Name The New Recipe!

Thought I'd start off with a picture of my first homemade confetti cupcakes! Confetti cake was always my favorite growing up.


But my highlight for the weekend was this three-tier flower cake! My table was covered in leaves and flowers all week.

Learned one sad lesson. See these bags full of two days' work of gumpaste flowers and leaves? Turns out that even after they've dried, putting them in ziplocs make them soften and mush together! Ach! Fortunately I found out with enough time to save most of them.

Put some gumpaste violets on some flower wire to have a 3-d effect.

With this cake, I tried using cardboard and dowel rods to help support all the layers. I loved the result! Never going back :) The bottom layers is almond and the upper layers are chocolate.

When it came time to attach the decorations, I wasn't sure what to use. I assumed corn syrup would work, the adhesive I use for fondant on fondant, but it didn't work for the gumpaste! Fortunately, Google is much smarter than I am, and I found out that mixing Meringue Powder and water works!

Two hours later...

I had a blast making this cake for my good friend Holly.

With some leftover cake and fondant, Marmie made her first fondant cake! So cute!

Today I tried a new recipe! Chocolate, toffee, and coffee are involved. So what should I name them? Mocha Toffee or Coffee Toffee? (Say Coffee Toffee ten times fast. Hehe!)

Mocha Toffee or Coffee Toffee? You decide! Leave me a comment below!

My Cupcake Record!

This last weekend was a busy one! I had a topsy-turvy cake order and my family reunion on Saturday. It was my first time using wire decorations, but I like it!

With my leftover fondant I covered that baby topsy-turvy I had baked. Kinda cute! The kids at the reunion loved it. I couldn't help but smile when they came up and asked me if they could eat it!

I also made two Oreo cakes: one out of brownie and ice cream (a big hit! Had to keep B2 from sinking his teeth into it!) and one out of white cake with frosting.

I also made some chocolate cake balls. I get to crumble cake with my bare (very clean) hands. How great is my job?? :)




Here's the table at the reunion!


Monday I made cookies and brought a tray up to Mal's school for the teachers.

Yesterday and today I had two identical cupcake orders. Set my own baking record of 48 cupcakes in one hour this morning! Woohoo!

Decadent Chocolate Chip
with chocolate buttercream and mini oreo

Chai cupcakes
with Chai Spice buttercream and Teddy Grahams

Almond cupcakes
with vanilla buttercream and wafer cookie

During my breaks, I'm cranking out gumpaste leaves and flowers for a three-tier for Saturday! Stay tuned! I'm really excited for this cake!

Another Day To Celebrate

Today was a full day! I worked over 9 hours in the kitchen today. And it's all in preparation for tomorrow! I have three cakes for tomorrow. I got to try out my new oreo pan, which was fun! I didn't like the look with the white cake because it browned... but it will taste good! I made another one with brownies which will be better!















I made just a LITTLE too much cake batter... and so I made cakes for a baby topsy turvy...















...and 62 mint-chocolate chip cake balls.













I love trying new recipes, and I'm excited to see what these taste like dipped in chocolate! They look like keepers for now!




















I also baked three tiers of decadent chocolate cake for a topsy turvy tomorrow. I used a heating core for the first time and loved it! It helps the cake bake evenly across. So nice!











Made a double batch of fondant. There's a lot of recipes online but I prefer the ones that use marshmallows. I've probably made 10-15 batches of fondant, and I still learn more each time. But what I've learned from the start is that fondant is messy!






I also learned to dye it right away, otherwise it takes forever! It takes a LOT of food dye, too.







At this point, you can roll it out and get a marbled effect. This decision is a whole lot more appealing after 5 minutes of kneading. Be sure to keep adding Crisco to keep the fondant from drying out.

















But keep going, and voila! Beautiful color! Do you see an elephant?













After it's dyed, wrap it in saran wrap and keep it in an air-tight container overnight. Tomorrow I'll roll these out to decorate the topsy turvy.











Split and frosted the cake layers, and carved them slightly so they have a tilt.












Then covered it in chocolate ganache. This will be the adhesive for the fondant tomorrow. Think there's enough chocolate in this cake?


















And now I leave it to set overnight. Whew! I'm excited to decorate it...













The only bummer about being in the kitchen all day is that it was SUCH a beautiful day out! Sophie and I took a break and went to visit the neighbor's cows.
















Take some time to celebrate the day!



















Until next time!

Week's Worth!

Mom and I went to Minneapolis Friday and Saturday for my cousin's wedding shower. Brought chai cupcakes (fixed the frosting recipe, yay!)













Saturday was also my uncle's 50th birthday party! Happy birthday, Uncle Brad!



















Then Saturday night we drove back to Iowa and dipped over 250 cake balls for a friend's wedding!
They're pretty, but not nearly as beautiful as flowers from a friend! Thanks Holly!














Bride tested, flower girl approved! The wedding was beautiful, Christy!

















Today was the first day of school for the local elementary schools, so I made these cookie pops for a few friends.



















Stay tuned this weekend for:
-2 Oreo cakes
-Topsy Turvy cake

Peppermint Patty Pals

I had the yummiest breakfast to start off the day! Krusteaz' Blueberry mix is the best ever! And I made them in heart-shapes because, let's face it, no matter how old you are, pancakes taste better in shapes.


















Then I got to work making Peppermint Patty cupcakes. Yum!














You're supposed to put the peppermint buttercream frosting on top, but I wanted to decorate them, so I piped the frosting into the cupcakes...



















...and dipped them in chocolate ganache! Ghirardelli makes the best chocolate ever and this was the most beautiful chocolate ganache I ever made!


















I decorated them Africa-themed for my brother (B1) and his wife (Mal), who get back from a 6-week mission trip to Africa. So proud of you two!












I finally got to use my cute little animals! Yay!




















Lately I've been playing 'Mama Mia' in the background as I bake. Such a wonderful musical! One song is stuck in my head, and I love the lyrics:

I have a dream,
a song to sing
To help me cope
with anything

If you see the wonder
of a fairy tale
you can take the future
even if you fail.

I have a dream.