoid any curdling at all, make sure your butter is at room temperature and you are incorporating it well after each addition. 
4. Switch to the paddle attachment, Add fresh lemon juice and butter extract and vanilla extracts. Mix to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. 

I really like to use a swiss buttercream; especially for a lemon cake because it is lighter and less sweet than a normal buttercream frosting. Since there is no powdered sugar, it is just soft, light, and fresh tasting. 
If you are going to be using this buttercream to pipe letters, it is a good idea to set aside a little portion and mix in some sifted powdered sugar. This will make the buttercream a little more stiff - perfect for piping words. 

The fresh lemon juice in this cake really makes the cake taste fresh and non-artificial. It is extremely moist due to the pudding mix. 

For the flowers on the cake, I used gum paste - demo to come in a separate post! It is extremely easy and extremely impressive (two things I love when they are together!). 
I also made macarons to decorate the side of the cake using the same macaron recipe as always but adding some pink food coloring. Tip: keep those old store bought macaron boxes - they are great for storing your own home made (and more impressive) macaron shells!

Oldie but Always a Goodie.

By most perfect, I mean chewy on the inside, slightly crunchy bottom, buttery, delicious, melt in your mouth, always craving chocolate chip cookies. The secret to this recipe is not only the technique, but also the vanilla pudding mix. It makes that perfect consistency even better. This is an oldie but a goodie for sure!

Makes 36 cookies (but you’ll by doubling this batch for the flocking masses). 

Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cup All Purpose flour
1 Tsp. baking soda
1 Cup butter (2 sticks), softened at room temperature
3/4 Cup packed brown sugar (YUM!)
1/4 Cup white granulated sugar
1 package (3.4 ounce) vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
1. Cream butter, vanilla extract, and sugars together until fluffy and well combined. 
2. Sift in flour band baking soda. Mix just until combined. 
3. Add vanilla pudding mix and mix just until combined.

4. Add eggs and mix just until combined. 
5. Add chocolate chips and mix just until blended. 

6. Let stand for about 5 minutes. This lets the butter and eggs melt a little. I find that putting it into the oven right away makes the cookie too tall and not cookie-like. 
7. Using a tablespoon or mini ice cream scooper, spoon onto parchment lined pans* leaving about a 1.5 - 2 inch radius around each cookie. 
8. Bake for 13 minutes. The cookies will be extremely soft when you pull them out but they will cool to a soft, chewy, absolutely perfect texture. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely. 

 

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ps. most amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe on its way.